Plans lodged for urgent roof repairs at Newstead Abbey

Nottingham City Council has lodged its plans to Gedling Council for the re-roofing, roof repairs, stone work repairs, ceiling repairs and other works to the Grade I-listed Newstead Abbey in Ravenshead.

The historic structure is set in 300 acres of parkland and is steeped in more than 800 years of history.

It acted originally as a monastic Abbey from the 12th century and was also the former home of the romantic poet Lord Byron – who is buried in the churchyard at Hucknall – in the early 1800s.

But the city council has said the building is ‘rapidly deteriorating’ due to water getting through its fabric from ‘continued heavy downpours’ and set out a five-phase repair programme in October 2025.

These initial plans put forward to Gedling Council relate to phase one, which includes replacing the lead and copper roofs, removing the cast-iron water tank, repairing the Sussex Tower, and other works to enable re-roofing.

They come after the city council accepted around £1.5m of Government funding back in October to help protect the fabric of the building.

At the time, the council said the total cost of a five-phase repair programme would be around £8.5m.

If plans are approved by Gedling Council, the copper roof coverings to the salon, library, cloister, Byron’s Stair and Byron’s dressing room will be replaced with new copper coverings and the Sussex Tower roof will be replaced with new lead, along with associated works.

Ian Wells, of the Nottingham Civic Society, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the proposals are about ‘giving the building a future’.

He said: “It’s very welcome, provided it’s done tastefully and with respect to the original building.

"People seem to think the place was a bit of a liability.

“Buildings can become dilapidated so easily, the strange weather we have now, it’s either torrential rain or no rain at all and the living fabric gets pulled either way.”

Local historian, Bob Massey, from Arnold, told the LDRS: “It does need work, it’s been known for years and it’s important it’s done as soon as possible.

“It’s important it’s dealt with at an early stage so it doesn’t end up being a multi-million-pound project.

"There’s a tendency to leave buildings because it becomes expensive, but then it becomes more expensive to fix.

“The interior of the building is important as well, the damage bad weather could do, it could be millions.

"The stuff in there is irreplaceable, you don’t want the weather getting in there at all – this sort of thing could be disastrous.

“It’s important the building is retained for the next generation and the next generations after that.

"Too many important buildings have gone for all sorts of reasons, because the cost of repairing them is high and then they had to be demolished.”

Planning documents say the majority of the works will be ‘like-for-like’ repairs, which should have ‘no impact’ on the basic design of the existing building, and the proposed changes to the roof of the lower Sussex Tower area will have ‘no visual impact’.

Planning documents say: “The preservation and repair of the fabric of the building is a key aim, but also the protection of the Byron collection, lace and textiles that are held and cared-for on site.”

Phase one, two and three relate to the replacement of ‘life expired’ lead, copper and slate roofs across the site, along with upgrading security and fire alarm systems, removal of the water tank and repairs to the Sussex Tower.

Phase four would be the replacement of the heating and electrics to make the building safe and environmentally sustainable and phase five includes alterations and improvements to facilities such as the toilets, café and visitor route.

Newstead Abbey has been on the Heritage At Risk Register since 2004 due to its poor condition.

The works for phase one sit around £1.7m, with £1.48m coming from Arts Council England and around £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Newstead Abbey Partnership has pledged to raise money to support the city council in their Raise the Roof funding campaign

The Raise the Roof Appeal campaign, running from 2025 until 2028, is currently raising money to help the city council with funding for the urgent roof repairs.