Latest works at the historic Radcliffe Tower

The next phase of the Radcliffe Manor project starts on 2 March when work to repair Radcliffe Tower will begin. This will be followed a few weeks later by another archaeological dig.

The work to the tower will take four months and involves replacing fallen masonry, strengthening walls, renewing grilles and re-pointing all the joints with lime mortar. It will cost £64,000 with the main funding coming from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd), a not-for-profit environmental body that distributes landfill tax credits on behalf of FCC Environment, one of the UK`s leading waste and resource management companies.

The work is being supervised by Manchester-based architects Lloyd Evans Prichard and the repairs will be carried out by Oldham-based Bullen Conservation. It will also include practical training for students on the construction course at Bury College who may be interested in a career in building conservation.

The dig, from 13 April to 15 May, will once again be led by archaeologists from Salford University and is an unexpected bonus. The medieval findings of the last dig in September 2014 were of such interest that the university decided to make the tower site one of only two ‘flagship projects’ in the Dig Greater Manchester programme of major investigations in 2015/16.

The archaeologists will hold an open day on 16 May to view the excavations, and the trenches will be filled the following week. People interested in volunteering for the dig are asked to email v.nash@salford.ac.uk

Once these two elements are complete it is intended to start work on landscaping and interpreting the site. The wider project, which has involved extensive research and will include the improvement of access to the site, has been made possible by a grant of £267,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Councillor Jane Lewis, Bury Council’s cabinet member for communities and culture, said: “It’s great to see all the strands of this project coming together: the huge amount of volunteer effort, the professional building work, the archaeology and the opportunities for art and now construction students. We’re aiming to develop the old manor precinct as a unique extension to Close Park but the preparatory work has been equally important.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 19 February 2015.

Note to editors:

WREN:

WREN is a not-for-profit business that awards grants to community, environmental and heritage projects across the UK from funds donated FCC Environment as part of a voluntary environmental tax credit scheme called the Landfill Communities Fund.  Since 1998, WREN has granted over £200m to more than 6500 projects which benefit people living within 10 miles of a FCC Environment landfill site.

www.wren.org.uk

FCC Environnent:

From waste to resource. FCC Environment are the leading UK waste and resource management company and are part of a global group with a strong heritage in providing services for communities and business.  Their vision is to be the environmental company of choice, delivering change for a sustainable future.  They offer:

Municipal services – household waste collection, street cleansing, parks and gardens maintenance

Business waste solutions – waste collection and recycling services for small and large companies

Recycling – material recycling facilities, household waste recycling centres

Green energy – recovery of energy from waste

Waste processing –industrial waste treatment, hazardous wastes and landfill disposal

They employ 2,400 people and operate more than 200 facilities across England, Scotland and Wales.

www.fccenvironment.co.uk

Landfill Tax and the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF):

Any waste that is discarded which cannot be reused, reprocessed or recycled may ultimately be disposed of in a landfill site. To encourage Landfill site Operators (LOs) to re-use, recycle, recover more value from waste and use more environmentally friendly methods of waste disposal, Landfill Tax is charged on each tonne of waste sent to landfill.

LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 5.1%) against their landfill tax liability to support a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of their landfill sites through the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF). The LCF is regulated by ENTRUST on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs, and the projects are delivered by enrolled Environmental bodies (EBs).

Since its inception in 1996, over £1.3 billion has been spent on more than 50,000 projects across the UK. For further information, please visit www.entrust.org.ukor see HMRC’s general guide to Landfill Tax

More info:

Dig Greater Manchester:

http://www.salford.ac.uk/cst/research/applied-archaeology/community-engagement or

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Centre-for-Applied-Archaeology-University-of-Salford/171863342870145

Heritage Lottery Fund:

http://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/great-news-radcliffe%E2%80%99s-medieval-quarter