Wall to be dismantled at Wiltshire castle for 'urgent' repairs

Wiltshire Council has approved the dismantling of a wall at Devizes Castle to allow for restoration work on the historic building.

Devizes Castle is a 19th-century, Grade I country house built on the location of a fortification constructed around 1080 by Bishop Osmund of Salisbury, Nephew of William the Conqueror.

The owner, Mr Kazuhiko Akao, applied for permission to dismantle the curtain wall shortly after the council approved “urgent conservation-led repairs” to the castle.

Mr Akao had reported that “inadequate” previous maintenance had left roofs leaking, boundary walls collapsing, and parapets wobbling.

Now, with Wiltshire Council’s approval, a section of the wall at the access point from Castle Road can be dismantled to allow construction vehicles access into the castle grounds.

According to the application, the wall has “fragments of stonework originating from the castle and possibly material salvaged from elsewhere, including the mid-19th century refacing of the adjoining church of St John the Baptist.”

It states that the dismantled stonework will be set aside in a secure, weather-proof environment whilst the work is carried out.

It also adds that all works proposed to be carried out will be done so in a “careful and sensitive manner” and will be undertaken by “a specialist tradesman using appropriate methods.”

The new building will be constructed in the style of “traditional Dutch agricultural barns.”

As proprietor of a newspaper and media empire founded by Harold Sidney Harmsworth, the 1st Viscount Rothermere, the owner of the Wiltshire estate is the controlling shareholder of the media conglomerate which includes the Daily Mail.

The full details of the planning application, as well as all other planning application submitted to Wiltshire Council, can be found on the planning and building control public register.

Credit: LDRS / Jessica Moriarty