Bury St Edmunds Greggs in Abbeygate Street could take more than a year to repair, it has emerged

Restoration work at the Greggs store in a key shopping street in Bury St Edmunds could take more than a year, according to the company behind the work.

Specialist builders and craftsmen, Emmerson Critchley, based in Woolpit, have been working at the store, at 11 Abbeygate Street, for just over a month.

It follows an urgent call for action from campaigners including the town’s Tour Guides, The Bury Society, and SuffolkNews, after concerns about the rapidly deteriorating condition of the Grade II* listed building.

Emmerson Critchley, which has decades of experience in of traditional building techniques for heritage and modern properties, is now at a crucial stage of investigation into what can be repaired and what needs replacing.

The company has identified water ingress, also known as ‘penetrating damp’, as a main problem – and is now looking into what is necessary for the structure of the building, which dates back to the 17th Century, to preserve its heritage.

Scaffolding could be up for more than a year.

Emmerson Marshall-Critchley, who runs the company, said: “This is not going to be a quick fix. It never is with a building such as this

“At the moment it is not looking great, but until we can peel back some of the superstructure, I can’t comment completely.

“The superstructure is key. If you have no structural stability of the building, you are going to lose the heritage. It would mean rebuilding everything from scratch.

“I feel there are going to be repairs to the superstructure and they are easily solved. But it is now understanding the level of work that needs carrying out to future proof the stability of the building and make it sound, so that we can carry on with the facade.”

SuffolkNews first highlighted complaints about bare and rotting wood, peeling paint, blocked guttering and deteriorating window frames, in March last year.

At the time, the bakery store, had been described as ‘Britain’s poshest Greggs’ by a number of national newspapers.

Greggs took over the building from the Bakers Oven in May 1994. It has a second smaller store in Cornhill.

11 Abbeygate Street is of late Georgian, early 19th Century design, but the interior dates from the 17th Century, and its windows are Gothic.

Grade II* listed means it is of particular historical significance, with only five per cent of buildings in this category, having this rating.

Mr Marshall-Critchley added: “We have now had two meetings with conservation officers and at the moment we are at the stage of exploratory work.

“There are four fundamental stages to the project: firstly exploratory work, secondly for the building to be structurally stable, water tight and breathable.

“We have one more week of exploratory work, next week, and then after that we will make a decision based on our findings.

“ At the moment, what we have established is that most of the problems are direct water ingress.

“We have flashings that haven’t been installed properly, we have box gutters that are leaking that also have been installed properly, rain water actually cascading down the cavity of the facade, and then a capillary of water being drawn up from the concrete.

“We have worked out ways we can solve these problems but the next stage is understanding the damage to the superstructure which actually supports the facade of the building.

“Next week we will start stripping back some of the woodwork, without leaving the building too vulnerable, and then we will have a final meeting and establish what’s a repair and what’s a replacement.”

Mr Marshall-Critchley said repairs can be started immediately with conservation officer consent, but replacement will need Listed Building Consent, which can take up to 12 weeks, before work can begin.

He said: “At the moment I am writing specifications to help the longevity of the building.

“We are also looking into slight changes some lime mixes, maybe lime colours, material choices, all incorporated within the listed building consent.

“I envisage about four to six months work on the joinery, but add in permissions, which could take around take three months, so we could be looking at a year for the scaffolding in place, possibly a little more, depending how invasive the repairs are.”

Emmerson Critchley said costs ‘will go up’ due the highly specialist nature of the work but the work has the full backing of Greggs, so far.

Mr Ma said: “Greggs are backing us 110 per cent.

“I can safely say that out of all my clients over 20 years, Greggs are up there with the ones who are trying to do what is best for the building.”

He added the store will be able to stay open for the public during the work.

He said: “Nothing at risk of falling down. At the moment, everything is fixed, but not to the standard it should be for this building.”