Will Rodney’s Pillar ever be saved?

One of the most striking landmarks in Wales is still facing an uncertain future after it was revealed that there was no sign of work to rebuild it taking place any time soon.

Rodney’s Pillar stands proudly atop Breidden Hill marking the entry point into Mid Wales. It was erected in 1782 by the ‘gentlemen of Montgomeryshire’ who supplied oak wood from the area down the River Severn to Bristol where Admiral Rodney’s naval fleet was built.

But time has caught up with the stone column in recent years, resulting in it being fenced off three years ago due to pieces falling off. An initial survey quoted a budget of over £200,000 to make it safe and it has remained fenced off ever since.

Two years of frantic campaigning followed to save to landmark, before Natural Resources Wales (NRW) appeared to save the day by offering to take responsibility for the work.

But an update from the organisation to MyWelshpool has provided a bleak outlook, with no commitment that it will be made safe any time soon with a new survey showing that it will have to be completely rebuilt from scratch.

No costs were mentioned, but with “the most appropriate course of action is to dismantle and re-build the structure”, it will be “significantly greater” than the original figure.

Here is what the NRW spokesperson said to us:

“In 2023, we had intended to commission work to repair Rodney’s Pillar. When the work started, we found that the condition of the pillar was much more unstable than initial surveys had shown, and that the most appropriate course of action is to dismantle and re-build the structure.

“Along with our consultants, we worked with CADW – the Welsh Government’s historic environment to develop an outline approach to a sympathetic rebuild, to ensure that the monument can be rebuilt in a way that faithfully reflects the original structure. The costs associated with the scale and nature of the work to rebuild rather than repair are significantly greater.

“Public funding is exceptionally tight across the whole of the UK and we are having to look across all of our remit and critically review what we can and must continue to do, what we stop, and what we slow or do differently to fulfil our Corporate Plan Ambitions. This is no different to any other public sector body at the moment.

“We know that as an organisation we need to focus on activities that have the most impact on both nature and climate emergency and pollution prevention, as well as delivering our statutory duties.

“Over the coming months we’ll be drawing up options and recommendations about where NRW concentrates its efforts, and these will then guide our future work.

“While the wider review takes place there are no current plans to progress works on the Pillar in 2024, notwithstanding improved site fencing and monitoring. This will ensure that our duty of managing health safety risks to the public on NRW managed land is prioritised.”