Coventry's Hornton columns undergoing repair

Image source, Coventry City Council

Image caption, The pillars date back to the 1950s and are part of Grade II-listed buildings in Coventry
  • Author, Ellie Brown
  • Role, Local Democracy Reporter

Delicate work to repair and clean stone pillars built in the 1950s is under way in Coventry city centre.

Specialists have been contracted to work on the Grade II-listed Hornton pillars, said the city council.

Some of the columns built in 1956 have had "less than adequate repairs" over the years,聽according to a council planning application for the work approved earlier this week.

The work will put right "general wear and tear", the project plan notes.

The council had to apply for listed building consent as Broadgate House, the old Leofric Hotel and the two precinct buildings have also all been Grade II-listed by Historic England (HE).

The buildings were constructed during the post-World War Two reconstruction of Coventry in the mid-1950s.

The plan, set out then by Donald Gibson, was believed to be the first for a pedestrianised city centre in Europe, according to HE.

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