A number of Merseyside buildings are ‘at risk’ and in need of saving, according to a heritage campaign group.
Save Britain’s Heritage, a charity campaigning to rescue historic buildings, has today added 60 new buildings to its 'at Risk Register'. The register already holds around 1200 buildings from across the country which are at risk of demolition or further deterioration.
Every year a crop of new buildings are added to the list in what the charity says is a bid to “publicise the plight of historic treasures”. It adds that with “a little imagination” the buildings could find a new lease of life, with the register a useful tool for attracting "wider attention" and "interest".
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Six Merseyside buildings have now been added to the list. These include Sandheys in West Derby, a grade II listed Victorian mansion which was later used as a World War One veteran’s orphanage and then a school.
Plans were drawn up to convert the building into 20 flats, but Save Britain's Heritage said these plans appear to have been shelved and is now at risk of further deterioration. A similar building in West Derby, Eddesbury, has also been added to the register, although the near 140 year-old Victorian villa is the subject of an application for conversion.
Queen’s Stores Warehouse in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, and Queen’s Royal Hotel New Brighton, are part of the new additions to the list. The Queen’s Royal Hotel closed in 2019 and has since survived a demolition attempt and fire.
Save Britain’s Heritage add that Eccleston Park Golf Club, Prescot, is said to have an uncertain future and has therefore been added to the list. The building was recently under threat by plans to build homes of the golf course site, but even after these plans were rejected doubts over its future remain.
The final Merseyside building to be added to the list is one of the oldest cricket club buildings in the country. Huyton Cricket and Bowling Club Pavilion, Knowsley, dates back to 1875 but recently survived demolition plans. It has since received listed status following a local campaign.
Save Britain’s Heritage said: “Every year we add new buildings identified by our supporters, conservation officers and other heritage professionals in a bid to publicise the plight of historic treasures which, with a little imagination, could find new life. The register is a powerful tool in bringing buildings which could be repurposed to wider attention and attracts interest from all quarters."
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