No 41, Alexandra Road, also known as Woodliffe Villa, Cleethorpes, is the latest building to receive Townscape Heritage funding.
Starting today, 7 March 2022, conservation and restoration work to the front façade will help return this Grade II listed building to its former glory.
The building is one of the earliest properties along the road. Built from red brick with a Welsh slate roof, the building also has a cast iron arcade and balcony dating from around 1900.
As part of the works, the late 20th century shop front will be replaced with a new shop front to the original design and entrance and redecorated using colours chosen as part of the heritage scheme. This property has its own single cast iron balcony and this will be removed from site for restoration and recoated and returned as part of the project
Additionally, the dormer window will be reinstated (the original was removed in around 50 years ago), the bay windows will be replaced, and the rainwater channels will be replaced.
This work comes in the wake of other heritage work along the same stretch.
In December last year, a section of the balconies at the southern end of Alexandra Road in Cleethorpes was removed for conservation by a specialist team, so that the cast iron could be stripped, checked for structural flaws, and then re-coated away from the marine environment before being reinstated. It’s expected that those balconies will be returned to the properties in the next few months.
Work has already been undertaken to restore the bay windows on No 21 and 22 Alexandra Road, and the RAF Association building at No 5 Alexandra Road was completed in 2021.
Cllr Callum Procter, Cabinet member for heritage, said: “This is a fantastic project, and I’m really pleased that it’s starting to take shape with another project coming on stream. People in Cleethorpes love the Victorian balconies, and we need to make sure our heritage is preserved for the future.”
Discover Cleethorpes Heritage’ is a four-year Townscape Heritage (TH) programme launched in 2018. The scheme is supported by £1.9m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and £1m from North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC), and circa 900k of 3rd party match funding from the property freeholders/leaseholders.
Article and images from NELC.
About the author