Half A Million To Restore Southall's Oldest Building

Money to be spent on urgent repairs

Ealing Council has rubber stamped plans to spend £560,000 on restoring and refurbishing Southall Manor House.

The Elizabethan Manor House is a Grade II listed building in Southall Green, which is currently on English Heritage’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. It dates back to 1587 and is the oldest building in Southall.

The money will be spent over the next two years on urgent repairs to protect the Manor House and prevent further deterioration to the listed building.

Initial work will include replacing the roof timbers, some of which date back to the 13th Century, and other repairs to ensure the building is ‘wind and weather tight’. Funding is also being sought from other organisations to carry out further improvements to the building.

Councillor Julian Bell, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said:

“Southall Manor House is one of the oldest listed buildings in the borough and is of significant heritage importance.

“It is vital that we carry out this work to remove the building from the ‘at-risk’ register and preserve this important landmark for future generations.

“Restoring this building is also a key to regenerating ‘Old Southall’, ensuring that this part of the borough is revitalised for local residents, businesses and visitors.”

As part of an on-going consultation on the future use of the building, people are invited to attend a family fun-day on Saturday, 21 August. Participants will have an opportunity to see the improvements to the grounds and to have a say on future community uses for the Manor House.

Work is also underway to improve the grounds of the Manor House by restoring the pool and garden and introducing a community history project. This is being run by the council, alongside Groundwork London, and is being funded with £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and an extra £30,000 from the council.

The decision to spend the £560,000 was made by the council’s Cabinet on Tuesday, 1 June 2010. All cabinet decisions are subject to call-in for a period of five working days from the date of publication of the minutes of the meeting.

June 10, 2010