Earl of Crawford steps in amid row over renovations to former family seat Haigh Hall

The 30th Earl of Crawford said he is ‘devastated’ that the filmmakers and artists Al and Al are no longer working on the £50m renovation of Haigh Hall - his family’s seat until 1947 when it was sold to Wigan council. In a letter to Al and Al, shared with Local Democracy Reporting Service, he spoke in glowing terms of their work on the project.

Al and Al were informed last month that their contract with the council would not be renewed. The Earl said he and his wife had just returned from two weeks in the US and wrote: “To hear the news that Wigan council hasn’t renewed your contract was a shock indeed. Can this really be so?

“Frankly we are both devastated. We saw the project as something truly remarkable for the people of Wigan and the surrounding areas. During the consultation phase with the local population you mentioned coming across so many people with a really close connection to Haigh and this encouraged us to find a way to assist you in the project.

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"Our disappointment is immense, and not just on your behalf. This was your vision, shaped with input from the people of Wigan; it was you who secured funding from numerous institutions, and we both felt the project was in truly capable, creative hands.

“To learn that you’re not longer involved is both disheartening and utterly incomprehensible. Your work would have brough Haigh Hall to life, honouring its past with a sensitivity few could achieve.”

He said that he assumed Wigan council had ‘shifted its approach’ for the project adding: “Yet is saddens me deeply to think it may now be compromised by a markedly different direction.”

A council spokesman declined to comment on the Earl of Crawford’s letter. The town hall said previously: “There is no doubt that Al and Al’s artistic direction has shaped the vision for Haigh and for that we are truly grateful. That being said, Al and Al were just two members of a creative and committed project team working hard to realise our ambition for Haigh. We’re confident that as we enter this next phase, the project will really come to life.”

The Friends of Haigh Hall Heritage and Open Access For All have called for Al and Al to be reinstated and more than 1,100 people have now signed their petition.