Historic Cloisters restored to full glory

Appleby Town Council are delighted that the building repairs to the town’s historic Cloisters are finally complete and the buildings have been restored to their full glory. This work completes an intensive programme of work carried out over the past 2 years to the Council’s historical buildings, including repair work on the West Tower of the Cloisters, the Moot Hall and Low & High Crosses. This last piece of work was carried out with financial support provided through Eden District Council’s ‘Inspiring Eden’ economic development programme and the Council were honoured to be the first recipient of a grant from this transformational development programme. The programme provided a grant of £100,000 towards the cost of work to the East Tower and central arcade area of the Cloisters. The work included urgent building repairs to make good leaking roofs, cracking masonry and rotten timbers, as well as decorative repairs to windows, the public seating area and the gates leading to the church.

Cllr Dot Anderton, said: “On behalf of Appleby Town Council as Chair of the Property Committee I would like to thank Eden District Council for their support to enable us to carry out the work on the Cloisters buildings. Without the grant from the Inspiring Eden programme we would not have been able to carry out the repairs to make the Cloisters safe and secure for many generations to come. The Cloisters is such an important and prominent landmark in Appleby and restoring this historic building to its former glory will significantly contribute to Appleby’s status as a Heritage Town.”

The Cloisters is a Grade II* listed building, built in 1811 by R Smirke at the lower end of Boroughgate, Appleby’s main historic high street. It consists of a central public arcade area giving access to St Lawrence’s Church with square towers at either end, known as the West and East Towers. Repair work to the West tower was carried out under the Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) programme, which brought over £1,000,000 worth of investment to Appleby to help safeguard the town’s heritage assets.

Both phases of the Cloisters building repairs were carried out by DEC Construction, a Kendal based building contractor who specialise.
New cast iron fingerposts and information boards have also been commissioned, which will be installed in the town over the next few months.

Councillor Mary Robinson, Portfolio Holder for Economy and Enterprise for Eden District Council, said: “When the Heritage Action Zone programme finished Eden District Council was determined to continue working in partnership with Appleby Town Council to support important repairs to significant landmarks in the town.”

“Through investment from our Inspiring Eden economic development programme, The Cloisters arcade and the East Tower have now been preserved to be enjoyed by future generations.”