Rescue and Reuse-Communities, Heritage and Architecture [1 ed.] 9781859467787, 9780429345661, 9781000699098, 9781000698732, 9781000698374, 9780367814571, 9781000726671, 9781000726435, 9781000726190

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Rescue &   Reuse CO M M U N I T I E S, H E R I TAG E A N D A R CH I T E C T U R E

About the Author

In memory of Jennifer Jenkins, DBE

Merlin Waterson is the author of books on the history of conservation, domestic service and country houses. For over 30 years, he was on the staff of the National Trust, latterly as Director of Historic Properties; and has been Chairman of the Architectural Heritage Fund; and a Commissioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. He is on the Advisory Panel of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and is a Trustee of Wentworth Woodhouse. In 2005, he was awarded the CBE for services to heritage.

Chairman of the Architectural Heritage Fund, 1994 – 1997 Chairman of the Historic Buildings Council, 1975 – 1984 Chairman of the National Trust, 1986 – 1990

About the Editor Ian Morrison has 30 years’ professional experience working in heritage conservation. Currently Director of Policy and Evidence at Historic England, Ian was previously Chief Executive of the Architectural Heritage Fund, where he expanded the charity’s services to help communities rescue and re-use historic buildings across the UK. He is a former member of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England and the Prince’s Regeneration Trust Advisory Panel.

© RIBA Publishing, 2019 Published by RIBA Publishing, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1NT ISBN 978-1-85946-778-7 The rights of Merlin Waterson as the author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 sections 77 and 78. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Commissioning Editor: Ginny Mills Project Editor: Daniel Culver Production: Richard Blackburn Designed and Typeset by Mercer Design, London Printed and bound by Page Bros, Norwich, UK Cover image: Shutterstock While every effort has been made to check the accuracy and quality of the information given in this publication, neither the Author nor the Publisher accept any responsibility for the subsequent use of this information, for any errors or omissions that it may contain, or for any misunderstandings arising from it. www.ribapublishing.com

Contents Foreword, Rod Hackney iv Preface v

6. Play 81 CASE STUDIES

Clevedon Pier | The Hippodrome, Bo’ness |

1. Replace or revive? 1

West Boathouse, Glasgow Green | Saltdean Lido, Brighton |

CASE STUDIES

Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Glasgow

Granby Four Streets, Toxteth, Liverpool | Brunel Goods Shed, Stroud | The Ivy House, Nunhead | Custom House, Leith | Wentworth Woodhouse

7. Learn 103 CASE STUDIES

Calton Hill, Edinburgh | Thomas Whitty House,

2. Downsize 27

Axminster | Lower Lodge, Ashton Court, Bristol

CASE STUDIES

Sheffield General Cemetery | The Town Hall, Hebden Bridge | Devonport Town Hall

8. Visit 119 CASE STUDIES

Richard III’s tomb, Leicester Cathedral | Blists Hill,

3. Live 39

Ironbridge | Oxford Castle | Kelmscott Manor,

CASE STUDIES

Oxfordshire, and David Parr House, Cambridge |

Stanley Mills, Perthshire | Royal William Yard, Plymouth

King Edward Mine, Camborne, Cornwall

4. Work 51

9. Integrate 143

CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDIES

Porthmeor Studios, St Ives | Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow |

Bishop’s Gate Hotel, Derry | Dronfield Hall Barn

Sum Studios, Sheffield

5. Shop 65

10. Constructing our future from our past 155

CASE STUDIES

Middleport Pottery, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent | Holmes Mill, Clitheroe, and Pendle Village Mill, Nelson

Bibliography 162 Index 164 Image credits 166

Foreword Rod Hackney

iv RESCUE & REUSE

T

his is an important book and a noteworthy

Two years ago, Ian Morrison, the editor, came to

addition to the pantheon of literature issued

my office to discuss an idea for a book on the role of

by the Royal Institute of British Architects

architects as enablers and supporters of community-

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

(RIBA). That the RIBA should proudly (and rightly)

led schemes to rescue and find new uses for historic

publish a book that celebrates the rescue, often

buildings which they hold dear. I immediately reflected

community-led, of some of our finest historic

on my extraordinary journey over the last 50 years, a

buildings is a worthy recognition of how far the

period that started with my 1815 terraced home and

architectural profession has travelled and, for me, a

that of my neighbours condemned as unfit for human

personal milestone and vindication of the essential

habitation, but now considered worthy of protection in

role of conservation professionals.

a designated conservation area; slums not only rescued

After all, architects in the 1960s and 1970s were more concerned with building new edifices, including

and rebuilt but revered and worth considerably more than new stock housing – the heritage premium.

encouraging the demolition of much that was old and

I did not hesitate to offer encouragement for this

out of date. This was especially true in the housing field

book and was delighted to contribute this Foreword.

where 19th-century homes were sacrificed as unfit for

It is brilliantly authored by Merlin Waterson, easy to

human habitation and incapable of adaptation. The

read, unashamedly down to earth, well constructed

Modernists held sway.

and contains a wealth of inspiring examples of

In the 1980s, I was summoned to the President’s office at the RIBA’s Portland Place headquarters and told that what I was advocating – community-led conservation – was something the architectural profession should not concern itself with. I dug my heels in, determined to help my fellow residents of the Victorian terraces in Macclesfield fight off the bulldozers under the guise of so-called slum clearance schemes. So began the birth of the community architecture approach in the UK, where traditional dogma was turned on its head and the role

how communities and architects working on equal terms and in unison can create wonderful homes, businesses and places to enjoy that enrich our environments and our lives. This book is a must for referencing our unique architectural heritage and the constant human struggle to preserve what is important in the face of adversity. As the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health highlighted in 1975, ‘ordinary people involved in bettering their own conservation, were less likely to destroy what they created’.

of the architect changed from that of the authoritarian

Well done to the RIBA for supporting this endeavour.

professional expert to that of interpreter and enabler

Read with pleasure and pride, and reflect on what is

of residents’ wishes.

possible with the right attitude, sensitivity and approach.

Preface

chapel. It is intended to serve as a handbook for all

buildings during the last half century is bound

those who want to protect the historic buildings they

to be both a celebration and a lament. As a past

value, large and small.

president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Lionel Brett wrote:

It is debatable whether the use of one’s eyes in a modern English city is, on balance, a source of pleasure or pain. He might have added that many cities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are likely to prompt similarly mixed feelings. Our response to the continuing erosion of our historic villages, towns and cities can be one of resignation, with the all-too-easy inclination to blame central and local government. Yet there are constructive and braver alternatives. The case studies in this book set out to demonstrate that with vigorous local effort, often supported by organisations with experience of rescuing vulnerable historic buildings, much of what is socially valuable and culturally significant can be retained and put to sustainable new uses. There is plenty of evidence of a radical new localism which is helping to shape, for the better, our historic built environment.

The case studies record remarkable successes which show how buildings can be brought back from dereliction and then play a major role in revitalising whole areas and communities. The book also demonstrates how neglect and careless disposal can lead not only to the erosion of architectural distinctiveness but also to a loss of communal identity. The examples of what has recently been achieved, described in detail in the case studies, should act as a spur to anyone wondering whether the continuing fight to protect places of historic interest is worthwhile. What gives the book urgency is that the United Kingdom is experiencing a combination of circumstances which, unless they are confronted in an enlightened way, threaten some of the best of its built heritage. Publicly owned buildings and historic sites are being sold off. There is an imperative to build new houses on a huge scale, which is admirable as an objective, provided it is responsibly carried out. Commercial developments are being approved, sometimes with scant regard for their impact on areas of historical importance, causing radical and irrevocable change to London and many other

Some of the case studies describe the rescue of

historic towns and cities. This is happening at a time

grand buildings, including town halls, markets, great

when planning controls are being questioned, and

churches, castles and country houses; clearly, they

there are risks that the checks and balances which

deserve to feature. The book also includes successful

have protected much of our built heritage could be

schemes, often assembled by local historic buildings

weakened. Whatever the political and economic drivers

trusts, for modest survivals, such as a suburban street,

of these trends, the costs in terms of social and cultural

a family department store, a railway shed or a cemetery

loss are too often assessed superficially or not at all.

v PR E FAC E

A

ny survey of the care and reuse of historic

vi RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Economic growth, and the pressing need for new

There are, however, numerous architectural practices,

housing, does not have to involve the degradation of

community organisations, and building preservation

the UK’s heritage. The case studies show how, even

trusts (BPTs) that have shown themselves ready to

with very problematic buildings, and often in areas

take on structures in a perilous state of decay and find

of considerable deprivation, it is possible to find

solutions which are welcomed and supported by the

creative solutions which balance the requirement for

community they will serve. There is no simple formula

economic development and new building with the

for how these bodies should work together to rescue an

need to protect and enhance the historic environment.

important building or cherished area of historic value.

The enterprising adaptation of the UK’s built heritage

Often the lead is taken by a few determined individuals

provides places which rapidly come to be cherished

who realise that to achieve their aims they have to operate

by those who live there. There is now widespread

through a charity, often a BPT, to be able to attract grants.

acceptance that it is not only possible, but also highly

Frequently, an architect is engaged at an early stage to

desirable, to integrate the best of contemporary design

help translate disparate ideas into a practicable scheme.

with the UK’s inheritance of places of historic interest.

Just as there is no formula for how best to enlist

Every settlement across the UK, whether a medieval

support, so there are no rules for how to get the best

market town or postwar city centre, has a distinctive

designs for a building which needs to be repaired or

history that can contribute to a prosperous future.

adapted. The owners of the property, often trustees,

Many of those with the power to care for and shape

will usually want to consult widely on a brief for the

the places where we live, work and visit realise that

architect. They need to be in constant touch about

heritage can be the catalyst for renewal. It creates

what is a realistic budget. The grant-aiding bodies

value and sustains economic vitality, supporting jobs,

will need to be kept informed, and the possibility

attracting investment, and inspiring creativity and

of grants contributing to the costs of preparing a

cultural activity. Vigorous communities and vibrant

scheme explored. It can be useful for the architect

places nurture each other.

and the client to visit sites where similar projects

What emerges very clearly is that the cultural, economic and social context in which these rescues have been accomplished is also changing fast. Approaches to funding, and to what makes a project sustainable,

have been successfully completed, and to take advice from those who have relevant experience. Most of the organisations mentioned in the book have websites, with their contact details.

have had to change too. Only the imaginative, the

The case studies following every chapter demonstrate

fleet of foot and the pragmatic are likely to succeed in

that, more often than not, the most effective and

what is becoming an increasingly difficult climate for

sustainable solutions emerge after careful consultation

conservation. For these reasons, the messages from this

with local people. They are community led, rather than

book come with a real sense of urgency.

imposed by consultants. It is the future users of the

During the last 40 years, following the example of a

their greatest champions. If there is a central message

small band of dedicated pioneers, there have emerged

to this book it is that engagement with the local

outstanding architectural practices specialising in

community is usually the way to ensure that a scheme

conservation work and experienced in working with

is both successful and sustainable. The case study in

those who turn to them for guidance. They include

Chapter 1, describing the Granby Four Streets project

some of the finest architects in the world and, when

in Toxteth, shows just how much can be achieved by

given the opportunity, they are capable of using their

determined local action.

ingenuity to turn wonderful but dilapidated buildings

At times, a challenge to a needlessly destructive development is best handled by a barrister experienced in interpreting planning law. However, there are moments when unsympathetic developments have been halted by direct action, sometimes to buy time. At Granby Four Streets, some of those committed to saving its fine Victorian terraced housing lay down in front of bulldozers, picketed in front of buildings about to be demolished, and painted slogans on the steel

into assets that make a crucial contribution to people’s lives. It is also the case that modern design, engineering and materials can make possible a variety of ingenious and satisfactory solutions, each with attractions. The client does not need to feel that there is only one legitimate approach when bringing new life to historic buildings, but securing the skills of a suitably experienced and skilful architect is almost always a prerequisite.

shutters put up by the council over the windows. As

There are various conservation accreditation schemes

the chair of the Granby Four Streets Community Land

for architects which are recognised by the RIBA. Some

Trust, Eleanor Lee, explained, it was usually done with

of the courses leading to accreditation are specially

a light or humorous touch, not least because that would

arranged to make it possible for architects to attend

be quickly picked up by the local press:

modules at weekends, so that the training is compatible

It can take many small acts of courage, but

with the demands of busy practices. Some are run in conjunction with the Institute of Historic Building

it has turned out to be a powerful thing. We

Conservation, based at The King’s Manor, University of

started to take some very small actions, which

York, and combine lectures with site visits to discuss

began with cleaning and clearing rubbish,

best practice with other architects and builders.

and endless brushing and painting, and the

This book has been jointly commissioned by the

very female, undervalued domestic activities

RIBA and the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF). I

that normally take place in the home but now

am grateful to my Commissioning Editor at the RIBA, Ginny Mills, and to the former Chief Executive of the

moved out into public spaces and started to

AHF, Ian Morrison, who has been a diligent content

stretch over entire streets. This breaks taboos.

editor, for entrusting it to me. Matthew McKeague, who

vii PR E FAC E

buildings who best see their potential and who become

viii

the old and the new has been highly successful: its message is overwhelmingly positive.

Both organisations want to celebrate the role of

The sharing of aspirations is now much stronger

and voluntary effort. My choice of case studies shows

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

the project and has supported it enthusiastically.

|

together many examples of where the marriage of

RESCUE & REUSE

stepped into Morrison’s shoes at the AHF, inherited

than previously. In the last half century, conservation

how much can be accomplished by a few determined

organisations have sometimes found themselves

individuals whose reward is to see buildings they

fighting for the preservation of historic areas such as

cherish preserved and put to good use. I have had to

markets and shops, with distinguished architects being

be highly selective, choosing projects from all over

employed by developers to argue for demolition and

the UK which demonstrate the range of what can be

clearance to make way for their ambitious proposals.

achieved, and which show how the architects involved

This happened when Basil Spence designed new flats in

have responded to the qualities of the place they have

Hutchesontown as part of schemes to clear traditional

been asked to preserve. The voice of the conservation

housing in the Gorbals district of Glasgow; and when

architect is a significant part of these case studies with,

James Stirling became the architect for a scheme

among others, James McCosh describing Richard III’s

involving the demolition of eight listed buildings on a

tomb in Leicester Cathedral, MJ Long at Porthmeor

site opposite the Mansion House in the City of London

Studios, St Ives, and Jackie Gillespie talking about

(although his building has itself since been listed).

Royal William Yard, Plymouth.

The public is now much more sceptical about the

Gathering together material for this book has been

benefits of wholesale redevelopment and more

made a pleasure by the many people who have

appreciative of imaginative, carefully integrated

helped me and who have worked unstintingly for the

new buildings which respect their context and

buildings and areas I describe. I have benefited from

retain elements of what went before. Schemes for

conversations with Jane Kennedy, John Maddison, Kit

the adaptation of the UK’s great Victorian railway

Martin, Martin Drury, Joanna van Heyningen, Birkin

stations – for example St Pancras and King’s Cross –

Haward, Terence Dooley, Christopher Ridgway, Keith

and historic markets, including Covent Garden and

Knight, Simon Jenkins, Sir Laurie Magnus, Samantha

Spitalfields, are admired, enjoyed and have proved

Wyndham, Marcus Binney and Garth Sheldon.

highly profitable. In contrast, many postwar office

Lyndsay Summerfield at Historic England has, most

blocks, high-rise flats and ill-conceived shopping

perceptively, helped me to improve the text. My wife,

precincts have not worn well. This book brings

Imogen, has always been an invaluable support and

architects and conservationists in the care of the historic environment, and particularly the way local communities can play a vital part in safeguarding buildings they value.

Sometimes, schemes to rescue buildings at risk involve powerful partners with great resources. However, frequently the protection of an area or building rich in history is the result of communal

In Wales, I was helped by Ken Hilton and Brian Davies.

Alice Waterson helped with communications while

Over many years, I have learned an immense amount

we were in Canada, and my daughter Natasha has

from working with the late Elisabeth Walters, and from

given much valuable advice based on her international

the books about Wales she wrote as Elisabeth Beazley.

conservation experience.

In the Midlands and the north of England, Jess Steele,

Staff at the AHF have also been endlessly patient and

Lucie Oakley, Eleanor Lee, Debbie Dance, Kate Dickson,

helpful. I am grateful to Gavin Richards, Ian Rice, Ruth

Mike Slinn, Janet Ridler, Andrew Whitam,

Johnson and Andy Richardson. I am especially indebted

Andy Jackson, Simon Wallwork, Sarah McLeod,

to the regional support officers of the AHF who helped

Elizabeth Perkins and Graham Mynott gave greatly

to plan my visits, introduced me to those driving forward

valued assistance.

projects in different parts of the country and who suggested buildings which needed to be included but which were unfamiliar to me. They have also proposed welcome amendments. Tessa Hilder made time to read the whole text through at a late stage and her comments have been much appreciated. I have also been helped by members of the AHF’s council, particularly

On an extremely useful visit to the south-west of England, I was guided by Josephine Brown, Alastair Tuckey, Sam Hunt, Michael Woodcock, Chris Hibbert, Simon Talbot-Ponsonby, Claire Burgess, Jackie Gillespie, Tamsin Daniel, Ed Whitelaw, Christopher Hibbert, Anthony Negus and Jill and David Davies.

the chairman, Liz Peace, Richard Keen, who shared

In East Anglia and the southern counties of England,

his exceptional knowledge of conservation projects in

I have been assisted by Stephen Earl, Malcolm Crowder

Wales, and Elizabeth Davidson, who was an inspiring

and John Popham.

guide to buildings in Glasgow. I am particularly grateful to Oliver Brodrick-Ward In Scotland, I have also been assisted by Gordon Barr,

at the AHF, who has sourced illustrations and been

Anne McChlery, Pat Cassidy, Melanie Farrow, Gareth

tireless in the search for strong images; and to those

Hoskins, Kate Gray, Lori Anderson, Una Richards,

who have worked on the book in the publishing

Sarah Price and David Walker.

department of the RIBA, especially Richard Blackburn.

Those who were generous with their time and

Their enthusiasm has been infectious. They have my

knowledge in Northern Ireland include Rita Harkin,

admiration and gratitude.

Dawson Stelfox, Marcus Patton, Karen Latimer, Bronagh Lynch, Mary Kerrigan, Anne Casement and Shane Quinn.

ix PR E FAC E

has accompanied me on many of the visits; Ben and

1. Replace or revive?

H

ow is it that some of the most neglected and

Communities and conservation

1

ruinous historic buildings somehow find new

no single, simple answer. Yet what such rescues usually have in common is a coming together of different contributions and skills. It is fortunate that the United

deserve to be celebrated and judiciously guarded. There are individuals, organisations and communities who are prepared to devote knowledge and time to protect the places they value, and who can turn to an array of charities and funding bodies for help. They can seek advice and early financial assistance from the staff of Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw, the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) or the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and will frequently find that the conservation officers of local authorities respond positively. Often, the support of those with fundraising and management skills can be enlisted. Architects with conservation and design expertise, who can translate ideas and aspirations into practicable building projects, can be recruited. And there are the builders and craftspeople who know how to carry out repairs without damaging the fabric they are trying to save. What all these different contributors have in common is the imagination to envisage how an unloved or derelict building can be revitalised.

future facing the area they live in, or the fate of historic buildings on their doorstep. That assumption has been proved wrong time and again. One of the first architects to galvanise community support for schemes

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

historic buildings, which may be under strain, but which

people will not be concerned about the uncertain

|

Kingdom has planning systems, including the listing of

Frequently, there has been an assumption that local

to protect Victorian housing and industrial buildings, and turn them to new uses, was Rod Hackney. In 1972, he embarked on a crusade to stop the clearance of Black Road, Macclesfield, which had been designated as slums. Instead of demolition, Hackney eventually gained permission for the residents to assist with repairs to their homes, and for the transformation of their back yards into tidy and partly shared communal spaces, under his supervision as architect. This might have had no more than local significance had Hackney not run a brilliant campaign to obtain consent, involving first the local press, then the national papers, as well as councillors and the local member of parliament. He had demonstrated the potential of what he called ‘community architecture’. Hackney’s ideas were forcefully advocated in his book, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Cities in Crisis (1989), which is particularly critical of high-rise blocks of flats designed to house those moved out of 19th-century terrace housing. His criticisms have been given renewed urgency by the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London in 2017.

Those involved in such rescues are entitled to feel that, but for them, the project might never have succeeded. However, all but the most straightforward schemes are essentially a shared endeavour.

The initial reaction to Hackney’s ideas was at best dismissive, and at worst openly hostile. Hackney’s response was to stand for the post of president of the RIBA. His campaign, in 1986, turned into a battle between the advocates of the Modern Movement,

Left: Albert Dock, Liverpool.

CHAPTER 1

uses and a new lease of life? There is, of course,

including those who thought the role of the architect

fig 1.1 Rod Hackney with Black Road residents, Macclesfield.

2 RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

was to produce what they believed was good for society,

Among those who responded enthusiastically to

and Hackney’s supporters, who were convinced

Hackney’s ideas was the Prince of Wales, who visited

there needed to be a radically different approach to

Macclesfield to see the Black Road project for himself.

the development of towns and cities that involved

When the Prince of Wales made his much-reported

the people whose lives would be transformed by

speech at the RIBA’s 150th anniversary dinner in 1984,

redevelopment. The RIBA presidential candidate

the press latched on to his description of the proposed

favoured by the old guard dismissed Hackney’s ideas

extension to the National Gallery as a ‘monstrous

as ‘damaging nonsense’, but he had misjudged the

carbuncle’. Sadly, they scarcely reported those passages

ability of the RIBA’s Fellows to sense a change in public

in his speech which advocated a more humane

mood and aspirations. Hackney won the election

approach to building in historic cities. In a carefully

with a substantial majority, and set about using the

argued section, the Prince of Wales stated:

RIBA as an advocate for what he called ‘Humanism not Modernism’. He had won a powerful body of

To be concerned about the way people live,

supporters, not just nationally but internationally.

about the environment they inhabit and

If the old guard at the RIBA had been more attuned to

the kind of community that is created by

shifts in thinking about planning and architecture on

that environment, should surely be one of

both sides of the Atlantic, they might not have reacted

the prime requirements of a really good

so negatively. Much of what Hackney was saying had been brilliantly articulated in Jane Jacobs’s The Death

architect. It has been most encouraging

and Life of Great American Cities (1961), which showed

to see the development of community

how needlessly destructive much urban renewal

architecture as a natural reaction to the

was in the United States. Jacobs demonstrated how

policy of decamping people to new towns

important it is to respect the qualities of liveliness and diversity among different social groups, which

and overspill estates where the extended

explains why some districts are much more valued

family patterns of support were destroyed

than others. Indeed, many of Hackney’s and Jacobs’s

and the community life was lost.

ideas had already been powerfully expressed by John Ruskin and William Morris, both of whom

The Prince of Wales may have embarrassed some in his

came to realise that a thriving and healthy society

audience, but he struck a chord with many both inside and

is more likely to produce great art and an attractive

outside the profession. He proceeded to set up the Prince’s

urban and rural environment. Hackney was also

Regeneration Trust, which since 1999 has supported 90

tapping into other changes. Society had become less

projects, from Govanhill Baths, Glasgow, and the North

deferential, not just towards politicians but towards

Wales Hospital, Denbigh, to the Middleport Pottery,

the professions.

Stoke-on-Trent (see the case study in Chapter 5, p. 73).

Building preservation societies and community action

In fact, the response of people in Seaton Sluice and

The changes in attitude at a national level coincided

Trust. The mines may have gone, and with them local

with energetic action regionally. Around the UK, local

employment, but Seaton Delaval helped local people to

communities were setting up building preservation

feel pride in their own distinctive past.

|

so could take on projects which local authorities might find difficult to undertake because of the time required to put projects together and to raise adequate funding

Three minutes’ walk from Birmingham city centre are some of the ‘back to back’ houses which were once home to the city’s working classes. They were preserved thanks to the efforts of the Birmingham Conservation Trust, who appreciated their rarity and interest. The trust raised the funds needed for their repair, devised

from grant-giving schemes.

plans for showing them to the public – four distinct Preservation trusts were able to come to the rescue of

periods of occupation are presented – and carried

buildings valued by nearby communities. For example,

out detailed research from primary sources, which is

in the 1980s, British Rail decided they had no further

the basis of what visitors are told. The ‘back to backs’

use for the goods shed designed by Isambard Kingdom

are now safeguarded by the National Trust and are so

Brunel in 1845 on the Cheltenham and Great Western

popular with visitors that access has to be by timed

Union Railway. The repair of the building by the Stroud

ticket. These and many other projects described in this

Preservation Trust is described in the case study on p. 17.

book show just how deeply rooted in local communities

The way former industrial communities have supported efforts to protect a nearby historic house has sometimes taken people by surprise. When the future of Seaton Delaval in Northumberland was in doubt, few thought that an area still struggling with unemployment after the closure of its mines would become the house’s champion. The building is Sir John Vanbrugh’s most compact, most powerful design, but a baroque extravaganza might have been thought to appeal principally to connoisseurs, rather than to those living in a region with high levels of deprivation.

fig 1.2 Seaton Delaval, Northumberland.

the preservation of historic buildings can be. Very often

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

These were non-profit-making charitable bodies, and

CHAPTER 1

to tip the scales in favour of acquisition by the National

trusts (BPTs) that were prepared to work for the conservation and adaptation of buildings under threat.

3

Blyth was extraordinarily generous and in 2009 helped

4 RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

figs 1.3, 1.4 Back to backs, Birmingham.

supporters are quick to see that these are not cultural indulgences but can provide local employment, engage volunteers and support economic and social recovery.

The role of the architect A younger generation of architects has built on what Hackney achieved in Macclesfield. When Bird’s Custard relocated from Birmingham to Banbury in 1964, it left behind factories close to the centre of the city. These have been transformed by Glen Howell Architects into a shopping area and creative and digital workspace which, over time, has expanded and fed into other innovative businesses. In London’s East End, the firm of Selgas Cano has turned the former Brick Lane Carpet Factory into a creative hub which combines modernity with carefully preserved historic features, for instance fig 1.5 Brick Lane Carpet Factory, London.

by leaving old concrete exposed in ways they choose to call ‘old-tech and non-tech’.

valuable when potential new roles for a threatened

the ruins of Woodstock Manor because he believed that

building are being assessed. Architects have been

the new palace he was designing would be enriched

trained to see how the best possible use can be made of

by the survival of ‘the Remains of distant Times’. Very

available spaces; how access can be improved, especially

often it was the most capable architects who were

for visitors with special needs; and whether or not

skilful at integrating their work with what came before.

additions to the building will enhance its use. The case

At the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Sir John Soane designed

studies which follow show that sometimes a sensitive

a stable block and new infirmary which respected the

and imaginative extension to a historic building, to

scale and elegance of the 17th-century buildings by Sir

facilitate new uses, may be the best way of protecting

Christopher Wren, yet are entirely original: they are

what is most significant about the earlier fabric.

described by the architectural commentator, Ian Nairn,

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

as ‘something near a miracle’.

Foundations

During the 20th century, the inclination to neglect or

For centuries, builders and architects have found

demolish historic buildings, to see them as obstacles

ingenious solutions to the task of integrating new

to progress, increasingly took hold. Indeed, the urge to

buildings with their older neighbours. When materials

obliterate the evidence of the past became not merely

were expensive or difficult to transport, there were

commonplace but for many architects an ideological

strong incentives to add to or adapt existing buildings,

necessity. Existing buildings were often regarded as

rather than clear the site and start again. Most of the

evidence of an unjust social order: to remove the evils

great cathedrals, historic towns, village streets and

of Dickensian London, it was relatively straightforward

country houses were allowed to accrete, with the

to remove the buildings associated with it.

timber, stone or brick that happened to be available giving pleasing variety. Our forebears often seem to have understood the benefits of recycling building materials rather better than some of today’s developers. When the Greyfriars Friary in Leicester was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, stone and timber from the friary was used to repair the nearby church of St Martin. A ‘bayme’ (beam) was bought from the ‘freers’ (Greyfriars) for 15 shillings and then used in what became Leicester Cathedral.

