Gorthorpe was a 10-Storey Tower Block on the Orchard Park Estate in north Hull, Kingston Upon Hull, England.
It was up for demolition, however following a local election in 2011 the plans for demolition were scrapped, therefore meaning Gorthorpe would be used further for housing. In July 2012, the local authority came to a decision that Gorthorpe and Kinthorpe would be refurbished for housing, while demolishing Laxthorpe and the remaining four high-rise blocks.
However, after a U-Turn by Hull City Council, it was decided that all of the tower blocks on the estate, including Gorthorpe and Kinthorpe, were to be demolished by 2015.
On the evening of 11th May 2015, a break in occured at the block by a group of arsonists who set the block on fire at the 6th floor. The fire service were called out at 9PM to tackle the blaze, and the fire was successfully extinguished, thankfully with no injuries or deaths due to no one occupying the building at the time. Police suspected the fire to be arson because there had been 4 other incidents at other derelict buildings in Hull. After this event, Gorthorpe was given extra security.
As cited earlier, Gorthorpe was one of seven tower blocks marked for demolition by 2015, of which six were successfully demolished by March 2015. Gorthorpe was marked for demolition in the summer of that year, however it won a reprieve due to no plans being made for the phone mast that stood on the roof of the block, which served Beverley and the North Hull area with phone signal.
In November 2016, the mast was taken down from the building and a temporary antennae was placed for phone signal, thus enabling demolition to go ahead. It was finally demolished by mechanical demolition in December 2016.
Gorthorpe was one of three midi-blocks on the estate, the other two being:
Gallery[]
Gorthorpe shortly before demolition in October 2016, credit DEMOLITION @ urbanrim.org.uk
Gorthorpe undergoing demolition in November 2016, credit DEMOLITION @ urbanrim.org.uk[]
