VOLUNTEERS are helping to repair 17th century lakes at a country estate.

The lakes, at Marks Hall Gardens and Arboretum, near Coggeshall, are thought to have been dug by Parliamentarian troops under the command of Sir Thomas Honywood, who inherited Marks Hall in 1631, where he was encamped with his militia during the siege of Colchester in 1648.

However, parts of the original lake walls next to the weir need to be rebuilt and other parts repointed.

The Essex Heritage Trust has given cash to the Thomas Phillips Price Trust, which administers and manages the estate, for the work to be carried out using traditional skills and materials.

A team from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers is also working with staff from the estate to stabilise a 200-metre stretch of bank, using steel wire cages filled with stone.

Richard Ramsey, agent to the trustees at Marks Hall, said: “The trust is very grateful to the Essex Heritage Trust, Essex County Council and the BTCV for their support.

“With their help, we are now able to safeguard both the historic heritage of lakes built more than 350 years ago, and the important natural environment that has been built up in and around this area of water and planting.”