Frequently, this implied the destruction of Georgian buildings, and there was an easy justification. Classical architecture was the style favoured by the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy. It is a measure of the barbarity of the 20th century that the systematic obliteration of architectural monuments of different periods, cultures or religions occurred again and again. The Nazis systematically destroyed Jewish buildings, in the case of the Baden Baden synagogue using its stone as road-fill and taking its congregation to Dachau

This was not simply a matter of economy. Both patrons

concentration camp. Fifty years later, in the Balkans,

and builders often wanted to give their work a sense

ethnic and cultural cleansing was no less extreme, and

of context and of the passage of time. At Blenheim,

was specifically directed at historic monuments such

CHAPTER 1

Oxfordshire, Vanbrugh argued for the preservation of

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5

The skills of a conservation architect are particularly

6

as the Mostar bridge, of which the Croatian Slavenka

Glasgow from the surrounding districts. The centre

Drakuliç wrote:

itself was to be cleared to make space for high-rise

RESCUE & REUSE

slabs. Comprehensive redevelopment was justified

The bridge in all its beauty and grace was

by the myth that areas like the Gorbals, where there

built to outlive us; it was an attempt to

was severe deprivation, consisted entirely of teeming

grasp eternity. It transcends our individual

slums. In reality, many of the tenements were soundly

destiny. A dead woman is one of us – but the

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bridge is all of us forever.

built, with good-quality, middle-class houses integrated with them. Driving through the centre of Glasgow in the early 1970s meant witnessing street after street of

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

stone-built terraced houses being smashed apart. For the Croats, the restoration of the bridge was as significant as its destruction; just as after the reunification

Areas of Norwich received similar treatment. The

of Germany the rebuilding of Dresden’s Frauenkircke,

local authority did more long-term damage to its

destroyed in the bombing of 1945, was highly symbolic.

stock of fine historic buildings than was caused by

The repair of historic buildings in Northern Ireland,

the persistent raids of the Luftwaffe. Worcester fared

frequently damaged for sectarian reasons, has taken on

even worse. The City Planning Department (not the

great significance. It is as much about reconciliation and

Architect’s Department) and the council cleared the

the rebuilding of communities as it is about conservation.

area immediately around the cathedral to make way

For these reasons, projects in Northern Ireland have

for a main road that acts like a python wrapped around

been given prominence in Chapter 9, which considers

Worcester’s greatest building. In scores of other

both community and architectural integration.

historic towns and cities, the damage was not just to their historic centres but to the social fabric of their

The desire to sweep away buildings for ideological

suburbs. Very often such schemes were motivated by

reasons was a feature of postwar Britain. The terraced

the need to find solutions to problems of congestion

housing of the great industrial cities of the Midlands and

and to promote economic growth. As in our own time,

the North had become, to many, symbols of exploitation.

the objectives were worthy but the solutions often

Whole areas of Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and

misguided and destined to fail.

many other cities were almost completely cleared to make way for poorly designed and cheaply built high-

The comparison with historic cities in other European

rise flats: not only terraced housing but the factories

countries is often striking. For example, the great

and churches, warehouses and pubs were swept away as

medieval city of Tallinn, in Estonia, was bombed first

well, and with them the communities they had served.

by the advancing Germans and then by Soviet Russia as the Baltic States were reoccupied. After the war,

Glasgow provides an extreme example but was by

the middle-class suburbs, often consisting largely of

no means exceptional. In 1946, the city engineer

wooden houses, were neglected but not swept away

designed a new road system that would cut off central

wholesale. New Soviet blocks of flats were built on the

If there was a zeitgeist influencing the architecture

the familiar problems of vandalised communal areas

of the 1950s and 1960s, it favoured the alliance of

and bleak open spaces around them. However, historic

the Modern Movement with the bulldozer, and the

Tallinn remains largely intact and has played a vital

outcome was often characterless high-rise flats and

role in the revival of the Estonian economy.

shoddy shopfronts. It was happening all over Europe, in

there was a widespread acceptance in architectural and planning schools that the Modern Movement provided the key to a better social order. The most articulate and influential exponents of this belief were often architects such as Walter Gropius – driven out of

notable exceptions, of course, such as the buildings on London’s South Bank, Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower and

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

countries? In the UK in the 1950s and early 1960s,

the United States and in the Soviet Union. There were

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Why was the narrative so different in different

BDP’s Preston Bus Station. But these rarely attempted the sympathetic integration of the best contemporary architecture with cherished historic buildings, which could often have been adapted to new uses.

Germany when the Nazis closed the Bauhaus and other

There were, however, architects who built up practices

progressive institutions, and immensely influential in

capable of undertaking major conservation schemes,

England. The study of architectural history in the UK

and who showed how repairs to cathedrals, public

was also shaped by refugees such as Nikolaus Pevsner

buildings and private houses could be carried out in

who, in his Pioneers of Modern Design (1936), argued

an exemplary way. The architect often chosen by the

– not always convincingly – that the buildings of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB)

Modern Movement derived from the enlightened ideas

was John Macgregor. For example, in 1951 he succeeded

of the best 19th-century architects.

in repairing the Saxon church at Elsted, at the foot of the

Pevsner probably did more than anyone else to foster an appreciation and understanding of Britain’s historic buildings through his indispensable, county-by-county Buildings of England. However, he had scant regard for the social interest or value of the buildings he despised. In the Shropshire volume, for instance, he

7 CHAPTER 1

outskirts of the city and were quickly found to have

Downs, which Pevsner’s and Nairn’s Sussex described as ‘not what it seems at first glance’, by providing a new nave which ‘preserved all the old work without copying it’. Macgregor designed modern buildings which sit happily alongside historic ones, including ziggurat social housing at Lennox House, in Bethnal Green, London.

dismissed Shrewsbury’s General Market, an Italianate

In East Anglia, Donovan Purcell helped to build the

building of 1867–9 by Griffiths of Stafford, as ‘the chief

reputation of the firm Purcell Miller Tritton – in due

Victorian contribution to public architecture in the

course to be renamed simply Purcell – and was for many

town, and not one to be proud of’. Shortly afterwards

years architect to Ely Cathedral. Two later partners,

it was demolished, as was the Shirehall of 1836–7,

Michael Morrison and Jane Kennedy, have made

a handsome building in Portland stone by Robert

significant contributions to buildings as varied as the

Smirke, which was pulled down to make way for a

National Gallery, London, St George’s Hall in Liverpool,

concrete-clad car park.

and Shackleton’s ‘temporary’ huts in Antarctica.

8 RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

In Wales, Robert Heaton defied the sceptics and carried

When the change in public mood came in the 1970s, it

out complex but unobtrusive work at Erddig in Clwyd,

was partly because so many mid-20th-century buildings

which had been severely damaged by subsidence following

were seen to have failed structurally and socially. The

coalmining and which many thought was beyond repair.

Modern Movement was beginning to be discredited in

Sir Bernard Feilden, eminent cathedral architect and

many quarters: by critics, architectural historians, sections

author of a standard work of reference, Conservation of

of the press, the general public, and – perhaps most

Historic Buildings (1982), did much to raise standards of

influential of all – cartoonists such as Osbert Lancaster.

conservation practice in Europe and beyond. Another

Whatever developers and planning officers may have

influential architect has been Sir Donald Insall, who not

thought, the public was coming round to the view that

only had a profound impact on the preservation of much

the palatial Gothic of Gilbert Scott’s St Pancras station in

of Chester but also produced a succession of influential

London, with its assertion of the wealth and confidence of

books, beginning with The Care of Old Buildings: A

the Victorian age, was preferable to the tawdry new Euston.

Practical Guide for Architects and Owners (1958).

Although the UK prime minister at the time, Harold Wilson, might have asserted that ‘all over the country the

The Birmingham architect ST Walker, who had an

grime, muddle and decay of our Victorian heritage is being

unrivalled understanding of old buildings, carried out

replaced and the quality of urban life is being uplifted’,

sympathetic repairs to Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire,

the evidence before people’s eyes suggested otherwise.

and many other historic houses belonging to the National Trust. He particularly delighted in the work of local

If the 1960s were all too often a decade of lost conservation

craftspeople in all ages, ‘who couldn’t help themselves

causes, the 1970s saw a rallying to the protection of historic

from producing elegant but practical details’. Very often this conservation work made the practice very little money and was done largely for love of the buildings.

buildings. One startling success was the Destruction of the Country House exhibition, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 1974. The exhibition had been intended as a prelude to European Architectural

Changing attitudes

Year in 1975, and it prepared the way politically in ways

No less influential were the shifts in public attitudes

of the obstacles to the preservation of historic buildings,

toward conservation, which gathered pace in the early

identified by the Civic Trust, was that local initiatives to

1970s. The need for change was forcefully articulated by

save historic buildings often failed because banks were

architectural journalists such as Ian Nairn, who worked

unwilling to lend to small, voluntary organisations with

at the Architectural Review until the late 1960s. Nairn was

few assets. To address this issue, the UK government

responsible for the special issue of the magazine entitled

signalled its support for the setting up in 1976 of the AHF,

Outrage, which included ferocious criticism of the way

with capital provided by private sponsors. The government

historic towns had been treated, was widely praised in the

agreed to match these funds, so enabling the AHF to

national press, and was quoted in the House of Commons.

make loans at relatively low rates of interest to local BPTs.

that the organisers could scarcely have envisaged. One

fig 1.6 Albert Dock, Liverpool.

9

renaming it the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).

relationship with central and local government, the

When a UK national lottery was approved in 1994, John

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same could not always be said of its near-contemporary,

Major’s government decided that the same trustees would

SAVE Britain’s Heritage. Founded in 1975 by Marcus

be responsible for both the NHMF and HLF. Together,

Binney, one of the organisers of the Destruction of the

they have made possible the rescue of cultural heritage on

Country House exhibition, and funded by a small group

a scale and in ways which were previously unimaginable.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

CHAPTER 1

If the AHF had, at least publicly, a polite and respectful

of committed supporters, SAVE was from the start a campaigning organisation, ready to take on rich and

Conservation and regeneration

powerful developers intent on making money from

The much-publicised heritage rescues of the late 1970s

the destruction of historic buildings. As one of SAVE’s

and early 1980s show how far attitudes had changed.

founder-trustees, Simon Jenkins has written:

In several cases, the then secretary of state, Michael

For forty years it has battled against

Heseltine, played a crucial role, demonstrating how it was possible for an enlightened minister to seize the

the odds, usually when listing, planning

initiative and change radically the outlook of his or her

and more established and specialised

civil servants. Heseltine was principally responsible for

conservation groups have failed. It has been fearless of hopeless causes … Its key weapon

establishing English Heritage as the government agency charged with preserving areas of historic interest and protecting individual buildings of importance. Similar

has been to wield the power of publicity

bodies were established in the other countries of the UK.

through passionate advocacy.

Through English Heritage, and its successor Historic England, the tide of destruction has been slowed. For his

One of SAVE’s first campaigns was over the future of

championing of historic buildings in Liverpool, using

Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire. There was public

them to drive regeneration, Heseltine was dubbed ‘The

outcry, and severe criticism in Parliament, when its

Minister for Merseyside’, and with good reason. On his

preservation as an entity, complete with an outstanding

initiative, the Albert Dock and surrounding warehouses

collection of pictures and paintings, was thwarted. The

were all listed, making them the largest area of Grade

sense of outrage was so evident that in 1979 Parliament

I buildings in England. In 1981, after a public inquiry,

agreed to put the Land Fund – set up for just such a

Heseltine ruled against a scheme to fill in the dock and

purpose – into the hands of independent trustees,

cover it with tarmac.

fig 1.7 New Art Gallery, Walsall.

10

Stirling called ‘the perfect plaza of water’ was elegant yet startlingly modern, and it has provided a brilliant setting

RESCUE & REUSE

for combined commercial and cultural uses.

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and steel, and determined to find their own language

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

for postmodernism. They looked not to the polite

Stirling’s adoption of Victorian building materials, including engineering bricks and iron structural supports, was emulated by a younger generation of architects keen to use alternatives to concrete, glass

The Merseyside Development Corporation – set up

architecture of the 19th century but to industrial

by Heseltine to overcome an obstructive city council

buildings both in cities and in the countryside for

– poured money into a scheme for the docks, which

inspiration. Architects such as Michael Hopkins,

combined office space, residential units, a hotel,

later to design Portcullis House next to the Palace

20,438 m2 for shops and 26,941 m2 for an outpost for

of Westminster, were influenced by a book of black

the Tate, giving the gallery a major presence in the

and white photographs by Eric de Mare, called The

north of England. The initial target of 500,000 visitors

Functional Tradition (1958). It had illustrations of

has been spectacularly exceeded.

19th-century buildings such as factories, viaducts, mills, maltings, breweries and boathouses, often using brick,

The original designs for the Albert Dock, by Jesse

stone and timber in ways which appealed to Hopkins. He

Hartley (1780–1860), made brilliant use of cast-iron Doric

is the son of a Bournemouth builder, loves boat building

columns; its national significance was confirmed when

and his work uses traditional materials in new ways,

the buildings were opened by Prince Albert in 1846.

made possible by modern engineering and technology.

Appropriately, their repair and adaptation were largely the work of an architect born in Liverpool but with an

The Caruso St John practice produced an understated

international reputation. James Stirling was associated

and beautifully integrated building for the New Art

with new university buildings which used radical

Gallery in Walsall (1997–9), which makes full use of the

structural solutions and hard Accrington brick, such as

adjoining canal basin, is largely clad in timber and sits

the Engineering Building for the University of Leicester

comfortably alongside Victorian warehouse buildings.

(1959–63) and the History Faculty building in Cambridge (1964–8), both highly controversial.

Another practice to develop a distinctive style of building with echoes of a rural and industrial

With the Albert Dock, Stirling was restrained,

vernacular is the firm of van Heyningen and Haward.

unostentatious and very much in tune with Hartley’s

Their Rare Book Library for Newnham College,

combination of heavy engineering and Greek decoration.

Cambridge (1981–3) uses horizontal bands of red and

The effect of these Cyclopean buildings around what

blue bricks as a counterpoint to the Victorian buildings

11 CHAPTER 1 REPLACE OR REVIVE?

figs 1.8a, 1.8b, 1.8c, 1.8.d Rare Book Library, Cambridge.

it sits next to. Unsurprisingly, it is a building that was admired by Stirling. Van Heyningen and Haward have worked successfully at Chatham Historic Dockyard, adapting the No. 1 Smithery Building, as described in Chapter 7 (see p. 107), and they have also produced reception buildings for the National Trust at sites as sensitive as Sutton Hoo and the White Cliffs of Dover. What happened at the Albert Dock set a valuable precedent, and on a grand scale. At least as significant were the steadily increasing numbers of excellent rescue and repair schemes being carried out around the UK. In the East End of London, the Spitalfields Trust began the task of transforming the area from one of extreme neglect to a highly desirable residential district, much of it designated a conservation area. In 1994, the trust repaired a fine terrace of early 18th-century houses

like them, not only began to change attitudes locally. Cumulatively, they sent a powerful message to local and central government: that historic cities, towns, villages and individual buildings were valued by a public whose interest in their heritage had been underestimated.

on the Mile End Road, using a loan of £150,000 from the AHF. In many other parts of the UK, there were

The case studies which follow show how the initiative

excellent schemes receiving grants, made possible by

to preserve distinctive buildings often comes from

effective, well-organised local support. In 1995, the

local concern and action. Once repaired and revived,

Rothwell Preservation Trust borrowed £30,000 to

these buildings contribute to a sense of community,

rehabilitate 4 Market Hill, an 18th-century cottage in

and the value of conservation work becomes more

Rothwell’s conservation area. These schemes, and others

widely accepted.

Granby Four Streets, Toxteth, Liverpool

Local people believed that Liverpool City council was

artists and architects, Assemble, won the

intent on breaking up the area socially and physically as

Turner Prize for their work with Granby Four

part of its response to the Toxteth riots of 1981, which

13

Streets Community Land Trust, the award was greeted

saw some of the worst civic disorder in the history

with delight locally, and some puzzlement nationally.

of mainland Britain. The Scarman Report, following

It was in recognition of the astonishing commitment

the riots, recommended that local people ‘should be

to the transformation and revival of what had been a

encouraged to secure a stake in, feel a pride in, and

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notorious area of Toxteth in Liverpool. The determination

have a sense of responsibility for their own area’.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

CHAPTER 1

W

hen, in 2015, a collective of young designers,

of the local community to preserve several streets of terraced houses, which had been condemned and boarded up, has been spectacularly vindicated.

Instead of following this recommendation, the council decided to adopt the now discredited 2002–11 government policy of Housing Market Renewal. The

The Granby area lies at the heart of Toxteth, in a

streets were never given conservation area status,

part of south Liverpool which grew rapidly in the

although elsewhere they might have qualified. In spite

early Victorian period. The Four Streets form a

of the terraces being emptied by the council, activists

triangle at the tip of the much larger Granby Triangle.

persisted in demanding repairs, painting curtains

Constructed in the 1880s by Welsh builders, each

and flowers in pots on the steel sheeting blocking

street has houses of different design and size, ranging

the windows.

from six- to eight-bedroom, double-fronted houses, to two-up, two-down houses. These sunny, tree-lined streets, close to Sefton Park and the earlier Princes Park of the 1840s, with the original high-street buildings connecting them, are now the only Victorian survivals in this neighbourhood. They are important examples of the work of Richard Owens, architect and surveyor (1831–91), who is now recognised as

Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust has very much the support that Scarman advocated. With its first Ten Homes Project nearing completion, the trust is developing a variety of capital projects, at different stages of ownership, condition and intended use, that together will create valuable community assets. The AHF is part-funding this development work.

Liverpool’s most prolific housing specialist of the 19th

Within weeks of the award of the Turner Prize,

century. The terraces are the surviving remnants of

Liverpool City council put forward plans to repair

the first extensive series of planned estates of workers’

homes in the nearby Welsh Streets, which the

housing, laid out almost 40 years before the first

community secretary, Eric Pickles, had ruled should be

formal academic qualification in urban planning was established in the UK.

preserved rather than demolished, thanks to a vigorous campaign by SAVE. The area now can now build on the shared commitment to community support,

fig 1.9 Granby Four Streets, Liverpool.

distinctiveness and architectural diversity. As Eleanor Lee, chair of the trust, describes the new relationships:

14 RESCUE & REUSE

❛

We have formed new connections. All these tiny actions form a kind

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

of social web that cuts across difference, across streets, class and age. We’ve reclaimed streets that looked doomed, we’ve re-created social space and creative space that were destroyed. Now perceived as a safe place to meet, chat and eat, it’s part of a community that is connected, has agency, and can exercise communal control over our lived-in environment.

fig 1.10 Granby Four Streets, Liverpool.

15 CHAPTER 1

| REPLACE OR REVIVE?

Brunel Goods Shed, Stroud

phase II, Nigel Bedford of Atelier 17, have ensured that

40-year lease of the goods shed at Stroud Station,

their interventions are compatible with Brunel’s 19thcentury railway engineering. It has a new Welsh slate roof. The main walls, which are still large expanses of

great arched openings were an invitation to vandals,

uninterrupted stonework, make an effective surface for

and its windows had been smashed. The building was

hanging works of art. Some of the original features, such

designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1845 and is

as the railway tracks, have simply been boarded over.

other Brunel buildings on the Great Western Railway and been lost.

After many years of neglect and uncertainty, the goods shed has found a new use, with enthusiastic public support. Several major funders have

The features which Brunel devised for the efficient

contributed: Historic England, the Railway Heritage

unloading of freight have proved to be well suited to its

Trust, Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire

new role, as the Stroud Valley Artspace. Large works of

Environmental Trust, Stroud Town Council, as well

art can be brought in easily through its arches, which

as local and national charities, and individual donors.

have had metal roller shutters inserted. The architects,

The project was completed in 2011 and shortlisted for

first Richard Feilden of Feilden Clegg Design, and, for

the inaugural Historic England Angel Awards scheme.

figs 1.11, 1.12 Brunel Goods Shed, Stroud.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

listed Grade II*. It could so easily have gone the way of

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it was close to being beyond repair. The roof had

been removed by British Rail earlier in the 1980s, its

17 CHAPTER 1

I

n 1986, when Stroud Preservation Trust took a

The Ivy House, Nunhead

The Ivy House is London’s first co-operative pub.

the first building in London to be bought by

The architect responsible for putting the building

a community group using the right to bid,

into sound order is John Burton of Purcell. Burton has also been architect for Canterbury Cathedral,

was about to be sold to a property developer who

which suggests a certain range. In 2013, the Ivy House

intended to convert it to residential use. Thanks to

won the Historic England Angel Award for ‘the best

the resourcefulness of four local people, and support

rescue of a heritage site’.

– survived as a pub. It shows every sign of becoming a much-cherished community asset. Originally called the Newlands Tavern, the Ivy House has a wood-panelled interior designed in the 1930s by AE Sewell. Until 2012, it was operating as a pub, with two bars, residential accommodation and regular live music. Two days before it was due to close, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) succeeded in having it listed Grade II by Historic England. In October 2012, a campaign group applied to Southwark Council to have the pub designated as an ‘asset of community value’, allowing a six-month moratorium on disposal, so giving time for local people to raise funds for its purchase. Ivy House Community Pub Ltd successfully raised £142,600 from 371 shareholders through a community share issue.

fig 1.13 The Ivy House, London.

❛

Thanks to the resourcefulness of four local people, and support from several conservation bodies, it has – by a whisker – survived as a pub.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

from several conservation bodies, it has – by a whisker

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made possible by the Localism Act of 2011. The pub

19 CHAPTER 1

T

he Ivy House, in Stuart Road, Nunhead, was

Custom House, Leith

‘suit any type of event from the grandiose to the quirky.

experimenting with new ways of involving the

… The labyrinth of space includes two large main halls

local community in finding a future role for the

plus flexible space for studios, performing arts, meetings,

Custom House in Leith. If the response is a positive

conferences, offices, weddings, workshops, recitals, fund-

one, it may provide a useful model for future testing of

raisers, concerts, gallery/films, markets and celebrations.

community interest.

… for the next five or so years the building really is a blank canvas for people to realize their creative ambitions’. In practice, this means that potential users must

where Commercial Street meets the harbour. Its fine

submit proposals to a panel of SHBT staff and trustees,

cream sandstone was blackened and, with its windows

who will decide whether they are compatible with local

boarded up, it looked rather like a mausoleum, which

needs and the long-term preservation of the Custom

in a way it was: since the decline of Leith as the main

House. By the end of 2017, all parts of the building were

port on Scotland’s east coast, the Custom House had

being used by businesses ranging from architect’s

become a store for the reserve collections of Scotland’s

offices, to artists and coffee grinders, all helping to

museums, with no public access.

make the case for its preservation and redevelopment.

Constructed from 1810–12, to designs by Robert Reid,

As the SHBT has concluded:

the building is a powerful, if austere, expression of

Community involvement is the key to the

Edinburgh classicism, with its portico in antis and

long-term revival of Custom House, Leith, as

imposing balustrades and external stairs. It will be a crucial contributor to the regeneration of Leith,

a vital piece of our built heritage.

which has moved from being the setting for parts of

There is a Friends of Custom House, which encourages

the novel Trainspotting to a concentration of some of

local interest in the project through volunteering,

the best restaurants in Edinburgh, strung out along the

fundraising, research and events. It is local people, as

waterfront. Alongside some of the crumbling tenements

much as the trustees of the SHBT, who are shaping the

and postwar flats, there is much new and regenerated

future of a building which is central to the rebirth of Leith.

housing. The dock area is rapidly, and successfully, being redeveloped, with the Custom House at its heart. Shortly after the SHBT took on responsibility for the Category A-listed building in 2016, the windows were unboarded and the Leith public invited inside to help find a popular and sustainable future for the building. Local people will be able to trial uses which they think will be viable. As the publicity says, the building is at the heart of Leith’s creative area, and it will: figs 1.14, 1.15 Customs House, Leith.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

dour and faintly sinister presence, situated at the point

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As recently as 2015, the Custom House in Leith was a

21 CHAPTER 1

T

he Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) is

Wentworth Woodhouse

Local people took a very different view. Joe Hall,

to intervene imaginatively when there is a

President of the Yorkshire branch of the National

possibility of the imminent loss of an exceptional

Union of Mineworkers, told the press in April 1946:

building which is highly valued by local people.

It is sacrilege. Against all common sense.

Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, has

The miners in this area will go to almost any

experienced both.

length rather than see Wentworth House

This vast mansion, part classical and part baroque,

destroyed.

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Others have been wilfully and needlessly destructive.

Yorkshire beach and clearly in distress. That image was all

But Shinwell prevailed. In desperation, the 8th Earl

the more apposite when the sand and gravel thrown up by

offered Wentworth Woodhouse to the National Trust,

opencast mining came up to the very walls of the house.

but it baulked at the liabilities. Then, in 1948, the

Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, executed with Charles I’s consent in 1641. The present house was largely completed by the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, twice prime minister, and is the country’s grandest surviving statement of English Palladianism. Like so many country houses, it enjoyed a golden autumn, with King George V visiting in 1912. Then, after the Second World War, a

Earl was killed in a plane crash. The house, by then surrounded by opencast mining, was given a temporary reprieve by its use as a physical training college, and later by Sheffield College Polytechnic. When the latter surrendered its lease in 1989, the buildings were sold. As is often the case, inexperienced and speculative private owners found that repairing and maintaining the house was beyond their resources.

succession of disasters struck. With the nationalisation

In 2012, Marcus Binney of SAVE Britain’s Heritage

of coal in 1945, the then minister of fuel and power,

launched an initiative to give the house a secure future.

Manny Shinwell, informed Peter, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam,

He proposed that a specially formed trust should

that he was going to mine up to his front door, stating:

buy the house with funds from charitable trusts and the NHMF, and then the Wentworth Woodhouse

I have no intention of sacrificing the national

Preservation Trust (WWPT) would raise the money

interest to a nobleman’s palace and pleasure

needed for repairs using its charitable status.

grounds, the sanctity of which is no longer respected to the same extent as heretofore.

The fundraising from charities was remarkably successful, with the Monument Trust, the Art Fund, the JP Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, and the Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement all

fig 1.16 Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire.

making substantial offers. The gap was to be filled by the NHMF, but the deal stalled when there were

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

has been rather like a great whale, stranded on a South

An earlier building on the site was the home of Thomas

23 CHAPTER 1

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ome government ministers are prepared

fig 1.17 Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire.

24 RESCUE & REUSE

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doubts about the valuation. The delay prompted the

rate higher than the UK average and investment hard

Newbold family to put the house on the market, and

to come by. The potential to use the restoration of

initially there were two offers of over £7m from foreign

Wentworth Woodhouse as a driver of economic and

investors. When those fell by the wayside, the WWPT

social regeneration carried considerable weight.

was in a position to buy the house. However, it could not do so without at least some funds with which to begin repairs. As a last resort, and with encouragement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), the trust turned to the AHF for a grant and to the UK government for a special allocation.

In his Autumn Statement of 2016, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced that a special allocation of £7.6m was to be made towards repairs to the house, which over 20 years are estimated to cost £42m. The chancellor had been convinced that Wentworth Woodhouse ‘was at critical risk of being lost to future

There were local considerations. Rotherham is an area

generations’. The sale to the WWPT, for £7m, was

of considerable deprivation, with the unemployment

completed on 23 March 2017.

The scheme adopted by the Trustees of the WWPT has

The chair of the WWPT, Julie Kenny, has summarised

four main elements:

what it hopes to achieve:

working in partnership with the National Trust. The National Trust will include Wentworth Woodhouse

Rotherham is a great place with fantastic people. I live there, I built my business

The National Trust is contributing £750,000 to the

Wentworth Woodhouse will help to change

project and has been an imaginative and generous

that. It will be a catalyst for bringing pride

partner. 2. In the very large rooms in the north wing, in areas

back to the town and will be a place that families can visit and enjoy.

already much altered by Sheffield Polytechnic, there will be facilities for weddings and conferences. 3. There are parts of the house which are suitable for residential use; and also holiday flats run along similar lines to those operated by the Landmark Trust or National Trust. These will provide income and relieve the WWPT of maintenance costs. 4. The large and magnificent stable block, designed by John Carr of York, will be adapted to provide

Marcus Binney, who initiated the moves to put Wentworth Woodhouse into the hands of a trust, wrote in 1970:

The fight to save particular buildings or groups of buildings is not the fancy of some impractical antiquarian. It is part of a battle for the sane use of all our resources. The

office space for small businesses, for which there is

pain and deprivation caused by the loss of

demand in South Yorkshire.

personal heritage of home, cherished street or familiar surroundings has been cruelly underestimated. Conservation, to architect and public alike, is not a fad, a fetter, or a curse: it is a necessity which should also be seen as a stimulating challenge.

