Steps closure between Wingfield Close and Greenfields
15 February 2022
***Update: The steps reopened for public use on Wednesday 2 March 2022. Works around the steps area to improve safety and accessibility will now continue and the steps can be used whilst this work takes place. These works will include adding the new handrails and improving the brick walls. Lighting will be installed later this year.
The steps behind Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings that link Wingfield Close and the railway underpass to Greenfields and Herongate will be closed in February 2022.
There will be no public access to the steps between Monday 21 and Monday 28 February 2022. The steps will be reopened for public use by Tuesday 1 March 2022.
Last year, site owners Historic England received funding from the second round of the Government’s Heritage Stimulus Fund. This funding will enable the works to the set of steps, as well as works inside the main Flaxmill Maltings site. The works to the steps will make accessing the site, and other local amenities, easier and safer for the community. They will also preserve the existing heritage.
These works to the steps by the railway line are part of our efforts to bring the home of the world’s first iron framed building back to life. The steps really do need some attention and Historic England’s contractors, Croft Building and Conservation, will be re-surfacing the existing concrete steps and repairing and repainting the adjoining brick walls.
A handrail will be fitted to both sides of the steps and non-slip treads with white nosing’s will be fitted to improve safety and accessibility. Later this year some lighting will also be installed, although that is not part of the works taking place this month.
Nick Hill, National Conservation Projects Manager, Historic England
The focus of the current restoration is the Grade I listed Main Mill and Grade II Kiln. This part of the project will be completed in 2022 when the Flaxmill Maltings will open and we will welcome people to eat, learn, visit, work and enjoy everything this amazing place has to offer.
Frequently asked questions
1. When will the steps be closed?
The steps will be closed between Monday 21 and Monday 28 February 2022.
2. When will the steps reopen?
The steps will be reopened for public use by Tuesday 1 March 2022.
3. What repairs are being made?
The works to the steps will make the steps easier and safer for the community to use. The steps will be resurfaced, and a handrail is being fitted to the walls of the steps on both sides. Later this year some lighting will also be installed.
4. Is a ramp for pushchairs or wheelchairs being added?
No. Ramped access is not possible because of the steepness and height of the steps and the constricted space available. If a ramp were to be put in within the space that is there, it would be far too steep to be safe for either wheelchair users or people with pushchairs.
As a ramp is not possible, the purpose of the works on the steps mentioned above is to do what we can to them to make them safer for the local community to use.