SCAFFOLDING will soon be going up around the historic Wellington Monument in readiness for the landmark’s long-awaited renovation.

Members of Wellington Town Council heard last week that it should not be too long before people begin to see work start on restoring the crumbling monument.

Emma Jones, the National Trust’s community fundraiser and engagement officer for Wellington Monument, said: “Things are getting very exciting. The fundraising has gone very well and things have been very busy with lots of events up at the monument.

“We had a visitor from Australia who was in his 70s and he told us that his family came from here. He said his grandfather had made the door at the monument and when he touched the door he cried, I cried – it was a beautiful moment and very emotional.”

Project manager Helen Sharp told councillors that the cost of the work, which had been set at £3.8 million, would be less than envisaged with a figure of £3.45 million.

“We’ve raised £2.8 million so far – so we’ve got £0.65 million to go,” she said.

Councillors were told that scaffolding should start going up at the monument in October and will take around 12 weeks to complete.

Further surveying work will take place over the winter and then it is expected that work will begin in the New Year.

People are being encouraged to visit Wellington Monument this weekend (September 20-21) as part of the English Heritage Open Day campaign between 11am and 3pm.

The National Trust has been tackling the conservation of the monument since it owned the landmark in 1934 and now officials are beginning to worry about possible falling stonework with the upper half of the obelisk in very poor condition.

The 175ft three-sided obelisk on the Blackdown Hills was completed in the 1820s having been first proposed a few years earlier following the Duke of Wellington’s 1815 victory at the Battle of Waterloo.

The National Trust has said that previous repair work on the ageing monument had not proved the best way forward.

The proposed restoration of the monument has been backed by Wellington Town Council which last September agreed to give £10,000 to the overall project.