REPLACE OR REVIVE?

there; but it has a poor reputation. I think

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in its Handbook, which goes to 5 million members.

CHAPTER 1

1. The principal state rooms will be open to the public,

25

2. Downsize

the monasteries in the 16th century or the destruction

the sheer bravura of its public buildings. The

of country houses in the first half of the 20th century.

which were once a proud local landmark are often just a shadow on the brickwork. The message is to

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downsize, and downsize quickly.

DOWNSIZE

great town halls of the cities of the Midlands

and the North of England; the vast churches built with the profits of industry; the public libraries, university buildings and hospitals provided by philanthropists – all these in their different ways were based on the assumption that provision should be made for a healthy

Church authorities are sometimes following suit. So too are banks and businesses. The names on buildings

and enlightened society. Much of the responsibility to

Often it is the finest buildings that are abandoned

do this fell to central and local government.

first, for the very reason that architectural distinction tends to involve structures and decorations that are

Careless disposal A century later, these public buildings have assumed a different symbolic significance. They demonstrate how national institutions are having to reduce the size of their estates to make the

complex, ingenious, and so are expensive to maintain. Govan Old Parish Church was built to rival the great churches of Glasgow, with an outstanding collection of early Christian sculpture. It was this that was declared redundant, rather than a mundane neighbour.

savings necessitated by cuts to funding from central

Barclays, when they wanted to close branches in

government. Monuments to philanthropy are often

Norwich, chose the monumental building on Bank

considered liabilities which can all too easily be

Plain, built in 1929 to designs by Edward Boardman

shed, often without a proper assessment of the social

and Sons. As late as 1984–5 Barclays was actually

consequences.

extending it. At that time, the bank wanted a building

Successive governments have disposed of many of the United Kingdom’s finest naval and military buildings. With reduced funding, museums and libraries have to

which represented stability, reliability and probity. The banking hall was part of a grand civic space, with apses at both ends. It was a temple to thrift and integrity, and

shrink or close. The reorganisation of local government

much more than just offices. For some recent directors

has resulted in many fine municipal buildings being

of the bank, these virtues seem to count for little.

closed, boarded up and then sold to opportunistic but hopelessly inexperienced small-scale developers. Frequently they are allowed to become derelict, and so blight the surrounding area. The fate of so many public buildings invites comparison with the dissolution of

The legacy of philanthropy Many of the libraries which the Scottish-American steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie, built and endowed in England and Northern Ireland, and most munificently in Scotland, have been singled out for closure with little or no attention

Left: Stanley Mills, Perthshire.

27 CHAPTER 2

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ictorian Britain expressed its confidence in

to their amenity and social value. In Herne Hill, in South

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C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

fig 2.1 Oldpark Library, Belfast.

London, there was a vigorous local campaign to save

Enlightened disposals

29

the much-used and valued Carnegie Library, which is gym. Oldpark Library in Belfast is one of three built by

There were signs of a more responsible approach when Michael Heseltine, as secretary of state

Belfast Corporation with money provided by Carnegie.

for defence, agreed that the historic dockyards

Designed by the local architectural practice of Watt and

at Plymouth and Chatham should be given an

Tulloch, it has particularly fine carved decoration around

endowment when they passed out of government

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the doors and gables, and opened in 1906. It was closed in

ownership. This helped to ensure that when the

2008 but is still in use as a library thanks to the Northern

dockyards were adapted to a new role, it was

Ireland Foundation and the Lower Oldpark Community

done in a way which respected some of the most

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CHAPTER 2

now largely given over to an expensive and exclusive

Association. In 2016, the Architectural Heritage Fund

historic ensembles of naval buildings in England.

(AHF) provided a Project Viability Grant and the

The buildings are now in a better state of repair

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) a Start-up Grant. The

than when owned by the government thanks to

intention is to use the ground floor for arts, education

continuing funding from private investors, HLF

and training activities, while the upper floors generate

and local councils.

rental from offices. If the project succeeds it will send a positive message about an area badly hit by the Troubles.

Some enlightened local authorities have done their best to mitigate the consequences of disposing of

Another worrying feature of downsizing by local

buildings which were once symbols of civic pride.

authorities is that very often the buildings are first

Rather than making a quick sale to commercial

closed and then allowed to deteriorate, with inadequate

developers, they have allowed time for consultation

maintenance and security before disposal takes place.

with local people and have then tried to identify the

This makes it easier for councils and developers to

uses which would give the greatest community benefit,

argue that wholesale redevelopment is desirable.

often transferring a building on favourable terms to

When the sale finally happens, the brief is to raise

a specially formed trust. One particularly successful

the maximum amount possible, and it is argued that

example of a property disposal was at Hebden Bridge

the cost of conservation has become prohibitive.

in Yorkshire, where the Town Hall played a vital role

Frequently, scant value is placed on the potential

during the disastrous floods of 2015, as is described in

benefits to the local community of integrating the

the case study on p. 33.

best of the old with good contemporary design. While heated arguments go on between government agencies

Another successful transfer has provided the Samuel

and local people, the buildings themselves continue to

Worth Chapel in Sheffield with a secure future,

deteriorate and a valuable asset can be lost. As long as

demonstrating how even the most daunting project

the building is an eyesore, local confidence is eroded

can, with determination and community support, give

and potential investors have reason to look elsewhere.

a difficult building a secure future (see p. 31).

Sheffield General Cemetery

century history of the city of Sheffield are buried

by the AHF in 2012, and a Project Development Grant

in Sheffield General Cemetery. The whole site is

offered in 2011. The chapel has been repaired and

a monument to the values which drove the Industrial

a small kitchen and lavatories introduced. It is now

Revolution in Sheffield. The planning of the cemetery

used for music and drama performances, exhibitions,

makes clear that it is not part of the established

conferences and corporate away-days. The programme

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Anglican church. The burial ground was principally for

of events in the cemetery includes guided walks to

nonconformists and was one of the first commercial,

identify different varieties of bats, and a ‘Big Garden

landscaped cemeteries in the country. Immensely

Birdwatch’.

grand funeral urns and plinths are now embraced by ivy, wild flowers and suckering trees, so that some of the inscriptions have been softened and obscured in ways which the landscape designer can never have intended. Presiding over the whole site is the chapel, designed by Samuel Worth in 1836. It is in the form of a monumental Doric temple, unencumbered by Christian symbolism, and has a vast, empty interior space. In the 20th century, the chapel was unused for 40 years, and the cemetery was closed for burials in 1978. When photographs of the cemetery were first shown to the AHF’s council, hearts sank. There were no doubts about the merits of the chapel, which had been on the Heritage at Risk Register, nor about the historical interest of the cemetery, but it was hard to predict how

There is something life-affirming about this colossal monument to the dead being in frequent use for wedding receptions: an unexpected case of revival and rebirth. The project received a commendation in the 2015 Historic England Angel Awards, which has an appropriate resonance.

❛

There is something lifeaffirming about this

the grant-aiding bodies would respond. Justification

colossal monument to the

came from local people, who had established a Friends

dead being in frequent use

group in 1987 and who went on to form the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust in 2003. The city council

for wedding receptions: an

readily transferred responsibility for the whole site

unexpected case of revival

to this energetic group, which allied itself to the experienced Yorkshire Building Preservation Trust.

fig 2.2 Samuel Worth Chapel, Sheffield.

and rebirth.

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An Options Appraisal Grant of £4,663 was approved

CHAPTER 2

31

ome of the most formative figures in the 19th-

The Town Hall, Hebden Bridge

of the town would be members). The local authority

Hebden Bridge. When it was still a prosperous

recognised the strength of feeling, acknowledged that

textile manufacturing town, with a reputation

the association was represented by effective trustees,

33

for corduroy, the co-operative movement was strong

and began negotiations for an asset transfer, with the

there. The first pub in Yorkshire to be run as a co-

offices being initially let for 40 years, then with the

operative was in Hebden Bridge. Nonconformity

term increased to 125 years. Calderdale would retain

thrived. Unlike Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, New Lanark or

the freehold. One curious aspect of the transfer was

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Cromford, there was no single, dominant industrialist,

that the offices began to be referred to locally as the

and some of the mills were part worker-owned.

Town Hall. That is what they were in the process

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T

here is a long history of fierce independence in

of becoming. Then, in the 1950s and 1960s, as its industry declined and people moved away, Hebden Bridge attracted different residents: hippies, single-parent families, and a LGBT community. They may have been unconventional and disorganised at times, but they were committed, energetic, mutually supportive and articulate. Their energy fed into, and attracted, new creative industries, such as Martin Parr’s photographic studio, which gained a national reputation.

By 2010, the transfer was complete, with initial funding of £120,000 from Calderdale, half as a grant and half as a loan. BWA Architects of Leeds were appointed, with a brief to retain the most historic parts of the building, including the richly decorated Council Chamber, while creating new areas for community activities, business units to provide income, a café, and a courtyard by the edge of the river. The resulting extension has met these requirements

Doubts about the future of the council offices, a Grade

handsomely: it is of dressed stone from a quarry near

II listed building of 1897 in the centre of the town,

Halifax and includes the Waterfront Hall, which seats

prompted a call for community action. In 2008,

200 and has been used for BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions.

Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council announced

The building has proved to be excellent to work in, and

that it was closing its offices in the town and would

local people have taken it to their hearts.

instead be providing services from Halifax. The expectation was that the building would be boarded up, allowed to deteriorate, and the site would then be sold to a commercial developer.

Funding of £1.2m for the business units came from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Other parts of the scheme were not eligible for ERDF grants, and a loan and grant package of £2m came from the Community

With strong support in the local press, and especially

Building Investment Fund and other sources keen to

from journalist Andrew Bibby, the Hebden Bridge

nurture Hebden Bridge’s creative and digital industries.

Community Association was formed (ultimately 10% fig 2.3 Town Hall, Hebden Bridge.

Demand for the business units was so high that those areas of the building were fully let before work was complete. By the time the Town Hall was officially

34 RESCUE & REUSE

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It is of dressed stone from a quarry near Halifax and

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includes the Waterfront Hall, which seats 200 and has been used for BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions. The building has proved to be excellent to work in, and local people have taken it to their hearts.

business and creative community. The present

Bridge was put to the test in the floods which swept

occupants range from recruitment consultants to

through the town on Boxing Day 2015. The Town

the fashion industry and an ecological arboricultural

Hall was not a designated flood centre, but when

consultancy, to the staff of the Hebden Bridge Arts

the scale of the devastation became clear, those

Festival and an actors’ agency. The concept designs for

whose homes and shops had been flooded naturally

the suits and props for Star Wars: The Force Awakens

gravitated to the building which had become the focal

originated in the Town Hall studio of Dan Walker.

point of community action. The Town Hall remained

DOWNSIZE

The executive director of the Hebden Bridge Community Association, Graham Mynott, is conscious that the Town Hall’s continuing success depends on the trustees not over-reaching themselves. They need constantly to balance the aspiration to provide the greatest possible social benefit, at a time of austerity and real need, with the dangers of over-borrowing. Their solution is to ensure that the various activities taking place in the

continuously open for 48 hours. The café provided countless hot meals, and those making donations of food and clothes to the flood victims brought them to the Town Hall. The Sikh and Muslim communities provided an apparently endless supply of curries. The task of giving counselling for those who had seen their homes and livelihoods wrecked was centred on the Town Hall.

Town Hall, as far as possible, generate a profit. This

The role that the Town Hall is playing has now

is achievable with the continuing support of the local

been recognised with the Queen’s Award for

community, which shows no sign of slackening.

Voluntary Service.

CHAPTER 2

The value of the project to the people of Hebden

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35

opened in 2012, it was already home to a vibrant

Devonport Town Hall

Like so many initiatives to save historic buildings of

Docks, to the west of the Royal William Victualling

considerable local importance, a charity had to step in

Yard, began to grow into what is now Devonport. Its

because the alternative would almost certainly have

37

prosperity was relatively short-lived. Like the rest of

been increasing decay followed by demolition. There

Plymouth, Devonport experienced some of the worst

was no interest from private, commercial concerns to

bombing of the Second World War. Nevertheless, much

adapt the buildings for business use. There was a time,

decent Georgian housing survived, and so too did the

before the government’s ‘austerity’ programme, when

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Town Hall. This building has a massive Greek Doric

the local authority might have provided modest funding.

portico by John Foulson, a London architect who found

However, Plymouth City Council was able to release

that Plymouth gave him the opportunity to build with a

the Town Hall, as an asset transfer, to the Real Ideas

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CHAPTER 2

I

t was not until the 19th century that Plymouth

severity which suits the dockyard admirably. Alongside

Organisation (RIO). Greatly to its credit, HLF appreciated

the Town Hall is a gigantic column, also by Foulson

that what was at stake was Devonport’s sense of place as

and also Greek Doric, to commemorate the naming of

a naval dockyard that, through the command of the seas,

Devonport by King George IV in 1824.

helped to shape European history.

Many of the buildings that survived the Plymouth blitz

With an assembly of grants, the RIO

were allowed to rot, and were then swept away to make

has been able to repair the building,

space for characterless housing estates. At the time

so that it can be used by local arts

Ian Nairn (2013, p. 125) wrote about Plymouth in 1961,

organisations, particularly for

the whole of Devonport was ‘a scene of dereliction and

music and dance. The spaces in the

demolition to make the heart bleed … a poor rough-and-

original design have been respected

tumble dockyard place caught up in a tide of heedless

and it has been more an exercise

gentility and emasculation’. Foulston’s buildings and the

in careful conservation than

ones around them Nairn described as ‘weird bedfellows’

radical remodelling. New offices

that ‘need help not next year but right now’.

have been incorporated, including

After the Second World War, Plymouth City Council found itself responsible for three historic guildhalls. Devonport’s civic buildings were not just surplus to requirements; their monumental classicism was also profoundly unfashionable. How could the 20th-century funding bodies, concerned with giving social benefit, justify the expensive repair of a massive Doric column? figs 2.4, 2.5 Devonport Town Hall, Cornwall.

space for the RIO’s staff of 50. The organisation is using the building to nurture confidence that Devonport does have a future, as well as a significant past. The new life that the RIO has brought to the Town Hall encourages the hope that the neighbouring Oddfellows Hall, built in an extraordinary Egyptian style, may one day also be repaired.

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that the Treasury would expect nothing less. Yet with

since the 1980s have been created in historic

careful diplomacy, sense can prevail. It did so in the case

buildings which commercial developers and

of Royal William Yard, Plymouth, which after a shaky

banks had advised were beyond redemption. Not only

start has been transformed into a highly successful

have the houses and apartments proved popular and

combination of residential use, offices and retail outlets,

commercially viable, but they have also brought social

as described in the case study on p. 47.

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benefits to areas that might otherwise have lost much redundant hospitals, former military sites and derelict

Adapting mills

country houses which had been left to rot or consigned

Derelict factory buildings have also been found to adapt

to the wreckers’ ball have instead found a useful future

well to housing, provided the architect and developer

as desirable homes.

can come up with bold designs and vigorous marketing. The Phoenix Trust’s successful scheme to convert

Time and again, thanks to the determined efforts of

Stanley Mills in Perthshire into houses and flats shows

a few individuals, building preservation trusts (BPTs)

what can be done, and is described on p. 45.

and their architects, the pessimists have been proved wrong – not just financially, but socially. The rescue

A combination of uses has been found for Conway Mill,

of these types of buildings has been popular with the

Belfast, once at the heart of the city’s thriving linen

public and has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration

production area. There are two substantial buildings,

of whole areas of deprivation.

one from the 1840s and another built in around 1900, for what had become the Falls Flax Spinning Company.

Defence buildings and the community

The mills ceased production in 1972 and were seriously vandalised during the Troubles. The entire complex was purchased in 1982 by Conway

Former defence sites have their own particular problems. For understandable reasons, public access has often been severely restricted, but exclusion sometimes continues long after it can be justified. The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has a culture of secrecy and may be inclined to take the view that historic buildings should be sacrificed for the defence of the realm. The assumption has also been that disposals must achieve the highest possible price, on the grounds Left: Illustration of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire.

Street Community Enterprises. In 1999, the Conway Mill Preservation Trust was formed, successfully bringing together on the site 51 different tenant organisations, ranging from small businesses, retail units and an education centre, to space for youth and community activities, and art classes for vulnerable children. The scheme, by architects McAdam Design, Belfast, and the Consarc Design Group, was completed in 2010 and the mill reopened by the late deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuiness. Over 100 jobs have been created, and the project won

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of their distinctiveness. Abandoned mills and factories,

39 CHAPTER 3

ome of the most successful housing schemes

figs 3.2, 3.3 Gunton Park, Norfolk.

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fig 3.1 Conway Mill, Belfast.

the ‘Best Use of Heritage in Regeneration’ award in 2011. Funding of over £5m came from eight principal sources, including approximately £1,780,000 from the Department for Social Development, £950,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and a loan of £500,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF).

Transforming country houses When, in 1974, John Cornforth published his Country Houses in Britain: Can They Survive? to coincide with

their estates often broken up and sold off. With the

the Destruction of the Country House exhibition at the

high rates of taxation in the 1970s, and the escalating

Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the question

costs of maintenance, single ownership was scarcely a

he posed in his title did not necessarily invite the

realistic option for many.

answer ‘yes’. The houses he was writing about were being demolished at a rate of roughly one each week. By the end of the exhibition, the number of houses lost in the previous century was estimated to be around 1,600, but there was no accurate figure. Recent research suggests the number was closer to 2,000. Many of those that survived were in an advanced state of decay, with

At Gunton Park in Norfolk, there was a sale of contents in 1980, leaving the house, which had been extensively burned out in 1882, an ivy-covered shell. It had been worked on by Matthew Brettingham, Robert Adam and Samuel Wyatt, but its survival seemed highly unlikely until it was bought by Kit Martin. Martin was undeterred

One of the most significant aspects of Martin’s

and dividing it into various houses, ranging from very

adaptations is that the majority have been completed

grand apartments looking across parkland to the small

with few, if any, government grants. They have instead

cottage converted out of the former game larder in one

been financed with bank loans which have been repaid

of the service courtyards. When the different parts of

as parts of the scheme are sold on.

the building were ready for occupation, they were sold

compromise the architecture of the whole entity.

of the Naval Hospital in Great Yarmouth. Originally built from 1801–11 and intended for injured sailors, the hospital never actually served that purpose and was used instead

Part of the success of Martin’s schemes depends on

as a military asylum. More recently it became an old

his preference for dividing buildings vertically, rather

people’s home. Martin bought it in 1994, at a time when

than horizontally by floors, so future owners feel that

Great Yarmouth was regarded by some in Norfolk County

they have their own front door, with party walls, rather

Council as irredeemable. Most of the estate agents and

than other occupants above or below. At Gunton,

banks Martin consulted were discouraging or downright

this approach means that the houses feel more like a

dismissive. The doubters were proved wrong when the

Georgian terrace than they do a conventional flat. Their

60 houses created out of the wards and service buildings

gardens and garages continue this approach. Martin’s

were quickly sold, mostly to local people, who recognised

schemes offer ways of recreating whole communities,

that the quality of the building and its position near the

as he himself has written:

sea made it an extremely attractive place to live.

Many of the houses that I have been involved with were derelict, deserted and at risk of demolition. These included Maristow, The Hazells, Gunton Park, Cullen House, Keith Hall and Formakin. Today there are lively new communities enjoying these historic buildings. Experience shows that the many new home owners appreciate the opportunity to live in and care for a fine historic building, and so the rescue becomes a long-term solution.

fig 3.4 Naval Hospital, Great Yarmouth.

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to ensure that there were no alterations which might

Martin adopted this approach with the transformation

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as freehold properties but with restrictive covenants

41 CHAPTER 3

by its condition and set about repairing the building

42 RESCUE & REUSE

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fig 3.5 Plas Kynaston, Denbighshire.

These issues have had to be confronted at Plas Kynaston in the Cefn Mawr conservation area of

During the time when the rescue of historic buildings was, to a greater or lesser extent, dependent on grants, there was a tendency to discourage solutions involving a high proportion of residential use because it implied limited public access and so was perceived to give little social benefit. This was of particular concern to HLF, whose trustees were reluctant for their grants to be used for what might seem to be the exclusive benefit of residents.

Wrexham. The house was built by the Kynaston family of iron founders in 1700. It was given to the local community in 1938 and was used until the 1970s as a public library. After many years of neglect and vandalism, funds were found for its repair, with the assumption that it would return to use as a library. However, it became clear that there was ample library provision nearby. An appraisal of alternative options was carried out with the support of a grant

Sometimes the solution to this problem has been to add a

from the AHF. In the light of its findings, the scheme

heritage centre or community hall to the scheme, on the

was modified, and the spaces originally intended for

assumption that this would be staffed and maintained

community use were reallocated to provide six one-

by the local authority. At a time of savage cuts to local

bedroom apartments, for which there was a pressing

government, funding such provisions in this way may

need in the area. The loan from the AHF is being

be increasingly difficult and can weaken an otherwise

repaid from the proceeds of the sale of some of the

worthwhile project. HLF is currently reviewing its

apartments. The use to which the building has been

approach, aware that by tacking on a heritage centre,

put means that it will not be dependent on uncertain

the scheme may be made less sustainable.

local government funding.

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Revolving funds

CHAPTER 3

Projects such as Plas Kynaston follow a long-established model successfully applied by the Hearth Revolving Fund in Northern Ireland and by the National Trust for Scotland’s Little Houses Scheme. At a time of drastically

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reduced public grants, the use of revolving funds – with

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the proceeds of property sales ploughed back into future projects – will be increasingly attractive. Some of Hearth’s most successful restorations have been funded in this way, with the profits from one scheme funding the next restoration. The rescue of Hamilton Terrace and Clifton Villas, both testament to the elegance of early 19th-century Belfast, has a significance far beyond the survival of some of the city’s finest rows of houses. In the 1970s, these areas of Belfast suffered from rioting, arson and road-widening schemes, which resulted in wholesale clearance in anticipation of a rebuilding that has been painfully slow in coming. When redevelopment does happen, it will be much more likely to respect the character and scale of these parts of the city because the surviving terraces will provide a sense of historic context. Today, it is the still-derelict buildings, the wire barricades and the cleared spaces of Belfast which

figs 3.6, 3.7 Hamilton Terrace, Belfast.

often catch the eye. Nobody can fail to notice a halfdemolished street or a boarded-up church, town

a few rescued buildings, which have found viable new

hall or former library. Yet it is easy to take a run of

uses, frequently stretches far beyond the survival of

elegant houses and busy shops for granted. Often,

their bricks and mortar. They can provide confidence

they are there, unobtrusively contributing to a sense

to the local community and to future investors.

of community and history, because heroic efforts have

Dereliction can be overcome with imagination and the

been made to snatch them back from vandalism or

creativity of a resourceful conservation architect, as the

decay and give them a secure future. The influence of

case studies which follow demonstrate.

Stanley Mills, Perthshire

S

In the Mid Mill there are units of various sizes, ranging

north of Perth. The site was first developed in

from four-bedroom houses with a living room running

1729 for a corn mill, then expanded rapidly after

the full width of the building, many with access to a river

1786 when Sir Richard Arkwright was brought in to

terrace, to much smaller apartments of varying sizes and

advise on creating a factory to rival the cotton mills

with a plan that differs from its neighbours. The East

in Manchester.

Mill has been converted into 30 flats, with access from an original stone staircase supplemented with a lift. The Bell Mill has been restored by Historic Scotland

roofs on the other ranges were close to collapse, and

and now provides an exhibition space for visitors.

the sheer scale of the collection of buildings was too

Stanley Mills received a Europa Nostra Award in 2011.

daunting for either a commercial developer or the local authority to tackle. It was only when all the interested parties came together, at the instigation of the Prince of Wales, that the various funding bodies committed to a plan for the whole site. The overall scheme to provide a mixture of houses, flats and exhibition areas was devised by the then director of the Prince of Wales’s Phoenix Trust, Kit Martin, and the architect appointed was Mark Hopton of the Dunbar-Nasmith practice. The first stage of the project was to restore parts of the mill and create 39 new homes in two of the buildings, at a cost of £8m. The main contributors to the funding deficit were Historic Scotland, HLF and the

❛

In the Mid Mill there are units of various sizes, ranging from four-bedroom houses with a living room running the full

Gannochy Trust, with the AHF providing a loan. The

width of the building, many

scheme worked like the revolving fund projects used for

with access to a river terrace,

historic house restorations elsewhere in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, but on a much larger scale. As the

to much smaller apartments

houses in the first blocks to be converted found buyers,

of varying sizes and with plans

so the Phoenix Trust could recycle the income raised into the next phase.

fig 3.8 Stanley Mills, Perthshire.

that differ from their neighbours.

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concluded that only the Bell Mill could be retained. The

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When the mill closed in 1989, Perth and Kinross Council

45 CHAPTER 3

tanley Mills towers over a bend in the River Tay,

Royal William Yard, Plymouth

As with many projects described in this book, the

west of Plymouth Hoe, was built just as the

scheme which ultimately found favour, as advocated

era of wooden fighting ships was drawing to a

at an early stage by SAVE and the Phoenix Trust, was

47

close and the dominance of the ironclads was about to

for a mixture of uses. It is being carried out with great

begin. The buildings’ architect was Sir John Rennie and

conviction by Urban Splash, which has an impressive

they were constructed between 1824 and 1832. Rennie

record of adapting abandoned mills in the Midlands

produced buildings that combined weight, power

and the north of England. The architects were first

|

and purpose: ‘perhaps the most impressive single

Ferguson Mann and then Gillespie Yunnie, with work

architectural monument of Plymouth’, as Nikolaus

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CHAPTER 3

T

he Victualling Yard at Stonehouse, on the Tamar

starting in 1999. Major buildings on the site still await

Pevsner described them. Any intervention to give

funds for repair.

them a new role needed to match Rennie’s imposing classicism, which stands comparison with the Arsenale

Tom Bloxham, co-founder of Urban Splash, was

in Venice and the Royal Naval College at Greenwich.

confident that the siting of Royal William Yard on the estuary was so exceptional that the residential areas

Reaching the stage when an architect could be

would find enthusiastic buyers:

appointed was far from straightforward. The root of the problem was a distrust, which runs deep in the military services, of allowing people anywhere near the site.

The buildings were so beautiful but just

Senior officers of the Royal Navy tend to dislike ports,

lacking in life. They had been closed to the

which are associated with drunkenness, debauchery and

public for years and weren’t even marked

a breakdown of discipline. Indeed, there was a red-light district close to the gates of the Royal William Yard. When, in 1985, the secretary of state for defence, Michael Heseltine, handed over the Yard to the

on maps. But with Grade I listed buildings with water and a dock, we knew we could do something special. – Bloxham et al., 2011

Plymouth Development Corporation, with an endowment of £45m, its staff were resistant to the idea of public access to the whole site because they thought visitors would throw themselves off the quays into the water. Once restoration was underway, the developers only wanted the public to visit the shops and enterprises, believing that any access to the residential areas would reduce their commercial value.

Urban Splash decided to test the market by having a weekend open day, with plans available but with a minimum of advertising. By the time it was due to begin, a queue formed out of nowhere and snaked around the block. The apartments have sold readily and the balance of residential and commercial uses is working well. The next phase should include the Melville Building, which commands an internal

fig 3.9 Royal William Yard, Plymouth.

courtyard and might feel shut off if the surrounding ranges were not of such high architectural quality.

fig 3.10 Royal William Yard, Plymouth.

Jackie Gillespie regrets that the dowry provided by

studios. Gillespie Yunnie has also made provision for the

Heseltine was largely spent on conservation work,

coastal path to keep to the estuary side of Royal William

RESCUE & REUSE

48

before the future use of the buildings had been

Yard, using a metal walkway which where necessary

agreed. The money would have gone much further if

clings to the exterior of the yard walls, with the water

the repairs and the adaptation had been carried out

beneath. Gillespie writes of the walkway:

simultaneously, under a single architect.

