After falling into disrepair the grade II listed King Edward VII Memorial Clock Tower – locally known as the Town Clock – was restored by the Trust in partnership with the Friends of Redcar Town Clock and owners Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. The work was funded by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Northern Rock Foundation.
The Trust commissioned a feasibility study which was instrumental in persuading the Hartlepool-based Henry Smith Trust to dispose of this fragment of a grade II listed 17th century manor house to developers for conversion to apartments. Work is expected to start soon.
When shoe-maker Jack Anderson died in 2001 he left this tiny museum housed in a grade II listed 17th century cottage in Marske-by-the-Sea, in trust to the local Council. Unable to provide either staff or funds to continue to operate the museum the Council asked the Trust for help. In partnership with the Council, the Friends of Winkies Castle and using grants from local donors and One-North-East’s Coastal Arc project, the museum was completely refurbished and re-established. The Trust and the Friends still operate it today in partnership with Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council.
In 2001, following the theft of lead from the roof of this Grade I listed building, the Trust in partnership with The Bosanquet Fund for Kirkleatham, part-funded urgently needed repairs. The following year an analysis of historic paint layers was funded, to ascertain the church’s original Georgian interior colour scheme.
Using limited funds and offers ‘in kind’ from local businesses, volunteers and the local authority, this previously neglected grade II* listed early warning station on Holyhead Drive, Redcar, was tidied up in 2001. Landscaping works were carried out and an information plaque provided. This fascinating structure is now a Scheduled Monument of national interest.
Abandoned in the 1970s this Grade II* listed 17th century farmhouse and its Grade II listed stable and hayloft, on The Green in Cowpen Bewley village, near Billingham, fell rapidly into disrepair. Owners I.C.I. Chemicals and Polymers Ltd found it would not be financially viable to restore the buildings and in 1995 handed them over to the Trust, along with a small cash donation. After securing a grant from English Heritage and a loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund the repair and refurbishment works were completed by the Trust in 1998 and the house and stable were sold to new owners.
The tower and surviving machinery of the windmill at Hart near Hartlepool, were rescued from near loss in partnership with the Employment Training Programme and Hartlepool housebuilders Cecil M. Yuill. The work included restoration of the tower and mill machinery and re-creation of the revolving cap (roof) and sail stocks.
The impressive but derelict Victorian, Zetland Hotel stable block in Saltburn, was acquired by the Trust and converted to 9 residential units. Re-named Zetland Mews, it was sold on to Tees Valley Housing Association.
The Trust’s first project was the painstaking restoration of this mid-19th century watermill near Guisborough. Although privately owned it is still operated by the Trust and the Friends of Tocketts Mill as a working museum and is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons in the spring and summer months.
Restoration was started in the 1970s by Peter Morgan, Peter Oberon and John Harrison and students from South Park Sixth Form College, Normanby.
In 1982 Tees Heritage (then called Cleveland Buildings Preservation Trust) leased the building from the owners of the adjoining caravan park. John Harrison and Peter Morgan, as directors of the Trust then continued their work on the mill using labour recruited under the Manpower Services Commission’s job creation schemes and opened the mill to visitors.
In 1982 a group of volunteers, The Friends of Tocketts Mill was set up. Since that time the Friends, co-ordinated by Alan Burgess, have operated the mill for the benefit of the public. In 1991 there were 642 visitors to the mill.
In 2008-2009 the building was re-roofed and inappropriate ribbon pointing removed from the walls by the new owners, The Hornsea Caravan Parks Limited (Davis and Paul Allison).
This is another advisory role for the Trust. The project occupies the grade II listed former Saltburn Girls’ High School, lately used as a primary school and recently replaced by a new school nearby. The old school has been converted to a multi-purpose community facility to accommodate drama and theatrical productions performed by people with learning difficulties.
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