Update on repairs at St Oswald's, Malpas

Cheshire West and Chester Council has provided a further update on the wall collapse repairs at St Oswald's Church in Malpas.

Following the update issued last month the Council is now able to provide further information on the project completion date, which is now expected to be 31 March 2023.

Several factors have influenced the duration of the project including, very recently, the unearthing of nearly thirty sets of ancient human remains when excavations for the anchoring system (to secure the wall) were made.

The remains were buried in unmarked graves and not captured in the Church's burial records. Each time remains are discovered excavation work must be halted to allow the on-site archaeologists to carefully retrieve and catalogue the findings. Arrangements will now be made with the Church for the re-burial of the remains.

It will be possible to re-open Church Street from Friday 3 March with temporary traffic signals, but full road closure will be necessary for the period 27 to 31 March, after which the roads will be fully re-opened.

These dates are subject to there being no additional unexpected disruptions to the work, in which case a further update will be provided.