We designed the stair to emulate the With buildings designed to be rigorously functional,

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

excitement of journeying along the coast

interventions to provide shops, restaurants and apartments could easily have produced an uneasy mix

path. The journey is different, depending on

of the robust and the genteel. In practice, Gillespie’s

your approach; from the Yard the stair is a

work uses modern materials and engineering to match

dark solid mass, snug against the historic

the vigour of Rennie’s tough, granite buildings and iron construction roofs. The dark steel staircases

retaining wall, and the journey is only

inserted into the Mills Bakery, just inside the entrance

apparent as you climb it. The concealed

gate, rely on cantilevers to reach out into open spaces,

glass viewing platform and panoramic

with a minimum of intrusion. The glass screens and

views over the Tamar are concealed until

partitions have inconspicuous joints; and the junctions with the walls are all but invisible. Gillespie Yunnie’s

the last minute. From the park above the

treatment of the interiors incorporates random rubble

entrance is within a sunken ruin of an old

stone walls and Rennie’s cast-iron Tuscan columns,

military store and the journey starts with

with the new work largely confined to what is essential for the change of use. Restraint and discipline are evident everywhere.

the steel ‘portal’ cut through the huge wall and the expansive view from the top. At night it changes again, using concealed

Gillespie would have liked there to be more visitor access to the communal spaces in the residential areas.

LEDs beneath the handrail to wash the

After all, large amounts of public money were spent

inner surfaces with colour, reminiscent of

on their repair. The exclusivity beloved of developers

seaside promenades. – Gyar Architects

might properly have been balanced with a little more public benefit.

The stairway could be coming off the bridge of a

Nevertheless, Royal William Yard is now a spur to the

battleship and makes no more concessions to either

regeneration of a previously depressed area of Plymouth.

gentility or vertigo than the paths above the Devon

There are restaurants, an art gallery and business

and Cornish cliffs.

49 CHAPTER 3

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4. Work

and, in 1969, designation as a Comprehensive

social and economic change. Houses may

Development Area. In practice, this meant that the

be too small, or too large, or in the wrong

local authority was expected to embark on wholesale

51

place. Castles and religious sites can be slighted or

clearance and demolition, without any clear plan of

suppressed. Industrial buildings are particularly at

what would replace the former industrial sites. Large

risk when technology, fashion or foreign competition

areas of tenements were swept away. The clearance

intervenes. Succession may involve a site being

of the former Harland and Wolff site was carried

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cleared, or it may mean a building can be transformed

out so hastily that some of the early medieval burial

into something different to create new employment

monuments on the boundary next to Govan Old Parish

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CHAPTER 4

M

ost building types are vulnerable to political,

opportunities.

Church had debris piled on top of them.

Economic success usually involves innovation and

Then, in the 21st century, Govan began to be

experimentation. This need not imply a clean sweep and

reassessed. Thanks to the work of David Robertson

rejection of all that came before. The most successful

and others, its industrial heritage can now be seen

entrepreneurs are often those with the imagination to

as an episode in a much longer history, with Govan

see potential in changes which others find disquieting.

Cross, the Old Parish Church and the ancient river

They are skilled at the art of transformation.

crossing key features in what has been designated a

Few industries have experienced such a dramatic rise to prosperity, or such a devastating decline, as shipbuilding on the River Clyde. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857 shows Govan as a

conservation area. Govan has not only rediscovered its own distinguished history but has begun to realise how its past can help to shape a vibrant future.

relatively small settlement on the south side of the

New working lives

river, surrounded by a few substantial houses, each

An important part of the conservation process has

with their own policies or estates. Some, such as

been the transformation of the Fairfield Shipyard

Fairfield House, gave their names to the celebrated

offices. The building, which is listed Category A, is

shipyards which were to follow. By the beginning of

important not just because of the quality of its ashlar

the 20th century, Govan Old Parish Church – one of

stonework and the confident, Italian Renaissance

the most ancient religious sites in Scotland – had the

style of its architecture. It is by John Keppie, possibly

massive Harland and Wolff Yard to its east, and the

assisted by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was

scarcely less imposing Fairfield Shipyard to the west.

working in his office at the time, and it was built from

Half a century later, Govan was experiencing another transformation, with the closure of the shipyards

1889–91. The front on Govan Road is 106.7 m long, with a central, pedimented doorway. On either side of the entrance are statues of a shipwright and an engineer,

Left: Cromford Mill, Derbyshire.

both standing on stylised ships’ prows. The building

defines the line of the street and sums up the period of

volunteers acting as guides. The former counting house

Govan’s greatest prosperity. It was vacated in 2001 and

is used for high specification office suites and the other

RESCUE & REUSE

by 2004 was boarded up and decaying fast.

rooms are available for private hire.

In 2007, an Options Appraisal Grant provided by the

The first floor of the building was originally designed

Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) found that office use

to be the drawing office, occupying one very large open

combined with a heritage centre was likely to provide

space. This now makes a single, flexible area for the

a viable future and had far more local support than

type of multiple office use which is increasingly in

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earlier ideas for conversion to residential occupation.

demand. The best solution for the building has proved

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

52

The building was purchased for £200,000 by Govan

to be one which involves only minor alterations to its original plan.

Workspace, which had operated in the area for over 25 years, converting buildings and managing 11,148 m

2

of rented space. Work started on emergency repairs in 2009, with a first phase costing £1.4m, funded chiefly by Historic Scotland and Glasgow City Council.

Schemes such as this are now viable because of changes in the way people work. There has been a move away from working in large, hierarchical offices, often involving a long commute to a city or town

Because the building had been allowed to deteriorate

centre. Instead, many more people are self-employed,

so seriously, the architects of the scheme for its reuse,

most of their work is done on a laptop, and they will

Page\Park, were initially inclined to alter its interior

expect to move jobs far more often. This change has

radically, breaking through the walls of the entrance

meant that there is increasing demand for small-scale

hall to create a large open area. The director of Govan

office space, out of town and in pleasant surroundings.

Workspace, Pat Cassidy, believed that such damaging

Adapted historic buildings have been found to meet

intervention was unnecessary, and consultation with

this need admirably.

the local community showed support for solutions which respected the interiors. Families in Govan

Changing roles

with a long association with the shipyards had a great affection for the building, even though work in the shipyards was dangerous and poorly paid. The scheme was adapted accordingly.

The opportunities to use the ancillary buildings of historic houses have been seized on by many of their owners. The stable block of Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire has been adapted to small-scale office

By the summer of 2014, the main phase of restoration

use and provides a reliable income for the charitable

work was complete. On the ground floor, the

trust that runs the house and estate. The successful

boardroom, directors’ room and the cashiers’ and

adaptation of the Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow, is

bookkeepers’ offices have been reinstated, with most

described at the end of this chapter (see p. 59). It has

of the original pictures and furniture back in place.

been possible to adapt the interiors of these buildings

Much of the ground floor is open to the public, with

in ways which leave the exteriors little altered.

of Cromford, Sarah McLeod, wanted the museum to

Comparable restraint has been shown with the reuse

Cromford Creative, four storeys of managed

of the factory buildings at Cromford, the pioneering

workspace, now hosts some of the country’s

cotton mill in Derbyshire, set up by Richard Arkwright

most talented young businesses: creative industries, working with cutting edge

Bonsall Brook, close to the River Derwent, mark the

technologies… We honestly believe that

start of the factory system, both in the United Kingdom

ground-breaking ideas can once again emerge

and abroad, and for this reason Cromford is now part

at Cromford and that it remains a place Sir

of a World Heritage Site. One of its most important buildings is the mill and warehouse constructed between 1785 and 1790, close to the stream which

Richard himself would be very proud of. – The Arkwright Society

powered its cotton weaving machinery. The ground

The warehouse, which is listed Grade I, adapted

floor was used for receiving and opening the bales of

relatively easily to office use, once the principle of

cotton, while spinning took place on the upper floors,

minimal interference with the structure had been

in what was the world’s first modern factory.

agreed. This was practicable because modern materials

The Arkwright Society had to decide whether to reintroduce machinery and demonstrate weaving to visitors on the upper floors. They opted not to, largely because all the original machinery had been lost and cotton weaving can be seen at other industrial museums, for instance at Quarry Bank Mill, Styal. Instead, the society adopted a plan, partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the AHF, to create a visitor centre, with interactive displays, on the ground floor. In the adjoining Upper Mill, where Arkwright had his office and where there was an overshot waterwheel, there is a vivid film about Arkwright, in which an actor recounts Arkwright’s aspirations for Cromford.

could be used in ways which were compatible with its functional, industrial interior. Dismountable glass partitions make it moderately straightforward to reconfigure the spaces where necessary, and have been slotted into the historic framework of the building. The architects, Purcell, have respected the late 18thcentury structure but provided thoroughly efficient office accommodation. Tenants came forward for the 24 offices almost immediately, some choosing to start with renting only a single desk with the intention of taking extra space as their business grows. The offices are fully serviced, with the lift, furniture, telephone connections and a receptionist all supplied by Cromford Mills. There is underfloor heating and the building is

This leaves the upper floors available for uses which

not air-conditioned, which is what the tenants prefer.

are helping to fund the maintenance and running of

Creative Cromford is already a significant contributor to

all the buildings on the site. The then chief executive

the funding of the entire museum complex.

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galleries, warehouses and workshops strung along

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between 1771 and 1790. The linked mills, weaving

53

adopt an innovative approach: CHAPTER 4

Entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity

Porthmeor Studios, St Ives

s a place of work, the Porthmeor Studios in St

A

Long was an architect capable of stylish, contemporary

Ives, Cornwall, has an unrivalled setting. From

additions to historic buildings, as she demonstrated

the windows on the upper floors there are

with the picture gallery built onto Durlston Castle, on

views out to sea and along Porthmeor beach in both

the coast near Swanage. Yet at Porthmeor her approach

directions. Since Whistler and Sickert discovered

was very different. Her scheme included four new

the quality of the light reflected off the Cornish sea,

studios, adding an extra floor and creating spaces for

generation after generation of artists have worked

teaching both schoolchildren and adults. Securing

|

here. Writing of the period immediately after the

funds involved a regrading of the building to Grade II*,

Second World War, David Lewis recalled the huge

and eventually drew in contributions from Arts Council

WORK

windows overlooking the beach, the hot calm days

England, Sea Change, European Regional Development

of summer, and then ‘the majestic storms of autumn

Fund (ERDF) Convergence, HLF, Historic England,

and winter when the wind moaned across the roofs

Cornwall Council and the AHF.

of the building, encrusting the studio windows with crystalline spray’. The photographs of Ben Nicholson, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and their circle working in their studios at this time show how little has apparently changed. However, that is a measure of the

After the project was completed and had won numerous awards, Long summed up her approach:

When the project began, the fishermen in the cellars were justifiably anxious about

sensitivity and reticence of the repairs carried out by

plans for that part of the building. A visit

the Borlase Smart John Wells Trust, and its architect,

to the cellars was a breathtaking step into

the late MJ Long, of Long and Kentish. She wanted to ensure that both fishermen and artists could continue to work there.

the history of St Ives, long before painters and tourists made it theirs; an Aladdin’s cave of fishing gear, nets and pilchard

The studios were built in several phases during the 19th century, with artists adopting the upper floors

tanks, floating on banked-up dunes of beach

previously used by fishermen repairing their nets. The

sand that formed the floor. The pilchards

ground floor, protected from the sea by a wall originally

were long gone, but fishermen were still

built by the engineer John Smeaton in 1801, is still used

there – using the space to set and make nets.

by St Ives fishermen. After two centuries of buffeting by Atlantic gales, the building was structurally weak and difficult to sustain financially.

fig 4.1 Porthmeor Studios, St Ives.

They were gradually reassured that no one wanted to displace them …

CHAPTER 4

and waves pounded up the beach to the granite base

55

56 RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Much was saved, but much is new.

We have pulled this building apart and put

Most obvious is the two entirely new studios

it together again. When people say that they

– one at the east end of the building, and

can’t see that we have done anything, we are

one as a third dormer (where previously

happy. The aim was to keep this remarkable

there had been two) at the western end. The

building full of painters and fishermen for a

conversations around historic preservation

long time to come.

were interesting. A new intervention in a Grade II* building would usually be resisted

When the judges of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) National Award came to assess

and would normally be carried out in a

the work in 2014 (Porthmeor Studios won the Royal

language very different from the original.

Conservation Award that year), they were initially

But here it was agreed that what was to be

confused about what was new work. Long was

preserved was a way of life, and the simple

content that they should praise ‘the reticence of the interventions’. It is a measure of her skill as an

vernacular construction of the original

architect, and willingness to be unostentatious, that

would be most appropriate …

the character of the studios should be so little changed.

57 CHAPTER 4

| WORK

figs 4.2, 4.3 Porthmeor Studios, St Ives.

Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow

Trust, a subsidiary of Cassiltoun Housing Association,

Castlemilk Stables might suggest that its use has

the oldest community-owned housing co-operative in

scarcely changed. Yet 20 years ago it was largely

Glasgow. Its aims are:

roofless. Inside the courtyard, the impression is very

To enhance the quality of life of our

provide well-lit office space. On one side of the courtyard

community and to regenerate our

there is a nursery, with large areas of glass, and opposite

community through housing-led and

Elder & Cannon of Glasgow, is a model of discretion on the

resident-controlled initiatives.

outside, and boldly contemporary inside the courtyard: a new steel and frameless glazed loggia provides the

The Cassiltoun Trust now has its offices on the first

primary circulation route to accommodation.

floor of the entrance range. The nursery is the only one in Glasgow to provide a Forest Kindergarten for

The Castlemilk estate was a casualty of the social

children aged three and under. Training for the staff

changes brought about by the decline of manufacturing

is provided by the Forestry Commission. The children

in the west of Scotland. In 1938, it was bought by

have weekly walks in the woodland behind the stables,

Glasgow Corporation from the Stuart family, who had

and they participate in puddle-jumping, den-building

owned it since the 13th century. It was not until the

and balancing on logs. Around the stables there are

1950s that it was transformed into a housing scheme

areas of garden maintained by volunteers.

for 34,000 people, with three-storey terraces and 20-storey tower blocks. Castlemilk House became first

Among many awards, Castlemilk Stables has won a

a children’s home and then, in 1969, was demolished.

RIBA Regional Award and a Scottish Design Award.

The stable block, vandalised and derelict, survived in a prominent position on the edge of woodland. The most impressive feature is the central tower and cupola, which has a slightly Indian profile consistent with the work of David Hamilton of Glasgow, the likely architect. The building looks down on acres of housing which is well-intentioned but lacking in character and facilities. In 2004, Glasgow City Council agreed to sell the stables to the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) for £1. Once repaired, it was to be sold to the Cassiltoun

figs 4.4, 4.5 Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow.

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there are rooms for community use. The scheme, by

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different. The entrance range has been doubled in width to

59 CHAPTER 4

A

casual look at the exterior elevations of the

Sum Studios, Sheffield

O

in the former Anns Grove School, Sheffield, is

grants to carry out the conversion. With a viable use

that if public buildings are to find new uses,

found, any surplus generated would be reinvested in

it can prove very costly to close the site, board it up and put in security guards. In a matter of months, the buildings deteriorate, the costs of repair mount rapidly and goodwill drains away.

The first stage of the project has been completed, with the adaptation of the buildings carried out by Studio

the surrounding green space, Heeley People’s Park.

Gedye has extensive experience of working on listed

the Sheffield School Board chose prominent sites for

buildings in the city and the Peak District. He writes of

its new buildings, used excellent local stone, in this

the Sum Studios project:

case from the Stokehall quarry, and employed its own ‘castle of learning’, with 1,600 pupils.

Heeley Development Trust wanted to create an example of what a truly ‘green’

In 2006, Sheffield Education Authority built a new

workspace could look like. The plan was to

school on adjoining land, and tried to sell the former

save three important community buildings

school buildings, which are listed Grade II, for residential development. Having failed to find a buyer, the council began slow and difficult negotiations with the Heeley Development Trust, whose aim was to adapt

figs 4.6, 4.7 Sum Studios, Sheffield.

from decline and transform them into a community facility at the heart of Heeley. ...

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Gedye. The practice is based near Sheffield, and Simon

Anns Grove School was built in 1893, at a time when

architect, Charles Innocent. The school was to be a

61

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the former school to business units and studios, using

CHAPTER 4

ne of the lessons of the Sum Studios project,

62 RESCUE & REUSE

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| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

We have carefully repaired

We created a new, generously

rather than replaced the

proportioned internal street,

windows, roofs and external

flooded with natural light which

elevations to retain the character

allows the tenants to meet and

of these historic buildings. The

congregate and allows all the

interiors were destroyed by dry

offices to be naturally ventilated.

rot and vandals, so we stripped

Each of the offices has a

the walls back to reveal the

different character, we have

brick and stone which creates a

divided some of the classrooms

stunning backdrop for the new

to create smaller offices and

offices. The interiors are open

within the large spaces we have

and light, with glimpses into

inserted mezzanines to create

the units to create ‘one of the

meeting spaces.

friendliest buildings you could possibly work in’. Screens and exposed lighting bring a new identity to the historic building.

– Studio Gedye

63 CHAPTER 1

| REPLACE OR REVIVE?

The new building was more than 70% let in its first

fig 4.8 Sum Studios, Sheffield.

10 months and has been fully let since. However, because the council was slow to agree to the new uses, the costs have been higher than they needed to be,

Most historic buildings need people, and they need

and there are still unoccupied buildings which the

activity. Further, the Heeley Development Trust

Heeley Development Trust would like to bring into

has found that it has had to be proactive to find

the scheme. Boarded-up buildings on the site act as a

trustees with the expertise and energy to drive

disincentive to potential funders.

the project forward.

5. Shop

The assault on markets

around the square were also demolished, including the

65

Peacock Hotel of 1676, to be replaced by what Pevsner to understand. For historical reasons many occupy

called ‘a sadly nondescript block with shops, depressing evidence of this century’s aesthetic standards’.

central positions in cities and historic market towns. If markets can be relocated or cleared, immense profits

World War, these transformations are not driven by idealism, but often by the relentless pursuit of profit. Councils and their elected members often find such developments attractive, and market stallholders are rarely equipped to resist the commercial interests involved. When markets are swept away, so too is much local distinctiveness.

with the Tuesday Market Place in King’s Lynn. Its four sides combine fine houses, with shops and hotels, the

SHOP

or flats. Unlike the high-rise flats built after the Second

A much more enlightened approach has been taken

|

can be made from building new offices, shopping malls

most prominent of which is the Duke’s Head of 1683. Opposite is the Corn Exchange of 1854 by Cruso and Maberly. Four gigantic, Ionic columns are surmounted by a statue of Ceres. No doubt the unsophisticated, no-nonsense architecture appealed to West Norfolk’s robust, no-nonsense farmers, and it makes an enjoyable centrepiece to the market place. In the 1970s,

One example can serve for many. Northampton Market

the Corn Exchange was unused and forlorn. Then, in

Square was the result of Henry III’s decision in 1235

1996, the large interior, with an octagonal glass roof

to forbid the selling of goods in the churchyard of All Saints. The king ordered that the market be moved to an area north of the church. During the next seven centuries, the buildings around the square were altered and there were handsome additions, the most decorative being the Emporium Arcade of 1901 by Abraham Mosely and William Scrivenor, with a grand archway decorated with Doulton tiles leading to an octagon with a large glazed dome. In 1972, Northampton’s councillors decided that the arcade lacked architectural merit and should be demolished to make way for a service road. Both Nikolaus Pevsner and Ian Nairn deplored the decision. The passage which replaced it was dreary and undistinguished. Several of the historic buildings

Left: Kings Lynn Corn Exchange, Norfolk.

fig 5.1 King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, Norfolk.

CHAPTER 5

The attraction of markets to developers is not difficult

66 RESCUE & REUSE

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

fig. 5.2 King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, Norfolk.

supported by cast-iron columns, was skilfully adapted

Smithfield Market in London occupies such a valuable

by Levitt Bernstein Associates into a concert and

site that its buildings were not going to be allowed to

community space, using Arts Lottery funding:

stand in the way of a scheme by Thornfield Developers, which went to a public inquiry in 2008. Thornfield argued

The scheme enables the performance space

for total demolition and they were supported by the City

to convert rapidly from a fully seated to flat

Planning Authority, which favoured office development.

floor layout, and the acoustics can be varied

An alternative plan was put forward by the architect John Burrell on behalf of SAVE, showing how it was possible

to suit different requirements.

to retain the glass roofs of the market halls, the cast-iron

A new ‘over roof’ structure above the auditorium, supported by external columns, provides space for services and additional acoustic volume and retractable absorption

Phoenix columns and the flying ribs, using most of the spaces for retail. SAVE made the point that the rents from retail space are higher than for offices. The public inquiry was won by SAVE, but that was only a pause in the battle. In 2014, there was another public inquiry, this time

panels and allows for the retention of the

over a plan by Hendersons to demolish all but the

delicate wrought iron trusses.

exterior of the market halls and replace them with – Levitt Bernstein

office blocks set immediately behind the Victorian street facades. This time, the inspector agreed with

The Corn Exchange is well used throughout the year,

SAVE that Henderson’s proposals involved ‘a needless

and brings people into the market place, and the pubs

destruction of both authentic fabric and public realm’.

and restaurants around it.

The secretary of state, Eric Pickles, concluded that the

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fig. 5.3 Smithfield Market, London.

design’ and ‘would not conserve the buildings in a manner appropriate to their individual significance [and] to their huge value as part of the Smithfield Market group’. The reprieve could scarcely have been more timely. There is a real chance that the Museum of London will relocate from its former building at 150 London Road, in the Barbican, to Smithfield. That would make possible a mixed-use solution involving retail, museum and commercial occupants. The evidence for just how an area can be enriched socially, culturally and economically is nearby. Spitalfields Market, to the east of Liverpool Street station, is now thriving. It is presided over by Hawksmoor’s great Christ Church, resplendent after repairs funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and with a successful annual festival. To the west of Smithfield is Clerkenwell, once home to the Knights of the Order of St John. Its sturdy 19th-century buildings have well-lit, spacious upper floors, which were built for printers, clockmakers and other crafts. Now these buildings are mostly occupied by small professional businesses, including architects and companies such as Design Bridge, with small shops, bars and restaurants on the ground floor. The large Diocletian windows are ideal for studio use, and the rents are reasonable.

figs 5.4, 5.5 Smithfield Market, London.

SHOP

Henderson proposal ‘would not secure high-quality

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Markets as magnets St George’s Market in Belfast continued to be well used even when the city council allowed it to fall into decay. It was designed by JC Bretland in 1890, with its exterior suggesting a succession of triumphal arches, and the interior using cast-iron columns with large, glazed roofs. In the 1990s, its condition had deteriorated so seriously that demolition was considered. As happens so often, it was the possibility of a large HLF grant that persuaded the city council to pursue restoration as the better option. The Belfast office of Consarc Conservation carried out the work, replacing areas of figs 5.6, 5.7 St George’s Market, Belfast.

decayed stonework and some of the cast iron which could not be repaired. St George’s continues to provide local people with a popular food market and is also used for community events. Research has found that 7,200 people use St George’s Market each week, spending around £9.4m annually, with 20% of these people going on to shop in other parts of the city. There is now a waiting list of would-be traders.

Older buildings are suitable for a huge

most atmospheric market in the UK’ and gave a vivid

variety of business use. They have

account of why the accolade was justified:

character and colour, so creating the

everything from shoelaces and tea towels

atmosphere that fosters creativity. All of

to brill and turbot … Producers from the

this forms to create a ‘mosaic’ of economic

four corners of Northern Ireland gather

activity that is attractive to workers,

here, so you can buy heather honey from

visitors and to business owners alike – a

the Mournes, organic free-range chickens,

rich diversity of use from which the new

eggs and lamb from Limavady; and thirst-

ideas that economic development depends

quenching apple and berry juices or

upon can flow. – HLF, 2013

prize-winning bacon, wild boar sausages and Galloway beef from Armagh. The market is covered so you won’t get wet, but when it’s sunny, shards of light shine through the glass ceilings, highlighting this architectural gem.

The attractions of the historic street Many of the medieval areas of Norwich were devastated during the traumas of the mid-20th century. Where

– Observer, 26 October 2006

they have survived, these parts of what was England’s second city in the Middle Ages now make a major

Independent retailers in historic districts

contribution to attracting visitors and shoppers

What the schemes above, and many others, show is that

independent shops, whereas only 6% are branded

historic districts are particularly suited to certain types

retailers, with most of the remaining buildings being

of business. The ground floors attract independent and

occupied by professionals and food outlets. While the

distinctive shops, keen to offer something different

largely subterranean Castle Mall, built on the site of

from the familiar, international brands. These are areas

the ancient cattle market and opened in 1993, attracts

where the creative industries thrive, and the people who

mainly the ubiquitous chains, areas such as Elm Hill

work there will use shops which have individuality. As

and Bridewell have small shops jumbled together in

the former chair of HLF, Jenny Abramsky, wrote in New

narrow pedestrian streets, occupying a mixture of

Ideas Need Old Buildings in 2013:

buildings of all periods.

from across the United Kingdom and abroad. Around 55% of businesses occupying listed buildings are

SHOP

distinctive leisure quarters of cities and an

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This beautiful Victorian market … sells

69 CHAPTER 5

In 2006, Observer Food Monthly named St George’s ‘the

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figs 5.8, 5.9 Britons Arms, Elm Hill.

and then when local authority funding was cut, it was

71

to be put up for sale. This provoked a public campaign more certain future. The outcome was that the building passed to the Norwich Preservation Trust on a 21year lease. The trust was given a £77,000 loan by the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) in 2011, and repairs

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have now been completed under the supervision of

SHOP

Aylsham architects, Reynolds Jury. This small building, run as a coffee shop and restaurant, is now a focal point in a web of streets which, as well as shops, has one of the city’s most successful art galleries.

Driving regeneration In the Northern Quarter of Manchester, many Victorian warehouses and workshops have been taken over by small businesses. It has become a city centre ‘village’. Unlike Manchester city centre, where the streets of shops could be almost anywhere, in the Northern Quarter 80% of the shops are independents. In the listed buildings there, half of the commercial uses are for shops. Because these are small businesses, they are flexible and can expand or contract relatively easily, using the varied accommodation available. They can offer their customers something different from The Britons Arms in Elm Hill, Norwich, is an exceptionally rare survival. The building was originally a beguinage, or medieval community of single women

CHAPTER 5

to persuade the local authority that it had to be given a

the large, out-of-town shopping centres and so play an important part in keeping the historic quarters of the city prosperous.

devoted to a life of prayer and charitable work, and is

In Belfast, Norwich, Manchester and many other

the only surviving example in England. It is also one of

towns and cities, historic buildings have proved to be

the few remaining thatched buildings in Norwich, with

contributors to inner-city regeneration. Far from being

a timber frame, jetties on three sides and an attic. After

a drain on local authority resources, they have acted as

many years as a pub, it was acquired by the city council,

a catalyst for social and economic revival.

Middleport Pottery, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent

and a range of facilities, from education areas to a café and

that was, and is, the case with the Potteries. The

shop, grouped around a hub of ceramics enterprises. As

decline of the area’s industry has consequently

the architects explained, the work involved a combination

meant not just a loss of jobs but of communal identity.

of conservation expertise and extreme sensitivity:

73

Middleport Pottery is sited next to the Trent and Mersey

The buildings’ time-worn industrial character

Canal, which links it to Liverpool docks and worldwide

was very fragile and in danger of being lost to

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over-sanitised heritage commodification. Even

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ew areas are named after a single industry, but

distribution. It was built in 1888 by William Leigh and Frederick Rathbone Burgess to be a model of factory efficiency and enlightened employment. Its most

though the buildings were at risk of collapse,

celebrated product was Burleigh Ware, which is made

their conservation could jeopardise everything

by a highly skilled workforce – each piece is touched by

about the site that the team hoped to save. The

25 pairs of hands – and is richly decorated, usually with blue designs derived from Chinese porcelain.

‘light touch’ philosophy sought only to intervene where essential.

In 2010, the buildings, which are listed Grade II*, were put on the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. By that

The ‘new layer’ of contemporary design was

time, all but one of the seven bottle ovens had been

founded on extensive analysis of the existing

demolished. The same year, the site was acquired by

condition and a thorough understanding of the

Denby Holdings Limited, makers of Denby Pottery. Although keen to preserve the pottery, as a commercial company Denby could only raise the necessary finance through a transfer to a charitable body capable of attracting private and public funding. Denby turned to the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, which assembled

site’s history, quantifying those characteristics that gave the site its sense of place. The refurbishment has made a number of major sustainability improvements. The conservation

funding for what was ultimately a £9m project. The

brief required extensive refurbishment of leaking

principal contributors were Historic England (£1.2m),

roofs and windows, and improving the energy

HLF (£1.5 m), the Regional Growth Fund (£1.7m) and the

efficiency of the building envelope through

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (£1.2m).

upgraded insulation, enhanced airtightness

The architects responsible for the repair and adaptation

performance and the installation of new highly

of the buildings, Tim Greensmith and Charlie Wellington

efficient servicing, including lifts. External

of FCB Studios, needed to provide effective visitor access

fig 5.10 Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent.

lighting has been designed to a low lux level to minimise light pollution whilst maintaining a flight path for bats. – FCB Studios

figs 5.11, 5.12 Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent.

