Peel Town Commissioners say no contractors, engineers or officers raised any concern that a boundary wall behind St Peter’s Church was at imminent risk of collapse before it gave way earlier this week.

The wall, which forms part of the former churchyard, fell overnight on Wednesday, sending large stones and debris across the narrow intersection of St Peter’s Lane and Church Lane.

Although no one was injured, images shared early on Thursday morning showed the scale of the damage and prompted a wave of criticism on social media.

Town clerk Derek Sewell said claims circulating online were inaccurate and insisted the commissioners had acted properly based on the professional advice they had received.

‘All these people are looking at the wall and obviously officers as well, and nobody's raising any concerns with it at all,’ he told Isle of Man Today. ‘If they had, we would have acted immediately.’

Mr Sewell explained the bulge in the wall had been present for between 15 and 20 years and had been regularly monitored.

‘This has been kept under review by commissioners’ staff and by outside specialists,’ he said. ‘During that long period, no immediate safety concerns have ever been raised by those people, both internal and external, undertaking those assessments.’

He added that the commissioners had a record of responding quickly to safety issues elsewhere in Peel, noting the removal of the bell tower from the Philip Christian Centre and recent stabilisation work on St Peter’s Gable.

In 2024, a structural engineer designed options for replacing the wall or installing new steps linking St Peter’s Lane to the churchyard.

Although the project had not yet been budgeted for, the board agreed in August this year to submit a planning application for the steps option.

An architect has been preparing that application, which is expected to be lodged shortly.

Mr Sewell said the collapse appears to have been triggered by recent prolonged rainfall.

‘We think it is to do with the amount of rainfall we’ve had in the last particularly the last two weeks,’ he said. ‘Approximately 40mm of rain fell between about 5pm and 7am.

‘We don’t think it’s a coincidence that on the night it went, we had very heavy rainfall on top of what we had already.’

A clean-up operation began on Thursday morning as contractors worked to clear debris and make the site safe.

The remaining sections of the wall will now be reassessed by structural engineers to ensure there are no further risks.

The wall forms part of the grounds of the former St Peter’s Church, a historic site once linked to St German’s Cathedral.

The church was rebuilt several times after fires in the 18th and 19th centuries and later used as a Mission Church and Sunday School before it was demolished following another fire in 1958.

Mr Sewell said lessons may be learned from the incident, particularly in relation to how retaining structures respond to extended periods of rain but stressed the commissioners had not ignored any warnings.

‘We haven’t just sat and crossed our fingers,’ he said. ‘We’ve had many people looking at it, both internally and externally.’