‘A fire killed my mum and destroyed her famous house – now I want to restore it’

Jessica Richards watched as her childhood home burnt down with her mum inside.

There was little she could do as the blaze ripped through the Elizabethan house in Shrewsbury famed for its starring role in a 1980s movie.

Rose Roberts, 81, died in her beloved Grade II listed townhouse, which she spent decades restoring for the public to enjoy.

Now her daughter, who lives opposite the wrecked building, is trying to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to save her mum’s legacy.

Rose owned Perches House when the building featured as Scrooge’s office in the 1984 film ‘A Christmas Carol’.

In the opening moments, you see the front of the house, with half of the office scenes also shot inside.

The cameo appearance attracted tourists from around the world ever since, with hundreds of people posing in front of the house.

Behind the glitz of the cinema, the building was actually ‘in a really bad state’ and in need urgent repair.

Rose, who lived their from the age of 37, raised all the money to restore it and even project-managed the rebuild itself. It became her life’s work.

Jessica Roberts, now 40, told Metro: ‘Mum was a lover of old things. She saw herself as a custodian of the house.

‘Mum put her heart and soul into it. It is not just a house.

‘Mum and that house are weirdly intertwined. They were almost the same person.’

Jessica eventually moved into a flat opposite her childhood home but continued to run a business, Shrewsbury Arts & Crafts, out of it.

On the morning of January 27 a huge blaze tore through the timber-framed property on Castle Street.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is still investigating the cause of the fire, but Richards said it appeared to have started in her mother’s room on the ground floor.

Her partner, Carl, woke her up as a crane battled the flames.

Jessica said: ‘Her window was all blown out, and all this black smoke had come out of it. The roof was absolutely aflame.

‘I just remember I looked up and then I passed out. It was horrifying not being able to do anything.’

The damage caused by the fire was catastrophic.

The roof was completely burnt through, the oak staircase was destroyed and the upper floors are saturated with water, with the ceiling is at risk of collapse.

Now Jessica is focused on saving Perches House, re-opening it to the public and preserving her mum’s legacy.

She said: ‘I cannot do anything to bring Mum back. But I can and I will bring the house back for her.’

While scaffolding is currently stopping the house from collapsing, a massive temporary structure needs to be designed and built over the property to shield it from the elements.

Because of that £100,000 is needed for that before restoration work can even begin.

The whole project could cost as much as £500,000.

Jessica said the house was not insured due to ‘complex circumstances entirely beyond my mother’s control’.

While she hopes to receive valuable grant funding in the long term, hearing back will take too long.

So she is desperately crowdfunding to get the funds necessary to save Perches House.

More than 900 people have already come forward to help and close to £30,000 has already been donated.

A concert is also being held next month to raise more money.

Jessica said: ‘The reaction has been absolutely amazing. It has been such a testament to what people thought of Mum.

‘It is such a pity she was never around to hear all these comments.

‘Even though she was a wonderful person, she never saw it in herself.’

To donate to the fundraiser, click here.

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