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When the Prince of Wales, as president of the Prince’s

Visitors leave with a sense of what that means to the

Regeneration Trust, opened the pottery in July 2018,

Potteries and, if they so choose, with pieces of Burleigh

he emphasised that the project was as much about

Ware bought at the shop.

apprenticeships and the employment of a highly skilled, local labour force, as it was about conserving

Among the project’s many awards is a Royal Institute of

the historic fabric of the buildings. What has been

British Architects (RIBA) National Award for Architectural

preserved at Middleport Pottery is its historic function.

Excellence, and a Europa Nostra Award for Heritage.

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75 CHAPTER 5

The buildings’ time-worn industrial

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danger of being lost to over-sanitised heritage commodification. Even though the buildings were at risk of collapse, their conservation could jeopardise everything about the site that the team hoped to save. The ‘light touch’ philosophy sought only to intervene where essential. – FCB Studios

SHOP

character was very fragile and in

Holmes Mill, Clitheroe, and Pendle Village Mill, Nelson

been added and, in areas where there was concern

cotton mills in the north of England and in

about floor loadings, steel columns have replaced

Scotland. The fate of many of those that remain

cast-iron ones. The Food Hall and the Boland Brewery’s

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continues to be uncertain. In their heyday, these great

Beer Hall have proved particularly popular. The site

factories transformed the industrial towns of the

is estimated to generate £30,000 of business rates per

north-west, and had a worldwide impact on countries

annum, and the annual turnover on completion is

involved in the cotton trade.

anticipated to be £10–12m.

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Some of the most imposing mills were built in the river

Pendle Village Mill in Nelson was purchased in 1997

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here has long been concern about the loss of

valleys around Manchester, and when they have found

by another developer, Barry Lockwood, who saw the

new uses, as at Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, they can attract

potential of the extensive site, close to the M65, for

hundreds of thousands of visitors. Yet, according to

fashion and furniture retail. Lockwood has spent

Historic England, since 1988, Greater Manchester

£500,000 carrying out initial repairs and has been

alone has lost almost half of its historic mill buildings

careful to retain original features, such as the maple

through fire, demolition or neglect. Those that remain

floors and structural cast iron. The mill now employs

are often empty and decaying fast.

over 100 people, and the retail space is being steadily

Where entrepreneurs and conservation organisations

expanded.

have been prepared to tackle the problems of these

As the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham,

vast buildings, the results have had a major impact on

said in support of Historic England’s 2017 campaign to

the surrounding area. At Holmes Mill, Clitheroe, to

protect those that remain of the region’s textile mills:

the north of Manchester, a developer has taken over the collection of buildings which formed part of the

These buildings are an important part of our

James Thornber and Co. Mill, originally established

industrial legacy – the original Northern

in 1823. The developer, James’ Places, previously had

Powerhouse. But, equally, they are an

experience of running pubs and hotels in the Ribble Valley, but at Holmes Mill it has embarked on a much more ambitious enterprise. Transforming the mill into a major retail operation is being tackled in stages, but the areas already open to the public are thriving. Much of the original machinery has been retained, but to comply with building regulations new handrails have

important part of our future. Historic England estimates that the sensitive adaptation of Greater Manchester’s surviving mills could provide up to 25,000 much-needed new homes, or support new businesses, with the potential to generate 133,000 new jobs. For these opportunities to be realised, the government would need to recognise the potential benefits to the whole region and provide financial support.

fig 5.13 Holmes Mill, Clitheroe.

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fig 5.13 Holmes Mill, Clitheroe.

Historic England estimates that

could provide up to 25,000 muchneeded new homes, or support new businesses, with the potential to generate 133,000 new jobs.

SHOP

Manchester’s surviving mills

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the sensitive adaptation of Greater

CHAPTER 5

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79

6. Play

lavishly, for their own amusement and to

wrecked by vandals before the Landmark Trust stepped

impress their friends and neighbours. The great

in, took a lease, and carried out repairs in the 1990s.

Elizabethan and Jacobean houses were made still more imposing by their long galleries for exercising, by their banqueting houses overlooking gardens, and by the lodges from which to watch hunting and horseracing. or abandoned when such frivolous pursuits were no longer fashionable or financially sustainable.

Trust and well placed for a holiday in South Wales, near the River Usk. A tablet records that its purpose

Clytha Castle is another folly leased by the Landmark

was more solemn than its sham Gothic style suggests: ‘Erected in the year 1790 by William Jones of Clytha House, husband of Elizabeth, last surviving child of Sir William Morgan of Tredegar, it was undertaken

Not all follies were frivolous. The Bath House at Walton,

with the purpose of relieving a mind afflicted by the

Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1748 by the gentleman-

loss of a most excellent wife.’ The Landmark Trust has

architect Sanderson Miller for his friend Sir Charles

employed a small number of scholarly conservation

Mordaunt. Cold baths were believed to be healthy. The

architects on its buildings, including, in the early years,

Walton bath was the pretext for rough antique masonry

Philip Jebb and, more recently, Martin Stancliffe. For

around the pool itself, with elegant, polished decoration

both them and John Smith, the founder of Landmark,

in the octagonal room above, which includes swags of

the ultimate test of their work is that it should be

sea shells and bands of coral worked on by Sir Charles’s

invisible to the casual eye.

Left: Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Glasgow.

fig 6.1 Clytha Castle, Monmouthshire.

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Often these buildings were the first to be neglected

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daughters. The building had been almost completely

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he wealthy in society have for centuries built

fig 6.2 Tally Ho Inn, Littlehampton, Devon.

82 RESCUE & REUSE

Until the 19th century, the vast majority of the

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population enjoyed their leisure in far simpler ways.

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

The streets of towns and villages served as playgrounds,

Piers, promenades and their problems

the village green was used for dancing, and the tavern

In the 19th century, visits to the coast became possible

for gaming. The Tally Ho Inn in Littlehampton, Devon,

for large sections of the United Kingdom’s population,

has parts of the building that are 14th century. It was

and resorts expanded rapidly. Hyde Pier was opened

threatened with sale for use as a private house, but

in 1814 and others followed. Between 1855 and 1884,

this was resisted by registration as a community asset.

the engineer Eugenius Birch established himself as the

Thanks to a ‘Rally round the Tally’ campaign locally, it

pre-eminent designer of piers. Of his 14 piers, the most

now has a secure future as a pub.

famous was Brighton West, of 1866. In 1872, Hastings Pier opened on the first ever August Bank Holiday.

By the second half of the 18th century, architects and entrepreneurs began to appreciate the potential of

The history of piers is all too often one of a brief

theatres in market towns and cities to attract middle-

heyday, then a succession of calamities. Fire, storm

class as well as aristocratic audiences. The Wilkins

and battering by drifting ships have often taken their

family of architects provided an East Anglian circuit of

toll. Brighton West, once Britain’s only Grade I listed

theatres for travelling actors, who would play in Bury St

pier, is one of these casualties. The owners went into

Edmunds (during the 20th century this theatre became

receivership in 1977 and in 1984 the Brighton West Pier

a barrel store but has now been restored to its original

Trust bought it for £100. After a series of setbacks, in

role), Cambridge and Norwich.

1996 an initial grant of £968,000 was approved by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Two years later, a further

The arrival of the railways greatly increased mobility for large sections of society. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London, attracted 6 million visitors. The Art Treasures exhibition in Manchester, six years later,

£10.65m was awarded, and the future seemed secure. Then, in 2003, there was a disastrous fire and by January 2013 part of the pier’s eastern side had collapsed. Its twisted structure is now slowly subsiding into the sea.

also proved hugely popular. The various Factory Acts, starting in 1833, reduced the length of the working week,

There have, however been some determined rescues.

so making summer breaks increasingly popular. The

The structure of Hastings Pier has now been repaired,

Bank Holiday Act of 1871 introduced four new holidays.

with a grant from HLF of £12m and a loan £250,000

fig 6.3 Penarth Pier, Vale of Glamorgan.

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from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF). In 2016,

There are, fortunately, examples of pier restorations

£100,000 was raised through community shares. In

which demonstrate what can be achieved with good

November 2017, the pier won the Stirling Prize for the

design and rigorous management. The repair and

best ‘new’ building in the UK. The design, by London-

revival of Clevedon Pier near Bristol is described in

based architects de Rijke Marsh Morgan, marries old

detail on p. 87.

and new particularly successfully. The recladding of its pavilion in recycled timber from its former decking gives a sense of continuity and has been well received locally as well as nationally. The work has not, however, facilitated a solution to the problem of how to meet year-round running costs. With seaside attractions it

A revitalised pier can contribute to the recovery of a depressed coastal resort, as is demonstrated by the Wellington Pier, Great Yarmouth. Extensive repairs were carried out in the 1970s, but its owners, the borough council, decided against continuing

is relatively easy to generate substantial profits in the

investment and in 1986 proposed that it should be

summer, but sustaining projects during long winter

demolished. There was such outcry from local people

months has proved difficult.

that the decision was reviewed and the pier reprieved. The lease is currently held by the entertainer Jim

Penarth Pier, on the south coast of Wales, now has

Davidson, who has run the Wellington Theatre on the

a gallery, cinema and restaurant within its striking

pier as a viable enterprise.

Art Deco pavilion. It was recently voted ‘Wales’ Most Treasured Landmark’ as part of a campaign organised by National Trust Wales. Yet it too has struggled with

Parks and open spaces

viability because of high out-of-season costs. Piers need

The wealth and idealism of Victorian Britain often

almost continual conservation to prevent deterioration

found expression in the lavish provision of public

and, because income fluctuates with the seasons, it

parks and buildings. With the economic and social

may be necessary to find ways of raising endowments,

upheavals of the mid-20th century, these were often

such as those the National Trust requires for its

among the first services to be regarded as inessential

historic country houses.

by local authorities forced to make savings. The scale

84 RESCUE & REUSE

fig 6.4 Venetian Waterways, Great Yarmouth.

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and quality of what was being lost was recognised

For a relatively brief period, working-class entertainment

by Lord Rothschild and Jennifer Jenkins, both of

was provided in the music halls, with stars performing in

whom helped to formulate policy for HLF in its early

cities all over the UK. These stars were vividly recorded in

years, and who gave it the confidence to allocate

the paintings of Walter Sickert, Spencer Gore and other

large grants for projects which had previously

artists of the Camden Town Group. However, by 1906

struggled for funds. A ‘parks programme’ was set

purpose-built cinemas were appearing in London. In a

up and was to prove one of HLF’s most significant

very short time, music halls had disappeared, eclipsed by

achievements. There has been much concern at

cinemas, which were themselves superseded by television

the decision of HLF to close the Parks for People

and bingo halls. The buildings often went into a long

programme in 2017 to simplify the application

and ultimately terminal decline, so that Wilton’s Music

process, and because it had become more difficult

Hall in the East End of London is exceptional for having

for applicants to secure match funding.

survived with its original decoration much decayed but intact. Its long and careful restoration has not attempted

Under the programme, HLF directed grants to coastal

to disguise just how close it came to irrevocable loss.

parks, with the aim of reviving tourism and boosting

What Tim Ronalds Architects have achieved is close to

the flagging economies of some seaside resorts. In

the repair philosophy adopted in 2003 at Newhailes,

2016, the Venetian Waterways on the seafront at Great

an 18th-century house belonging to the National Trust

Yarmouth received a grant of £1.8m from HLF, which

for Scotland, near Edinburgh. It was described by its

will pay for renewing the revetments to the boating

curator Ian Gow and architect Una Richards in the pithy

lake, the restoration of the original planting scheme

phrase: ‘as much as necessary and as little as possible’.

and the repair of ornamental buildings. The work will

At Wilton’s, the architects have adopted similar ideas:

go some way to compensate for the borough council’s decision to close its Parks Department. Other coastal

We took a new approach to conservation,

parks to benefit are Mount Garden in Fleetwood,

by not ‘restoring’ the building in the usual

Lancashire; Ellington Park in Ramsgate; and South

sense, but by doing only what was necessary

Cliff Gardens in Scarborough, designed by Joseph Paxton. Since it was launched, the programme has made possible the revival of around 1,000 parks, giving pleasure and recreation to large numbers of people who may find it difficult to get out into the countryside.

to make it secure, safe and useable, aiming to preserve the very special atmosphere Wilton’s has of a derelict theatre rediscovered. – Tim Ronalds Architects

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The oldest surviving purpose-built cinema in Scotland is the Hippodrome at Bo’ness, completed in March 1912

fig 6.5 Picture House, Campbeltown, Kintyre.

and, after a major restoration, once more in full-time use

wealthy philanthropists. Competitive rowing on the

as a cinema (see p. 89). Scarcely less stylish is the Picture

River Clyde was made possible by the building of

House in Campbeltown, Kintyre. It was designed by

weirs from 1852 onwards, which ensured a relatively

Albert V Gardner in 1913, was refurbished by him in 1935,

constant water level and current. In 1905, the West

and underwent a major restoration, completed in 2017, to

Boathouse on Glasgow Green was completed, and has

celebrate its centenary. To broaden the cinema’s appeal

been in continuous use ever since. A major repair

and viability, a second auditorium was constructed in

of the building is now in hand, and this is one of the

a courtyard to the rear of the historic building, to plans

case studies at the end of this chapter (see p. 93).

prepared by Burrell Foley Fischer, with Stephanie

Another example of the variety of entertainments

Fischer as the lead architect. There is also an exhibition

available in Glasgow at the height of its prosperity

area, education space and bookable community room.

is the Bandstand and Amphitheatre at Kelvingrove,

The intention is that Campbeltown Picture House will

described on p. 101.

become a cultural hub for Kintyre, as well as being an eye-catcher when viewed across the harbour.

What most of these projects have in common is that the best use for the building at risk has often proved

Sport and recreation

to be the one for which it was originally designed. Frequently, consultation with the local community

In the early 20th century, provision for a whole

has revealed how greatly these buildings are valued.

range of popular sports was being made in often

It has, however, taken ingenuity and determination to

ambitious buildings, frequently commissioned by

make those uses viable once again.

Clevedon Pier

costs had risen tenfold in the space of a few years.

piers, once restored, can continue to be

In March 1980, there was a public inquiry at which

sustainable have already been mentioned. These

John Betjeman spoke in support of CPHT’s case for

87

difficulties have been addressed in imaginative ways by

preservation. The planning inspector concluded that

the Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust, with a scheme

the pier was ‘an exceptionally important building

devised by its architects, Robert O’Leary and Jenny

warranting every effort to preserve it’. Since then,

Goss. The solution at Clevedon, Somerset, has included

there have been successive phases of repair, with the

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building a compact glass and steel addition to the pier,

most recent in 2012.

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ome of the problems of ensuring that historic

which is once again being much used by local people. When Brighton West Pier was destroyed by fire in 2003, Clevedon Pier became the only Grade I listed pier in Britain. Its survival consequently is of paramount importance. Of all Britain’s piers, Clevedon is widely considered to be the most graceful.

The scheme put forward by O’Leary Goss Architects involved excavating 725 tonnes of rock from beneath the pier’s sloping access ramp. Into this space the architects have slotted a series of connecting glass boxes and a lift, the profile of which follows in steps the slope of the ramp. The pier now offers local schools and

Designed by JW Grover and RJ Ward in 1867, the pier’s

community groups a room with superb views out to

eight shallow arches are made from discarded wrought-

sea, from beneath the decking of the pier. In other parts

iron track from Brunel’s broad-gauge South Wales

of the new building there is space for parties, weddings

Railway. The pier stands 14.6 m high to accommodate

and events. In the last of the rooms of the new addition,

the wide tidal range in this part of the Bristol Channel,

there is an extremely popular coffee shop, which looks

and it was opened on Easter Monday in 1869. By the

out to sea on three sides.

1950s, there were concerns over the stability of the pier, and regular checks were made. During a load test carried out by the local authority in 1970, two spans collapsed. The following year, with the prospect of the pier being demolished, the Clevedon Pier Preservation Trust, later changed to the Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust (CPHT), was formed.

At a very late stage of the restoration, there was a moment when the funding seemed in doubt. To bridge the gap, the CPHT launched a community share issue, to which local people responded generously, contributing £250,000 from 1,100 investors. When, in 2016, there was still a shortfall, the AHF purchased a further £80,000 worth of shares. Late in 2016, the

Despite strong local support for the preservation of

project was nominated for an Historic England Angel

the pier, in 1979 Woodspring District Council applied

Award and won the prestigious ‘People’s Choice’. The

for permission to demolish, arguing that repair

pier is open and busy throughout the year.

fig 6.6 Clevedon Pier, Somerset.

The Hippodrome, Bo’ness

There is a temptation to link Steele’s work with the

Canal in 1790, Bo’ness (abbreviated from

buildings which Charles Rennie Mackintosh was

Borrowstounness) became a major east

designing in Glasgow at the time. Such similarities

coast port for Glasgow. With the deepening of the Clyde

as there are may be because Mackintosh and Steele

in the early 19th century, and as nearby Grangemouth

shared common sources: the Arts and Crafts houses of

grew, Bo’ness and its harbour began to stagnate.

CFA Voysey, and Scandinavian architecture, which was with the timber trade.

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century buildings stands out as being of more than

accessible to businesses in Bo’ness because of its links

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In spite of its decline, one of Bo’ness’s early 20thlocal interest. The Hippodrome, in Hope Street, is the

The Hippodrome, which opened in 1912, makes

oldest surviving, purpose-built cinema in Scotland, and

clever use of a corner site into which Steele squeezed

is listed Category A. It is the result of a collaboration

a circular auditorium, later extended by him, with

in 1911 between a local entrepreneur, Louis Dickson,

offices, stairs and corridors wrapping around it.

and his architect, Matt Steele, who designed many

The original plans, dated October 1911, show that at

other buildings including a hospital, houses, flats and a

this stage facilities were basic, even noting that the

masonic lodge in the town.

lavatories were to be added later.

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The Hippodrome, in

The external decoration consists largely of rectangular, projecting blocks. The treatment of the interior is similarly largely abstract and restrained: far removed from the baroque extravagance of the Edwardian theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Some interior decoration comes from mahogany panelling rescued from an Edwardian liner being broken up nearby.

Hope Street, is the oldest surviving, purpose-built cinema in Scotland, and is listed Category A.

By the 1970s, the Hippodrome was being used as a bingo hall as well as a cinema. In 2000, the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) was given an AHF Feasibility Study grant of £5,000, which was partly used for a public consultation. The emphatic conclusion was that the building would be most suitable for its original purpose: as a cinema. As with so many other projects, several small grants helped fund the planning stage. In 2006, a loan

fig 6.7 The Hippodrome, Bo’ness.

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ith the opening of the Forth and Clyde

of £87,000 from the AHF enabled work to start under the direction of Gareth Jones of the Pollock Hammond

90 RESCUE & REUSE

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The treatment of the interior is largely abstract and restrained:

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

far removed from the baroque extravagance of the Edwardian theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow, although some interior decoration comes from mahogany panelling rescued from an Edwardian liner being broken up nearby.

fig 6.8 The Hippodrome, Bo’ness.

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Partnership. Steele’s gallery has been restored, and

The Hippodrome has remained viable partly because

there have been discreet changes to the auditorium.

of changes in public taste. Live screenings of theatre

The seating is less cramped, with more consideration

productions are popular. There is a Silent Film Festival

for the comfort of a modern audience, including the

which attracts international audiences. Once again,

provision of a refreshment kiosk and lavatories. Jones

the Hippodrome is a fanfare for the cultural vitality of

has succeeded in incorporating these changes in a way

Bo'ness; and the discreet interventions of the SHBT and

which most users would be unlikely to notice. They have

its architect have helped to ensure that the town is not

been essential for the cinema’s ambitious new role.

a forgotten backwater.

West Boathouse, Glasgow Green

one at each end, with Diocletian windows on the

rowing is an elitist sport. It is not,' Gordon

first floor. The rear elevation has a run of circular

Simpson insists. He is in a good position to

windows. On the sides are two tall arches running

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know, because his childhood was spent in the Gorbals,

almost to the eaves, allowing boats to be taken in

on the south side of Glasgow Green, just across the

and out. Some of these architectural motifs are

River Clyde from the boathouses. His introduction

influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, which

to rowing was when he was around 10: ‘I was caught

was so strong in Scotland. The boathouse was

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mischievously pitching small stones at rowing crews

deliberately built using timber wherever possible to

passing under the McNeil Street Bridge! The oarsmen

allow it to be flexible and move with the river bank.

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here is a common misconception that

did not take kindly to my actions, and caught me with

The boathouse has remained continuously in use and

the last stone in my hand looking a tad guilty.’ He was

is listed Category B.

taken back to the clubhouse, given a well-aimed clip around the ear and then asked if he would like to try his hand at coxing. Sixty years of service to rowing on the Clyde followed. In 1959, Simpson was Scottish Senior Champion and in 2014 he was given a Service to Sport Lifetime Achievement Award.

As the clubhouse neared and then passed its centenary, there were concerns about its timberframe construction and suggestions that the two clubs using it should join a scheme for an ambitious amalgam of clubhouses upstream. However, there were concerns that Clydesdale Amateur Rowing

Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club was formed in 1857.

Club and the Clyde Amateur Rowing Club would

On the 1 August that year, Clydesdale’s first regatta

lose their separate identities. To find out how far

took place on the same course as is used today. It was

these misgivings were shared, the clubs agreed to

members of the club who in 1872 formed the nucleus

participate in the Glasgow Doors Open Day in 2015,

of the Rangers Football Club as a way of keeping fit

organised by the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust

for rowing during bad weather. In 1902, a new weir

(GBPT). The responses to the questionnaires given to

on the Clyde was completed, making the building

the many visitors showed a high level of interest in

of a substantial clubhouse – for both the Clydesdale

the boathouse and its place in the history of Glasgow

Amateur Rowing Club and the Clyde Amateur Rowing

Green. A follow-up meeting to gauge support for

Club – feasible. West Boathouse on Glasgow Green

restoring the boathouse was also well supported, and

was completed in 1905 by Glasgow Corporation

a Project Development Grant of £13,000 from the AHF

Parks Department at a total cost of £1,333.8s.8d. The

followed. As well as drawing up plans for the project,

elevation overlooking the river has two balconies,

GBPT is organising oral history research with the help of an HLF grant. Much of the labour for digging trial pits to establish the extent of decay to the wooden piles is coming from club volunteers. The design of

fig 6.9 West Boathouse, Glasgow.

the building still meets the needs of the two clubs,

fig 6.10 West Boathouse, Glasgow.

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so there is no need for major alterations or additions

Asked why he advocated repairing the boathouse

to the building. Nonetheless, some facilities can be

of 1905, rather than transferring to a much larger,

shared, and there will be improved access to the

purpose-built clubhouse, Simpson is forthright in

upper levels.

his reply:

It is part of us and we do not want

on every wall for all to see. Its unique character has inspired and continues to motivate a sense of belonging that is infectious in so many different ways … We want to see that continue for many generations to come.

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blood. The club’s proud history hangs

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to lose that sense of pride. It’s in our

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95

Saltdean Lido, Brighton

changes in use and fortune than Saltdean Lido in Brighton. In 1938, when it opened, it was the

very latest in California-inspired seaside chic, wrapped up in Modernist architectural forms. The design, by RWH Jones, uses features associated with ocean liners,

forward like the bridge of a ship. The use of concrete floors cantilevered out over pool-side paving makes it an important Modern Movement building for a form of

The design, by RWH Jones, uses features associated with ocean liners, including curvilinear sunbathing

recreation which would rapidly be submerged by events.

decks and a central,

Within a few months of the lido’s completion, the

semicircular restaurant

Battle of Britain was being fought over the English south coast. The lido was requisitioned by the National

and ballroom, projecting

Fire Service to serve as a water tank and for training

forward like the bridge of

exercises. The male changing rooms were used for church services and a Sunday School was held in the female changing rooms. Weeds colonised the pool, in which local children would catch newts with their seaside buckets and nets. When Billy Butlin wanted to develop hotels in Saltdean, he planned to replace the lido with a bowling rink. In July 1964, Brighton council responded to the pleas

a ship. The use of concrete floors cantilevered out over pool-side paving makes it an important Modern Movement building.

of local people to have the lido restored to its original design and use. For the next 30 years it was, once again,

In March 2010, in defiance of a proposal to build 125

a central feature of a popular resort. Then the council

apartments on the site, a campaign was launched to

decided that with rising maintenance costs the lido

save Saltdean Lido. An application was successfully

should again close. They underestimated the strength

made to Historic England to have the lido relisted to

of feeling locally and allegiance to the lido.

Grade II*; in 2011 it was added to the Heritage at Risk Register. This pressure persuaded Brighton and Hove City council to grant a 60-year lease to the Saltdean

fig 6.11 Saltdean Lido, Brighton.

Lido Community Interest Company, with the object of restoring the buildings to their original use.

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semicircular restaurant and ballroom, projecting

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including curvilinear sunbathing decks and a central,

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ew buildings have experienced more curious

98

The architects appointed to the project, Conran and Partners, had an office locally and became immersed

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in a project, which turned out to be far more complex than originally thought. An electricity sub-station buried on the site had long been forgotten, and its replacement greatly increased costs in the early stages. The architect, Paul Zara, found that damp had

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penetrated the building, and the steel reinforcing had rusted, forcing off the concrete cladding. The

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

minimalist, curving railings no longer conformed to health and safety requirements, and the original metal windows had decayed as a result of salt-laden winds and internal condensation. There were solutions to all these problems, including the proposal to fit new double-glazed metal windows, supplied by the manufacturer of the originals, Crittall. Zara has found a form of metal screen mesh that can be attached to the railings, but which has very little visual impact. His aspiration is to:

Turn the Lido into a national destination, but most importantly it is the heart of Saltdean and a much loved friend. This is the beginning of a new life for Saltdean Lido. – Conran and Partners

does Saltdean Lido provide a riposte, but so too does In June 2017, the Saltdean Lido reopened, with a

the beautifully restored Brockwell Park Lido in Herne

display of synchronised swimming and to great local

Hill, South London. They suggest ‘healthier, happier,

acclaim. It serves as a compelling answer to the dismay

more sensual days’, as Roger Deakin wrote of lidos in

felt by a leading writer on lidos, Ken Worpole, who

his Waterlog (2000). There is much work still to do,

lamented that, 'Their neglect in recent decades speaks

but Saltdean Lido’s neon-lit Art Deco sign above the

volumes about our return to the private, the indoor

ballroom is set to burn brightly once again, provided

and our retreat from collective provision’. Not only

that HLF continues its financial support.

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fig 6.12 Saltdean Lido, Brighton.

Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Glasgow

Brian Page, of Page\Park, Glasgow, designed two small,

the city says much about Glasgow’s social and

barely visible, extensions at the back of the bandstand.

cultural aspirations. The park was acquired by

These made it possible to introduce a platform lift to

101

the city in 1851 and became the favoured site for statues

stage level and add performers’ changing rooms for

of literary and military worthies. Kelvingrove House –

the first time. There is now concrete seating in the

possibly designed by Robert Adam – was demolished to

amphitheatre, with ramps as well as steps, and new

provide space for the International Exhibition of 1901,

lighting to make late-night events possible.

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he way Kelvingrove Park was absorbed into

during which Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum opened in the park. Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre was built by Glasgow Corporation Public Parks Department in 1925, at a time when the city was also providing tennis courts and a bowling green. This is the only free-standing, theatre-style bandstand with an oval amphitheatre remaining in Scotland. During the second half of the 20th century, there were long periods of neglect when the buildings in the park were starved of funds for basic maintenance. By 1999, the structure of the bandstand was unsafe and its condition rated ‘critical’ by Historic Scotland. It was thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Kelvingrove Park that plans were produced, showing how it could be brought back into use. In 2012, a partnership was formed between GBPT, Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life. The latter is an independent charity set up to provide cultural events on behalf of the city council, and it already had a programme of festivals in the park. The renewed use of the bandstand depended on improving access to the stage and providing safe and accessible seating in the amphitheatre, where originally audiences of up to 7,000 could stand. The architect,

fig 6.13 Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Glasgow.

