May have suffered a sudden death - quite common with Ceanothus.

Thank you Weatherwise. So I take it that I have to Dig it out and put it down to experience.

Any sign of green at the base? I know how you feel - mine died suddenly a few years back. :-(

You could try putting a knife into the bark near the bottom of the plant and see if there is any sign of green.

Thank you Weatherwise. I have checked and there is a lot of life in the plant.
But even the new shoots,start green and then seem to go dry and brown and the brown just disintegrates between the fingers.
Do you think I should cut all growth and established branches back to the main stems? Is there anything I can treat the Ceanothus with.
Now you will understand why called myself Useless

I'm sure you're not useless! I'm afraid I'm no expert either but you could copy and paste this link (http://www.growsonyou.com/genus/Ceanothus#care-tips) as there seem to be some other questions/answers on this topic.