Latest News - Metal thieves steal 300-year-old pipes from Hall's Croft

TWO irreplaceable original lead downpipes on Hall's Croft, the Grade I listed home of Shakespeare's daughter and son-in-law, have been stolen by metal thieves.

Nearly 300 years old, the "priceless" pipes along with a decorative hopper were ripped off the Jacobean house in Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon.

In fear of another theft, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has removed the rest of the historic fittings and replaced them with temporary plastic ones which, in turn, will be replaced with modern replicas of the originals. A spokeswoman for the trust said: "The downpipes were original lead fittings to the building, and therefore of priceless historical value—they are irreplaceable. "We can't put a specific monetary value on the originals, but obviously the cost of creating replicas would be very considerable, especially compared to the negligible scrap value to the thieves." Hall's Croft was built in 1613, but experts at the house told the Herald the lead downpipes were fitted in the early 18th century. One of the stolen pipes had a datemark of 1720 on it.

As metal prices rise, the theft of lead from drainpipes and church roofs is becoming a national epidemic. The Church of England suffers ten thefts of lead from their church roofs a day. Lead downpipes from Holy Trinity Church, just yards down the road from Hall's Croft, were stolen, in November last year.

Heavy drain covers, worth around £5 in scrap metal according to Warwickshire Police, are also being targeted. In a recent spate of thefts in Alcester, Bidford and Salford Priors, 100 were stolen in just seven days. At the end of January, Home Secretary Theresa May announced new measures tightening scrap metal laws. Cash payments for metal are to be outlawed and fines under the existing Scrap Metal Dealers Act (1964) will be significantly increased. In November, the government announced they were setting up a £5 million metal theft taskforce to tackle the problem. Article by Matt Wilson