GBPT and Glasgow Life, the city council has drawn in funding from HLF, Historic Scotland, charitable trusts and the AHF. Local fundraising has been organised by Glasgow Life. Kelvingrove Amphitheatre and Bandstand was reopened by the Lord Provost of Glasgow in 2014 and was much used when the Commonwealth Games were held in the city. The summer evening concerts have been particularly well attended.

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This is the only freestanding, theatre-style bandstand with an oval amphitheatre remaining in Scotland.

7. Learn

Printmaking has attracted some of the greatest artists,

pausing and learning can seem a little old-fashioned

from Rembrandt and Goya to Hockney and Hodgkin.

and too much like hard work. Ruskin, writing in 1860,

Those who admire their work are often keen to know

was adamant that art is not play:

about the processes involved and to understand how making an etching differs from producing a lithograph,

103

The end of Art is as serious as that of all

and why the techniques and tools for wood engraving

other beautiful things … Whatever delight

are different from those employed for a woodcut.

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we take in them, be it less or more, is not the

Edinburgh Printmakers has been so successful at

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I

n a society preoccupied with instant gratification,

delight we take in play … The joy of surprise

meeting these needs, that it has outgrown the premises in Union Street, on the east side of the city. In 2019,

and incident mingles in music, painting,

the company will move to the Fountainbridge area of

architecture, and natural beauty itself,

Edinburgh, where it will have much more space and the

in an ennobled and enduring manner …

benefit of the excellent public transport nearby.

Whenever we care only for new tunes, and

Its new home will be the former Castle Mill Works,

new pictures, and new scenes, all power of

built for the North British Rubber Company. Here, the

enjoying Nature or Art is so far perished from us: and a child’s love of toys has taken its place. A gallery or museum can provide the opportunity to discover the different ways in which art can be enriching, encouraging the viewer to understand how the artist thinks and works, and what techniques are used. Since 1967, this has been one of the objectives of Edinburgh Printmakers, with its ambitious education programmes for students and children. Another one of its aims has been to provide the presses and workspace for some of the many outstanding printmakers working in Scotland.

Left: Chatham Dock Yard Museum.

fig 7.1 Castle Mill Works, Edinburgh.

use of India rubber was pioneered for applications ranging from motor car tyres to wellington boots. During the First World War, the factory produced more

than a million boots for troops on the Western Front.

The £10m project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery

Over 5,000 people were employed, working different

Fund (HLF), the Scottish Government’s Regeneration

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shifts so they did not block the streets when they

Capital Grants Fund, Historic Environment Scotland,

left the factory. Then there was the familiar story of

the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF), Garfield Weston,

decline and closure, with the very real chance that the

and other trusts and foundations. The architects have

buildings would be demolished and the site cleared for

felt able to transform the former industrial building in

redevelopment.

a radical way, with the use of modern materials where

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Edinburgh Printmakers and their architects, Page\

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Park, have produced a scheme which will show how far the city has come since the destruction of the 1960s. As the architects explain:

new uses justified innovative solutions. In contrast, the practice has also acted as architects for the conservation of Rosslyn Chapel, just south of Edinburgh, where their intervention, especially when dealing with the elaborately carved stonework, called for extreme reticence.

The first key architectural move was to make a new, visible, fully accessible

The exterior of the Castle Mill Works will be preserved but with the recessed arches of the entrance front opened up to provide views to and from the two

entrance off Dundee St to create a strong

internal floors. The exhibition space will be largely

presence and shop front for the Printmakers,

top-lit and has galleries around a central open space.

a lens into their Creative Hub – as well as

Adapted in this way, the building will continue to play

contributing to the developing streetscape.

an important part in the social life of Edinburgh, as well as enhancing it culturally.

The second key move is to insert a modest two storey extension to the rear of the

Museums and art galleries

existing building that shifts the centre of

Many great towns and cities have, like Edinburgh, areas

gravity to a new external courtyard garden.

of historic interest overlapping with districts of great deprivation. This is true of Great Yarmouth, which has

…

a distinguished and prosperous past, and a troubled

The Printmaking Studio sits at first floor level in the expansive triple height former

present. In August 2000, in an index of different types of deprivation in England, Great Yarmouth ranked fifth worst in intensity, out of 354 local authorities.

fitting and turning workshop, with the original muscular cast iron structure and timber trusses exposed.

The explanation for this decline is straightforward. In the Middle Ages, Great Yarmouth was already a thriving and wealthy fishing port. During the 18th

– Page\Park

century, it was the world’s largest herring port, as

fig 7.2 Tower Curing Works, Great Yarmouth.

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well as being a vital anchorage during the Napoleonic

Heritage Initiative grant of £2m was approved, with

Wars. Yet by 1914, overfishing had destroyed the North

a further £2.6m provided by the East of England

Sea stocks of herring, and rapid decline followed,

Development Agency and the European Union (EU).

accelerated by two world wars.

Over five years, 86 projects costing a total of £20m were

In 1990, there were 335 listed buildings in the

carried out.

borough, and of these 37 were judged to be at risk. The

None of this would have happened if the then chief

beginnings of improvement came in 1991 with a town

executive of the borough council, Richard Packham,

scheme largely funded by English Heritage, followed

had not realised that a change in Great Yarmouth’s

by a three-year heritage economic regeneration

fortunes was as much a matter of perceptions as it was

scheme, which involved grant aid to over 30 listed

of funds. Instead of presenting itself as a run-down

buildings. However, the situation was still so dire that

seaside resort, Great Yarmouth would make full use of

almost all the bodies with responsibilities for historic

its distinguished history, encouraging visitors to share

buildings came together in 1996 to form the Great

young David Copperfield’s view that, ‘Yarmouth was,

Yarmouth Heritage Partnership (GYHP), involving

upon the whole, the finest place in the universe’, and to

Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk Museums

understand why Daniel Defoe could describe the South

and Archaeological Services, English Heritage, the

Quay, with its succession of historic buildings, as the

National Trust, and Great Yarmouth Local History and

finest quay in England. Packham gave his full support

Archaeological Society. In 2003, an HLF Townscape

to the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT) and

fig 7.3 Smithery, Chatham Dockyard, Kent.

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visitors called for robust detailing and respect for every aspect of the original function of the building.

Of the GYPT’s many projects, the one which had

Time and Tide: The Museum of Great Yarmouth Life

greatest impact was the rescue of the Tower

has been immensely popular with local people, schools

Curing Works, largely constructed in the 1880s but

and visitors alike. Stephen Earl wrote, in 2010:

aim was to inspire local people to value their heritage.

purchased the derelict site for £44,000 from a Panama-

As fishing and its related industries created

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Stephen Earl, to become its project organiser. Their

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exhibition space, teaching rooms and facilities for

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encouraged his conservation and heritage manager,

registered company based in Athens, which had

the town’s identity, this project was at the

incorporating earlier buildings. In 1998, the GYPT

acquired the building in lieu of a debt. At that time, it was in a melancholy and dangerous condition, with parts of the building damaged by fire, making it unsafe.

heart of the partners’ efforts to rebuild confidence and civic pride within the

What survived still amounted to the best remaining

community, giving people access to and

example of a 19th-century herring curing works. In the

ownership of their own heritage. This was

attics was the evidence of a thriving international trade.

a flagship project to regenerate a neglected

There were abandoned stacks of packing cases for herring, which would have been soaked in brine and

and undervalued area of the town and

then smoked over wood fires before being despatched

to help change the perception of Great

to distant destinations, including Florence. Among the

Yarmouth regionally and nationally.

discarded equipment of the curing works were many of the exhibits needed to tell the story of what, over several centuries, fishing meant for Great Yarmouth.

Naval heritage

In 2002, the AHF had a limit of £500,000 on loans. For

When, in 1981, the United Kingdom’s defence secretary,

the Tower Curing Works an exception was made, and a

John Nott, announced that Chatham Dockyard was

loan of £750,000 was approved. The period of the loan

surplus to the Royal Navy’s requirements, there were

was extended from the usual two years to three years

concerns for the future of an internationally important

and secured by a guarantee from the borough council.

historic site. Chatham can claim to be the world’s most

Funding for a scheme costing £4.5m came from HLF,

complete dockyard from the age of sail. The charity which

the European Development Fund, the local authority

was set up to preserve the site, the Chatham Historic

and other sources. The architects were Purcell Miller

Dockyard Trust, has gradually brought back into use most

Tritton, and the lead was Nigel Sunter. The practice has

of the buildings, often from a parlous condition. Some are

vast experience of repairing the industrial buildings

used for exhibitions, demonstrations and displays, while

of the Norfolk Broads, including wind pumps. The

others have been adapted so they can be let to businesses,

adaptation of the Tower Curing Works to provide

bringing in much-needed income.

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fig 7.4 Chatham Dockyard, Kent.

involved important archaeological remains, and so the

For No. 1 Smithery, where metalwork for the navy,

architects adopted the daring solution of leaving that

including anchors, straps and chains, had been made, it

level relatively undisturbed and inserting a staircase

employed van Heyningen and Haward. The building, of

to take visitors to the floor below. The scheme was

1801, was one which particularly appealed to the practice,

shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2017. The new

as one of its partners, James McCosh, explained:

entrance and adjoining storage sheds are now used

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The trust has exercised care over its choice of architects.

to explain to visitors what was implied by the term

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The Historic Dockyard is a treasure house

‘Command of the Seas’, and how wooden-hulled, sail-

of powerful buildings, yet even in its ruinous

powered warships were built and refitted.

LEARN

state the Smithery, with its huge top-lit spaces,

Although the recent exhibitions at Chatham use the

great expanses of brickwork and intricate

very latest information technology, visitors probably

roof structures, stood out … By designing

learn most from the Victorian Ropery. The present

the new insertions in counterpoint with the historic fabric, retaining patina and surviving

brick Ropery buildings were constructed between 1729 and 1812. They include the Hemp Houses, for storing raw hemp imported from the Baltic, and the

artefacts, the project reinforces the messages

Yarn Houses, where the hemp was immersed in hot

of the collections and exhibitions, so enriching

tar to prevent rotting in salt water. The Ropehouse,

the experience of visitors, and providing an archive-quality collections store.

where spinning and rope-making took place, is 0.4 km long and retains much of its spinning machinery still in working order. Unlike most industrial museums, where the public cannot participate in processes

The exhibition spaces include a display of parts of the

such as cotton weaving or iron smelting because they

National Maritime Museum’s collections of model ships,

are simply too dangerous, rope spinning, although

and artefacts loaned by the Imperial War Museum.

skilled, is safe enough for parties of visitors, including

A different practice, Baynes and Mitchell Architects, won the competition for a new entrance building. It now slots in between the mid-18th-century mast houses, and the mould loft, where the templates for the hulls of new ships were made. The design of Baynes and Mitchell’s entrance uses black zinc cladding

children, to try for themselves. The guides conducting the Ropehouse tours weave into their accounts information about the working conditions of the female employees, and explain how it was the opportunity to pay them lower wages, as much as their dexterity, that made them preferable to men for rope-making.

and a steeply pitched roof to differentiate the new

The experience of learning about the different materials

work from the old, but as in the Smithery building,

and skills required to build a wooden warship can be

much of the inspiration comes from the industrial

a prelude to clambering over the sloop HMS Gannet of

buildings on the site. The ground floor of the building

1878, which is displayed in the dry dock nearby.

Calton Hill, Edinburgh

One of Scotland’s most ambitious visual arts

visit to Scotland in 1818 has a rapid pencil drawing

organisations, Collective, which had been operating

of the view over Edinburgh from Calton Hill. This

successfully since 1984, came forward with a scheme.

111

was enough for Turner to create, from his extraordinary

It would restore the Observatory and associated

visual memory, the fully worked-up illustration to Walter

buildings as a gallery and exhibition space, with a

Scott’s Provincial Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of

new subterranean café and education space carved

Scotland. As Scott wrote, ‘The point which Mr Turner has

out of the rock below. At an early stage, the AHF

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selected for the view is precisely that upon which every

contributed a Project Development Grant to help

passenger, however much accustomed to the wonderful

reassure the funding bodies likely to be involved.

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he sketchbook used by JMW Turner on his first

scene, is inclined to pause, and … gaze on the mingled

Collective’s architects, Malcolm Fraser Architects

and almost tumultuous scene which lies before and

and later Collective Architecture, have also designed

beneath him.' In fact, Turner’s view exaggerates many

a completely new building for serving coffee and

topographical features, but it evokes what is surely one

refreshments which, with clever siting and a

of the greatest cityscapes in Europe.

pyramidal roof, sits comfortably with the earlier

At the time of Turner’s visit, Calton Hill was being transformed. In the same year, the Astronomical Institution commissioned the City Observatory, turning to William Playfair, the architect of the Royal Scottish Academy, the National Gallery of Scotland and – perhaps the most accomplished of all his buildings – the Surgeons’ Hall for the Royal College of Surgeons,

group. The project needs funds of £4m, and already has the support of HLF, the City of Edinburgh Council, Creative Scotland and Edinburgh World Heritage. As the director of Collective, Kate Gray, has written:

Collective’s vision is to be a new kind of City Observatory. We will save and restore

Edinburgh. Playfair provided the Astronomical

the outstanding site and provide a meeting

Institution with a Greek-cross plan building, with

place for research, science, heritage and

a Doric portico to each wing and a dome on an

contemporary art. Collective will create

octagonal drum to house its telescope. His building is an important part of what is now a United Nations

a space in which artists, producers and

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

audiences can meet, debate and explore both

(UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

the historic and the contemporary. Our vision

By 2008, the roof of the Observatory was failing, and with water damaging the interiors, the Astronomical Institution decided it had to leave the building. A new use, which allowed public access, was urgently needed. fig 7.5 Calton Hill, Edinburgh.

will make the Observatory free and accessible to all for the first time in its history. Any visit to Calton Hill should be exhilarating but, as Scott implied, it should also encourage those looking out across the city to pause and reflect.

Thomas Whitty House, Axminster

Axminster, has not lacked distinguished visitors.

durable. This is explained to visitors to the museum by

In 1789, King George III and his family visited

using computer images alongside ‘hands-on’ activities.

the factory and were greeted by its owner, Thomas Whitty. As the royal party was leaving, Queen Charlotte ordered some carpets and left a ‘handsome sum for the workforce’. Axminster carpets, made to the designs of at houses such as Saltram, Attingham Park, Powderham and at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. An American visitor from Connecticut wrote in 1864:

hand-knotting can be demonstrated. Whitty employed mostly girls aged between 10 and 17, partly because

The museum has an 18th-century upright loom where

of their dexterity and lower wages. The museum has important insights for families and children as it documents the reasons for using child labour. There are buildings to the rear of the factory arranged around a courtyard, including the original dye house and a

Passed through Axminster, famous for giving

garden where the plants used can be grown.

an everlasting name to the carpets of royal

In 2005, a specially commissioned carpet was paraded

palaces and mansions of nobility and gentry.

through the streets of Axminster, to the pealing of

The first specimen of this luxurious fabric was made here in 1755 by a Mr Whitty, who

the Minster bells, to mark the 250th anniversary of the first carpet to be woven in Axminster. In 2006 Axminster Heritage announced plans to acquire the

received the medal of the Society of Arts for

whole site, which had been unoccupied for 30 years.

his taste and skill in the production of an

As well as running a museum in the building, it will

article which has come to such wide celebrity.

house the tourist information centre, a small shop, a community space and small offices for start-up

The house where Whitty set up his factory is now

businesses. Axminster Heritage received a Cold Spots

being run as a museum by Axminster Heritage. The

Grant from the AHF in 2014 to help develop the plans,

exhibition there explains not only how successful

which include the display of an 18th-century Axminster

the business was, but it gives visitors the opportunity

carpet from a house near Exeter.

to learn about the different types of carpet weaving. Whitty opted for a Turkish technique of knotting, which he had secretly observed – in an early example of industrial espionage – in a factory belonging to a French immigrant in Fulham. The key to Whitty’s commercial success was to reduce the number of knots per square inch, so that the carpets were cheaper to

fig 7.6 Thomas Whitty House, Axminster.

fig 7.7 The Saloon, or Great Drawing Room, at Saltram, Devon.

LEARN

Robert Adam, James Wyatt and other architects, survive

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make than those of his rivals, but they also proved very

CHAPTER 7

T

he Carpet Manufactory in Silver Street,

Lower Lodge, Ashton Court, Bristol

against them. Bristol City Council, the owners of Lower Lodge, wanted to be free of responsibility

for the property, which had become cut off from Ashton Court, one of the longest and grandest houses in Somerset, and from the park, which had become

Humphry Repton, to be an impressive prelude to a sweeping entrance drive, but is now hard up against the extremely busy Ashton Road, one of the main routes into Bristol, and the thriving Ashton Park School. The council acted responsibly, however, and granted a 35-year lease of the lodge to the Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust (BBPT). Finding a viable use for the building was not easy, and an Options Appraisal Grant of £6,000 given by the AHF in 2010 eliminated some future uses, such as conversion to a holiday cottage (its position ruled that out), and gave

Repton’s design of 1805 was more about architectural theatre than practicality. There is a broad arch, with a single room above, suspended between octagonal towers. By the time BBPT accepted a lease, the building had been unoccupied for 50 years, the roof had partially

confidence in the final scheme.

collapsed, and there was serious

Repton’s design of 1805 was more about architectural

structural movement.

theatre than practicality. There is a broad arch, with a single room above, suspended between octagonal towers. By the time BBPT accepted a lease, the building had been unoccupied for 50 years, the roof had partially collapsed, and there was serious structural movement.

principal room; and the South West Bristol Cooperative Learning Trust, which runs the school, was prepared to take responsibility for the building in the long term.

BBPT established that Ashton Park School was

With these expressions of support, BBPT had sufficient

interested in having a large meeting and teaching room,

confidence to commission an architect to draw up a

set a small distance away from its main buildings.

scheme which could be submitted to the grant-aiding

There was also the possibility of local groups using the

bodies. Bristol City Council made two separate grants to move the project forward. The breakthrough came with a grant from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Challenge

fig 7.8 Lower Lodge, Ashton Court, Bristol.

Fund of £131,384. The total of grants towards the project amounts to £1,078, 567.

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garden. The lodge had been intended by its architect,

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a public open space, with golf course and woodland

115 CHAPTER 7

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ome buildings seem to have the odds stacked

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C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Smith: Lord, has been able to combine scrupulously

that traditional lead would have been vulnerable

careful conservation with ingenious contemporary

to theft. Step-free access was made difficult by the

solutions to meet access requirements. Davies found

changes in level from the entrance drive. This was

that although the interior decoration had largely

resolved by raising the height of the driveway as it

disappeared, there was, certainly as far as mouldings

passes through the building, with gentle ramps on

were concerned, ‘one of everything’, from the rosettes

either side of the arch. Special attention has been

on the ceiling to the Gothic arches on the doors. This

paid to where the changes in level occur, making

is a 19th-century neo-Gothic building, not a medieval

them almost invisible to the casual eye. A specially

LEARN

survival, so there was less reason to be hesitant about

tailored lift has been slipped into a confined space in

the replication of decorative details.

one of the corner towers.

Nor was there reluctance to use modern materials,

Not only has the lodge been in constant use by

when these could provide solutions to contemporary

Ashton Park School for a wide variety of activities,

requirements. The main arch has been glazed

but the school has adopted the silhouette of the lodge

to create a ground-floor reception room. Lead-

as its school logo.

composite has been used on the roof because the

fig 7.9 Lower Lodge Gateway Project, Bristol.

CHAPTER 7

location of the lodge, so close to a busy road, meant

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117

The architect appointed, Ashley Davies of Austen-

8. Visit

Pilgrimages

sections of society. Museums such as the Victoria and

119

Albert in London draw vast crowds to exhibitions chose to make the excursion in the spring, and to meet up in a London tavern with – the poet notes – spacious rooms, and excellent food and ale. In some ways, the

have changed a great deal. During the early 20th century, most holidaymakers in the United Kingdom went by train and, once at their destination, did not travel widely. At that time, members of the National Trust – a tiny number, and mostly middle class – might visit its properties on the few afternoons a week that they were open. There were certainly no tea rooms or shops. Those might be available, with luck, in the nearest village or town. The major national and regional galleries were a pleasure to visit because they were largely empty, as some still are in the depths of winter. Tourists did not visit industrial museums because, until the late 1960s, such museums did not exist.

realizations for the university-educated culture vulture in contemporary Britain might be, that nowadays, they are the masses,' writes the artist Grayson Perry (2014). As if to prove the point, in 2017 Perry’s own show, The

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In other respects, visits to historic sites and museums

of the 21st century. ‘Maybe one of the uncomfortable

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expectations of visitors have altered little in 600 years.

about fashion designers, who are the celebrity artists

Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever, drew record crowds at both the Serpentine Gallery in London and at the Arnolfini in Bristol. Set up in 1961 in a former warehouse in Bristol docks, the Arnolfini has helped to encourage tourism along the quaysides. It had established a reputation for interesting, worthy exhibitions which attracted relatively low visitor numbers. Arts Council England (ACE) was so concerned at the mounting deficits that in June 2017 the decision was made to withhold its grant. Almost the first thing that the new director, Claire Doherty, did that year was to invite Perry’s exhibition to Bristol. During its run it attracted over 180,000 visitors, so making it ‘the most popular art exhibition ever’ at the gallery. As Doherty remarks, ‘the fantastic thing has been the real diversity of

Changing expectations Since the late 1970s, there has been a revolution in what visitors expect from museums and country houses. Instead of being the preserve of a relatively well-informed and educated section of the population, their financial survival usually depends on attracting greatly increased visitor numbers, coming from all

audience in terms of age. We’ve had teenagers coming after school … People are often spending at least a couple of hours.' What was also remarkable was the mood in the galleries. Instead of being ‘challenged’ by exhibits in an aggressively confrontational way, visitors are teased, visually, socially and politically, by Perry’s representations of aspects of Brexit. Part of the attraction may be that in many ways Perry’s work is very traditional, as he has explained: ‘art is a visual medium, usually made by the artist’s hand, which is a pleasure to

Left: The Arnolfini, Bristol.

CHAPTER 8

When Chaucer’s pilgrims set out for Canterbury, they

make, to look at and to show others’ (2017). The crowds

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of visitors – there were around 300 a day mid-week in

Classless tourism

November – all seemed to have smiles on their faces as RESCUE & REUSE

Doherty is achieving her aim of having a gallery which

everyone. When not travelling, long winter evenings

is an ‘engine with the heat going out, rather than

can be spent watching television programmes that

coming in’. The result is a new business model, and

skilfully blend a little anecdotal art history with a

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The British tourist has proved very persistent. The

they contemplated his pots, tapestries and gloriously

optimism that the gallery’s deficits can be corrected.

directory of local food and drink.

decorated custom motorcycle.

Grand Tour was once the privilege of the wealthy, but now, thanks to cheap air travel, it is available to almost

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Decay versus populism

Garden visiting has also become immensely popular in the last half century, as the success of

Not all visitors welcome the change to more populism.

the National Gardens Scheme shows. Most of those

For many people, it is still important to be able to visit

who participate in the scheme enjoy showing their

a quiet country church and, like TS Eliot and Philip

gardens to raise money for charity and to fund

Larkin, contemplate the endless dialogue between past

apprenticeships, and are not running a commercial

and present. The sense of the passage of time, evident

operation for their own benefit. However, at historic

in slow decay, is an important part of the poetry and

castles such as Alnwick and Kenilworth, ambitious

paintings of the Romantic Movement. Interpretation

gardens have been created to attract visitors, and have

can be an unwelcome intrusion.

done so with outstanding success.

Nevertheless, for many attractions, particularly

The issue for the National Trust and many private

those with energetic marketing officers, the visitor

owners is that running their properties like a

will require a timed ticket and can expect to be

business is the obvious way to fund the relentless

greeted by a costumed interpreter. For Alan Bennett,

demands of upkeep, but it may devalue the very

the experience is unsettling, as he makes plain in

qualities that some visitors expect. A recent chairman

his play People (2012). In his introduction to the

of the National Trust, Simon Jenkins, is unapologetic,

published text, Bennett writes about his unease

insisting that it has no choice: the subscriptions of

at how a great many historic properties are now

over 5 million members and vast numbers of visitors

shown, and the way the public is ‘required to buy

are essential if the money allocated to conservation is

into the role of reverential visitor’. Having an ancient

to increase year on year.

building to oneself is for him, and many others, preferable. Yet that can pose a dilemma to those

There are examples of other organisations searching

charged with its preservation.

for different solutions. Kelmscott Manor, the home of William Morris, was given to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1962, with the surrounding barns and

The area with the early furnace is (at the

The society is determined to honour its obligation

time of writing) shockingly sordid. A little

both to the visiting public and to Morris’s memory: the benefits of adopting a more discreet approach to opening to the public are discussed at the end of this

money could put it right and create a monument to early English industry.

chapter (see p. 137).

121 CHAPTER 8

cottages that meant as much to him as the house itself.

That is exactly what happened. The investment in

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Revolution: the birth of industrial museums

the museum, in what is now designated a World

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Some forms of visiting seem to slip in and out of

New Town struggled with identity. The proximity

fashion. Admiration for the sublime attracted

of Ironbridge was seized upon by the Telford

artists such as Wright of Derby, George Robertson

Development Corporation as an opportunity and a

and JMW Turner to paint the blast furnaces,

solution. The corporation acquired and held several

smelting houses and forges which powered the

of the abandoned industrial buildings and the houses

Industrial Revolution. Yet during the course of the

of the early ironmasters, preventing at least some

19th century, factory owners and the public chose

deterioration until the museum was in a position

to remove themselves from the centres of industry,

to use them. This breathing space allowed the

preferring to experience them from a distance

Ironbridge Gorge Museum to grow on an extended

or through the eyes of novelists. As industry

site, with many of the most interesting buildings

declined, and the huge buildings it spawned fell into

dispersed along the banks of the Severn. Blists Hill

decay, the public rediscovered an interest in their

Brick and Tile Works, Ironbridge, follows on p. 131 as

industrial heritage. A new class of museum sprang

a case study.

Heritage Site, owed much to the building of Telford New Town on its doorstep. In its early years, the

up, emulating the success of one of the pioneers, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.

Industrial landscapes

A visit in the 1970s to the village of Ironbridge, in a

The industrial archaeology of Cornwall is now

narrow valley of the River Severn, was for many a

playing an important part in plans to attract visitors

romantic, rather than didactic, experience. Much of

not just during the summer holidays but throughout

the derelict site was overgrown, and there was little

the year. The much-publicised Eden Project, the Lost

evidence for the casual visitor of how it came to be

Gardens of Heligan, Tate St Ives and the Falmouth

the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In 1958,

outpost of the National Maritime Museum have

Nikolaus Pevsner noted prophetically that:

already convinced holidaymakers that Cornwall offers more than just clifftop walks and sometimes sunny beaches.

fig 8.1 Norwich Cathedral.

122 RESCUE & REUSE

Many of Cornwall’s most deprived communities, where

something closer to their medieval purpose, of

employment is desperately needed, are not along the

combining worship with hospitality. Many have

coast but inland, where there are landscapes littered

welcomed the opportunity to expand their cultural

with abandoned buildings and heaps of industrial

role, drawing in those with no particular religious

waste. As in South Wales, there have been misguided

affiliation but who want to enjoy music or theatre in

efforts in some places to remove the evidence of a

some of the UK’s greatest buildings.

harsh industrial past, sweeping away the spoil tips,

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chimneys and winding gear which give the area its character and distinctiveness.

Changes call for scholarly understanding of the cathedrals’ building history, and extreme sensitivity.

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

At Ely, the surveyor to the fabric, Jane Kennedy,

Instead of hurrying non-stop along the A30 from

reinstated the processional way that linked the Lady

Bodmin to Penzance, visitors can spend an instructive

Chapel to the presbytery of the cathedral. This was

day exploring the mining sites around Redruth.

in fact restoring the relationship that was severed at

There is now a 60-km network of trails, which link

the Reformation, when the Lady Chapel only survived

many of the most interesting sites, and which can

because it was separated from the cathedral and

be followed on foot or on bicycle. Some sections

became a parish church for the town. The chapel was

are along the routes of railway tracks completed

begun in 1321 and was to enable pilgrims and monks

between 1818 and 1825, using wrought-iron rails.

to worship in a building dedicated to the Virgin Mary,

One of the most complete sites, rescued from decay

and it was sumptuously decorated with the most

just in time to preserve much of the machinery, is

elaborate stone carving and richly coloured stained

the recently restored King Edward Mine Museum,

glass. It was the lavishness of the sculpture and the

described on p. 141.

association with the Virgin which meant that it was defaced with savagery just after the monastery was

Pilgrims of today

dissolved in 1541.

