Plans submitted for repair work at Wigan's Haigh Hall

Improvement work at Wigan’s historic Haigh Hall has moved a step closer to reality with the submission of a planning application.
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Wigan Council has requested listed building consent for repairs and cleaning to the outside of the building, which has often been described as the “jewel in the crown” of the borough.

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The work will include repairs to the roof to address leaks and areas of damp, replacing plastic downpipes with cast iron, repointing across the building, full refurbishment of glazed skylights, cleaning external stonework, repairs to windows and replacing some with doors on the ground floor, and repainting external metalwork.

Haigh HallHaigh Hall
Haigh Hall
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A design, access and impact statement submitted with the application states: “The proposal involves sympathetic repair of the external fabric to make the building safe and water-tight so the long-term, sustainable future of the hall could be guaranteed. The cleaning of the external masonry will be kept to a minimum to only remove the build-up of the algae, in order to be respectful to the historic nature of the building. Previously installed inappropriate modern intervention will be removed and made good sympathetically.”

The application has the backing of Haigh Parish Council, with its clerk Krystyna Pilkington saying the council’s view is the work is “very necessary”.

Wigan Council’s planning department intends to make a decision on the application by the end of April, with work expected to begin in winter.

Coun Chris Ready, the local authority’s cabinet member for leisure and culture, previously described the planning application as “a significant milestone in the hall’s restoration journey”.

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It is the first major step to physically improve the grade II*-listed building since it was returned to the council’s control last year.

The hall had been used as a hotel in recent years, but there were a series of complaints and the operator was forced to leave after a High Court battle.

Artists Al and Al were appointed by the council to look at what should happen to the building next and they held a consultation in the autumn to find out what people would like to see there.

They are now drawing up plans and hope to reveal them soon, with the public given a chance to have their say before the scheme is finalised.

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