Demolition work at Weavers Cottage, 13 Wigshaw Lane, Culcheth, has been ordered to stop after residents reported that the 200-year-old property was being pulled apart without planning permission. Quite why anyone thought bulldozing a historic cottage first and sorting out the paperwork later was a sensible plan remains one of life’s less charming mysteries.
Warrington Borough Council’s building control service visited the site and instructed the developer to stop work. The owner has also been asked to make the property watertight while the situation is assessed.
Councillor Cheyvonne Bower said a resident contacted her on Tuesday night after seeing the demolition and was “devastated with concern”. She said the owner had previously been refused permission for work on the property and that there appeared to be no justification for demolishing it.
“I contacted Warrington Borough Council’s planning and building control which agreed to send a representative to the site,” Cllr Bower said.
A Warrington Borough Council spokesman confirmed: “The council’s building control service visited the property yesterday and has instructed the developer to stop, as the necessary approvals have not been granted.
“There is no planning consent in place for the works. An investigation is underway.”
Weavers Cottage was marketed for £425,000 in September last year and described as an “approximately 200-year-old” home “full of character and charm”. Council mapping information cited in later planning applications indicates that the two-storey, whitewashed detached property predates 1897.
Plans submitted in November 2023 proposed a two-storey rear extension, a raised roof, porch and canopy extensions, along with internal remodelling and replacement windows intended to create a more standardised appearance. Warrington Borough Council refused that application, citing an unacceptable impact on residential amenity because sufficient separation from the residential property to the south, on Thompson Avenue, would not be maintained.
A revised application was submitted in March this year, but that was refused too. A council officer’s report said very little of the original structure would remain and that the proposal would almost be better described as a replacement dwelling.
Planners also concluded that the proposed size, scale and design would not be sympathetic to the existing dwelling or the surrounding area. In plain English, the plans appeared to be less about carefully improving an old cottage and more about giving it a completely different identity.
Cllr Bower said preserving historic buildings was essential to maintaining Culcheth’s cultural and architectural heritage. She added that such buildings provide a tangible connection to the past and a sense of continuity for residents.
She also stressed the importance of following planning guidelines, saying they help maintain safety standards, support sustainable development and prevent haphazard construction from damaging the character of an area.
As a local historian and parish councillor, Cllr Bower said she felt compelled to act to try to save the property, even at this late stage. That intervention, alongside residents raising the alarm, has at least paused the demolition while Warrington Borough Council investigates what happened.