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Rocester’s “Haunted House” demolished in safety move

In the UK a wooden house, which has graced the skyline in Rocester, Staffordshire, for almost 125 years, has disappeared from view on safety grounds. The Rookery was built around 1887 as a winter retreat for local businessman Charles Hartley who owned a local brick and tile works. It was constructed mainly of Swedish pine, which, at the time, was forecast to have a lifespan of just 25 years.

Now two JCB machines have been commissioned to demolish the building. First a JCB 540-170 Loadall telescopic handler complete with man basket was drafted in to enable the initial brick-by-brick demolition of the chimney stacks before a 22 t JCB JS220 tracked excavator with selector grab completed the demolition of the building.
In later years The Rookery, which was bought by JCB in 1969 and was close to the company’s world headquarters, earned the nickname ‘The Haunted House’ from local people because of the eerie outline it cast against the sky. In the days leading up to the demolition JCB set up spotlights to shine into the building to deter birds from roosting.
A JCB spokesman said: “Time really has taken its toll on The Rookery and despite regular security patrols and a fence around the property, there has also been an increasing problem with youngsters entering this dangerous structure. The Rookery was in such an unsafe condition that the only option was to demolish it before anyone was seriously injured. The 540-170 Loadall and the JCB JS220 excavator are more used to operating in much more arduous conditions and made light work of this particular project, with The Rookery demolition completed in two days.”
www.jcb.com

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