Landmark Saltwells House reduced to rubble

?It was once a stately manor home at the centre of a Black Country beauty spot, but now the 19th century Saltwells House has been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Bulldozers demolished the building within Saltwells Nature Reserve, Netherton, leaving just bricks, girders and wooden beams.

Decades old wooden doors are strewn among the debris marking a sad end for the landmark. It has taken contractors Wintergill Architects less than a month to demolish the Saltwells House, which was built in the 1800s.

Dubbed a "jewel in the crown", the house was built by the Earl of Dudley but had succumbed to vandals since shutting in 2001.

It had been subjected to countless attacks by youngsters smashing windows, lighting fires and spraying graffiti on the walls.

The building, which closed in 2001, had previously been used as a school and a nursing home. Offices for the nature reserve's park rangers may also have to be moved.

Councillor Bryan Cotterill, who helped lead a campaign to save the building, said the group was now looking to the future.

"It didn't take long at all to demolish it and it is the end of an era for the area," he said.

"Now it is even more important to start pulling together a long term plan for the site. We think that the contractors have demolished the site before others come in to clear away the rubble."

Bosses from Dudley Council and developer Dudley Public Sector Partnership are drawing up proposals for the site.

Campaigners say they are keen for more details to be released on the redevelopment of the area of the nature reserve, off Pedmore Road, near Brierley Hill. It had become a magnet for vandals after falling into disrepair and was sold to developers earlier this year.

Around 2,000 signatures were collected by the Saltwells Action group to try and save the doomed house from demolition.