Sandiway ’s historic Round Tower is just weeks away from finally being back where it belongs.
It has been a long and painstaking process, but the iconic landmark is set to be returned to its original site on the A556 by next month, almost 16 months after a Corsa ploughed into it, reducing it to a pile of bricks .
Pictures released by North Wales-based Grosvenor Construction company show the monument currently being meticulously reconstructed in Kimnel Bay and it will be transported back to Sandiway in March.
Stone specialists have combined new sandstone with some of the original bricks but have re-worked them, and they promise the tower will look as fresh as it did when it was built in the early years of the 19th century.
Rory Moore, director of the construction company, said: “Much of the stone was damaged on impact with the car and we were faced with the prospect of a patchwork effect if we used new stone with the old.
“We decided to re-work the stone to give it a new and consistent face. It has taken us more time to do this but we have managed to salvage much more of the original fabric of the Round Tower than we thought was possible.
“We may well have worked on larger projects but I don’t think any of them have created more interest,” he added.
More than 450 blocks weighing around 15 tonnes will be used when the landmark returns to its original place.
Guided by details of the original, craftsmen will have completed each course before transporting it back to Cheshire in numbered blocks to begin phase two of the project.
Councillor Charles Fifield , ward member for Weaver and Cuddington, said: “We have attempted to keep residents informed at each stage of the project and I am very pleased that these pictures show that it won’t be long before the Round Tower is part of our local landscape again.
“Whilst the refaced stonework will look ‘as good as new’ the sandstone will soon weather and give a more realistic appearance of its true age.”
Built by Thomas Cholmondeley, later Baron Delamere, in the first decade of the 19th century, the Round Tower was marooned by the construction of the A556 in the late 1930s.
The community was left in shock when it had to be destroyed for safety reasons after motorist Lesley Davis collided into it on November 15, 2013. Ms Davis, 57, of Northwich, admitted a charge of dangerous driving at Chester Crown Court following the incident, and the restoration project has been funded by her insurance.
She was also disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to take an extended re-test before she could regain her licence. She was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £340 and a victim surcharge of £40 was also made against her.
