Two roads by Wordsley’s Red House Glass Cone will be closed for two days this month as contractors move on site.

Bridge Street and Mill Street will be closed on 26 and 27 October while a crane accesses the site and lifts beams into place which will form the initial base for the external scaffold.

The one-way restriction on Mill Street will temporarily be lifted to allow residents of John Street and Alwen Street access to their homes. The site will be closed to all staff, tenants, and visitors during the two days.

Once the base is in place, a scaffolding structure will go up around the exterior of the cone allowing technicians to repoint the entire structure from top to bottom with authentic lime mortar. Vegetation sprouting from the cone will be carefully removed on a phased basis.

Dudley Council is investing £1.5million to cover the cost of the restoration and ongoing maintenance and work is expected to take around 18 months. Additional work will include new drainage around the building and access to the tunnels.

Inside the Cone the internal gantry and lift will be removed to create a more open accessible space within the Cone.

A new lift will be put in place by the visitor centre to allow wheelchair access to the upper level where a viewing platform will allow people to see into the cone. The hot glass studio is also to be remodelled. Councillor Paul Bradley, cabinet member for communities and economic delivery, said:

“We began work on this major project over the summer and people will really start to see significant work happening as we scaffold this iconic structure.

“We ask that people bear with us for two days while we close the roads to get this heavy equipment on site, but we’ve made sure that residents will still be able to access their homes during this time.”

As a Grade II* listed, Scheduled Ancient monument, the council has worked with an Accredited Historic Architect and Historic England to secure the appropriate permission to begin the sensitive works.

The authority is bound within these to restore the Cone using authentic techniques and materials to remain true to the Cone’s history.