Controversial sculpture will be removed as revamp starts
BLACK’S HEAD SYMBOL MOVING TO TOWN HALL’S HISTORICAL CENTRE
THE town’s historic Green Man and Black’s Head Hotel gallows sign is due to be renovated by its current owners, Derbyshire Dales District Council.
The authority has agreed to repaint and repair the historic Grade Ii*-listed gantry in St John Street, which has been in public ownership for many years, before handing it over officially to Ashbourne Town Council.
District council bosses have confirmed a legal team is working on the process of transferring the ownership to the town council, and to navigate the complex process of applying to permanently remove the controversial Black’s Head sculpture.
The head, which was the subject of a race row in the summer of 2020, is set to go on display in its current form in Ashbourne’s new historical centre in the town hall – but before this can happen, consent needs to be given by the Secretary of State for it to officially part ways from the gantry it has sat upon for decades.
In a letter to the town council, due to be discussed at a meeting this evening, the district council’s director of regulatory services outlined the steps that would be carried out to hand over the sign’s ownership, which has been agreed following lengthy meetings of district and town councillors.
The first stage of the agreement was an assurance that Ashbourne Town Council would be placing the head in the historical centre, and then the process of legally transferring the gallows sign from council to council can begin.
He admits in his letter, dated April 21, “this may not be an immediate process”.
He has also confirmed that Derbyshire Dales will be covering the cost of any legal fees on its side, and suggested that Ashbourne Town Council does not anticipate incurring any of its own.
The town council has previously requested the district council meets all the associated costs.
The letter also confirms that Derbyshire Dales District Council will agree to the town council’s request that the sign, which has reportedly not been maintained during the time it was owned by the district, is renovated at the authority’s cost.
The News Telegraph has asked for a timescale of when this work might be carried out, but no information is currently available.
The head itself, Mr Braund adds, will not require any work as it is due to be stored in a “controlled environment”.
In terms of the legal process of separating the head from the listed structure, Mr Braund says Ashbourne Town Council should begin by applying for Listed Building Consent to permanently remove it and to place it in the historical centre, and then the district council will liaise with the Secretary of State as part of the Listed Building Consent process.
He adds that, if the Secretary of State does not agree with the proposal, the district council will pause the process and “reconsider the issue with Ashbourne Town Council”.
He concluded the letter by saying: “As the first two issues for Derbyshire Dales District Council to undertake were to commence the transfer and to repair/repaint the gantry sign, I have initially instructed our legal and estates teams to commence these actions.
“As things stand James Cunningham, our trainee solicitor, has commenced the transfer process and Mike Galsworthy will update regarding the gantry sign.
“I hope this provides enough information to move forward. I will work with James Cunningham to progress the transfer and liaise with you all at relevant points.”