WORK on the £3.5 million renovation of the historic Wellington Monument is on track and scheduled to be finished within the next few months.

The National Trust’s community fundraiser and engagement officer for the monument project, Emma Jones, told members of Wellington Town Council – via Zoom video conferencing technology – at their latest meeting that work at the monument was set to be completed by the end of May. Work replacing stone in the main monument column had been completed, and work was now under way on the internal stairs with work on the plinth to follow.

A fundraising scheme in which wellwishers could buy pieces of the monument stone which had been removed had so far raised about £4,000 and this venture would start again once the current Covid-19 lockdown had ended.

Emma told councillors there had been a record number of visitors to the monument which had led to the car park being full and motorists having to park out on the road.

She confirmed the National Trust had no plans to extend the car park but consideration was being given to widening the entrance.

Plans were in the melting pot for stones taken down from the monument to be re-used to create a new feature in Wellington itself.

Councillors were told in November that stonework from the pyramidion – the top of the monument – which has been removed and replaced with new stones as part of the renovation project, could be sited town.

The estimated cost of creating a mini-monument in Wellington – albeit it could stand up to 15ft tall – would be about £15,000.

“The site at the monument would have to be cleared by the end of May, so a decision regarding the pyramidion would need to be made by then,” said the Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd.

It was agreed that more work was needed to understand the scale of any relocation project and how it could be funded.

Photographs of the pyramidion stones will be sent to town council clerk David Farrow who would then circulate them among councillors, while a further meeting will be held shortly among interested parties to look at the possible project further.