In 2012, Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust developed a partnership with Hiiumaa Vocational School, an educational facility on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. Initially designed as an opportunity for Estonian students to gain practical work experience in the UK, it has since flourished and the programme has seen the students contributing to GYPT projects including St Margaret's Church, the Medieval Town Wall and the Cemeteries Project. This partnership creates an invaluable opportunity for knowledge and skills sharing of traditional building techniques between international communities. The students are taught skills such as masonry, timber-work and flintknapping. In exchange, the Estonian team have shared fantastic insights into their historic conservation, teaching us about their uses of vernacular materials – such as birch bark as a damp-proof membrane and wood tar to protect timbers.

The partnership with Estonia is particularly fitting, considering Great Yarmouth’s historic connection to the country. Hanseatic trading links generated great wealth through the export of cured herring and wool and the import of timber, tar and flax. This trade helped Great Yarmouth to establish itself as one of the most important ports on the east coast, but also influenced the design of the town’s built environment. It is easy to recognise similarities in the landscape, such as the proliferation of windmills across the island, which are mirrored by the Norfolk wind pumps so familiar in our part of the world. This collaboration offers the opportunity to explore the very beautiful and rich vernacular architecture of Hiiumaa, whilst drawing comparisons to the built environment of Great Yarmouth and East Norfolk.

The exchange was funded by the EU Leonardo Mobility Project, which seeks to extend participants’ vocational skills at a European level.