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A Grade I-listed building which was once home to William Shakespeare’s daughter has been placed on the heritage at risk register, just months after a car reversed into the property.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) confirmed Hall’s Croft in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Susanna and her husband Dr John Hall lived, is now on Historic England’s register designating it at-risk.
The 400-year-old Jacobean building was damaged in October after a car accidentally backed into it, though it was already undergoing a significant conservation project,
A spokesperson for the organisation, which cares for five historic Shakespeare family homes, told Arts Professional that “following conversations with Historic England, it’s likely that we could have elected to place Hall’s Croft on the heritage at risk register prior to the car accident as we were already carrying out long-planned conservation work”.
They said the impact of the car was “significant”, though did not cause “major structural damage”.
They could not comment on the cost of repairs as they are ongoing, but said “all repairs as a direct result of the accident will be covered by insurance”.
Police attended the scene, though “no legal action was taken against the driver”.
Ongoing works
The trust is currently undertaking work to stabilise the building and remove temporary steel supports installed in 2012.
SBT had planned to remove the supports before the Covid-19 pandemic, but a spokesperson said the resulting delays led to “significantly increased costs, which stalled our plans”.
They said being placed on the list would highlight the “scale of the conservation challenge”.
“The highly specialised skills and materials required to conserve and maintain historic buildings of this kind (and all SBT’s other historic properties) are hard to come by and expensive.
“The impacts of modern life (cars) and changing climate exacerbate the problem.”
The initial work is scheduled for completion in October this year, and is largely funded by a £1 million donation from playwright Ken Ludwig, although a “funding shortfall” remains.
The next phase will include major work to the building’s facades, replacement of the roof and securing the interior.
‘Transparent about the challenges’
The full restoration programme is expected to cost between £8m and £10m, for which SBT requires “substantial external funding” from the likes of institutional funders and philanthropists.
Chief executive of SBT Rachael North said the inclusion of the building on the heritage at risk register “is an important and necessary step”.
“It allows us to be transparent about the challenges we face and to begin building the partnerships required to secure the building’s future,” she said.
“We take seriously our responsibility to care for this inheritance, so that it can continue to inspire curiosity, connection and understanding for generations to come.”
Historic England regional director of the Midlands Deborah Williams said: “Hall’s Croft is an internationally significant building and adding it to the heritage at risk register is a positive first step in helping bring the building back into use.
“I know that Shakespeare Birthplace Trust take their role as custodians of this shared history very seriously and they understand that being added to the at risk register is the first step on the journey to be removed from it.”
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