VITAL repair work to Evesham’s iconic Almonry has finally started this week.
Contractors arrived on site Monday (March 9) to prepare for phase one of the urgent £2.1m restoration project to begin.
In November, the owners of the Grade I-listed property Evesham Town Council announced that historic buildings specialist DA Cook of Dumbleton had won the contract to carry on the work.
The complex of buildings that house the town’s much-loved museum was placed by Historic England on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2016.
Mesh fencing has surrounded the site and scaffolding will take up to six weeks to erect according to the museum manager Ashleigh Jayes.
It will extend to 6m away from the building on both sides and will have a tin roof on top to protect the building while the works are carried out.
A hefty 42 tonnes of concrete will act as the counterweight to the scaffolding as it cannot touch the building so must be free standing.
“It’s colossal and goes to show that it’s not just ‘bricks and mortar’ that go into heritage repair and restoration projects,” Ashleigh said.
Over the next 12 months specialists will fix the timber frame and windows, repair the walls, and replace the roof, repoint the stonework and remove internal modern 20th Century stud walling that hides the beauty of the building.
Alongside this new energy efficient lighting and heating will be installed to make the space warmer, more welcoming and more sustainable.
The museum’s gift shop and tourist information centre have temporarily moved across the road at 1 to 3 Merstow Green where Ms Jayes now has her office.
“It’s going to be very strange not being able to see the ‘old girl’ from my window,” she added.
The works are due to finish in March 2027. Visit almonryevesham.org/news/ to keep updated.
