Shropshire Star

Replica plan for landmark Shrewsbury Lord Hill statue backed

People living near Shrewsbury's crumbling 199-year-old Lord Hill statue would like to see it replaced with a replica, a councillor said today.

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Checks have been made on the crumbling Lord Hill statue

Hannah Fraser, who represents the Abbey ward on Shropshire Council, said an 'overwhelming' number of the people she had spoken to on the doorstep as part of local election campaign were in favour of this option.

Her comments came after it was announced scaffolding would be going up around the Column as an emergency measure after more pieces of stone falling off the statue during high winds last week.

Council officials have said they do not know what the cost of the scaffolding will be and no date has been set for a decision on the statue's future.

English Heritage is looking at a range of options, including either replacing the 17-foot statue with a replica or carrying out extensive repair work. Councillor Fraser said a decision needed to be made soon.

The column has been surrounded by fencing since last April when pieces of stone first fell from it.

The exclusion zone was extended in December after further debris fell.

Last week, more debris fell and landed outside the fencing.

However, it is not possible to further extend the perimeter, so council bosses have decided to put in scaffolding 'as soon as possible'.

Covering the statue in netting has been ruled out on the grounds of cost and difficulty.

Councillor Fraser said: "They need to make a decision quickly because it has fencing round it for a long time."

She said she had been asking people on the doorstep what they want to happen with the statue and the majority favoured a replacement being put on top of the column.

"What people seem to be in favour of is a replica," she said.

Once the scaffolding goes up, the amount of safety fencing surrounding the Column will be reduced.

This will allowing walkers to once again use Preston Street and will allow access to Shirehall along Processional Way.

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