Damp has caused the floor to buckle
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Damp has caused the floor to buckle
Milford's Manor House in Danger ~ Part 3
In November 2001 the local residents voiced their concern through the local newspapers that if the Council sold the house and land, it would be turned over to housing developers. So by the end of the year Milford residents had set up their own pressure group to ensure the preservation of the Manor House.
It was not only McCrums house that was now under threat, for there were several housing developments in the pipeline for the area including one for the former football pitch where William McCrum (son of the builder of the house) invented soccer's Penalty kick in 1890. Football star Gary Lineker visited the village to show his support for the campaign.
The story as told in the local papers can be partly accessed by clicking the following links. Unfortunately the archive is incomplete so you will only be able to read short snippets.
Then in Feb. 2002 the Council announced at a press conference that they had sold the premises to local businessman Gerard O'Neill. Within a year,they said an English company called L.J. Environmental would begin using it as their administrative centre, eventually creating 150 jobs. The new tenants would be taking up residency by early summer 2003.
One of the points stressed at the press conference was that the Council "had been very concerned to get a developer who would give the assurances needed to retain and restore the house". Mr. O'Neill; Denver Trading Ltd and L.J. Environmental would work together to restore the listed building. One only has to look at the photos to see that these assurances have been not undertaken.
The space where one of the missing fireplaces once stood
2002 came and went but no development happened at the house. Just petty pilfering and further neglect. The local press picked up on the story again in September 2002 when the Council was asked about the state of progress. The Council's director of corporate services, David McCammick was quoted as saying that the developers were having some "administrative problems".
It seems some doubt has been cast on the early arrival of new jobs to the area and meanwhile the historic house slowly decays.
A more cynical observer might imaging a situation arising where the house will get into such a dilapidated state that there will be nothing the "hard pressed" developer can do but demolish it and recoup his losses by adding another housing estate to the Milord landscape.
