WORK is taking place to restore a grade 2 listed Southampton building after it was bombed in the Southampton Blitz.

Weigh House is currently undergoing a restoration as part of a £6.7m project to revamp 53 monuments across the city.

The French Street site is believed to have been built in the 13th century and once contained equipment to weigh goods being transported in and out of the city like food and wool.

In 1936 it was restored and became the school hall for the next door, St John’s School, but was later damaged after being hit by a bomb in the Southampton Blitz.

As a result, only the shell of the building survived, with its ancient oak roof having perished in the subsequent fire.

Now though, as part of the scheme by Southampton City Council, specialist contractors have been brought in to restore the building.

The authority said the aim of the project is to bring the building and neighbouring vault back in to use for the public.

Speaking in a Youtube video posted by the council, cabinet member for communities, culture and heritage, Cllr Spiros Vassiliou said: “This is the first of our city monuments to benefit from the over £6m investment we have put in to repair and regenerate them for the public to use in future.

“It’s really exciting to see the work that’s being done.

“Once finished, we want to bring it back for the public to use again which will support our bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2025.”

Speaking also in the video was site manager, Tom Francis, from Chichester Stoneworks.

He explained that because of the type of limestone used, along with an especially hard concrete when the building was initially constructed, it is taking in water, meaning that the building is now “falling to bits”.

He added: “We’ve got organic growth growing and it’s actually doing a lot more harm than good in the long term.”

The work comes as the first phase of the council’s scheme which was approved in the summer.

Other monuments that are due to benefit are The Bargate, Town Walls, Castle Bailey Wall North, Castle Eastgate and William Nichol Tower.

Speaking about the Weigh House restoration on Twitter, cabinet member for growth and deputy leader of the council, cllr Jeremy Moulton said: “Great that it and other historic buildings are being restored. Southampton has so much wonderful history and we should be doing far more to showcase it.”