• historic
  • adlington hall
  • capesthorne hall
  • john barrow memorial
  • john rylands library
  • leeds city museum
  • ordsall hall
  • st. peter's
  • victoria baths
• parks
• ecclesiastical
• secular
• domestic

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Client	Ulverston Town Council
Location	Ulverston, Cumbria
Status	Grade II* Listed
Summary	Large scale repair and restoration including improvement interventions
Completion	Autumn 2009
Build Value	£1.2m

The Sir John Barrow Monument was constructed in 1850 to commemorate the life of Sir John Barrrow, an 18th century author and promoter of exploration. The monument, a Grade 2* listed viewing tower largely modelled on the flared form of the Eddystone lighthouse. It occupies a prominent position on Hoad Hill which rises steeply over Ulverston town, providing an open, rolling, rural setting. The elevated, exposed position commands 360° degree views over Morecambe Bay, the Irish Sea and the Lake District.

Archive material shows that the Monument constructed of local limestone was beset with water ingress problems right from the start, which were never resolved. By the 1960s photographical evidence shows the stonework to have been in poor condition, and the shaft, excluding the domed lantern and the seat, was covered in Gunnite, a reinforced concrete waterproofing render. This unfortunately served to exacerbate the problems with conditions inside the monument continuing to deteriorate and the moisture unable to escape through the Gunnite clad walls. The saturation of the structure has ultimately led to the corrosion of ferrous fixings, the iron balustrading has begun to blow apart the sandstone stair treads, and the building was closed to the public in 2003 on grounds of safety.

A successful HLF Lottery bid has ensured that comprehensive repairs to the Monument will be undertaken, due to commence on site early 2009 and finish in the autumn of the same year.

The strongest intervention proposed is the covering of the dome in seamed copper, presently thought to be allowing water in through its inward draining joints. The proposals also allow for the complete rebuilding of the lantern, should investigations reveal a ferrous metal restraining ring beam, which could continue to have a long term detrimental effect on the structure in the future. While desirable, it had proved impractical to remove the Gunnite from the whole structure, it will be repaired and repainted, but the skirt below the lower string course will be restored to reinstate a monumental quality and human scale.

A passive stack ventilation strategy will be implemented by allowing air intake through the skirt at low level, warming air in this space which will rise through the building, and providing new windows with ventilation panels to the lantern. This in time will dry the structure out.

The interior will be refurbished simply, the existing supporting structure to the galleries overhauled, gallery surfaces replaced, some enlarged to allow for improved access and interpretation opportunities. The sandstone spiral and cantilevered stairs will be repaired, the balusters and handrails restored before reinstating with stainless steel fixings, and the shaft repointed with a hydraulic lime mortar mix.