Council applies for grant to repair historic abbey

Newstead Abbey is known for being the home of poet Lord Byron

Urgent repair work is due to take place at a Nottinghamshire landmark, as part of efforts to remove it from a heritage "at risk" register.

Nottingham City Council's museums and galleries service manages Newstead Abbey, the ancestral home of poet Lord Byron, and started developing a programme of repairs last year.

The authority has applied for a grant of just under £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to pay for repairs to the Sussex Tower at the abbey.

The tower has become "a severe health and safety risk" due to water damage, council documents show, and some rooms below have been emptied of collections and are no longer accessible.

It is expected the work will finish in March 2028, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

If the grant money is awarded, the council says the repair programme will begin in April.

A redundant water tank in the tower will be removed, the roof will be repaired to its original design, and masonry and internal ceilings will be made safe.

Newstead Abbey dates back as far as the 12th Century, and was home to Byron from 1808 to 1814

Newstead Abbey is on the Heritage at Risk Register primarily because of the "poor state" of its roofs and internal damage from water ingress, documents say.

"The grant funding will enable a professional team, a conservation-accredited architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor and scaffolding designer to lead the project and a main contractor to deliver the repairs."

Ken Robinson sits on the Newstead Abbey Partnership, a collection of local people who work together to raise money for the upkeep of the site.

"[The repairs are] a necessity," he said.

"The abbey was a integral part of Lord Byron's life, even if for a short period of time.

"Looking at it in terms of the visitor economy, we want people to come to the area."