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This is the latest addition to my collection - a print by Butterworth from 1884.

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Postcard of Dunstanburgh Castle recently added to my collection.

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Another old postcard of Dunstanburgh Castle, recently purchased.

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From Journal Live, 31st May 2008

Resisting sands of time at iconic castle

One of Northumberland’s mightiest fortresses now has a hollow ring. Dunstanburgh Castle’s 700 years of exposure on its coastal clifftop site has seen many of its huge blocks of sandstone hollowed out by the effects of wild weather. Now an English Heritage project is under way to replace badly weathered stonework.

Ray Stockdale, English Heritage’s manager of works in the North East. said: “The degree of erosion depends very much on the direction the stone faces – out of the prevailing wind, much of the stonework has stood the test of time. But on the more exposed areas, some of the weathering is so bad, certain stones have been hollowed out from underneath, so while the front face of the block looks intact it is actually hollow and you can reach behind and put your hand into the void.”

The work will replace some of the architectural features that the first masons would have carved so that visitors are able to appreciate the original design and quality of the work.

Mr. Stockdale said: “At the base of the south wall there was a stepped and champhered plinth layer running the entire length of the wall. This detail is almost completely lost now, so we have replaced stonework here to give some idea of the intentions of the original builders.”

New stone has been brought down from Brownieside near Berwick, chosen as a close match in colour and density to the original sandstone. And 19-year-old stonemason’s apprentice Tony Wilkinson, from Stanley, County Durham, is learning at first hand the traditional skills of cutting, dressing and fitting the stone in much the same way as the young masons did centuries ago.

Tony has been an apprentice for just over a year to stonemason David France, who is working in partnership with specialist company St Astier, of Seaham in County Durham, to carry out the repairs.

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One of my recent purchases. A postcard of Dunstanburgh Castle, by S. Hildesheimer, postmarked 1907.

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A print of Dunstanburgh Castle in 1786. (courtesy of www.antiqueprints.com)

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Print of Dunstanburgh Castle from "In the Border Country" by James Orrock, 1906.

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