Fury at plans to demolish factory which made fluted columns for the Titanic and build 215 homes and an art studio in its place

History lovers are up in arms as the site where parts of the Titanic were made in Cheltenham is set to be demolished.

Buildings that made up the former H. H. Martyn & Co factory can be torn down to make way for housing after a controversial ruling by Cheltenham Borough Council. 

It has approved Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council's plans to build 215 homes and an arts studio on a large part of the town's Lansdown Industrial Estate.

That has angered heritage enthusiasts, keen to preserve Cheltenham's industrial past. 

Martyn's made fluted columns for the ill-fated ship which famously sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after hitting an iceberg - killing about 1,500 people.

H. H. Martyn & Co factory in Cheltenham was the location where many significant things from Britain's industrial past were built. This includes the Cenotaph in London, the Speaker's Chair, the despatch boxes in the House of Commons, the gates at the Marble Arch and decorations at Buckingham Palace

The RMS Titanic under construction in 1910 in Belfast. The H. H. Martyn & Co factory made the fluted columns for the ill-fated ship

Lansdown Industrial Estate in Cheltenham. Campaigners say the site is of 'national importance' due to its impact on Britain's industrial history

Cheshire West and Chester Council has approved plans to redevelop the Lansdown Industrial Estate into  215 homes and an arts studio

The columns were hollow and wrapped around steel uprights on the vessel, which was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York before disaster struck. 

The Cheltenham factory, which closed in 1971 but parts of which remain, sawed the columns into two, grooved, carved and French polished them ready to be sent to the shipyard in Belfast where the Titanic was built.

It did the same thing for other famous ocean liners such as the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and the QE2 and was world-renowned for its architectural decoration work. 

That included making the Cenotaph in London, the Speaker's Chair and despatch boxes in the House of Commons, the gates at Marble Arch and decorations at Buckingham Palace.

The company also made Spitfire propellers during the Second World War.

Herbert Henry Martyn established his company of art craftsmen on premises on the corner of College Road and the High Street, Cheltenham, in 1888. Pictured is HH Martyn's Robert the Bruce statue, which now stands at the Bannockburn Visitor Centre in Bannockburn, Stirling, Scotland

HH Martyn built aeroplanes, motor cars, fitted out ships, cast statues, produced stained glass windows, made furniture, worked iron, carved stone and moulded decorative plaster. The picture shows an advert for the company proudly displaying the royal warrant.

The Titanic sank at 2.20am on Monday, April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic

Jill Waller, of Cheltenham Local History Society, spoke against the proposals at a meeting of the borough council's planning committee. 

She said the heritage assessment of the site was woefully under researched. 

She said Lansdown Industrial Estate was of national importance, not just local significance, as much of what came out of the site can still be seen across the country.

Ms Waller spoke of the site's heritage and how H. H. Martyn & Co renamed the site as Sunningend in 1907 and built most of the buildings remaining there today. 'Surely, some of these buildings could be repurposed again as demonstrated in their history,' she said.

'Perhaps as mixed use and the last traces of Cheltenham's important industrial and artistic heritage be preserved.'

HH Martyn's cast bronze figure of Sir Winston Churchill by Croatian sculptor Oscar Nemon who is known to have worked on more than a dozen statues of the war hero

Lansdown Industrial Estate could soon become a building site after the council approved plans to demolish and rebuild the area

Cheshire West and Chester Council wants to redevelop the Lansdown Industrial Estate into a residential area with 215 homes

Steve Bryson, of Cheltenham Civic Society, told the meeting: 'It looks like you are about to nod through a scheme that will release huge amounts of carbon through the demolition of what remains of our town's industrial heritage. 

'We have gone to great lengths in our publications and letters to both sets of councillors that the heritage buildings on this site can be reused in a mixed-use redevelopment.

'But such suggestions have just fallen on deaf ears. Cheltenham is an outstanding town, much loved for its heritage. But we are in danger this evening of rolling over to Chester's very poor-quality scheme.'

But councillors heard that much of the industrial estate is in a poor state, with the developer arguing that the old buildings' history should not stop them from making way for much-needed houses.

Councillor Emma Nelson said the town must embrace its past but also move forward.

'It's a very good scheme,' she said. 

'Overall, one has to support this application.'