Who should be responsible for Jacob's Ladder?

Discussions will be taking place this week about the future of Jacob's Ladder in Sidmouth.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) will be discussing a recommendation from EDDC's Capital Strategy and Allocation Group to pass responsibility for Jacob's Ladder and the railings along Sidmouth Seafront to the town council.

On Wednesday EDDC' Cabinet Committee will meet to talk about bids to spend around £20,000 to spruce up the seafront railings and a further £30,000 to carry out structural and painting work on Jacob's Ladder. This could all be done before responsibility is handed over to Sidmouth Town Council.

Jacob's Ladder is one of Sidmouth's two large beaches. The shingle and sand beach gets its name from the series of wooden steps that lead down from Connaught Gardens.

The beach can be accessed via the steps but it is also possible to walk around from the town's main beach via a path.

According to EDDC: "Jacob's Ladder itself is the tall white set of steps that have been constructed to link the gardens to the beach below.

"This is not, however, the first structure in this location. An access in this area dates back to mid-19th century when steps were cut into the cliff. This developed into a cart track used to transport lime (brought in by boat from places such as Branscombe) to the lime kiln which has now been converted into the tea rooms.

"Cliff erosion caused the path to fall in 1870 but access to the beach had become so popular with the Victorian's that they built an extremely long ladder, like Jacob's ladder to heaven (hence the name). The steep ladder was not popular though as it was difficult to use in the dress of the day. So, a new ladder was built in much the same style as the steps today."