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From the Northern Echo, 24th February 2009

Fears for residents as castle crumbles

A man says he fears for the safety of his house and family after the walls of a 12th Century castle started to crumble yards from his home. Rocks, soil and shrubbery fell from the walls of Barnard Castle, in the County Durham town of the same name, yesterday.

Meanwhile, English Heritage, Teesdale District Council and Raby Estates disagree about who is responsible for its upkeep. Last Tuesday, large boulders fell from the walls of the castle, which towers over houses in Bridgegate below.

The man, who asked not to be named, lives with his wife and three young children in Bridgegate, and has called on the three groups to decide whose responsibility it is to repair the walls, which have been damaged by ivy. Although the castle is owned by English Heritage, Raby Estates owns a section of land near the walls, while some of the castle grounds are maintained by Teesdale District Council.

“Our concern is that they are all looking at it rather than deciding who is going to be responsible for repairing the rest of the wall,” said the man, whose home is about ten yards from where the rocks fell yesterday.
“To be fair, the council has been very good and kept us informed. They’ve had someone round to survey the damage. We have some elderly neighbours in their 80s and we are all very concerned about more falling down. My children often play out in the garden, but I am not letting them out at the moment because you never know if more is going to come down and at what time. My wife heard the second lot of rocks come down and now she is thinking ‘when is it going to happen again?’”

A spokesman from Teesdale District Council said: “Following the incident last week, the area has been fenced off at upper and lower levels. Investigations into ownership, and therefore responsibility, are ongoing.”

A spokesman from English Heritage, said: “The rock fall near Barnard Castle did not occur in the area under English Heritage’s guardianship. English Heritage is concerned about the incident and will continue to help Teesdale District Council with this matter.”

Raby Estates was unavailable for comment.

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From the Teesdale Mercury, 18th March 2009

Expert’s warning on future of castle wall

As Teesdale’s very own Jericho continues to crumble an expert in historic buildings has warned that more rocks could tumble from the walls of Barnard Castle. And despite the latest fall being more than two weeks ago, there has still been no clarification about who is responsible for the part of the castle that is falling.

The expert, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the building needed ‘immediate structural support’ and added that if nothing was done to repair the damage he predicts ‘imminent collapse’.

He also said the problem could have begun as long ago as the 1950s when houses built into the cliff were demolished. He said the houses were helping to keep the wall up, and without them, there was very little holding up the wall.

Teesdale District Council and Raby Estates are both potential owners of the property but neither party has been able to say if they are responsible for the area.

A spokeswoman for Teesdale District Council said: “As readers will appreciate, it would not be appropriate for Teesdale District Council to comment on the views of an anonymous ‘expert’ who has not contacted us directly. What we can do is clarify the council’s role. Our initial responsibility was to remove the danger and secure the site. Our building control staff has monitored the situation, in conjunction with a firm of structural engineers who have visited the site twice, and also worked with Raby Estates, who have provided safety barriers at the higher level and removed additional stonework from the wall to alleviate the situation. Teesdale District Council provided the barrier at the lower level. Investigation into the ownership of, and therefore responsibility for, the site is ongoing.”

Raby Estates were unavailable for comment.

At a meeting last Monday night Cllr John Watson called on fellow members of Barnard Castle Town Council to approach both the district council and Raby Estates to help save the crumbling castle from further disrepair. The council agreed to establish links with both parties and try to help establish a programme of repairs.

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From the Teesdale Mercury, 2nd February 2010

Plans for castle entrance on high street are shelved

The group tasked with regenerating Barnard Castle is no longer pursuing plans for a new entrance into the town’s castle. Barnard Castle Vision last year submitted a planning application for a timber walkway from a former shop in the high street to the castle’s grounds. But the plan, which was drawn up in an effort to increase visitor numbers, was withdrawn after hitting problems. At the time, the Vision said the planning application had been deferred. But the Vision has now said instead of creating a second entrance, the group is working on improving the existing access, at Scar Top.

Dr Anne Allen, of Barnard Castle Vision, said: “The castle is a fantastic asset to the town, but one that is unfortunately under-performing in terms of visitor numbers. Following discussions with English Heritage, it was decided that, rather than pursue the idea to create a second entrance, we would work on improving the existing access to the castle and the infrastructure with a view to enhancing visitor perceptions and experience.”

The Vision had originally said a new walkway would encourage people to visit the castle by giving the site a better high-street presence. The walkway was planned to start from the former Harmoni shop, leading to the grounds through an existing passage at the rear of the property. However, there were concerns that the scheme would neglect the Scar Top entrance. Barnard Castle Town Council had recommended that the current entrance would remain the main access point for pedestrians.

Dr Allen said: “One of the aims of Barnard Castle Vision is to work in conjunction with relevant partners to deliver projects, and in turn to influence those partners to invest in Barnard Castle. English Heritage has responded extremely positively to the landscaping study carried out by the Vision. This demonstrates how to improve the experience of visitors to Barnard Castle, and also addresses visitor management with the aim of prolonging the length of time spent in the town and ultimately boosting the economic impact of tourism.”

The Vision is currently working on making the most of the area between the castle and the river. Projects include the restoration of the riverside walks on the north side of the river, and a scheme to replace the castle lightings.

Dr Allen said: “While we are not currently in a position to open up a second access to the castle, we are actively investigating ways to improve the Scar Top access and make it more visible to visitors. We are also looking at working with English Heritage to put in place an events programme within the castle itself.”

A Vision spokeswoman said that it had cost £1,835 to develop the plans for a second access to the castle. Of that amount, £335 went on the application fee.

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An old postcard of Barnard Castle, recently purchased.

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