THE blaze which has devastated the historic Daresbury Hall near Warrington was the second fire to take place at the building within the space of a week.
Two fire engine from Warrington and one from Stockton Heath had attended a blaze inside the building the previous Sunday evening.
On arrival crews found rubbish on fire inside the building and used two hose reels to extinguish
the fire which was deep seated in places.
Local residents are now questioning why more wasn’t done to protect the historic building.
Police are treating the latest incident which devastated the building on Saturday evening as arson, saying it is believed the fire was started deliberately.
Officers are still at the scene and a major investigation has been launched.
The fire was reported at about 5pm on Saturday and resulted in road closures in the area.
Firefighters attended the scene and eventually extinguished the blaze, although they were hampered because of fears the building could collapse.
A total of eight fire engines, including two hydraulic platforms tackled the blaze which had taken hold of the large empty building.
Police have previously uncovered a cannabis farm in the building last year worth an estimated £750,000. More recently it was being used by a company for “zombie experience” events.
There have also been plans to demolish it to make way for 31 houses and an “art house.”
The site is classed as Green Belt and a home for barn owls.
The former Stately home has been on English Heritage’s at risk register for a number of years.
Now police are appealing for information from the public.
Anyone with any information in relation to the incident is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 691 of 25/6/2016. Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Aerial photos courtesy of Chris Digata
4 Comments
SHOCKED !!
WHY HASN’T THE CURRENT OWNER BEEN MADE TO MAKE SURE IT’S COMPLETELY SECURE SO PEOPLE CAN’T NEAR OR GET IN. ITS GRADE II LISTED SO THEY MUST KNOW IT’S AN IMPORTANT BUILDING.
WHY DID THEY NOT SECURE IT AFTER THE 1ST FIRE LAST WEEK?
SURELY THEY MUST HAVE BEEN INFORMED AND WERE WORRIED THAT THE SAME MIGHT HAPPEN AGAIN OR DON’T THEY CARE?
THEY SHOULD BE FINED AND MADE TO RE-BUILD AN EXACT REPLICA AT THEIR OWN COST.
PS SORRY MY CAPS LOCK BUTTON IS STUCK ON… BUT YES I DO FEEL LIKE SHOUTING !
LAST WEEK’S FIRE WAS NOT THE FIRST. THERE HAVE BEEN THREE FIRES THIS YEAR!
1) April 10th 2016 – which was a fire in an unlisted part of the buildings, which was believed by the Fire Services to have been started deliberately.
2) 19th June 2016 – fire crews found piles of rubbish on fire in the main Grade 11* listed building.
3) 26th June 2016 – the main Grade 11* listed building was very badly damaged – Police believe this to be arson.
There appears to have been sustained and determined attempts to destroy Daresbury Hall.
ANGRY PERSON, I think there will be many people asking the same question –
WHY DID THEY NOT SECURE IT AFTER THE 1ST FIRE?
Am I right in thinking a planning application was finally approved for the site just after Christmas and that the main hall building (grade listed) HAD to be renovated as part of the plans and approval? How convenient that it has suddenly burnt down as that must have saved the owner/developer a small fortune. You can’t renovate something at great cost if it’s not there anymore. It will, without doubt, also make it much easier to now sell the whole estate on to another prospective developer with approved planning permission for the new houses and conversion of the other older outer buildings. You just couldn’t make it up if you tried.
Daresbury Hall is actually a Grade 11* listed building. The addition of the star to the grading puts it in the category of those buildings which are under Heritage England protection. Yet Halton Council have sat back for years whilst it has been continually damaged and left to rot. They’ve been well aware that the owner has allowed ‘zombie’ activities and paintballing to be carried out in the property and they’ve been fully aware of the damage these activities have caused.
It’s been clearly obvious for years that the owner has had no real desire to protect this property – so why didn’t Halton Council step in and do something? They’ve got the power to force a compulsory purchase. So why haven’t they done it? The costs for renovation could be recovered by enabling development so the only real bar has been inclination and effort!
There is enough of the original building left to do it now, they should be ensuring that the remaining walls are supported to prevent further collapse and then get moving on a project to restore this wonderful building to it’s original full glory, Once this is done it could be passed on to such bodies as The National Trust.
The negligence and resulting damage of this building is an utter disgrace and those who have had the power to prevent it and done nothing should be thoroughly ashamed. Whilst they still have the opportunity to redeem themselves they should take it – and never let the same neglect of duty occur again.
So let us now see some positive action. Let us now see a lesson taught to other owners of heritage buildings that neglect will not under any circumstances pay. Only then will the now, all too common, ‘accidents’ and ‘arson’ attacks stop.
Renovate this building so pride in our heritage can be retained and our trust in our councillors restored.