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.
Tag: heritage
Plans for house on Quality Square should not have been backed by town council
Applications have been submitted to convert the vacant gallery on Quality Square into a two bedroom house (23/01352/FUL; 23/01353/LBC). It will be the first building on Quality Square in recent times to have accomodation on the ground floor. The property is currently on sale with a guide price of £300,000. The shop window will be retained with heritage glazed panels, which I assume will be blacked out obviating the need for blinds. I cannot see that the conversion raises any heritage concerns. However, I do not accept the town council’s view that this plan is just fine in our town centre of independent retailers. Quality Square has long been an attractive retail area, a quirky cul de sac that leads to the Rose and Crown beer garden or an alley to Castle Street car park. It would be a backward step to lose a retail unit in the heart of […]
The 1824 St Leonard’s Clive Arch on Corve Street is collapsing – should it be partly demolished?
Many will have noticed that the gateway at the entrance to St Leonard’s Churchyard has been covered with scaffolding for a while because the top of the arch is beginning to tilt forward towards Corve Street. A functional rather than architecturally distinguished construction, the arch commemorates the consecration of the burial ground, gifted by Viscount Clive to St Laurence’s, on 27 August 1824. St Laurence’s Parochial Church Council is now proposing to remove the arch, leaving two stone pillars supporting the cast iron gate. The Clive Plaque will be relocated nearby. The Clive Arch is Grade II listed for its historical value. That means there is a presumption against any major changes, including partial demolition. On the other hand, it will cost a lot of money to rebuild the arch. Money that could be used for other purposes.
Dinham Hotel to close and be converted into apartments if plans approved
These plans have been long expected. One of our upmarket hotels is to be converted into residential accommodation. The plans are to create seven dwellings, five in the hotel building and two in the grounds. There be only minor alterations to exterior of the building. Number 9 Dinham, currently Elliots Bistro will be converted back into an independent house. This is a well thought out conversion. It will though be sad to lose this venue from Ludlow’s town centre.
King Street is to reopen tomorrow, Monday – we now need to look at longer term solutions to our town’s traffic problems (reopening delayed to Tuesday)
Update Monday evening. Without notice to the town council or anyone else, Shropshire Council decided not to lift the road closure on King Street today. A meeting was needed with contractors as the council no longer does hands on work like moving barriers itself. Instructions needed to be entered onto a database. The computer will trigger an action by contractors and no doubt instructions will be passed on to subcontractors. Not for the first time, I wonder how much public money is spent on managing contractors who manage subcontractors… rather than just doing the job with in-house council staff. It is time Shropshire Council brought highways work back in-house. Ludlow Town Council has announced the Buttercross repairs are complete and King Street will reopen tomorrow, Monday. That will relieve traffic pressure, including HGVs, from Dinham and Linney where they have caused damage. King Street will remain closed between 10am and […]