Ilam Cross Restoration
Ilam Cross is in a dominant position in the centre of the village of Ilam in the Peak District National Park in Staffordshire. It is a striking and beautiful Victorian monument, in the style of an Eleanor Cross.
Unfortunately more than 160 years of neglect has caused serious damage and general deterioration. As well as the damage which can be seen, there is also considerable anxiety about possible hidden decay caused by penetration of water into the inner parts of the monument which, if not repaired and prevented, could lead to the structural integrity of the whole monument being compromised.
In the early 1960s a particularly violent storm blew down the top stage of the cross - which had already been severely weakened by the previous gradual destruction of six elegant, slender reinforcing buttresses. A sandstone re- placement stage in a highly simplified style was erected. Fortunately there are several good photographs of the cross before the disaster. There is also an engraving, made in 1845, only a few years after the Cross was built.
As long ago as April 2000 a detailed survey of the state of the monument's structural condition and that of the carved stonework was carried out under the auspices of English Heritage, in preparation for deciding upon a programme of work for its repair, conservation and preservation. Unfortunately, the campaign to raise the necessary funds was blocked by the fact that, despite extensive research, it had not been possible to establish who owned the monument. Without ownership, or the agreement of the unknown 'owner', major grant-making authorities would not be ready to consider supporting the project
Fortunately, in September 2003, the Peak District National Park Authority (the local planning authority) came to the rescue and agreed that, provided a charitable trust had been formed and had raised the funds needed for the completion of the programme of work on the memorial, the Authority would then make a compulsory purchase order to acquire ownership of the Cross and would then convey it to the Ilam Cross Trust for repair, conservation and preservation. The Ilam Cross Trust Ltd. was incorporated in November 2003 and registered with the Charity Commission in January 2004. The compulsory purchase order has since been processed and the Trust took ownership of the Cross in March 2009.
During 2004, the Trustees appointed Brown Matthews Partnership in Warwick, as Consulting Architects and in 2008 Sula Rayska was appointed as project manager for the restoraiton. The work is now on site with some of the carving being carried out in somerset at the workshops of Ian Ward & Sons Ltd. The project should be completed by the summer of 2011.
