AGREEMENT has been reached between Staindrop parish councillors and county officers to make good a patch of cobbles that may be the last remnant of a 14th century market.
Upset was caused when workers used Tarmac to repair a pothole that had developed on the edge of the cobbles across the village green late last year.
County council head of highways Brian Buckley and conservation officer Bryan Harris joined in the parish council’s online meeting in January to resolve the issue.
Mr Buckley explained the patch work was done in response to a public complaint that the pothole presented a tripping hazard.
However, Cllr Chicken described the work as “just not good enough” .
He said: “It makes a mockery of it being a conservation area. I couldn’t imagine that being allowed in, for example, the centre of Durham City where there are cobbles.”
Mr Harris explained the problem had arisen because it had been emergency repair work rather than part of planned maintenance, which takes into account the historic value of areas.
He said: “I can only apologise for what happened and I think there is a clear way forward to undo some of that, and it needs to be a scheduled job, not a response or knee-jerk reaction.”
Cllr Roger Humphries highlighted the importance of the cobbles by quoting from the parish council’s minutes from 1894 which included a hand drawn map of the village.
He said: “This area here is one of the post important areas in Staindrop. It is marked as ancient market site and we think these cobbles continue under the village green.”
He added that the market had been chartered by Bishop Hatfield in 1376. Mr Harris responded: “From my point of view we need to be very careful that we don’t undo some of the charm and character of what is there because, lifting, laying and repairing cobbles is quite a skill. I would prefer to do something that enhances what we have got rather than trying to make them look too pristine and losing too much of the character.
“I am hoping we can come to a halfway house where we can undo some of the really poor patching and Tarmac work, which obviously has an impact on the character, and also do some routine maintenance.”
Mr Buckley agreed to visit the site to see what could be done to rectify the problem.
The conservation officer praised work the parish council had done in the past to conserve the character of the village. He said: “The work that has been done around the water fountain, the materials you have used for the footpath – it’s all been done so that it doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb as new work. It kind of blends in with what is there. I would hope that is what we can achieve with the cobble surface in due course.”
