End of the line for war building

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle worked at Mossband House

Heritage groups are staging an 11th hour attempt to save a former World War One building from demolition.

Mossband House, the HQ of the old ammunition centre at B.A.D Longtown, is situated next to the A74, north of Carlisle, in Cumbria.

It is reputed to have been visited by Royalty and was used by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, when he worked as a government propagandist.

Mossband House is the only building on a site that contained one of the largest ammunition depots of its kind.

We are concerned that the MoD has decided to demolish the building without consulting any local groups

Richard Brodie

Richard Brodie, chairman of the Eastriggs and Gretna Heritage Group, told BBC Radio Cumbria it was an important building.

"Mossband House, at one time, had a 30,000 workforce and it was very, very important to the war effort in this country.

"The Ministry of Defence say the building is in bad condition but they have really let it go.

"It wouldn't cost much more to preserve the building than it would to demolish it."

'Daunting' task

He added: "We are concerned that the MoD has decided to demolish the building without consulting any local groups.

"If we had known, we could have got together to raise money to preserve the building in memory of the 30,000 people who worked there."

Mr Brodie said local groups might be able to find around £100,000, but a figure of £1m would a "daunting task".

A spokesman for the MoD said the building was surplus to requirements and that problems with subsidence and drainage meant the cost of repair could not be justified.