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THE large scaffolding that had
stood in front of a High Street magpie (black and white)
building for about four to five months
was taken down as the project neared its target of 16 weeks.
This gave a wider
view of The Square, or town centre.
Fortunately, the
street was still quite wide with the scaffolding and
the public were still able to walk past it with no trouble,
when the coronavirus pandemic restricted the number of people in town
anyway.
For a while, at the
end of last year the scaffolding had
stood in front of what was Bridgford's estate agents
premises with no
indication about why it was there.
I had
assumed that a team of experts were about to repaint the old
timbers to preserve them for many years to come. But it turned out
to be more serious that than.
I later learned that the front
wall of the building had separated from the rest of the
single bay, three storey and six room piece of Nantwich history.
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Then, one day, a hoarding was
erected around the scaffolding. I saw a young man painting
it and asked what was happening to the building. He told me
it wasn't in danger but there was a problem with the front
aspect.
It turned out that the
scaffolding was for craftsmen and painters to access the wall
and more tasks, as well as making sure it wouldn't fall down.
THE 16-week project was led by Quadriga Contracts
Ltd in mid-Cheshire in partnership with Lambert,
Smith and Hampton, property management and maintenance
specialists with offices in Manchester, Liverpool and other
locations. Atelier MB, urban
architects, of Manchester, are also in partnership with Quadriga
Contracts Ltd.
As its name indicates, High
Street is normally a very busy thoroughfare. When the
hoarding appeared, passers-by were obviously quite safe to
pass by as proved by the
seat-cum-planter that was left immediately in front
of the hoarding.
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I DID what I always do when
something about old Nantwich comes to my notice. I contacted
local historian and Museum volunteer-cum-author, Andrew
Lamberton, to ask what he knew about the building.
He told me:
"The
property has been an estate agents' for some time - 30 years
or more, I would say, off the top of my head.
It is sad to see it in this state."
I asked
him if the building
had been one of those that had escaped the Great Fire of
Nantwich in 1583, but he said: "It
did not survive the great fire because virtually the whole
of High Street was completely destroyed.
"However,
if you look at information about listed buildings, it says
it is early 17th Century.
"I'm
not sure about that because it would have been built in 1584
immediately after the fire like its neighbours.
"I
can't see the plot standing empty for, say, 50 years.
"It's
a prime trading position in the middle of the most important
street in the town.
"I
think the reason for giving a later date is the presence of
internal diagonal cross braces which were a feature of 17th
Century buildings." |