The great cathedrals continue to be sites of pilgrimage.

In the late 20th century, the idea of reuniting the

Set in their ancient precincts and closes, they may

cathedral and the Lady Chapel had great attraction,

seem immutable. The impression is misleading because

historically and liturgically. Not only has the

cathedrals such as Ely have experienced a turbulent

processional way designed by Kennedy given clergy,

past, especially when they ceased to be monasteries.

congregations and visitors fitting access to the Lady Chapel, but an extraordinarily rich architectural

Many cathedrals are now in a precarious position

survival can once again play a major part in the life of

financially, and have to widen their appeal beyond

the cathedral. A crucial element of this transformation

those who come to services. Some cathedrals which

was the designing of a new altar for the Lady Chapel.

were originally monastic foundations are extending

This was undertaken by John Maddison, a scholar and

their activities in ways which take them back to

artist who had already painted a reredos for Bishop

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fig 8.2 Norwich Cathedral.

124 RESCUE & REUSE

Alcock’s Chapel in the cathedral. Maddison incorporated

has provided a link directly into the cathedral. This

into his design for the Lady Chapel the battered and

has only been practicable because of an intimate

defaced remains of a medieval reredos on the east wall,

understanding of the building and the ingenuity of

in front of which he placed a wrought-iron screen which

the architectural solutions. As Colin Davies wrote

helped to unify and frame the fragmentary decoration.

in Hopkins2 (2001), an account of the work of the

Immediately below is the altar, comprising a gilded

practice to date:

metal sheet, pierced with the words ‘The Word Became

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Flesh And Dwelt Among Us Full of Grace and Truth’,

Visitors’ centres for ancient buildings

with an oak top, and supported by iron side panels.

usually avoid physical contact with

Maddison concluded his book Ely Cathedral: Design

the monuments they serve. At Norwich

and Meaning (2000) with these words:

Cathedral, however, the … new hostry and

The cathedral has come to represent

refectory are built right up against the

for many people a symbol of the things

outside walls of the medieval cloister …

they value, an emblem of endurance and

Barely touched by new construction, they

something good in a troubled world …

remain visible in their full height inside the

Its past embraces every aspect of human

new buildings.

ambition and behaviour. It has rarely been static and has often attracted controversy and radical change, and sometimes violence. It bears all the signs and scars of this eventful history.

By daring to engage with the old buildings directly, rather than keeping their distance from them, the new visitors’ centre continues a centuries-long process of gradual extension and alteration to the

Another cathedral with a recently expanded role is

cathedral complex.

Norwich Cathedral. Michael Hopkins and Partners have constructed, with help from the Heritage Lottery

At Norwich, Ely and many other medieval buildings,

Fund (HLF), a new building inside the ruined walls of

the needs of today’s pilgrims are being met in

the original refectory. The cloisters have once again

imaginative ways, which have themselves become

become a processional route, and a new access door

part of the history of the cathedral.

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Richard III’s tomb, Leicester Cathedral

and the decision to rebury them in Leicester, has had a lasting impact on both the city and

the cathedral. Creating a royal tomb has involved the dean and the architect in a radical re-ordering of the chancel, the crossing and the nave of the

skills which are at least as remarkable as any in the history of the building. Visitors now come to Leicester specifically to see the tomb and learn about its

The project has provided an opportunity for exceptionally talented craftsmen to demonstrate skills which are

significance.

at least as remarkable as any

The Wars of the Roses were a protracted and

in the history of the building.

exceptionally bloody series of conflicts which finally ended in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Over

Visitors now come to Leicester

500 years later, there was a further laying to rest.

specifically to see the tomb and

When the bones of Richard III were re-interred in

learn about its significance.

Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015, the solemn procession was watched on television by hundreds of millions across the globe. The king’s remains were

Over the last 2,000 years, the site of the Cathedral of

taken from the University of Leicester, where scientific

St Martin has undergone one transformation after

analysis had established their identity, via Bosworth, to

another. Beneath the crossing tower there are the

the cathedral. The dean of Leicester, the Very Reverend

remains of what was probably a Roman temple. Further

David Monteith, worked closely with the architect

transformations in succeeding centuries culminated in

James McCosh, of van Heyningen and Haward, to

the enrichment of the church in the 19th century at the

ensure that Richard III’s final burial place was a worthy

hands of some of the most accomplished ecclesiastical

addition to the great royal tombs in other cathedrals.

architects, including GE Street, JL Pearson and GF

It is a measure of their success that perceptions of

Bodley. They had the confidence to make decisive

Leicester Cathedral, and indeed the city itself, have

interventions, and so too has McCosh.

been transformed. The sanctuary was relocated from the east end to the crossing, which involved moving the carved wooden fig 8.3 Richard III tomb at Leicester cathedral.

screen, installed by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1927 on the west side of the crossing, to a position behind a

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for exceptionally talented craftsmen to demonstrate

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cathedral. The project has provided an opportunity

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he discovery in 2012 of the remains of Richard III,

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Before Richard’s tomb arrived, you could count the number of visitors

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in a day on the fingers of one hand. There are now around 200 daily visitors, from all over the world. – Verger, Leicester Cathedral

McCosh’s words are particularly true of Richard’s tomb.

tomb and an ambulatory. The altar designed by van

It is made from Swaledale fossil stone from North

Heyningen and Haward is square and uses four different

Yorkshire, as befits the last king of the House of York.

stones: alabaster; Lancaster buff; Kilkenny; and Carrara

The block of stone has a slight tip towards the east

marble. It is raised on a new limestone floor.

window of the church to catch the rising sun and to suggest an encounter with the risen Christ. The sole carving on the tomb itself is a deeply incised cross, to

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One of the glories of Leicester Cathedral

allow the light to penetrate.

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McCosh writes of the sourcing of materials:

129 CHAPTER 8

completely new altar, so creating a space for the royal

is its wealth of craftsmanship. The quality

The base of the tomb is of Kilkenny limestone, with

of the individual elements forms a major

a succinct inscription: ‘Richard III; 1452 – 1485’, and

part of its character. In reordering the

Richard’s motto, ‘loyaulte me lie’ (‘loyalty binds me’). The only colouring is in the stones used for the royal

Cathedral, and creating a resting place

coat of arms: lapis-lazuli from Afghanistan for the

for the remains of Richard III, I was

blue, chalcedony from Tuscany, and Duke’s Red from

determined to produce work which

Chatsworth.

enhanced this tradition. So we worked

As one of the vergers remarked, ‘before Richard’s tomb

very closely with contemporary master

arrived, you could count the number of visitors in a

craftsmen: joiners, masons, letter-cutters

day on the fingers of one hand’. There are now around

and stained-glass artists, throughout both

200 daily visitors, from all over the world. To cater for the cathedral’s new role, van Heyningen and Haward

the design and building of the project.

are designing an extension on the site of the old Song

The evident integration of the old and

School, which will include a heritage learning centre.

the new is testament to the excellence of

‘Grant me the carving of my name,' wrote Carol Ann

the craftsmanship that continues to be

Duffy in her specially commissioned poem, ‘Richard’.

available today.

That, and much more, has been accomplished.

Blists Hill, Ironbridge

first loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund

Lad. Then, the wheel of fashion turned again, and it

(AHF) in 1983, and its most recent grant in 2009,

was Ironbridge, the World Heritage Site, that people

has become an internationally acclaimed pioneer of

Four listed buildings survive from the original site of the Western Brick and Tile Works. At Blists Hill,

flocked to see.

industrial archaeology. Its success mirrors changing attitudes to tourism and to the expectations of visitors.

visitors can see demonstrations of all the artisan and

of iron on an industrial scale, there were constant

craft skills needed to support a rapidly expanding iron-

visitors to Coalbrookdale, many of them part of the

manufacturing site, including tinsmiths, plumbers and

Quaker network of philanthropists and bankers. As

decorative plasterers.

the industry declined, so did the number of visitors. A guidebook to Shropshire of 1870 warned that the

The museum has recreated at Blists Hill some of the

whole area was ‘black, dirty and dusty in the day’, and

shops which thrived in the Ironbridge Gorge, including

added, ‘an additional feature of dreariness is caused by

a Victorian Post Office, a drapers and outfitters and a

the dismantled colliery stacks and engine-houses’. The

sweet shop. The town is brought to life by costumed

parts of Shropshire that were then favoured by tourists

actors and there are special programmes for schools.

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When the Darby family were pioneering the making

figs 8.4, 8.5, 8.6 Blists Hill, Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Shropshire.

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were the hills celebrated in Housman’s A Shropshire

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T

he Ironbridge Gorge Museum, which received its

Oxford Castle

charitable organisation able to apply for grants. There

the history of the city is largely the history of

would also need to be a role for the private sector if

the university. When Oxford Castle Heritage

the project, once completed, was to be self-funding. In

Site was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2006, that

1995, that was far-sighted: it has prevented the project

misconception could be laid to rest. During the very

encountering major financial difficulties during a

early stages of the project, archaeological excavations

period of cuts to local authority funding.

university was founded, as visitors to the castle can now appreciate.

A key to the success of the project was a successful partnership involving many interested bodies, with Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) at its heart. To achieve completion, OPT was committed from

The possibility that Oxford Castle might cease to be a

the outset to work in consultation with groups and

prison and could be transferred to Oxfordshire County

individuals who cared deeply about what might

Council was first mooted in 1942 and finally took place

happen to the castle.

in 1997. As owners of the site, the council appreciated that for the castle to take on a new and worthwhile role, it was essential to work in partnership with a

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Many of the original

University cities can be disputatious places. As the director of the OPT, Debbie Dance, recalls:

Residents and stakeholders were consulted through a range of public meetings, user groups and consultation exercises. There were regular meetings with local residents and commercial businesses to keep them informed and engaged and a community

features have been

noticeboard on the site entrance, a

retained, including

programme of media releases, and public

the wooden cell doors

open days kept the wider public up to date.

and spy holes.

Most of the former prison is now occupied by the Malmaison Hotel Oxford. Consent was given to break through the prison walls so that three cells could become one luxurious bedroom, close to the city centre. Many of the original features have been retained,

fig 8.7 Oxford Castle.

including the wooden cell doors and spy holes.

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an important strategic settlement long before the

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uncovered parts of the Saxon town walls. Oxford was

133 CHAPTER 8

M

any of those who visit Oxford assume that

134 RESCUE & REUSE

The hotel contributes to the long-term viability

been pushed through the prison wall, close to the

of the project, with other parts adapted to create

Castle Mound. There is a viewing platform on top of

commercial premises, which are let on long leases.

St George’s Tower and an underground tunnel to give

There are also 40 residential apartments, each with

access to the crypt. The architects engaged by OPT

a different layout.

were Panter Hudspith, a relatively young practice for which the castle project was a great opportunity.

Initially, HLF was uncertain about supporting a Early in the negotiations with the county council, the

activity on the site, but it was persuaded by the

OPT pressed for regular funding for an education

excellence of the proposed restoration, and

officer, rather than a one-off contribution towards

presentation of the Castleyard, to make a grant

repair costs. Since 2005, it has been the intention of

of £4m. The enabling works to repair the historic

the OPT and the county council that at least once in

fabric of the castle were carried out as part of

their school life, every child in Oxfordshire will visit

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project with such a high proportion of commercial C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

the commercial developer’s brief and were then independently valued as partnership funding.

the castle. The learning and access officer, Lisa Price, works with the OPT, Continuum (the organisation running the site) and the County Council Museum

The new entrance to the visitor centre is a glass

Service to achieve that aim. She oversees 5,000 school

structure suspended from the 19th-century prison

visits a year, and organises events ranging from

wall. A café and education centre, funded by HLF, has

archaeology days to medieval fairs.

Preservation Trust and the county council that at least once in their school life, every child in Oxfordshire will visit the castle.

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intention of the Oxford

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Since 2005, it has been the

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135

Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, and David Parr House, Cambridge

This many gabled old house built by the

reaches of the Thames, was ‘a heaven on earth’.

simple country-folk of the long-past times,

It is still possible on a winter afternoon, or early

on a summer morning, to sense the tranquillity that

regardless of all the turmoil that was

difficult to protect these qualities if the property were

amidst all the beauty which these latter

exposed to mass tourism.

days have created; and I do not wonder

Kelmscott is still much as Morris knew it because

at our friends tending it carefully and

it was not acquired by an organisation with a

making much of it. It seems to me as if it

large membership such as the National Trust

had waited for these happy days, and held

or English Heritage. Instead, in 1962 ownership passed rather unexpectedly to the Society of Antiquaries of London, as the residuary legatee of William Morris’s daughter, May. There has at times been heart-searching among the fellows of the society about whether it was equipped to care for the manor in perpetuity, but in 2014 the council agreed to develop plans for safeguarding not just the manor itself, but the adjoining farmyard,

in it garnered crumbs of happiness of the confused and turbulent past. Enabling visitors to share Morris’s feelings for the house is fundamental to the Society of Antiquaries’ plan, but not at the expense of its tranquillity, and only if access for vehicles is controlled in ways which still allow the village to be an attractive place to live.

granary and barns, its houses in the village and the surrounding landscape, with a view to explaining their significance to visitors. As Morris’s visionary novel, News from Nowhere (1890), makes clear, Morris was as interested in the community that had created the house and village as he was in its architecture. His heroine, Ellen, observes of the manor, clearly modelled on Kelmscott, that:

❛

For William Morris, Kelmscott Manor, on the upper reaches of the Thames, was ‘a heaven on earth’.

fig 8.8 Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire.

VISIT

going on in cities and courts, is lovely still

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meant so much to Morris. However, it would be very

137 CHAPTER 8

F

or William Morris, Kelmscott Manor, on the upper

138

The architect, Paul Richold, of Architecton, writes:

RESCUE & REUSE

Kelmscott has always been important to me; it is the background and inspiration to so much of William Morris’s work. After ten years advising on the fabric there, and getting to know the place intimately, we are

| excited about orchestrating the conservation C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

and adaptations that will enhance its evocative qualities while accommodating the visitors who come to enjoy it.

❛

As Morris’s visionary novel, News from Nowhere, makes clear, Morris was as interested in the community that had created the house

Protecting the qualities of an extremely vulnerable property is still more exacting in the case of David Parr

and village as he was in

House, the home of the artist-painter who executed

its architecture.

decorative schemes for Morris, George Bodley and Charles Kempe, and who reserved some of his finest work for a modest terrace house in Gwydir Street, Cambridge. The best solution for this precious survival is that it should be managed by a specially formed trust, the David Parr House Charitable Incorporated Organisation. HLF has signalled that it wants to help to find a way of caring for the house which does not threaten its fragile decoration. It is prepared to consider making a substantial contribution to an endowment so that the future funding of the house’s conservation is not dependent on income generated from large numbers of visitors. There is a delicate balance to strike, and this is understood by the grantgiving bodies.

fig 8.9 David Parr House, Cambridge.

King Edward Mine, Camborne, Cornwall

These processes can be demonstrated to visitors and

Camborne on their way to St Ives or Land’s End

school parties, who not only see how the machinery

may not realise that they have missed the oldest

worked but experience the sights and sounds of

complete mining site in Cornwall, with a network of

some of the industrial processes that brought

trails linking the area’s many tin and copper mines.

prosperity to Cornwall.

The site includes 16 Grade II* listed buildings, several

as a gateway to the extended site.

Heritage site, as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2006, which includes 60 km of trails on

The preservation of the mine is partly a matter of

foot, bike or horseback, using the routes of the network

chance and partly the result of determined efforts

of railways which expanded and then declined as the

by groups of volunteers. The King Edward Mine was

fortunes of the mines fluctuated. The railways linked

established in 1901, after the South Condurrow Mine

the mines with the ports of Devoran on the south coast

closed in 1890. Its buildings are not as substantial as

and Portreath to the north, and now provide a coast-to-

the engine houses and tin dressing floors at many

coast trail. Attracting holiday visitors to this deprived

of the mines nearby, the stone shells of which are

area of Cornwall is a priority for the funders of the

monumental reminders of Cornwall’s industrial

project, including HLF, Cornwall County Council and

past. The King Edward Mine structures are mostly

several charitable trusts.

comparatively modest, single-storey huts of timber and corrugated iron, constructed to house the Camborne School of Mines, which opened in 1888. Hundreds of mining students, many from overseas, attended the school. With the school facing an uncertain future, a group of volunteers realised what was in danger of being lost, and in 1987 began the task of protecting the surviving buildings and machinery.

The most recent phase of restoration, completed in 2017, involved the repair of the Assay Office, where ore was analysed to determine its tin content and likely value. The building is Grade II* listed and much of its interior remains largely unaltered. The architects, pdp Green Consulting, with Claire Newnham leading on the project, have designed a new building which sits alongside the Assay Office and simply replicates its

Some of the last examples of machinery that was

pitched, corrugated roof and timber sides. It is modest,

once common in Cornwall and around the world

wholly in keeping, and enables the two buildings

can be seen in action. This includes Californian

together to provide an attractive café, well sited near

stamps, for breaking down tin ore, and rag frames

the Great Flat Lode route of the Mineral Tramway trail.

for sorting fine tin from the lighter waste materials.

The café, known as the Croust Hut (a West Cornwall dialect term for lunch), provides local employment in

fig 8.10 King Edward Mine, Cambourne, Cornwall.

an area of economic deprivation and runs a successful apprenticeship scheme.

VISIT

Risk Register. The King Edward Mine, near Troon, acts

King Edward Mine is within the Cornish Mining World

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of which were once on the Historic England Heritage at

141 CHAPTER 8

V

isitors to Cornwall who hurry past Redruth and

9. Integrate

Sectarianism and reconciliation

Public execution on religious grounds was, in the

143

1670s, the cause of widespread disquiet. The crowds of destruction that often accompany sectarian violence, so they can also come to symbolise a spirit of reconciliation. For both sides in a divided society,

he should be hanged, drawn and quartered, and he was instead allowed to hang until he was dead before being disembowelled. In response to public feeling, he was given a proper burial.

I N T E G R AT E

significance. In the Middle East, Coptic churches are

death made clear their objection to the sentence that

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some categories of building have obvious symbolic

of mostly Protestants who came to witness Lewis’s

not only destroyed, but once flattened their previous existence can be denied. Across Europe, synagogues

The house has now been taken over by the Welsh

have been expunged. And in Northern Ireland, both

Georgian Trust (WGT), which in 2017 was awarded

Catholic and Protestant churches have been vandalised

a grant by the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF)

and torched. Restoring such buildings can be the beginning of rebuilding communities. Gunter Mansion is an apparently unremarkable, 17th-century house on one of the main streets in Abergavenny. In the 1860s, it became a pub, and more recently shops occupied the ground floor. There is very little to suggest that Gunter Mansion briefly assumed national significance; that in 1678 it was cited in a special report to Parliament; and that it was subsequently caught up in a wave of anti-Catholic paranoia. It was in this building that the Jesuit David Lewis said Mass, resulting in his execution in Usk on 27 August 1679. He is the last Welsh Catholic martyr and was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Gunter Mansion is both an interesting building architecturally and a document which illuminates a particularly turbulent period in the history of Wales and England. It has an important and complex story to tell.

Left: Bishop’s Gate Hotel, Derry.

fig 9.1 Gunter Mansion, Monmouthshire.

CHAPTER 9

Just as buildings can be caught up in the cycles

fig 9.2 St Patrick’s School, Belfast.

144

become one of the few remaining neo-Gothic buildings. Although in the 1990s Donegall Street was in an area

RESCUE & REUSE

of sectarian tension, the school had benefited both communities. The comedian Frank Carson, the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Gerry Fitt, and the champion boxer Rinty Monaghan were educated there. Despite its history, the Catholic

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to assess whether the plans for restoration are

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

viable. Opening the house to the public will not be straightforward because the most significant part

Church wanted to demolish the damaged building. The plan was to clear the site to provide an improved turning circle for hearses.

of the building, the chapel in the attic where Lewis

Proposals to protect and restore the building led in

conducted Mass, is difficult to access. It will need an

due course to the formation of the Belfast Buildings

ingenious architectural solution. In March 2017, a

Trust (BBT). At first, the clergy told the chair of the

meeting was called to establish a Friends of Gunter

BBT that its efforts were presumptuous interference.

Group, which could help to give the house a secure

However, eventually a sale was agreed and the BBT

future based on local support.

appointed Consarc Design Group as architects.

Decisions have yet to be made on whether it is practicable to reinstate the chapel to something close to its condition in the 17th century. The WGT will be guided by both its architect and by the conservators responsible for stabilising the religious graffiti on the plasterwork, which includes a monogram and a red heart surrounded by gold rays beneath a cross. In 2017, the WGT was awarded a grant of £125,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) towards the acquisition of the building.

Returning churches to communities: Northern Ireland

Thanks to grants and loans from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the AHF and various charitable trusts, Belfast has retained a building which is an important document of social, religious and architectural history. The architect Dawson Stelfox arranged for templates to be made of the elaborate Gothic tracery to ensure that the new windows matched exactly the original designs. The scheme, which cost £1.2m, now contains a restored classroom that provides a venue for a range of cross-community and cultural uses, diocesan offices on the first floor, and a parish hall for the adjacent St Patrick’s Parish Church. Another building in a difficult location is Christchurch on the edge of republican West Belfast and the loyalist

In 1995, St Patrick’s School, Belfast, was seriously

Sandy Row. Following severe damage in an arson attack

damaged by fire, which ripped through the first floor

in 1995, the church was declared unsafe. Although it

and left it a roofless shell. When St Patrick’s was built

has one of the finest neoclassical facades in Belfast

in 1828, it was the first Catholic school in Belfast. It had

– designed by the Dublin architect William Farrell

145 CHAPTER 9

| I N T E G R AT E

in 1832 – and had a history of Anglican liberalism, demolition and replacement with a sports hall was the preferred option. Again, the BBT intervened and the church has been restored by the Consarc Design Group, with grants amounting to £1.4m. The scale of the damage meant that the architect needed to stabilise historic features, such as the stone staircases and parts of the timber ceilings, but felt able to add the internal contemporary fittings needed by an education resource centre. It was reopened by the Prince of Wales in 2003, and is now the library and Centre of Excellence for Information Technology for the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Among the awards it has received is the Waitrose (Civic Trust) Centre Vision Award for ‘being a source of inspiration in the wider context of Belfast’s renewal’ and the first award from the Georgian Group in Northern Ireland.

figs 9.3, 9.4 Christchurch, Belfast.

146

Both the BBT and the Consarc Design Group believed

The building preservation trust movement

that the array of community events now associated

in Northern Ireland was crucial in the 1990s,

RESCUE & REUSE

with St Patrick’s and Christchurch would demonstrate how restored buildings can build bridges between

especially in changing public opinion on the

communities. Repairs to both these buildings were

value of restoring built heritage. We were

planned and supervised by Stelfox, who had gained

emerging from the dark days of the Troubles

conservation experience early in his career through

when there was an official desire to sweep away

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working with Hearth, the conservation organisation founded in 1972. Hearth’s full and somewhat

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

cumbersome title was the Historic Environmental and

and build new, and little public understanding of building conservation. St Patrick’s School and

Architectural Renovation Trust for Housing, and it had

Christchurch are typical of buildings abandoned

been set up under the chairmanship of Charles Brett,

because of the loss of inner city populations

with the support of the Northern Ireland Committee of the National Trust and the Ulster Architectural Society. Hearth’s first and long-serving president

caused by the Troubles, their old uses (as a school and a church) no longer needed, the buildings

was Jennifer Jenkins. In the 1990s, Stelfox was

vandalised and burnt, surrounded by dereliction

combining his architectural work with preparations

and cleared sites, yet somehow retaining their

for climbing Mount Everest. Sometimes these two

sense of dignity and place, giving identity to the

activities overlapped, as when he was able to survey the crumbling walls of Hearth’s four-storey houses in Castle Street, Armagh, without having to worry about the absence of stairs, floors and roofs. There were other dangers for those working on its Georgian houses

remaining local people and the city itself. In both cases, the Belfast Buildings Trust skilfully negotiated with the owners, identified viable

in Hamilton Street, Belfast, which the Northern Ireland

new uses and assembled a cocktail of funding.

Housing Executive had cleared of residents because

Our role, as architects, was immersive in all this

of the proximity of bombs in the city centre nearby.

process: demonstrating the art of the possible,

Stelfox recalls the problems faced by Hearth and the BBT at this time:

presenting the vision, sifting through the debris, retaining the best of the original fabric combined with significant interventions to allow new uses. The reward has come from seeing these great buildings now back in use, contributing significantly to the rebuilding of the city after years of destruction.

Hearth persisted with the repairs to the Hamilton

example which the planners could point to

Street houses, replacing staircases, windows, panelled

when faced with applications to demolish

sale and reoccupation, Hearth offered a discount to

buildings which were more important or in

local families. No. 42 was bought by a local family who

a better location. And at the same time we

had lived in it from 1902 until they were required to

would provide social housing.

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leave for their own safety by the Housing Executive. of conservation in Northern Ireland, maintained:

acted as supervising architect on many of its projects,

‘bodies such as ours have as much to contribute to

recognised that during and after the Troubles what was

better relations in Northern Ireland as the politicians

needed was not a council of conservation perfection,

or the churches'.

but a pragmatic approach to what was achievable in an The obstacles to reconciliation and integration are at least as great in Derry as they are in Belfast. Rather

Hearth’s role has not been to carry out

than brushing Derry’s often painful history aside,

sophisticated restorations of Grade A

there has been an alliance between the arts and those

buildings, but to ensure the survival, in spite

concerned with the city’s built heritage, using both

of dereliction, social problems and for many

to engage with its recent past. First Derry School stands just inside its magnificent city walls and now

years against the backdrop of the Troubles,

houses the Verbal Arts Centre, an educational charity

of some of the most threatened buildings in

founded in 1992. The school buildings, designed by

Northern Ireland. Some were not even listed

WI Pinkerton in 1894, were purchased by the Verbal

when we took them on, many were derelict

Arts Centre in 1998, and adapted by Hall Black Douglas Architects to provide four performance spaces, a

for twenty years or more, quite a few were

debating chamber, a children’s workshop and a library,

roofless or riddled with rot, and many were

with specially commissioned white oak furniture by

in areas where no sensible developer would

Michael Bell and windows etched by Deirdre Rogers

put his money. Our job was to keep the

with the names of leading Irish writers. There is also a studio flat for writers in residence. All these activities

buildings standing and try to bring them

could be accommodated within Pinkerton’s building

back into use with a minimal loss of fabric.

with most of the alterations being internal.

The stitch in time to save these buildings

A more radical approach was adopted with The

would, it was hoped, encourage others to

Playhouse, Derry. It was created out of two buildings

restore better buildings nearby, and set an

on Artillery Street, where Talbot’s Theatre – one of

I N T E G R AT E

As Charles Brett, chairman of Hearth and a champion The director of Hearth, Marcus Patton, who also

often hostile environment. He later wrote:

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doors and cornices. When the houses were ready for

147

What we had was in fact two jobs in one

director of The Playhouse, Pauline Ross, had in the

– the adaptation and refurbishment of a

1990s seen the possibility of creating performance spaces out of the former Convent of the Sisters of

listed building – in fact two buildings in a terrace – and a modern extension at the

were dilapidated and due to be demolished when

rear. The latter all steel frame and concrete

they were spot-listed in 1986. Ross wanted to use

with copper cladding and the former all lime

multidisciplinary theatre and community-led activities. She raised the money to buy the buildings, and then assembled funds of £4.6m from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, HLF and numerous other bodies, for the conversion. Following a competition, the architects Andrzej

plaster and delicate joinery repairs … Partial possession was granted to The Playhouse in February 2009 and they moved into most of the building. Getting the remainder of the contract finished while the

Blonski, with Frank Harkin as site representative,

Playhouse settled back in to a much changed

were appointed. Their scheme provided a main theatre

building required a malleable approach

seating an audience of 192, with a dance studio on the

from everyone – but it was forthcoming on

upper floor. There is an extension on the back with a link passage connecting the two buildings, externally made of copper, timber and zinc. The street facade is largely unaltered, while the rear extension is a 21stcentury expression of optimism for a revived Derry, full

all sides and things are now in full swing. An essential community resource and an important listed building had been

of well-lit spaces and carefully crafted details. Frank

reinvigorated – and the people and the built

Harkin recalls:

environment of Derry are the better for it. The Playhouse, Derry, stands for creativity, contemporary architecture – and also for continuity. The joining of the old and the new combines ingenuity

fig 9.5 The Playhouse, Derry.

with integrity.

