As
the Castle Building itself has a Grade 2*
listing, proving that it is a building of special
interest, the County Council, according to the
law of the land, is legally obliged to keep it
'Wind and Weatherproof.' Despite this, the
Philistines at the County Council are totally
ignoring their obligations and responsibilities.
Every time it rains, the staff are obliged to put
buckets and an old tin bath underneath the hole
in the ceiling to catch the torrent of water that
pours through.
A county council spokeswoman said that design
faults caused a leak in the ceiling of Lady
Harrington's bedroom and problems with roof tiles
on the stable block. She said, "We were not
aware of problems with roof tiles. As for the
leak, the building is wind and weather-proof but,
because of a problem with the design of the roof,
rain water overflows into the gutters.
Now you have it
from the horse's mouth folks! According to a
Derbyshire County Council spokeswoman, the roof
at Elvaston Castle leaks when it rains, due
to..wait for it, you'll never guess...A Design
Fault! Oh yes! And lack of money.. It seems that
the renowned 19th century architect James Wyatt
designed a roof whereby, according to the
Derbyshire County Council, "under heavy
rain, water overflows into the gutters". One
might be forgiven of course for wondering why
this design fault was never complained about by
any of the Harrington family or their retainers,
especially as the leak floods straight into Lady
Harrington's bedroom.
Perhaps we have all got it wrong and it is in
fact a form of early en-suite shower facility.
With the place being so large the plumbers got
lost and located it in the wrong place, leading
to most of the problems we see on the upper
floors of the Castle today. These must be the
same plumbers who provide the hogwash that the
County Council keeps spouting. The same
spokeswoman stated that, "we were not aware
of problems with roof tiles", referring to
the situation whereby ivy growing across the roof
of the stable block is lifting a large area of
tiles off the roof.
Presumably, this will also turn out to be a
design fault, in the same way that the area of
the roof in the old (English Heritage listed)
Working Farm Museum which collapsed months ago
and has never been so much as covered with a
tarpaulin is probably entirely due to similar
circumstances. Or the once working rare tractors
and implements at Home Farm which have been the
sad recipients of planned obsolescence. Perhaps
though, what the discerning observer might glean
from this latest fiasco emanating from Matlock is
the certainty that the most major and consistent
design fault in all of this is the Derbyshire
County Council. Badger
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