11 historic sites saved in Cornwall, but others added
The latest 'at-risk' register has been released by Historic England
Over the past year, 54 historic buildings and sites across the South West have been added to the Historic England 'at-risk' register because of their deteriorating condition.
80 sites have been rescued thanks to heritage partners and dedicated teams of volunteers, community groups, charities, owners and councils, working together with Historic England.
In total there are 1,379 entries across the South West including 210 buildings or structures, 144 places of worship and 17 parks and gardens.
In Cornwall in the last year, 11 sites have been saved but 11 have been added to the 'at-risk' register. In total, there 280 sites still at-risk in the Duchy.
Historic England awarded almost £1 million in repair grants to 46 sites in the region:
Sites removed from the list include at St Peter’s Church, Castle Park in Bristol, where medieval stonework repairs are now complete; Cleveland Pools in Bath, which reopened to swimmers after 40 years following a major conservation project; and Stowey Castle in Somerset, which has been saved by a dedicated local group.
54 sites in the South West have been added to the Register because of concerns about their condition. Examples include Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, which now faces major roof repairs; King Arthur’s Great Halls, Tintagel, Cornwall, where poor condition threatens precious stained glass and artwork; Barnstaple Guildhall in Devon, which needs structural repair and improved access; and four coastal monuments on the Isles of Scilly which are at risk from climate change.
Rebecca Barrett, Regional Director at Historic England said: “It is central to Historic England’s mission that we pass on to future generations the rich legacy of historic buildings and places that we have inherited from previous generations. Our Heritage at Risk programme is a key contributor to this ambition. With the help of local communities and partners, imaginative thinking and business planning, we can bring historic places back to life in the South West."
SITES ADDED TO THE REGISTER IN CORNWALL IN 2022 INCLUDE:
AT RISK: Coastal monuments on the Isles of Scilly (Scheduled Monuments)
Coastal erosion threatens a number of historic sites on the Isles of Scilly.
This year, four scheduled monuments on the Isles of Scilly are being added to the Heritage at Risk register. The additions follow recent monitoring by Cornwall Archaeological Unit as part of the Historic England and Isles of Scilly Council-funded Archaeological Services Consultancy. All are at risk as a result of climate change, rising sea levels, and consequent coastal erosion. All four are defensive sites: one is an Iron Age promontory fort, the Giant’s Castle, and the other earthworks are associated with the English Civil War.
The Giant's Castle sits on a small rocky promontory on the south-east coast of St Mary's. It has four sets of defensive banks and built into the outermost rampart of the cliff castle are remains of a Second World War firing target. Within the ramparts, high over the sea, are natural cairns with spectacular weathered shapes and rock basins, one bearing an OS benchmark, and traces of a lost structure thought to be a coastguard lookout. The site is generally covered in rough grass with some heather, but ongoing coastal erosion is a significant threat, with footpath erosion a secondary factor. The ramparts are truncated at both ends by erosion and on the north-west of the monument the turf has also been eroded as a result of footfall, probably combined with exposure to the salt spray and winds.
Coastal erosion is an intractable and concerning issue and we recognise that it is not possible to save every site. However, we can try to understand the urgency of the threat to individual sites. Looking forward, we hope to develop a project with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust to raise awareness of the issue and start recording and monitoring those that are most at risk.
Lisa Walton of the Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “The islands are blessed with a wealth of unique heritage unlike anywhere else in the UK and the density of sites is mind-blowing. But whilst our situation, as an isolated island community has preserved a unique historic landscape, it is this very circumstance that now threatens many of our sites and monuments.
The islands are at the forefront of climate change and the landscape and coastline containing a high proportion of our sites are directly in the path of an unstoppable force: rising sea level, coastal erosion and erratic stormy weather conditions. It is more important than ever to capture this moment before it is gone. How we manage and adapt to these inevitable processes will decide how much we can understand about our past, for future generations, before it’s too late.”
The four scheduled monuments are: The Giant's Castle cliff castle; Prehistoric hut circle and Civil War fieldworks on eastern Toll's Hill; Prehistoric linear boundary and Civil War fieldworks on north western Toll's Hill; Civil War breastwork and battery on Newford Island
AT RISK: King Arthur’s Great Halls, Tintagel, Cornwall (Grade II listed)
A historic building and its stunning artworks, key to Tintagel’s connection with Arthurian legend, faces major repairs.
The name Tintagel is now synonymous with the legend of King Arthur, a major driver of tourism to the Cornish town. Now, a building which helped cement those associations and drew people to experience the legend first-hand needs major repairs.
King Arthur’s Great Halls were designed as the headquarters for the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table and built between 1927 and 1933 by Frederick Thomas Glasscock (1871-1934), co-founder of the Monk & Glass custard company.
The Halls embody the Fellowship’s principles of knighthood, chivalry and honour through their architecture, fittings and decoration, which are still intact today. They include 73 stained-glass windows by artist Veronica Whall (1887-1967), widely considered to be one of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts stained-glass windows, and a series of ten specially commissioned oil paintings telling the story of King Arthur and his Knights by artist William Hatherell (1855-1928). The fabric of the Halls themselves were built to reflect Cornwall’s rich geology and feature an extensive range of local stone throughout the building, a characteristic not found in any other Cornish building.
The fabric of the building and its rich interiors and collections are now at risk due to the deterioration of the roofs, which is allowing water into the building. The street frontage and roof were perilously close to structural failure and have been repaired recently, leaving almost no resources to complete the urgent roof works.
Jeremy Chadburn, conservation architect to King Arthur’s Halls, said: “King Arthur’s Halls are an almost otherworldly time capsule that play a very special role in Cornwall’s history. Its fabric and artworks are now under threat of significant loss and damage. We hope its addition to the Heritage at Risk Register will help raise awareness and garner support for the urgent repairs the building and contents now need.”
Website: http://www.kingarthursgreathalls.co.uk
SITES RESCUED AND REMOVED FROM THE HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER IN 2022 IN CORNWALL INCLUDE:
CORNWALL
SAVED: Cadsonbury Hillfort, Cornwall (Scheduled Monument)
Ancient Cornish hillfort saved thanks to land stewardship scheme.
Cadsonbury is a spectacular hillfort set on a conical hill above the River Lynher in south-east Cornwall. The site had been on the Heritage at Risk Register for many years but this year, as a result of a partnership between Historic England, the National Trust, Natural England, and Defra, it has been removed as its future has been secured.
Cadsonbury went into a Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreement in 2020 and through a Historic and Archaeological feature protection Plan (HAP) put in place in the first two years of the agreement, a huge amount of work has taken place to improve the site’s condition. Fences have been realigned, bracken cut and rolled, selected trees removed, and scrub has been cleared, opening up outstanding views of the defences. This work has been complemented by a Historic England grant towards an innovative new water supply system to enable more flexible grazing, which will ensure that the improvement will be sustained in the long-term. In addition, a desk-top assessment, informed by lidar and geophysical surveys, has increased our understanding of the site and will enable improved interpretation in the future.
George Holmes, Lead Ranger for the National Trust at Cotehele, said: “We are thrilled to have worked with our partner organisations so positively in protecting and enhancing the hillfort at Cadsonbury. To see it being removed from the Heritage at Risk register really shows how effective the work completed has been and we now look forward to continuing our journey to make sure the hillfort maintains its condition. We’re also excited that with an improved understanding of the hillfort, we can start to tell visitors more about this fascinating site in the years to come”.