Historic Westgate Towers near end of renovation work

Construction work on the historic Westgate Towers will begin its final phase later this week after Canterbury City Council secured Scheduled Ancient Monument consent from the government.

To carry out renovation work on the the flag turret of the towers, the council had to obtain permission from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The plans were approved after a further investigation revealed the main timbers within the walls of the turret were rotting away, and the whole of the flagpole and turret roof were in danger of collapsing.

Starting from today (June 23rd), building contractors will begin work on the roof of the turret, which is expected to last around three week, depending on the weather. Once completed, the scaffolding will be taken down, leaving some minor work to the walls a

Contractors are due on site from Tuesday 23 June to begin re-roofing the turret, which is likely to last around three weeks, weather depending. Upon completion, the scaffolding will be able to come down, leaving just some minor work to walls at low level.

This phase of construction, which is aiming to be finished by the end of July, is the culmination of conservation work to the east and north sides of the Westgate Towers that has also included cleaning, removal of moss, repointing and replacing stone that has eroded away.

Cllr Ben Fitter, Chairman of the council’s Regeneration and Property Committee, said: “We’re excited that the Westgate will soon be revealed in its full glory once again after a careful and complex conservation project. While it is never desirable for an asset so important to the city of Canterbury to be masked in scaffolding, it has been essential that we get the works right to ensure the towers remain beautiful and safe for years to come.

“Our initial condition survey revealed that the towers were in a reasonably good state for their age, but as is often the case with such projects we have discovered more work to be done as we have gone along. We’re pleased the end is now in sight and would like to thank all involved for their contributions in preserving this historic monument.”