INVESTIGATIONS into the strength of a floor in a 12th century building at Durham Castle are hoped to be undertaken.

The testing of the Norman Gallery floor structure will be through the implementation of six trial holes have been proposed at University College Durham, Castle Palace Green, Durham.

The Norman Gallery and Bishops’ Suite are located within the Grade I listed Durham Castle.

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The Norman Gallery and Bishops Suite have a rich history dating back to the 12th century, initially built as a hall house and being converted for different uses, resulting now in bedrooms for the university college and a suite used for weddings and events.

Although the change in use has allowed the building to stay functional, the original building fabric is no longer suitable to facilitate the new use of the building, which has resulted in damage to the ceiling of the Bishops suite and floor to the Norman Gallery.

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An inspectison of the cracking in the Bishops Suite ceiling was undertaken in 2021 by Adelphi Consulting Engineers, which determined that the cracking in the plaster ceiling is a result of excessive deflection of the timber beams to the Norman Gallery floor directly above the Bishops Suite.

The timber beams are designed for limited access for maintenance only whereas in reality students congregate in the area on a daily basis as it is a thoroughfare to the student accommodation on that floor level.

It is also known that the students have held silent discos in the Norman Gallery, which has likely caused the cracks in the plaster ceiling below.

A planning application was then submitted to improve the floor structure by installing floor beams, so it can function effectively with the new use.

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Initial inspections to undertake approved works found that the floor construction did not align with what was recorded, so a more intrusive investigation would need to be undertaken before installation of the steel beams could be carried out.

The proposed investigation works will implement trial holes in order to understand the existing floor structure, enabling required repairs to the damaged of the Bishops Suite/ floor to the Norman Gallery and aesthetically fix the damaged decorative mouldings to the bishops’ suite ceiling.

To enable the implementation of the approved works, the trial holes are essential to understand the current floor structure and mitigate any further risks.