Businessmen and women have swapped their suits for shovels to help to restore the Casemate Barracks in Dockyard.

Twenty volunteers from XL Catlin tackled a range of tough jobs that included cleaning gutters choked with weeds at the old prison last Thursday as part of the company’s global day of giving initiative.

Deborah Atwood, National Museum assistant curator, said the museum was heavily dependent on volunteers lsuch as the XL Catlin crew for the huge task of restoring Casemates.

“The work we have done wouldn’t be as far along without volunteers,” she said.

Built in the 1830s, Casemate is the second-oldest building in the Dockyard after the Commissioner’s House. It originally served the Royal Navy before closing when Navy left in 1951. Cement and added walls were then used to refit the old barracks into a maximum-security prison.

When the prison closed in 1994, Casemates was abandoned and left to the elements.

It is hoped that the restoration of the barracks will enable the building to house new exhibits for the National Museum.

Charles Cooper, chief executive officer of Bermuda reinsurance for XL Catlin, has returned to volunteer at Casemates for the past five years.

“You feel the history when you come up here,” Mr Cooper said.

“Each year you can come back and see the progress the different volunteers have made. It’s very fulfilling. It’s a national treasure for Bermuda.”