Ceiling ruined by builders day before it could be listed
A CEILING dating back to the 1620s has been torn down – a day before it was due to be protected by listed status.
Builders destroyed the Jacobean ceiling in Bristol – one of the best examples in the UK – as they turned the building, formerly a bar, into student flats.
Historic England said it had received an urgent listing request last week and arranged to see the ceiling on Thursday.
But builders ripped down the ornate plaster on Wednesday.
Save Britain’s Heritage said it had been ‘ deliberately removed’. And Simon Birch, of Bristol Civic Society, said: ‘Developers have done nothing illegal here. But it’s deplorable that such an historic building has had its interior ripped out.’
Developer Midas Property Services and the building’s owner did not comment.