The Crammer Wall

It will not have escaped anyone's notice that it is now some time since the Crammer Wall fell over.
Collapsed Crammer Wall

In February 2008, following a spate if torrential rain and as a result of high winds, the retaining wall around the edge of St James churchyard was breached and collapsed. The deteriorating state of the walls surrounding the Crammer has been known to the Town Council and the Church.
Collapsed Crammer Wall
Since then it has deteriorated considerably.

St James before 1840
This is an engraving of what St James' Church and the Churchyard and the Crammer looked like some time around 1830.

St James Church
This is an artist's impression of about the same date

It is agreed by all that the Crammer and its surrounds are an historic and important part of the heritage of Devizes.

The churchyard, a public cemetery, was enlarged in 1844 when it is thought the present wall bordering the Crammer was built.

The churchyard was closed in 1876 by Queen Victoria when cemetery operated by the Devizes & Roundway Joint Burial Committee became available for burials.

There are photographic records dating from the 1890s which show that there was a wall in place although there are more recent photos for the mid 1950s which tend to suggest that it is not the same wall that we see today as the end nearest the road was altered when the road width was changed.
Crammer c1935

This photo ( I am not sure of the copywrite of this one) was taken between the wars possibly in the 1920s

Crammer Wall circa 1950

This photo was taken in the post war period about c1950.
There are other photos that suggest that the wall was repaired in the late 1950s as the pattern of coursework changes.

So how do we move forward?

It has been estimated that to repair this stretch of the wall will cost between £60,000 and £100,000.
The church has just spent several hundred thousand pounds on a major refurbishment and overseas projects in the Sudan as part of our Vision for Mission. This money was raised principally from donations from the congregation.

There are a number of options

Ask the congregation of the church to donate the money needed for the repairs.
A partnership deal between the St James’ Church, the Town Council, Kennet District Council and the Diocese of Salisbury.
To seek outside grant funding.
The Public to contribute towards the costs.
A combination of funding sources.

There are also considerations as to what should be done to the wall

Leave it as it is do nothing - not acceptable
Repair it to back where it was before the gales in the spring - possible
Restore it to its original sloping bank (prior to 1845) - difficult as there are interred remains and large trees.
Repair the wall but create a sloping bank in the middle as a wild life refuge - not really viable
Repair the wall back to where it was before the gales in the spring and add a platform of some sort for the wild life - possible.
Reduce the height of the wall, reducing the volume of soil and providing some sort of wildlife refuge for the smaller water birds - preferred solution.

It has been suggested that as this of significant interest to the local community that outside bodies should be involved and that a Fund Raiser/Project Leader/Project manager should be sought to oversee the project. This would involve calling a meeting of interested parties to get the ball rolling. They might include the Church, The Diocese, The Town & District Councils, and the Trust for Devizes, The Wiltshire Heritage Museum, and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

So far the Archdeacon of Wiltshire John Wraw has offered his involvement and a local fundraising company has been approached to look into possible sources of funding. Also the Trust for Devizes have offered assistance. The local Press have also agreed to assist with whatever publicity/campaign we propose.
We have had a number of local building firms approach us to provide a quote for the work.

However, as many of you will know from the Press reports, we need to progress this as a matter of some urgency.

What have we done so far?
Several meetings have been held to look at the best way forward.
What ever we do must stand the test of time as this is an historic view.

What we are proposing is to rebuild the wall but reduce it in height sloping down to the road, thus reducing the weight of soil behind the retaining wall. Kennet District Council's Conservation Officer has agreed that this is not a Listed Wall in the historic sense just a functional Victorial piece of engineering. The Trust for Devizes also agree. The suggestions put forward to the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to create an island refuge was advised against as the geese would destroy it. However, the suggestion of creating a number of refuges for the smaller water birds was welcomed and the suggestion was to create "loafing pads", a sort of small platform just above the water line to accomodate 2 or 3 ducks.

This is what the wall would look like repired in its existing format (artist's impression)
What the Crammer wall used to look like

and this is an artist's impression of what is being proposed.
Proposed crammer wall

The wall slopes down from about the middle down towards the front apron, but retaining the same height of the wall on the road side.

We are now going to get accurate quotes, raise the money and apply for planning permission.
The Town Council have been very helpful. They have now complete the repairs to their length of the wall and we hoping to work in co-operation with them.