Wroxeter’s famous Roman City is under threat unless substantial investment is found after it was revealed visitor numbers have more than halved in the past decade.
The claim has been made by Dr Roger White, an archaeologist who has worked on the site for more than 30 years and is drafting a conservation plan for English Heritage which runs the visitor attraction. He told the Chronicle unless the site was developed soon, a crisis point would be reached forcing it to be covered over.
He said visitor numbers had halved since the 1990s, and were now between 17,000-20,000 a year.
Dr White said: “Should this trend persist for the next decade, there is no doubt a crisis point will soon be reached. The visitor centre might have to be shut down.”
Dr White is due to present his ideas at Wroxeter and Uppington Parish meeting at 7.30pm, May 11. He has consulted residents, English Heritage, The National Trust and the new Shropshire Council about the Roman ruins, the best-preserved in Britain.
English Heritage officials insist they are committed to developing the site.
Helen Barnett, for English Heritage, said they had no intention of closing the monument and would use Dr White’s conservation plan for any funding bids.