Emergency repairs needed to save historic Chesterfield building from ruin

Cannon Mill, which was built as an iron and armaments factory in 1775, has been disused since a partial restoration in 1957. Now a community interest orgamisation wants to carry out essential repairs immediately and raise money to restore the building to its former glory over the coming years.

An application to Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning authority for permission to repair and stabilise the Grade II listed building says: “The pantile and slate roof has degraded to the point that large sections are leaking. During Christmas 2022 this resulted in the failure of two purlin beams, holding up the end section of the roof and tying in the top section of the gable wall to the rest of the structure.

"Emergency works are therefore needed as a matter of urgency before other main beams fail, more tiles fall into the adjacent pedestrian thoroughfare or the now freestanding top section of the gable wall falls, seriously risking the future of the whole building.”

Community interest organisation Cannon Mill Trust says in a Design & Access & Heritage Statement submitted as part of the application: “We will be carefully removing the remaining pantiles and storing them inside the building where they can be assessed for damage and re-laying. The lats holding up these tiles will be removed and then a new temporary wooden roof structure will be bolted to the existing roof frame to provide a base for a temporary over-roof: hence we can make the building watertight without altering the existing purlins, rafters or beams.

"On this new over-frame, we will mount dark grey tin roofing sheets to enable the building to keep out water while a fully funded heritage project is scoped and developed – which will probably take 2-3 years. This delivers the objective of protecting this important building from further degradation while funding is raised for a full sympathetic restoration.”

On its website the trust comments: “The building will have a new future as a youth, education and environment workshop. We'll be doing practical stuff - fixing up the place then building bikes, repairing broken things and making new things from unwanted stuff.”