Cuts hit scheme to save landmark

Boston Castle, which overlooks the Don Valley in a public park, was at the centre of visitor and education centre plans early this year and received a 600,000 lottery grant.

The rest of the cash for the 1.7m project had been promised by Rotherham Council but last week fears were voiced that the scheme would be shelved as a result of Government-imposed cuts. The Friends of Boston Castle group has been in existence for a decade and members said at the end of last week that they were considering disbanding as a result of the disappointing news.

Work was due to start on the restoration in three weeks and it had been hoped that the castle could become a museum and tourist attraction, with a classroom for educational visits.

Rotherham Council cultural services spokesman Iain St John said yesterday that plans for the Grade II listed building would continue, but on a "smaller scale" with less council money involved.

It is understood that council officers will have to discuss their scaled back plans with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), to ensure it is still happy to contribute the full 600,000 to the scheme.

Coun St John said: "This decision demonstrates the council's commitment to improving services in difficult times and it is great news for the future of Boston Castle. It is sensible to try to make savings where we can and to balance this against the advantages that making an investment such as this will have to the people of Rotherham both now and in the future. A number of alternative options were put forward and I am very pleased that we have been able to take a revised scheme forward."

Boston Castle was built as a folly and shooting lodge in the 1770s by Thomas Howard, the Earl of Effingham. It stands in Boston Park, which was one of South Yorkshire's first public parks.

It was later used as accommodation for park keepers, but in the mid-1990s the last occupants moved out. Since then the building has become derelict and has been vandalised.

The last occupants moved out in 1996 and the project to restore the building has been led by the Friends of Boston Castle which started its campaign for the building as far back as 2001.

It is thought the Earl of Effingham had met John Adams, who was part of the Boston Tea Party protest against British rule by colonists in America, and named the lodge on his estate after it.

Group secretary Janet Worrall said she and her fellow volunteers were "frustrated" that 10 years of hard work could be wasted as a result of budget cuts.

She said: "The time factor of having to submit another funding bid and awaiting an outcome, which may still be in doubt, will put work on site back a further year.

"A certain amount of demolition work has already taken place on site in anticipation of work commencing on the restoration. This has left the building in a more vulnerable state. A large amount of HLF money has already been spent on development plans, which will have to now be modified.

"We have to ask the question why Boston Park, which was Rotherham's first park has been side-tracked whilst other parks in Rotherham, whose Friends Groups were formed after the Friends of Boston Castle and Parklands, have received funding.

"Although I feel very disillusioned, I do feel that this project is still very much worth supporting. Boston Castle is Rotherham's landmark and so important in relation to Rotherham's heritage."