SITES ADDED TO THE REGISTER ACROSS THE SOUTH WEST IN 2020 INCLUDE:
AT RISK: Cornish Bridges This year, 17 sites in Cornwall have been added to the Heritage at Risk Register. Three of these are historic bridges, distinctive features of Cornwall’s landscape. Multi-span bridges – of two or more arches supported on piers – were built throughout the medieval period. Once commonplace, most have been rebuilt or replaced and fewer than 200 are now known to survive in England. Helland Bridge is one of them, built in the 15th century, spanning the River Camel. Its carriageway is less than 3 metres wide, and not built for modern traffic.
Trekelland Bridge, (pictured above) another late medieval example, between Launceston and Liskeard over the River Inney, and has been hit by multiple vehicles.
The Grade II* ornamental carriage bridge serving Chyverton House built in 1780 has walls which are unstable and leaning dangerously.
AT RISK:
King Arthur’s Hall, Cornwall
King Arthur’s Hall on Bodmin Moor is overlooked by
Cornwall’s two highest hills of Brown Willy and Roughtor. The Hall has recently been added to the At Risk register because it is heavily overgrown with gorse. AT RISK: Church of St Nicholas, Westgate Street, Gloucester Built circa 1190, this large church was largely rebuilt in the 13th century. In 1643, during the Siege of Gloucester in the Civil War, the spire suffered a direct hit by cannon fire. It was reduced in height and capped in 1783. After the church was closed in 1967, the church was declared redundant on 7 May 1971, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 25 June 1975. The roof needs urgent structural repair and slate roof coverings have come to the end of their life.
SITES WHERE ENCOURAGING PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN THE SW THIS YEAR INCLUDE:
GOOD PROGRESS: Stover Park, near Newton Abbot, Devon
Stover, a Grade II registered park and garden, was placed on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2009.
Devon County Council own Stover Country Park which is open to the public. Through their ‘Restoring Stover Park Project’, they have secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to enable greater access to this popular piece of Devon’s heritage.
The project will be a major step forward in reducing the vulnerability and risk to the park, and helping to take it off the At Risk Register.