We have had a few wall collapses in Ludlow, as would befit any ancient town. The collapse of the town wall behind St Laurence’s church is in a league of its own for the procrastination over responsibility and costs. The collapse of the lower section of the boundary wall for Dinham House is a far more straightforward affair. This is not, as some people have assumed, a section of the town wall. It is wall bounding the garden of Dinham House. The house is listed Grade II*. The wall is listed by virtue of being in the curtilage of the house. The collapse is at the base of the wall and seems to have been triggered by the heavy rainfall over the last few weeks.
Category: Heritage
Town Council town walls statement tells us little other than the delays to repairs will continue
On 18 February, it will be eleven years since a section of the town walls bounding St Laurence’s churchyard collapsed. Some maintenance has been done to prevent further decay. Consultants have reported on the work needed to repair the scheduled monument to a heritage standard. Archaeological surveys have been conducted. Beyond that, years have passed by without the repairs beginning. Yesterday, Ludlow Town Council issued a statement on progress on repairing the walls. This tells us little beyond the statement it made in April 2022, except that it is once again engaged in a legal argument on who is responsible for the repairs. The Diocese of Hereford does not have responsibility. Closed graveyards become the responsibility of the local authority. Ludlow Town Council has always been reluctant to take on responsibility for the repairs. For the last seven years, the town council has accepted responsibility for “leading on the repairs” […]
Church Street to be closed to traffic due to unstable building
Chimney Pots is the building on Church Street between the Church Inn and the alleyway to St Lawrence’s Church. It has been covered in scaffolding for months. In recent days, Chimney Pots has inspected by engineers. They found the building to be at risk and potentially unstable. To ensure public safety, the scaffolding is to be extended urgently to prop up the building. The reconfigured scaffolding will close Church Street at the Buttercross except for pedestrians. The alleyway to St Laurence’s Church will be closed completely for scaffolding and boarding. There is yet no timescale for the closures but given the nature of the work, we are talking of weeks, not days, and more probably of works lasting well into the summer.
Town walls debate in camera at Ludlow Town Council tomorrow
Tomorrow evening (17 March), Ludlow Town Council will meet to “consider confidential legal advice from a barrister relating to Ludlow Town Walls”. Members of the public and unitary councillors will be allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting, then the council will go into private session. I am not a member of the town council and have not seen any details of what is to be discussed about the town walls beyond the simple statement above. I visited the site on Friday. I am shocked by the state of the collapsed area. There are sycamores and a buddleia growing out of the rubble of the collapsed wall. All vegetation needs removing as a matter of urgency to prevent further damage to the wall. Next February, will see the tenth anniversary of the wall’s collapse.
Update on Ludlow Town Wall repairs
Last night’s Annual Town Meeting was fairly well attended with more than 20 residents. The usual question and answer session followed presentations by councillors. Jennifer Gill asked about progress on repairing the town walls behind St Laurence’s Church, which fell nine years ago. Mayor Robin Pote gave the reply. He said the work could cost £3 million, money that many need to be borrowed. This might be borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board. My back of envelope calculation is that would lead to repayments of around £100,000 a year if the loan period was the normal 30 years. Councillor Pote said: “The wall is owned by St Laurence Parochial Parish Church (PCC). Shropshire Council took the emergency response lead at the time of the collapse. A legal debate between Shropshire Council, the Town Council and PCC commenced in 2015, and Ludlow Town Council agreed to lead those looking for […]