‘There’s no money to save Rodney’s Pillar’

Campaigners hoping to save Rodney’s Pillar are looking to take things into their own hands after Natural Resources Wales said they still don’t have the cash to rebuild the ancient monument.

Rodney’s Pillar stands proudly atop Breidden Hill marking the entry point into Mid Wales. It was erected in 1782 by the ‘gentlemen of Montgomeryshire’ who supplied oak wood from the area down the River Severn to Bristol where Admiral Rodney’s naval fleet was built.

But time has caught up with the stone column in recent years, resulting in it being fenced off five years ago due to pieces falling off. An initial survey quoted a budget of over £200,000 to make it safe and it has remained fenced off ever since.

But a 2024 survey conducted by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), who are responsible for the monument, showed that it needed to be knocked down and rebuilt, presenting a huge cost.

NRW said back then that it simply didn’t have the cash to do the work, and when we asked bosses again this week, they reiterated their position (which is published below).

In response to the inactivity, Bill Lee, the Chair of Save Rodney’s Pillar, said: “The Trust has continued to work with Natural Resources Wales and CADW on how to move forward.

“Due to the Welsh Government cut backs in funding, neither NRW or CADW have the finances to be able to fund the repairs, we are therefore looking at what possibilities there are for funding from outside sources such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, but wherever we apply to, we will need to fund so much ourselves and will be looking at options for fundraising.

“None of this will be possible without the support of yourselves (the public), so when we have more information it is our intention to hold a public meeting to inform everyone on how we propose to move forward and hopefully try and gather more support to make it all possible.”

The full NRW statement re-issued this morning:

“In 2023, we had intended to commission work to repair Rodney’s Pillar. When the work started, we found that the condition of the pillar was much more unstable than initial surveys had shown, and that the most appropriate course of action is to dismantle and re-build the structure.

“Along with our consultants, we worked with CADW – the Welsh Government’s historic environment to develop an outline approach to a sympathetic rebuild, to ensure that the monument can be rebuilt in a way that faithfully reflects the original structure. The costs associated with the scale and nature of the work to rebuild rather than repair are significantly greater.

“Public funding is exceptionally tight across the whole of the UK and we are having to look across all of our remit and critically review what we can and must continue to do, what we stop, and what we slow or do differently to fulfil our Corporate Plan ambitions. This is no different to any other public sector body at the moment. We know that as an organisation we need to focus on activities that have the most impact on both nature and climate emergency and pollution prevention, as well as delivering our statutory duties.  

“In the short-term, we are not in position to progress works on the Pillar, but will continue our monitoring to ensure public safety is prioritised. We are committed to working alongside the Trust and CADW to identify possible funding opportunities for the future to allow this extensive work to take place.”