Church and city walls on heritage at risk list
One of Worcester’s oldest churches and parts of the city walls are among the heritage sites labelled ‘at risk’.
Lowesmoor, which has been the subject of multi-million pound regeneration schemes in recent years, is also classed as vulnerable.
Historic England lists the places most at risk of being lost as a result of “neglect, decay or inappropriate development” on its Heritage at Risk Register.
Updated in November 2023, 4,871 sites are listed across the country.
The Church of St Helen in Fish Street is described as being in fair condition but suffering from slow decay by Historic England.
“The presence of iron cramps in conjunction with the red sandstone used for rebuilding in the 19th century is causing accelerated deterioration and failure of the facework,” the register entry says.
“A limited scheme of high level masonry repairs funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant for Places of Worship was completed in 2019 but masonry repairs to the south aisle and lowest stage of the tower remain to be attended to.”
The church reopened in October after a year-long closure.
Sections of Worcester’s medieval city walls are listed as scheduled monuments.
Historic England says it has funded repairs to parts of the walls but that a stretch from the back of 27 New Street to Windsor Row is being damaged by plant growth, while the section between Angel Place and Bath Cottage is at risk of collapse.
The moated site at Earl’s Court in Rushwick is described as being in “generally unsatisfactory” condition with “major localised problems”.
The Lowesmoor conservation area is in a “very bad” condition according to Historic England but is improving.
Plans for the regeneration of Lowesmoor Wharf were put forward a few years ago and a petition has recently been launched for Vesta Tilley House to be locally listed.
The roof of Church of St John the Baptist in Crowle is in poor condition, Historic England says, and the Grade II listed building is in need of stonework repairs.
Another Grade II listed church, the Church of St James in Bredicot, is at “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”, according to the register.
