Grade II listed museum gets new roof green light

The Grade II listed building is known as Handel’s House

A Grade II listed museum has been given permission to carry out extensive work on its roof.

The county museum in Dorchester will now try to secure the funding for the works, which could not be completed when the building was revamped between 2020 and 2021.

Dorset Council has backed an application to refurbish and replace much of the main roof, including replacing fibre cement slates with natural slate.

Funding for the museum roof work is expected to be announced in the spring and the museum said it was unable to comment on its cost or duration.

The work includes replacing lead flashings, roof valleys, parapet gutters and lead and copper cladding to dormer windows, as well as repairs to the decorative Victorian Gallery windows.

There will also be repairs and repointing to chimneys and parapet walls.

Crickmay Stark Architects in Dorchester, which drew up the proposal, said the main museum building was built between 1881 and 1883, with another part of the building dating back to the early 17th Century.

In its report, the company said the roofs had already reached the end of their useful life at the time of the major redevelopment between 2020 and 2021 but had to be omitted from those works due to the cost.

It said: “Fundamentally, the roofscape leaks and has done for a prolonged period.

"Consequently, there is evidence of internal water ingress in wall and ceiling plasterwork and finishes."