A PUBLIC body has addressed the "deteriorating condition" of a Grade II listed WWI aircraft hangar in Old Sarum, stating it is "disappointed".

Historic England, an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government with duties that include protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, has spoken to the Journal after Storm Isha recently extensively damaged Hangar 3 at Old Sarum.

A spokesperson for Historic England said: "We remain disappointed with the deteriorating condition of the Grade II Listed Hangar at Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury, and we’re concerned to hear there has been a further collapse.

"A plan has been put forward to rebuild the hangars using some of the original material. We’ve given advice to the local authority about the implications of these proposals, which we hope will inform their assessment of the planning application.

READ MORE: Storm Isha: Grade II listed Hangar damaged at Old Sarum

"The airfield contains three Grade II listed World War I aircraft hangars; one single hangar, and two double hangars. The three hangars are highly unusual survivors from the early days of aerial combat, and are listed at Grade II. 

"The site was added to the Heritage At Risk Register in November 2020 and since then we have been working with Wiltshire Council and the owner to assess the condition of the building and push for emergency works including providing structural expertise and, most recently, conducting internal and external recording in order to aid future repair and reconstruction work."

Wiltshire Councillor Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, said: "We are very concerned about the damage to this historic hangar. We have raised the state of the building with the owner on several occasions and we would expect it to have been properly maintained.

"We have been working closely with Historic England over recent years and explored all possible opportunities to prevent the building from falling into disrepair. Unfortunately, there is no legal obligation for owners to maintain listed buildings, other than in case of ensuring public safety.

"We have required the owner to carry out appropriate temporary works to ensure public safety around the building. However, due to the construction type of this building, much of the building will need to be reconstructed and there is no further legal action we as the local planning authority can take in the meantime to reduce the need for reconstruction rather than repair.

"A full and detailed digital survey of the structure has been undertaken by Historic England’s specialist recording teams and this is available to the owners.

"We can confirm we have also received a planning application for land at Old Sarum Airfield. As with all planning applications, it will be processed in the usual way, in accordance with planning law and local and national planning policies."

The Journal has contacted the owners of Old Sarum Airfield for a response.

Previously, Grenville Hodge, managing director of Old Sarum Airfield, said: “We are very disappointed that further damage has been caused to the hangar by the very severe storm Isha.

"We have plans to completely restore the hangar as part of a much wider plan for the airfield which is subject to a planning application currently with Wiltshire Council that we are keen to get positively determined as soon as possible.

"The overall repair to the hangar will be very comprehensive and any damage caused by the storm will be incorporated in the new repair schedule which has been discussed in detail with Historic England.

"Once repaired we will return the hangar to aviation use with plans to use it to store historic aircraft operating from the airfield.”

Speaking to the Journal in October 2023, Mr Hodge said there are plans to: "completely rebuild" the World War One hangar on the site of the airfield, which he admits has deteriorated over the last several years. 

But only if planning permission is granted.

"The cost of rebuilding the hangar was always one of the key elements of doing what we are doing", he said. 

Mr Hodge says the cost of rebuilding the hangar is around £3million.

"What we will do is we will use that hangar to house historic aircraft. The whole intention has always been to use that to regenerate what I call the historic core of the airfield, which is the old World War One building, and as much as possible bring it back to what it was 100-years ago."