THE restoration and conservation work to the historic Market House in Ross-on-Wye, has now been completed, with the official handover from the contractors back to the town council taking place last week.

The works, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and additional funders, addressed the primary areas of concern of the Grade II listed building and a scheduled ancient monument.

The renovation included the much-needed repairs to the stone window surrounds to the west, north and east elevations and sill repairs to the south windows, low level stone repairs along the south elevation, repairs to the roof, lead gutters and ridges, plus other minor repairs and decorations.

The clock tower exhibited significant deterioration due to weather and required extensive refurbishment and redecoration to restore it to its original condition.

Ross Town Council, architects and contractors worked closely with Historic England throughout the project, which has inspected the works as it progressed on site to ensure it complied with its regulations for the management of this important historic site.

The Market House was first built in the 17th century using local Herefordshires andstone, which over the centuries has increasingly showed signs of heavy decay. The building was wrapped behind boards over the summer months, which had been decorated by local people and schools from the surrounding area.

The town council is delighted with the completed works and it is appreciative of the craftsmanship carried out by all the contractors involved.

Interpretation boards will be added to the Market House over the coming weeks.

A formal relaunch event will take place on Saturday, November 9, which will include a market and street entertainment during the day and a civic event in the afternoon.

Ross-on-Wye Town Council would like to acknowledge the support of additional funders of the project; National Lottery Players via National Lottery Heritage Fund who provided a grant of £112,000, The Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.

In November 2019 Ross pulled out all the stops to welcome Prince Charles, then the Prince of Wales, to the Market House where he met local businesses, voluntary groups and launched a festival.