We all knew that the baronial castle walls and structures were in a state but at last night's History Society update on progress at the Castle, the true extent of the problem emerged. The good news is that work on arresting the situation has started.
Between the 13th century and the first house in 1826, the Castle had been left virtually untouched. Thereafter, the Victorian Myddletons and Myddleton-Wests had built their dwelling, in two phases, and their follies & gardens. Much of the structure outside the house and immediate gardens continued to deteriorate.
A report in 1924 considered public ownership but funding was only available for the "great" castles such as Caernarfon. In any case, the land was in private ownership, which made life difficult. Meanwhile, the structures continued to decline. At each point when conservation was considered, it was always too expensive and there were other important structures (not in private hands) to fund. Even in the early 1980s, the last occasion when conservation was seriously on the agenda, Ruthin was very low in the pecking order and had to compete with others.
Since its formation in March 2016, the Ruthin Castle Conservation Trust has recognised the immediate issues are now at a pivotal point in the structure’s history and have set about the long process of managing improvements. This year, in its first major work, the Trust has secured modest funding said to be "a couple of £100,000" to stabilise although not conserve the curtain walls and other important structures all outside the hotel's immediate care.
Cadw began with a thorough survey and was "horrified" at what they found which, in parts, included an imminent state of collapse. There was extensive vegetation cover masking problems. There were Victorianised attempts at rebuilding and stabilising the walls with limestone and later in the 1960s & 1970s cement acting as a seal but affecting the walls either above or beneath. The Victorians used poorly constructed replica windows in parts and had reworked some of the structure into follies. Whole areas of wall and part of a tower were observed to be coming away. There were lintels missing. Water and root damage was said to be extensive. There was, of course, a collapse three years ago.
"A couple of £100,000" is, of course, insufficient to undertake conservation work. Instead, it has enabled stabilisation, at least till the funding runs out at the end of October 2017. Starting in February, each area was systematically stripped back, assessed and a course of action agreed. The plan was to secure as much of the medieval and Victorian masonry as possible.
The work itself includes the buttressing of structures, insertion of pins and straps within the walls and is said to be fairly crude, the idea being that it will last long enough to buy time—three to four years—for the trust to seek major funding for a full conservation project. As such, the current work undertaken is reversible. With one tower alone estimated at £250,000 just to sort out a widening gap as one part pulls away from another, this funding, if successful, will need to be of major proportions.
One major aspect has been the stripping back of vegetation across the curtain wall visible from the Lord's Garden. Not only does this enable conservationists to see the problems, it gives the structure a real sense of scale. Some root systems remain, though, to ensure some of the fabric does not deteriroate, pending full conservation.
A report in 1924 considered public ownership but funding was only available for the "great" castles such as Caernarfon. In any case, the land was in private ownership, which made life difficult. Meanwhile, the structures continued to decline. At each point when conservation was considered, it was always too expensive and there were other important structures (not in private hands) to fund. Even in the early 1980s, the last occasion when conservation was seriously on the agenda, Ruthin was very low in the pecking order and had to compete with others.
Cadw began with a thorough survey and was "horrified" at what they found which, in parts, included an imminent state of collapse. There was extensive vegetation cover masking problems. There were Victorianised attempts at rebuilding and stabilising the walls with limestone and later in the 1960s & 1970s cement acting as a seal but affecting the walls either above or beneath. The Victorians used poorly constructed replica windows in parts and had reworked some of the structure into follies. Whole areas of wall and part of a tower were observed to be coming away. There were lintels missing. Water and root damage was said to be extensive. There was, of course, a collapse three years ago.
The work itself includes the buttressing of structures, insertion of pins and straps within the walls and is said to be fairly crude, the idea being that it will last long enough to buy time—three to four years—for the trust to seek major funding for a full conservation project. As such, the current work undertaken is reversible. With one tower alone estimated at £250,000 just to sort out a widening gap as one part pulls away from another, this funding, if successful, will need to be of major proportions.
One major aspect has been the stripping back of vegetation across the curtain wall visible from the Lord's Garden. Not only does this enable conservationists to see the problems, it gives the structure a real sense of scale. Some root systems remain, though, to ensure some of the fabric does not deteriroate, pending full conservation.