THREE churches, a pub and a stately home are all included on a list of buildings in Halton at risk of being lost forever, according to Historic England.

The listed buildings appear on Historic England’s “Heritage at Risk” Register, which lists historic buildings in desperate need of repair.

There are six sites in Halton deemed to be at risk, with the most recent having been added to the list in 2019.

Repairing listed buildings can be expensive, meaning some sites have been at risk for several years. The most recent building in Halton to be removed from the register was Norton Priory in 2016, after it had undergone repairs and redevelopment costing £4.5m.

The buildings still on the list appear below.

The Tricorn, Palacefields

Once part of an 18th-century manor house owned by philanthropist Sir John Chesshyre, the Tricorn is a Grade II* listed building but has been boarded up since it closed as a pub in 2017.

Since then it has been sold twice, most recently for £339,000 in September 2020. Earlier that year, housing association Riverside included the Tricorn in preliminary plans to redevelop the whole of Palacefields, suggesting it could be used as a community hub.

However, its only use since 2017 has been as a cannabis farm, which police raided in January 2021. Three men were charged in connection with the raid.

Historic England lists the pub as being in a “very poor unmaintained condition”, adding that the adjacent Grade II listed stable block is also in poor condition and has been subject to vandalism.

The Tricorn was only added to Historic England’s at risk register in 2019, making it the latest to be added to the list.

Daresbury Hall, Daresbury

Built in 1759, Daresbury Hall was on the at risk register even before it was gutted by fire in June 2016.

The hall had been used as a residential home by the charity now known as Scope for a number of years from 1955, and was then bought by a millionaire who planned to restore it but died before plans could be realised.

It was then used to host zombie survival games and, like the Tricorn, a cannabis farm that was raided in 2015.

Since the fire that destroyed most of the interior, the site has been secured but Historic England describes the building as having “large amounts of masonry in an unstable condition”.

The at risk register entry adds: “The building has been secured with a facade retention scaffold and mothballed in a roofless condition. Some urgent works are necessary to ensure complete loss is averted.”

In 2018, the building’s owners applied for permission to restore Daresbury Hall and convert it into luxury flats, but almost three years later Halton Council has still not made a decision on the planning applications.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Runcorn

This Grade II listed church in Trinity Street was built in 1838 as an evangelical alternative to the parish church and was mostly paid for by local soap makers John and Thomas Johnson.

The church is still in use and operates jointly with the nearby All Saints Church.

Historic England lists its condition as “poor”, adding: “There is a need to undertake repairs to the cracking in the north east corner following grant support from a Listed Places of Worship Roof Repairs Grant.”

However, Holy Trinity is only listed as priority C by Historic England, which means it is at risk of slow decay rather than immediate collapse, even if no solution has been agreed yet.

Church of St Mary, Runcorn

Built in 1851 to replace the chapel of Halton Castle, St Mary’s was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott whose other buildings include the Foreign Office and the St Pancras Hotel in London and Wakefield Cathedral.

The church is still in use, but Historic England says it has been the victim of “heritage crime”. Although the register does not provide details, this is most likely vandalism given nearby Halton Castle has had graffiti sprayed on its walls.

The register adds that the church’s sandstone walls have eroded in places and water is getting into the building through the upper windows.

Like Holy Trinity, St Mary’s is listed as a priority C building.

Church of St Mary, Widnes

St Mary’s in West Bank has already undergone two major renovations, but is still in need of more work and is listed by Historic England as “priority A”, meaning it is at “immediate risk of further deterioration”.

Built between 1908 and 1910, St Mary’s was the second church to be built in West Bank after Widnes Dock Church, which opened in 1852 but was never completed as it had been built on chemical waste which then subsided.

Historic England’s at risk register describes St Mary’s as a “significant landmark church”, adding: “Two major phases of repair already completed to the tower and the roofs of the northern side of the nave and the chancel.  “Replacement of the tiled roofs and gutters on the south side is still required to ensure that the church is watertight and free from wet and dry rot.”

Duck Decoy Pond, Hale

The final site on the at risk register is not a building, but a pond.  Added to the list in 2018, the duck decoy pond off Town Lane in Hale is a pentagon-shaped construction consisting of a central pond and then five “pipes” radiating out from it.

The pond is believed to have been built in the 17th century and was a way of catching ducks, which would be pursued down the net-covered “pipes” until they ended up in a net or cage at the outer end.

The register described the decoy’s condition as “generally unsatisfactory with major localised problems” and said it was particularly vulnerable to flooding.

When the decoy was added to the register in November 2018, Rob Cockbain of the Friends of Pickering Pasture described it as “neglected” but hoped it could be saved.