Exposed brickwork beneath external render problem

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and need some advice.

I recently bought a mid 1860's Victorian terrace and last year, we re-did the courtyard patio at the back of the house. The previous owner had some awful pebbledash in which sloped away from the back door to the garden as the pic below shows.



We removed this and managed to lower the level of the paving slabs that we put in by about a foot, making the area much nicer.

However, this exposed the brickwork foundations below the external render and bead and I don't really know what to do with it.



There doesn't seem to be any form of damp course on this wall of the house though there is one on the extension at the back.



Would I be ok to just render this (it wouldn't be vertical due to the un-even brickwork), leaving a gap between the new render and the paving edge, fill this with some decorative slate so that water can drain below the paving or is there a better solution?

Should I paint the render with masonry paint? Should I use bitumen paint?

Any advice gratefully received!

 

Anyone?

 

Thanks for the advice. Along the lines I was thinking!