Heritage campaign aims to save cooling towers

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station's cooling towers have loomed large in the lives of the residents of the region

A campaign is calling for at least one set of cooling towers in the UK to be saved and protected, following the demolition of eight towers at Nottinghamshire's Cottam Power Station.

The Twentieth Century Society (TCS), which focuses on buildings constructed from 1914 onwards, says it wants to preserve the "iconic structures" that are not "blots on the landscape".

In Nottinghamshire, cooling towers still stand at decomissioned sites in West Burton and Ratcliffe-on-Soar but there are no plans to retain them.

Historic England said it has instead implemented "a detailed recording programme as the last post-war coal-fired power stations are closed" and will ensure "important artefacts are saved".

Catherine Croft, director of the TCS, said: "I feel really sad when I see cooling towers come down.

"It's just something that has been part of our landscape, part of the history of the 20th Century that's going to be gone forever.

"We've had a really positive response to the campaign with people saying how much they like cooling towers and how they use them as way markers along familiar journeys."

Ms Croft said the society was not just suggesting the towers sit as monuments as "there are other exciting things that you could do to rejuvenate them and make them useful", such as extreme sports or sites for alternative energies.

"I think just keeping one set of cooling towers seems to me to be a reasonable balance," she added

Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which was the UK's last coal-fired power station, closed in September 2024.

A spokesperson for Uniper, which owns the site and plans to develop a clean energy technology park there, said: "The cooling towers are approaching the end of their design life, and retention of any towers would come with a significant cost to maintain these structures and meet safety requirements.

"Retaining the cooling towers would directly impact any future development at the site and the benefits this would bring to the East Midlands.

"Therefore, Uniper does not propose to retain any of the cooling towers."

West Burton has moved from coal power to being the site for fusion energy

A fusion power plant is due to be built on the site of the former West Burton coal-fired power plant, owned by EDF Energy.

EDF confirmed there were no plans to retain the cooling towers at the West Burton B site as part of the fusion development.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) sets out the overall criteria for protection, and decides which sites are protected.

A spokesperson said: "We assess the sites and advise the government on this, and our approach to assessing the special interest of such heritage is set out in our relevant selection guide.

"On the basis of current information, protection of these sites is unlikely."

A Historic England spokesperson said the body had been "working closely with the Science Museum Group to ensure important artefacts are saved".

"This means valuable information and evidence relating to the industry is kept for posterity and potential study now and in the future," they added.