Dorset's Hardy's Monument is closed for the forseeable future because of Erosion

Description:

Famous Dorset Landmark - Hardy's Monument Eroding

The National Trust has had to close one of Dorset's most famous landmarks this season amid public safety concerns.  Hardy's Monument is located near Portesham in West Dorset and overlooks Weymouth and Portland from its high commanding position.

The 72ft Monument was built in 1844 in honour of Portesham villager, Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy who served as a midshipman aboard Lord Nelson's HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Due to its poor original design and its very exposed position against battering South Westerly winds, exacerbated by the recent cold weather has meant its closure for the forseeable future.

The Head Warden for West Dorset National Trust, Rob Rhodes states that the monument has become a danger to visitors.

According to Rob "A recent abseil survey has revealed that numerous areas of cement mortar are weak and perishing; and that around 50 stones have already cracked or fractured and could potentially fall as the situation worsens. Also the recent frosts we've had - that's impacted on it all, because that shatters the pointing and the cement.

It's also the design of the monument. It's not designed in the best way and it's not a great building to be honest. Even when it was new 150 years ago they were having problems with it already starting to fall apart."

Not only is there a problem of external damage, but the internal staircase also has erosion problems.

How long it will be closed is not yet known. Restoration will be long-term and expensive.

Rob said "I'd love to be able to say we've got the money and we can do it in the next six month's or so, but we haven't got the money at the moment, so we're reliant on funding - getting the money together and then being able to carry out the project.

We need to carry out major repointing on the exterior of the monument and then we need to repair some of the stairs and some parts of the stairwell. One of the big jobs and one of the big financial costs is [due to] the nature of the monument, we need to put up scaffolding around the whole of it and the cost of the scaffolding is quite expensive.

Then the stone work has to be done in a proper way with a proper stone conservation company, so again bringing in the specialists to do that work is quite pricey as well."

One way of providing the required finance could be through fundraising.

At the West Dorset National Trust's office in Charmouth is is possible to view a copy of the report detailing the full extent of the erosion.

Should the monument be saved. Have your say on the Guide2 Dorset blog.