Major roof repair needed after structural '˜failures' found at historic Jarrow Town Hall

The work at Jarrow Town Hall is expected to take no more than 20 weeks should the application be granted.

A planning application has been submitted for the Grade II listed Jarrow Town Hall.

Should the application be approved, the site on Grange Road – which is home to council offices – would remain open to the public throughout the work.

The work would be expected to take no more than 20 weeks.

Because of the building’s listed status, the roof structure cannot be altered but the work has to be carried out because of ‘failures’ in the structure of the roof, according to pre-application advice given by Lucy Routledge, South Tyneside Council’s historic environment officer.

She said: “Further to our site visit, it is clear that water ingress has not been an isolated issue at Jarrow Town Hall and has been a problem for some time.

“This is a complicated roof structure, and so it is no wonder that we have seen failures in multiple locations.”

The cost of the project is not yet known and still out to tender.

It is hoped to start work in late Spring and it is scheduled to last 20 weeks.

The town hall was built in 1902, and the planning application speaks of the need to ‘preserve the integrity and functionality of one of Jarrow’s most iconic buildings’.

It also adds that there is a requirement to ‘preserve the roof structure for up to 60 years’ and ‘reduce the loss of heritage from the threat of water ingress’.

A scaffold would be erected around the entire site while the work – which is expected to take no more than 20 weeks – was taking place.

The application adds: “The roof area has suffered from neglect over a number of years. As a result, the roof structure is showing various defects ranging from slipped or missing slates to incomplete lead flashings to mortar fillet decay. Improvement works identified the entire slate roof as defective and needing replacement.”

The identified works mainly consist of cleaning the existing roof areas of moss, weeds and dirt, removing the current slates to dispose of damaged or defective slates, replacing damaged slates and installing a cast aluminium commemorative blue plaque.

A South Tyneside Council spokesman said: “Jarrow Town Hall roof is leaking and requires repairs and new slates to make it watertight.

“Given the town hall’s Grade II listing and its historical importance to the borough, it is vital that it is preserved for the long-term.”