An exciting start

Employed by Historic England and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council we have been tasked with the conservation and subsequent repair of the column and I’m very excited to be starting work on our tallest building to date (excluding churches!).

The Grade II* Keppel’s Column, on the outer edge of Rotherham, is 35m tall (approximately 115ft) with an internal winding stair and in need of complete conservation. Due to its height and its position, the column is a landmark for miles around, but unfortunately its condition has meant that it has been inaccessible for a number of years.

I’ll be working with John Ruddy, the Structural Engineer to ensure that the Column is structurally sound and I’ll be commissioning a number of reports before making my recommendations regarding the full repair of this magnificent column, including coming up with a conservation strategy to ensure that the structure remains in a good state of repair for years to come.

An exciting start

The story behind the column is one of a strong friendship between Admiral Augustus Keppel and Charles Watson-Wentworth and in 1778 Wentworth commissioned the Folly to celebrate the acquittal of Keppel in a court-martial case.