WORK is promised to continue the investigation into what needs doing to repair Ludlow’s collapsed section of town wall.

But ‘the Advertiser’ has seen a report that shows that this section of wall has needed a number of repairs over the centuries.

Ludlow’s town walls are believed to date to the 13th century, with construction dates of between 1233 and 1304. Repairs were undertaken throughout subsequent centuries.

A petition dated to the late 13th to early 14th century survives, whereby the liege people of the town of Ludlow petitioned the king for murage, so that they could repair walls that were in decay. Murage was granted on three occasions in 1294, 1299 and 1304.

The section of walling to the rear of the church that collapsed in February 2013, almost exactly eight years ago, is known to have been subject to repair in 1576/7 and 1624/5, evidenced by documentary references to payments for repair.

The Church of St Lawrence was closed formally in 1854, after which the responsibility for maintenance and repair passed to the local authority, now Ludlow Town Council.

In 1955, monuments were cleared from the churchyard, and paths and benches laid out.

The report goes on to say that there were repairs to part of the wall in the middle of the last century when there was repointing and that this may have contributed to the collapse eight years ago.

On two successive occasions in February 2013, the section of wall to the rear of the churchyard collapsed, following a prolonged period of wet weather. Emergency stabilisation works were undertaken by Shropshire Council.

This involved some people being evacuated from their homes for a short period whilst engineers carried out safety checks after which they were allowed to return.

The cost of repairs could run into millions.