Newlyn Old Harbour among 20 sites no longer deemed 'at risk' in Cornwall
It's one of twenty sites saved in the South West this year.
A historic harbour in Newlyn has been removed from Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, after a major restoration project.
Newlyn's Old Harbour has been at the heart of Cornwall's fishing community for more than seven hundred years.
It became one of Cornwall's most important fishing ports during the 19th century, particularly through the pilchard industry, before new piers built in the 1880s and 1890s left the ancient quay sheltered but neglected.
A restoration project, supported by Historic England's Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, has since worked to restore the harbour's granite structures and 19th-century wrought iron railings.
Jonathan Poynter, Harbour Master of Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners, said: "The Old Harbour is where Newlyn's story as a fishing port began, over 700 years ago. With Historic England's support, we have gone well beyond the plan of simply bringing it back into use; Nick with his team of specialists and volunteers have restored the 19th-century iron rings and railings with matching materials and uncovered a plethora of details that have been hidden for years beneath repairs, vegetation and decay.
"It is once again a living, working part of Newlyn Harbour."
The wider picture in the South West
Newlyn's Old Harbour is one of twenty sites saved across the South West this year, according to Historic England.
However, forty-three sites across the region have also been newly added to the register, which Historic England publishes annually to track the condition of historic buildings and places.
Katy Hoskyn, a Historic Places Regeneration Officer for Historic England in the South West, said the register is not about blaming owners for a site's condition.
"It's not just about saying that owner isn't looking after their site," she said.
"It's absolutely not designed to be a way of shaming them and telling anybody off - what we're trying to do is acknowledge that there are these sites around the country which are hugely important to the communities around them."
Ms Hoskyn said sites can also be removed from the register once restoration work is finished.
She said: "We also like to take things off the heritage at risk register. We look every year to see who's finished the work... and we can say, you've done it, great job."
She added that storm damage and a changing climate are increasingly putting pressure on historic buildings across the region.
"One of the things we're looking at so much is storm damage and climate change," she said.
"...Trying to make buildings that were perfectly fine for the climate a few centuries ago, but now the materials that we used are all a lot older and the climate's changing. Trying to find out what will keep a building in use so that people can afford to keep it maintained and it doesn't get worse and it doesn't reach a point where nothing can be done.
"That's really what we're trying to do - and so many of those are all about getting people together to come up with ideas."
Historic England said it spent three-point-three million pounds on grants across the South West last year, supporting repairs to fifty-two sites on the register.