Restoration work on Hexham’s Grade II listed Shambles covered market has been completed. It means the iconic structure will be ready for the switch-on of the town’s Christmas lights next Friday.
The £400,000 scheme, funded by Northumberland County Council, saw “urgent” work carried out to repair timber beams, timber and stone columns as well as the roof, flooring and electrics within the structure. Repairs were needed to the columns and stonework after they were repeatedly damaged by vehicles in recent years.
Work is set to continue on the adjacent car park, with the previous spaces deemed to be shorter than the minimum length required for larger modern vehicles. The project will see “sympathetically designed bollards” placed around the north and west sides of The Shambles to further protect it from future damage by vehicle movements.
Council comment
A spokesman for the council said: “Our work to restore Hexham’s ancient Shambles building is complete. It looks fantastic and is now preserved for the town and future generations to enjoy.
“The markets will resume business in The Shambles this weekend. Work is ongoing on the Market Place car park in front of the Shambles – this is expected to be complete next week.
“Thank you for your continued support while we undertake this last bit of important work – the finish line is now clearly in sight.”
The Grade II listed structure dates back to 1766 and was built by Sir Walter Blackett. The project had originally been due to finish in October, but was held up by “nesting pigeons” and wasn’t expected to be done until towards the end of November.
Hexham councillor comment
Hexham East councillor Suzanne Fairless Aitken added: “It looks the business. I’m really pleased with it.
“I’m even more pleased that the Christmas lights can now be fitted. We’ve had the go-ahead for that.
“The traders will be back under cover where they belong. I’m absolutely delighted they’re all there and I hope they enjoy it.
“There have been delays – we wanted this work to start in February – but the crew have been really marvellous. Once they got going, they were really going at a pace and I thought they were brilliant.”
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