MAJOR construction work at Castle Drogo, near Drewsteignton, has been significantly delayed due to the building contractor going into administration.

The project team at Castle Drogo was informed that building contractor William Anelay Ltd had gone into administration, which has led to a halt in the building repairs.  

The National Trust aims to make Castle Drogo water-tight for the first time since it was built in the 1930s.

The £13-million project had been split into three phases, the first was essentially the reconstruction of the castle’s south wing; the second was the fixing of the central tower and the third aimed to make repairs to the north wing.

The second phase was close to completion when the building contractor went into administration.

Katie O’Neil of The National Trust said: ‘As one of Britain’s best-known construction and heritage restoration companies, we have been working with William Anelay Ltd as the main contractor on the project at Castle Drogo. Unfortunately, they have gone into administration.’

‘The second phase of works at Castle Drogo was very close to completion with the final phase to follow. Work has stopped as a result of the administration and we now expect to finish in the autumn of 2018 as result.’

‘We are currently in the process of working with the administrator to find a solution to complete the works on site. For phase three we will appoint a new contractor through a tender process. We’ve started putting the scaffolding up and the temporary roof on to protect the north wing over the winter, in preparation for the next phase in the new year.

‘The National Trust remains committed to the successful completion of the project and will find the best solution to move project forward.’

The large scale building project involves removing the roof, dismantling walls, replacing windows and re-pointing more than 40 miles of joints.

The National Trust is replacing the roof, which involves removing hundreds of tonnes of granite blocks before putting them back again.

It is also refurbishing more than 900 windows and replacing thousands of metres of cement pointing.

Castle Drogo is situated on the edge of Dartmoor, and ever since it was built last century ago it has let in the rain.

With water pouring in from the roof, windows and walls, by 2012 the situation was critical. Following a massive appeal, the vital repairs began in 2014.

However, due to William Anelay Ltd going into administration the National Trust has had to push back its estimated time of completion to August 2018.