Students were required to take Lambert's masonry workshop before the trip, so they were able to spend their time doing actual restoration work. They focused on a section that was about 12 feet square where old mortar had at some point been replaced by Portland cement — a no-no not only aesthetically but also practically, said Mendenhall. "Portland cement is strong and brittle, but mortar needs to be flexible, breathable. It needs to allow moisture in and out."

In a masonry process called repointing, the crew removed the old cement and replaced it with a lime putty mortar.

"Mortar is a huge thing," said Lambert. Often 40 percent of a building is mortar, "but it is often overlooked, not given the respect it deserves. The wrong mortar can do more damage than good."

He has been in the masonry restoration business for 19 years. "I started out cleaning and stripping paint. Customers would ask us to repair mortar, and we'd try to find someone to do it but couldn't. So I decided to learn how myself."

Since then, he has traveled the world, learning techniques, materials, methods and anything else to do with historic masonry. There are a whole range of challenges involved, he said, including finding appropriate materials, mortar analysis — taking mortar and finding out what's in it — custom matching, patching stone and brick, repointing, repairing cracks in walls and chimneys, using appropriate chemical treatments.

He has come to appreciate what those ancient craftsmen did. "You rarely find one of those old buildings that's not built better than most are today."

Of course, they would have to be built well to last this long, said Mendenhall. The prince's tower is at least 800 years old. "That's the oldest building we've ever worked on at TBSI. And it was really neat." Even more exciting, he said, is that TBSI has been invited back next spring to do some more work.

In addition to working on Pen Y Bryn, the group did some touring, visiting some of Edward I's Welsh castles, including Beaumaris and Conwy, and going to York, across the border in England.

You can look out of Llywelyn's tower and see Beaumaris just across the bay, said Mendenhall. "Edward built five castles in Wales to show his power and dominance. Beaumaris was one of them. It was fun to learn about the history and culture of the area."

That, too, is a purpose of the trip, said Lambert. "We want to give the students a rich experience working on a historic building, but the reason we stay with host families is so they can be involved with and experience the local language and culture. And then as we tour to look at historic castles and abbeys and cathedrals, we hope it paints a picture in their minds of the entire spectrum of masonry — from way back when up until people brought many of these same techniques to Utah."

He hopes students will come to appreciate historic masonry, what a rich heritage it is. "We hope they will appreciate the craftsmen of the day and what they went through, the high levels of craftsmanship they achieved. We want students to gain reverence and respect for what the people did not only with the tools they had but also with the social and political conditions they lived under."

That's the reason, Lambert said, that it is important to restore and save the historic buildings we have — so that they will still be around for future generations.

"History says 'this is what happened.' Historic buildings say, 'it happened here.' They add a rich dimension to the past," he said. "All this history about the Princes' Tower has come to light in the last 10 years. When you think what we have learned, you can see how significant even one building is."

---

E-mail: carma@desnews.com