Repairs to crumbling palace garden walls approved

Major repairs to historic walls at the home of the Archbishop of York have been approved despite concerns about the impact on trees.

The works include installing and fastening 28 steel posts to parts of Bishopthorpe Palace's garden walls which are leaning over.

Plans from the Church Commissioners for England stated the repairs aimed to stop parts of the walls from falling over and cracked areas would also be reinforced.

However, concerns have been raised about the effect the works could have on eight veteran pear trees, with two of them set to be removed.

Flowers were historically grown in the gardens for the palace, but the space is now leased to the Brunswick Organic Nursery.

A 2024 survey concluded that parts of the walls were leaning, bulging and cracked due to the canopies of fruit trees pushing against the brickwork over a 250-year period.

Plans stated the species of trees grown in the gardens were of historical interest and some were no longer commercially available.

A tree protection plan has been drawn up as part of the works but two specimens are set to be removed and replaced.

The proposed repairs would see steel pillars mounted in concrete bases installed along leaning sections of the walls.

The walls would be fastened to the beams and left exposed after previous plans to enclose them in brickwork were dropped.

Stainless steel bars would be used to reinforce cracked sections of the walls, with repointing set to be carried out in line with Historic England guidance.

The application stated: "The main purpose of the new piers and other works is to preserve the walls by preventing them from falling over.

"Hence, the less than substantial harm caused by the proposals is offset by the public benefit of sustaining the site so that its optimal use as a horticultural walled garden may continue."

Organisations including Bishopthorpe in Blossom, the village's Local History Group and the Northern Fruit Group have voiced concerns over the trees.

Bishopthorpe in Blossom said the eight veteran pear trees were part of the historic character of the gardens and urged the impact on them to be taken into account.

The Local History Group said they welcomed efforts to safeguard the walls but added the steel posts would be intrusive.

A report on the plans stated: "The Northern Fruit Group are concerned that the remedial work to preserve the integrity of the walls at the palace garden will have a detrimental impact on the ancient pear trees."

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