THERE has been scaffolding on the town walls in Ludlow in the next stage of work to ascertain the condition of the historic structure.

Ludlow Town Council and St Laurence’s Church, are pleased that drilling of the investigative horizontal and vertical cores in the churchyard was successfully completed last week, under the direction of the Consulting Engineers appointed by Ludlow Town Council.

Invasive work of this nature required approval from Historic England and a Faculty Consent from the Diocese of Hereford.

There was archaeological monitoring throughout the work.

The information gained from these investigations will be used to create a specification for the long term repair, which will again be subject to separate Ancient Scheduled Monument and Faculty Consent.

Ludlow’s town walls date back to Medieval times when the town was an important border post between England and Wales.

The walls around the town are still clearly visible in many places and part of the historic attraction of the town for visitors.

But hundreds of years have taken their toll and in some parts repairs to the walls have not been as good as they should have been.

Eight years ago, a section of wall at the back of St Laurence Church collapsed causing some nearby homes to be evacuated for a short time whilst engineers checked that it was safe to return.

There followed an extended period in which it was debated if responsibility for the repairs was with Ludlow Town Council, St Laurence Church or Shropshire Council.

Ludlow Town Council has taken the lead and the latest investigative work that includes taking core samples will help to determine what is needed to stabilise the wall.

The cost of repairs will run into millions of pounds and will be supervised by English Heritage.It will need extensive grant funding to pay for the repairs.