I N T E G R AT E

them to build on an international reputation for

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Mercy and the adjoining St Mary’s. Both buildings

149 CHAPTER 9

the earliest in the city – had been built in 1774. The

Bishop’s Gate Hotel, Derry

The repair of the building was carried out by the Inner

Derry, summarise the traumatic fluctuations

City Trust, which is a charity based in Derry with the

in the city’s fortunes. In 1828, a Roman-Doric

aim of addressing the physical, social and economic

151

column, surmounted by a statue of George Walker, the

problems of County Londonderry. The old Northern

governor during the siege of 1688–9, was raised near

Counties Club, which had a private membership, had

Bishop’s Gate. It was destroyed by an Irish Republican

fallen into disrepair and became vacant in 2006. The

Army (IRA) bomb in 1972. The shattered plinth serves

repairs, carried out by Mullarkey Pedersen Architects,

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as a reminder that the Troubles are often said to

have transformed a drab and semi-derelict building

have started in Derry in 1968, when the Royal Ulster

into one which, internally and externally, speaks for

Constabulary (RUC) disrupted a civil rights march.

Derry’s returning prosperity. The principal funder was

I N T E G R AT E

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T

he buildings in and around Bishop Street,

Today, a succession of fine buildings still leads past the Court House of 1813, with its exquisitely carved Greek Ionic capitals, to Bishop’s Gate itself. One of the buildings which speaks of Derry’s revival, culminating in its City of Culture status in 2013, is the old Northern Counties Club, now handsomely restored and renamed Bishop’s Gate Hotel.

the Inner City Trust itself, which contributed £3.1m, with HLF, the Department for Social Development (DSD) and the Department of the Environment (DoE) also providing grants. The interior has been remodelled to make it seem much more spacious, and the rear of the hotel has been largely rebuilt to provide improved accommodation. Its early 19th-century facade has not been altered, apart from re-decoration more sympathetic to its robust columnar architecture, and

figs 9.6, 9.7 Bishop’s Gate Hotel, Derry.

it now provides an ebullient foil to the more sombre classicism of the Court House nearby.

Dronfield Hall Barn

been forgiven for thinking that the Hall Barn

uses has been made possible by a grant of £1.2m from

was a relatively modest vernacular building

HLF, and the conservation and design work has been

which had been engulfed during the town’s rapid expansion in the 19th century. The building is, in fact, considerably more important than that.

The architects’ proposals were for two radical interventions. The first was to insert a floor into

carried out by the architects, Mitchell Proctor.

the barn, enabling the ground floor to be used for

Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, owed its early

reception and a restaurant, which has become a

prosperity to the mining of lead, as is clear from the

meeting place for local people. The first floor provides

string of fine houses in the High Street, including the

a single large space suitable for lectures, meetings

18th-century Manor House and 16th-century Grammar

or dinners. Either one room or the whole building is

School. Dronfield Hall Barn is earlier still. Its interior

available for hire.

of a medieval hall that was part of the manor belonging to Lady Alice Deincourt, who was related to Richard III and Edward IV. The building is listed Grade II*, and in 2011 was on the 'Heritage at Risk' register because of its poor condition. By then, it had been unused for 10 years and was part of a site owned by Jowitt, which manufactured grinding wheels. In 2004, the whole site, including the barn, was acquired by Sainsbury’s for a new supermarket. The following year, the barn was given by Sainsbury’s to a specially formed charity, the Dronfield Heritage Trust.

To accommodate the range of uses proposed in the consultation, Mitchell Proctor made a second radical intervention, designing an extension to the back of the barn which more than doubled the available space. It also provided a paved courtyard flanked on one side by a curving wall of glass and on the other by a low stone wall, also curved, which creates a raised area for a garden, tended by volunteers. Dronfield Hall Barn now provides a venue for an arts festival, a medieval festival involving falconry, and cookery demonstrations. It is a base for local activities such as quilting, art groups, geology classes and a

The AHF was approached in 2008 and provided a grant

workshop for gardeners. Dronfield Heritage Trust has its

which made it possible to consult the community about

own membership scheme, with over 1,000 subscribers.

possible future uses, and then develop a scheme which

This vigorous new life for the barn has been made

could be submitted to HLF. Over 3,000 townspeople

possible by the skilful integration of a contemporary

voted for the building to be a heritage, natural history

extension to a distinguished historic building.

fig 9.8 Dronfield Hall Barn, Derbyshire.

I N T E G R AT E

Dronfield, just south of the boundary between

has oak beams and king post trusses. They are survivals

153

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and arts centre. The work to adapt the barn for these

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A

visitor to Dronfield a few years ago could have

10. Constructing our future from our past Understanding distinctiveness

Many practices have benefited from the conservation

155

courses run by the Society for the Protection of Architects (RIBA), Viscount Esher, a much-respected architect who had practised as Lionel Brett, felt compelled to respond to an article in The Observer by Ian Nairn, called

historic towns and cities and ‘modern British architecture is just not good enough’. Esher wrote in reply:

Some time he must find time to look at what

Architects increasingly recognise that accreditation in conservation by the RIBA is worthwhile, because there are more opportunities for being involved in the repair of existing buildings than there are for designing

CO N S T R U C T I N G O U R F U T U R E F R O M O U R PA S T

since the war had wrecked many of the country’s finest

of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) in York.

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‘Stop the architects now’. Nairn argued that rebuilding

Ancient Buildings (SPAB), the RIBA and the Institute

entirely new schemes, however much their training may have encouraged the belief that the latter is what they should aspire to. RIBA’s Conservation Register currently has around 600 individuals listed, across

universities and other Schools of Architecture are

three levels, including 250 accredited as ‘Specialist

nowadays doing to turn out a man who must be

Conservation Architects’. It is high time for conservation

an artist, sociologist, technologist, businessman,

to be taught on undergraduate architectural courses as

manager; a jack of all trades but master of

an essential part of training not just an afterthought. Until that happens, architects can join the RIBA’s

none; integrated with the adjacent professions

four-day conservation course, which has had more

of engineering, planning and surveying yet

than 1,000 delegates since it began in 2012. There is

not attempting to do what they can do better.

also the Register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation, which is independent of the RIBA and

In his own practice, Esher employed staff more than

is a valuable source of information on architects with

capable of meeting some of these needs. One of his

extensive experience of working on historic buildings.

architects, Elisabeth Beazley, became an authority on planning for visitors at historic sites, and wrote two outstanding books on the subject, Designed for Recreation (1969) and The Countryside on View (1971). She set up her own practice and advised the National Trust for Scotland on the adaptation of the stable block at Culzean, and she had a lasting influence on the way the National Trust planned its new buildings, serving on its Architectural Panel for many years.

Architects in Northern Ireland are now more aware of the value of accreditation, and this should increasingly become a requirement for those working on historic buildings there. The training has been championed by Consarc Design Group, which has offices in Belfast, Dublin and Derry, with the architect Dawson Stelfox playing a leading role. The practice has been responsible for the restoration of Portrush Town Hall, another Hearth Revolving Fund project, and for the repairs to the Parliament Building at Stormont after a disastrous

Left: Clevedon Pier, Somerset.

C H A P T E R 10

In 1966, the president of the Royal Institute of British

fire in 1995. It has also designed some impressive new

156 RESCUE & REUSE

buildings, including a discreet visitor centre at Mount

Architects and conservationists can learn about best

Stewart, and Northern Ireland’s prominent Odyssey

practice from the IHBC’s magazine Context, which

Millennium Project in Belfast, completed in 2000. Ulster

includes reflective articles on the care of the whole

Architectural Heritage has also been influential, as has

range of historic buildings. As so many schemes for

Mary Kerrigan of the Walled City Partnership in Derry.

repair and reuse are now dependent on grants from the

On 21 January 2012, Kerrigan wrote in the Derry Journal:

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), architects are required to work to a conservation plan which will have addressed many of the issues that should be considered before

loss of heritage. If we allow this to continue

design work starts. Another precondition should be a

then the research tells us the consequent loss of

thorough consultation with the local community. More

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We ... have to be vigilant to halt our creeping C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

distinctiveness will lead to a loss of visitors. That

often than not, this can lead to a revised and improved brief, or to a completely different, and ultimately more

will hit us where it hurts most – in our pockets.

successful, scheme.

Our conservation areas are like a jam sandwich.

The rescue of historic buildings at risk depends not

Buildings like the Guildhall or St Columb’s

just on the energy of conservationists and the skills

Cathedral are the jam. Unlisted heritage forming

of architects. It also provides an incentive to keep craft skills alive. As the recent work at Leicester Cathedral has

our 18th and 19th century streets is the bread.

shown (see Chapter 8, p. 127), there are skilled masons and

When the bread crumbles the sandwich falls

joiners available, but they must have patronage to survive.

apart. If we keep letting our old buildings

The value of major schemes has also been demonstrated

collapse we won’t have any historic streets left.

at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds, where there has been a prolonged programme of work

Then what will be left of the historic town we

to complete the tower, crossing and cloisters originally

all love so well?

conceived by Stephen Dykes Bower in the 1940s. He was determined that the additions should be in the English

The Walled City Partnership Heritage Initiative

Gothic style. By 2005, his vision for the cathedral had

has repaired and brought 19 unlisted historic

largely been realised. Quite apart from the value of a

buildings into full use, including the former

greatly enhanced cathedral, the work has meant that Bury

Northern Counties Hotel. … In the end it requires will and determination – the will to retain Derry as Derry – to stop it becoming ‘Somewhere-elseville’.

St Edmunds has had to attract cohorts of exceptionally skilled craftspeople. In 2013, the Bury St Edmunds Town Trust began providing scholarships in historic building conservation to students at West Suffolk College. The trust is providing speakers who can teach bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, and painting and decorating skills,

departments have seen their staff numbers severely

and lime mortars. The students also study different

reduced, and in some parts of the UK conservation

approaches to the repair of historic buildings. This

officers are an endangered species. There were

is a new role for a building preservation trust (BPT),

816 local authority specialist conservation staff in

and a particularly worthwhile one, which is also being

England in 2006, and that number has now been

pursued by Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT).

reduced to 533.

Increasing recognition that the skilled conservation

In the case of many historic buildings, the only

of historic buildings can bring with it substantial

practicable way to find a new role is through

regeneration and economic benefits comes at a time

partnerships between conservationists and

when funding for such schemes is increasingly difficult

commercial developers. Such alliances can bring

to secure. Until recently, it was possible for those

benefits; but they are fraught with risk, especially

looking for help with a worthwhile conservation project

if an overstretched planning department is not

to knock on a succession of doors in the corridors of

rigorous in its assessments.

central and local government. Austerity has made that a dispiriting experience. Whereas in the 1980s, Kingdom’s government, could be relied on for grants to

The continuing role of government

a whole range of important buildings, responsibility for

There are some categories of historic buildings which

such support has passed to Historic England (HE), but

will only be preserved if government funding is

with wholly inadequate funding. Since 2010, Historic

provided. In some cases, the devolved governments of

England has had its grant in aid reduced by more than

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have shown real

50% in real terms. There is now an inevitable reliance

understanding of what is at stake in their countries.

on lottery funding, which successive UK governments

This was the case with the Transporter Bridge, south

have maintained was not intended to be a substitute

of Newport. The bridge, which is a Grade I listed

for Treasury expenditure. Those claims now look

structure, provides the lowest crossing of the River

hollow. What can be celebrated are the achievements

Usk for local people, is a spectacular sight for visitors,

of a 25-year period when an alliance of government and

and is one of only eight examples in the world. It was

lottery funding bodies achieved remarkable things. The

designed by a French engineer, Ferdinand Arnodin,

leading conservation charities must now make the case

and opened in 1906. In 1985, the bridge had to be

for reversing the cuts to funding and for investment

closed because wear and tear had made it unreliable.

in the UK’s historic environment. The returns on that

It reopened in 1995 after a £3m refurbishment, and

investment, as this book has tried to show, are financial

further repairs were carried out between 2008 and

as well as social.

2010, at a cost of £1.2m. There were grants from

the Historic Buildings Council, funded by the United

157

CO N S T R U C T I N G O U R F U T U R E F R O M O U R PA S T

timber-framed buildings, in historic flintwork, brickwork

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In the UK regions, local authority planning

C H A P T E R 10

for a syllabus which covers the techniques involved in

figs 10.1, 10.2 Transporter Bridge, Newport.

158 RESCUE & REUSE

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The good in the old and the new What many other rescues show is that adaptive reuse can provide a satisfactory, revitalising solution for many historic buildings at risk. It is a process which has gone on for centuries, with clear social and economic benefits. Castles are just one example of a building type which continued to have a life long after they had ceased to serve their original, defensive purpose. the Welsh government and Newport Council. The

Visitors to the Landmark Trust’s Astley Castle in

Transporter Bridge has towers 73.6 m high, with a

Warwickshire still enjoy the sense of privileged

span of 196.65 m between them. The gondola platform

retreat. The architects, Witherford Watson Mann,

carries vehicles and pedestrians across the river

have created a Modernist interior, while leaving the

with power from two electric motors, which drive a

walls of the exterior in a crumbling and fractured

winch in the elevated winding house at the eastern

state. As other case studies have shown, the skilled

end of the bridge. This extraordinary example of

and sometimes daring use of modern materials

20th-century engineering has survived because the

and engineering makes it possible to achieve the

Welsh government recognised its local, national and

clear distinction between ancient masonry and

international significance.

contemporary additions that William Morris

figs 10.3, 10.4 Astley Castle, Warwickshire.

159 C H A P T E R 10

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expressed by the novelist Elizabeth Bowen. She was grappling – ultimately unsuccessfully – with the difficulty of preserving her family home, Bowen’s Court, in an Ireland hostile to almost everything the country house represented. Bowen wrote in her essay, ‘The Big House’, of 1941:

The big house has much to learn – and it must learn if it is to survive at all… The young cannot afford to be stupid – they expect the houses they keep alive to inherit in a changed world and under changed advocated, and the two sit comfortably alongside each

conditions, the good life for which they were

other. This meeting of old and new has been widely

first built. The good in the new can add to,

admired: Astley Castle won the Stirling Prize in 2013. New uses for distinguished buildings which have outlived their original roles will continue to bring life back to cotton mills, country houses, coastal

not destroy, the good in the old. From inside many big houses (and these will be the survivors) barriers are being impatiently

defences and churches. The need for an open-minded

attacked. But it must be seen that a barrier

response to the problems of caring for buildings which

has two sides.

CO N S T R U C T I N G O U R F U T U R E F R O M O U R PA S T

have outlived their original purposes was eloquently

160 RESCUE & REUSE

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Achieving that reconciliation of the old and the new

hope. They will not conclude that the problems

involves many contributors, as most of the case studies

are utterly intractable, or that a daunting financial

in this book have shown. Often, there has to be a

mountain is unclimbable. There has been space for

coming together of national conservation bodies such

only a limited number of accounts of rescues against

as Historic England, the Architectural Heritage Fund

the odds. A much longer list of successful projects

(AHF) and SAVE, with more locally based community

could be assembled from the many buildings taken

organisations; guidance from an experienced architect;

off the Heritage at Risk Register; or gleaned from the

and support from HLF and local authorities. The part

Annual Reviews of the AHF or the reports from HLF. In

played by the architect has been summed up by Rod

some apparently unpromising cases, local authorities

Hackney in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1989) in a

and the UK government have been persuaded that

way that echoes Lord Esher’s comments quoted at the

dereliction or demolition are not the only options. That

beginning of this chapter:

message is delivered best from the local community and from those whose interest is not commercial but

The ideal architect … above all should

derives from a strong sense of allegiance to a place

possess vision and the ability to make the

which is valued. Their voices can make the difference

most of a difficult site, a complicated brief

between revitalisation and destruction.

and perhaps limited funding. The architect

There has never been a time when local involvement

should be seen as a project co-ordinator –

in the preservation of historic buildings has been more

someone who understands the requirements

necessary. The role of UK central and local government is being drastically reconfigured as funding for public

of both client and user, and is then able to

buildings, museums and parks shrinks. Moves to

draw upon the skills of engineers, planners,

devolve government from Westminster to Scotland,

surveyors and builders to fulfil the brief.

Wales and Northern Ireland, and to recognise that major industrial conurbations benefit from local

The projects that succeed may be initiated by one

control, present great opportunities.

or two visionaries. However, the realisation of their vision almost always involves a host of voluntary and professional supporters, something akin to a conservation co-operative, in spirit if not in name. Bowen’s belief that ‘the good in the new can add to, not destroy, the good in the old’ remains relevant.

The future of historic streets in cities, towns and villages looks more uncertain than it has for generations. We are witnessing an inescapable transformation of the UK high street, with department stores such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and Woolworths struggling, or going into administration; and restaurant chains contracting

As is evident from many of the case studies in this

or closing down. The UK Government has recognised

book, there are people who will not accept that a

the vital role that heritage has to play with securing

once-beautiful building or area is beyond help or

a sustainable future for the high street, through the

fig 10.5 Havens department store, Southend-on-Sea.

161 C H A P T E R 10

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not-for-profit organisations. Havens would continue

to Historic England and the AHF to rejuvenate historic

to operate on the top floor as an online business. The

high streets throughout England.

scheme has the potential to provide a model for other department stores housed in buildings which are

This a moment for local communities to influence the way their environment is changing. The high

too distinctive to simply sweep away, but which are struggling to find a new role.

street has evolved over centuries, as needs and tastes have changed. Radical localism is capable of turning

What is clear, after over 50 years of experiment, is that

something potentially damaging into transformations

architecture without humanism can be immensely

which are positive and socially valuable.

damaging, both socially and economically. Clough

This spirit is evident in the efforts to find a new role for the Havens department store in Southend-on-Sea. Its handsome Art Deco, stone facade sets the tone for Hamlet Court Road, which was referred to locally as the ‘Bond Street of Essex’. A family company built the store in 1935, and it remained in their ownership, so escaping alterations to its Burmantofts Faience cladding. It has Grade II listed protection, but the business in its present form is no longer viable and the store has closed.

Williams-Ellis, a champion of conservation in Wales and the architect of the village of Portmeirion, wrote in The Pleasures of Architecture (1924):

Though the future of British poetry may lie with the poets, the future of British architecture lies with the public. Many of the community-led schemes described in this book have succeeded because those who support

An imaginative proposal for the building is now being

them are able to turn to numerous grant-aiding bodies

considered by Age Concern Southend-on-Sea. With

and potential supporters, including the architects

the help of an AHF Project Viability Grant of £4,980,

who delight in the skills that helped to create our

plans are being developed to use the building as a hub

finest historic buildings. This transfer of a precious

for older people and their families. This would not fill

inheritance from one generation to the next can be, in

all the building, and some parts would be let to other

every sense, an enriching one.

CO N S T R U C T I N G O U R F U T U R E F R O M O U R PA S T

announcement in the 2018 Budget of £55m of investment

Bibliography

162 RESCUE & REUSE

The starting point for many of the case studies has been the Architectural Heritage Fund’s (AHF) Annual Reviews. I have also used the much fuller reports on prospective projects, usually by the regional support staff, prepared for the AHF’s council.

|

I have referred constantly to Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England volumes, to The Buildings of Scotland, and to The Buildings of Wales.

C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Another invaluable source of information and inspiration has been Marcus Binney’s Big Saves and the many other publications on conservation causes published by SAVE, some of which are listed below. The quotations from architects and conservationists have mostly been written for this book, in response to my requests. In some cases, I have used the accounts on practice websites of particular schemes. I am most grateful to these contributors.

Amery, Colin (ed.), Sites Insight, London, 2006. Bailey, Catherine, Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty, London, 2007. Beazley, Elisabeth, ‘Designed for Recreation’, 1969.

Marcus Binney, Big Saves: Heroic Transformations of Great Landmarks, 2016.

Davies, Colin, Hopkins2: The Work of Michael Hopkins and Partners, London, 2001.

Bloxham, Tom, Jonathan Falkington and Nick Johnson, Urbansplash Transformation, London, 2011.

Deakin, Roger, Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey through Britain, London, 2000.

Bowen, Elizabeth, ‘The Big House’, 1941. Brand, Stewart, How Buildings Learn, London, 1994. Brown, David (ed.), St Ives 1939–64: Twenty Five Years of Painting, Sculpture and Pottery, London, 1985. Cantacuzino, Sherban, Re-architecture, Old Buildings/New Uses, New York, 1989. Charlton, Christopher (ed.), The Derwent Valley Mills and their Communities, Matlock, UK, 2011. Clark, Kenneth, Ruskin Today, Middlesex, UK, 1964. conranandpartners.com Cornforth, John, Country Houses in Britain – Can They Survive? London, 1974. Crossley, Alan, Tom Hassel and Peter Salway (eds.), William Morris’s Kelmscott: Landscape and History, Macclesfield, UK, 2007.

de Mare, Eric, The Functional Tradition, 1959. Doherty, Claire, quoted from the Guardian, 2 January 2018. Dooley, Terence, The Decline of the Big House in Ireland, Dublin, 2001. Duffy, Carol Ann, ‘Richard’s Story, Our Story’, Leicester Cathedral publication, 2015. Earl, Stephen, ‘Lessons from Great Yarmouth’, Context, vol. 114, 2010. Emmerson, Roger and Mary Tilmouth, Matt Steele, Architect: A Biography, Edinburgh, 2010. English Heritage, New Uses for Former Places of Worship, London, 2010. English Heritage, Regeneration and the Historic Environment: Heritage as a Catalyst for Better Social and Economic Regeneration, London, 2005. Evans, David Morgan, Peter Salway and David Thackray (eds.), The Remains of Distant Times, London, 1996.

Cushman & Wakefield, Engines of Prosperity: New Uses for Old Mills, Manchester, UK, 2017.

Finley, Gerald, Landscapes of Memory: Turner as Illustrator to Scott, London, 1980.

Bevan, Robert, The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War, London, 2006.

Dalglish, Chris and Stephen T. Driscoll, Historic Govan, Edinburgh and York, 2009.

Binney, Marcus (ed.), Satanic Mills: Industrial Architecture, London, 1979.

Dance, Debbie. Personal correspondence, 04.08.2017.

Fordham, Geoff, Tony Gore, Rachael Knight Fordham and Paul Lawless, The Groundwork Movement: Its Role in Neighbourhood Renewal, York, UK, 2002.

Binney, Marcus (ed.), Bright Future: The Re-use of Industrial Buildings, SAVE, London, 1990.

Darley, Gillian and David McKie, Ian Nairn: Words in Place, Nottingham, UK, 2013.

Beazley, Elisabeth, ‘The Countryside on View’, 1971. Bennett, Alan, People, London, 2012.

Hackney, Rod, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, London, 1989. Harris, Susie, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life, London, 2011.

Harron, Paul (ed.), New Life for Churches in Ireland: Good Practice in Conversion

Haslam, Charlotte (ed.), The Landmark Handbook, Maidenhead, UK, 1980 and annually. Henley, Darren, The Arts Dividend: Why Investment in Culture Pays, London, 2016. Heritage Lottery Fund, New Ideas Need Old Buildings, London, 2013. historicengland.org.uk Hunt, Robert and Iain Boyd, New Design for Old Buildings, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2017. Insall, Donald, The Care of Old Buildings: A Practical Guide for Architects and Owners, London, 1958. Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York, 1961. Jacobs, Jane, The Last Interview and Other Conversations, New York, 2016. Jenkins, Simon, Foreword to SAVE Britain’s Heritage: the next forty years, London, 2015. Latham, Derek, Creative Re-use of Buildings, Volumes 1 & 2, London, 1999. Latham, Ian (ed.), van Heyningen and Haward: Buildings and Projects, London, 2010. Latimer, Karen (ed.), Hearth: A Review of Projects, Belfast, 2013. Maddison, John, Ely Cathedral: Design and Meaning, Cambridge, UK, 2000. McCosh, James. Personal correspondence. 28.08.2017. Mickleburgh, Timothy J., Guide to British Piers, London, 1998.

London, 1890, reprinted 1993. Nairn, Ian, Nairn’s London, London, 1966. Nairn, Ian, Nairn’s Towns, Devon, UK, 2013. Nairn, Ian and Pevsner, Nikolaus, Sussex, London, 1965. O’Neill, Leah, Connor Stanford and Marcus Patton (eds.), Building Preservation Trusts in Northern Ireland, Belfast, 2016. Parker, Peter, Housman Country: Into the Heart of England, London, 2016. Parry, Linda, William Morris: Art and Kelmscott, London, 1996. Perry, Grayson, Playing to the Gallery, London, 2014. Perry, Grayson, The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!, London, 2017. Pevsner, Nikolaus, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, 1961. Pevsner, Nikolaus, Pioneers of Modern Design, London, 1936. Pevsner, Nikolaus, Shropshire, Middlesex, 1958. Pevsner, Nikolaus, South Devon, Middlesex, 1952. Powers, Alan, 100 Years of Architecture, London, 2016. Reeves-Smyth, Terence and Richard Oram (eds.), Avenues to the Past: Essays Presented to Sir Charles Brett on his 75th Year, Belfast, 2003. Richold, Paul, ‘The Society of Antiquaries of London: Fellowship News’, July 2017.

Rose, Brenda, and Lady Susan Stern, An Appreciation of the Axminster Heritage Project, 2017. SAVE, Catalytic Conversion: Revive Historic Buildings to Regenerate Communities, London, 1998. Scarman, The Rt Hon. Lord, The Brixton Disorders, 10–12 April, 1981, (The Scarman Report) HMSO, 1982. Simpson, Gordon Alexander, The Boy on the Bridge, Glasgow, 2016. Stelfox, Dawson, Personal correspondence, 16.08.2017. Strong, Roy, Marcus Binney and John Harris, The Destruction of the Country House, London, 1974. Tate Gallery, St Ives 1939–64: Twenty Five Years of Painting, Sculpture and Pottery, 1985. The Arkwright Society, Cromford Mills Masterplan, Matlock, UK, 2012. The Autumn Statement of November 2016 was reported in Hansard and all national papers. timronalds.co.uk Weir, Hilary, How to Rescue a Ruin, London, 1989. Wilkinson, Philip, Restoration: Discovering Britain’s Hidden Architectural Treasures, London, 2003. Williams-Ellis, Clough and Annabel Williams-Ellis, The Pleasures of Architecture, London, 1924, revised edition, 1955. Wilson, Lydia, Lose or Reuse: Managing Heritage Sustainably, Belfast, 2007.

163 BIBLIOGRAPHY

and Reuse, Belfast, 2012.

Morris, William, News from Nowhere,

Index

164

Note: page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

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Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Gunter Mansion 143–4 Abramsky, Jenny 69 AHF see Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) Albert Dock, Liverpool i, x, 9–10 Andrzej Blonski Architects 149 Architecton 138 architectural education 155 Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) 8–9, 11, 13, 29, 31, 40, 42, 45, 52, 53, 55, 71, 83, 87, 89, 93, 101, 104, 106, 111, 113, 115, 131, 143, 153, 160, 161 Architectural Review 8 The Arnolfini, Bristol 118, 119 arts centres 147, 153 (see also galleries) Arts Lottery 66 Ashton Court, Bristol, Lower Lodge 114, 115–17, 116 Assemble 13 Astley Castle, Warwickshire 158–9 Atelier 17: 17 Austen-Smith: Lord 117 Axminster, Thomas Whitty House 112, 113 Axminster Heritage 113

Blenheim, Oxfordshire 5 Blists Hill, Ironbridge 130, 131 Bloxham, Tom 47 boathouses 85, 92, 93–5 Bo’ness, The Hippodrome 88, 89–91 Borlase Smart John Wells Trust 55 BPTs see building preservation trusts (BPTs) Brett, Charles 147 Brett, Lionel v, 155 Brick Lane Carpet Factory 4 Brighton Saltdean Lido 96, 97–8 West Pier 82 Bristol, Ashton Court, Lower Lodge 114, 115–17, 116 Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust (BBPT) 115 Britons Arms, Elm Hill, Norwich 70, 71 Brunel Goods Shed, Stroud 16, 17 building preservation trusts (BPTs) 3, 157 (see also entries for specific BPTs) Burrell, John 66 Burrell Foley Fischer 85 Burton, John 19 Bury St Edmunds 156 business units 21, 33, 39, 48, 61, 67, 71 (see also office use) BWA Architects of Leeds 33

‘back to backs’ 3, 4 bandstands 80, 100, 101 barns 152, 153 Bath House, Walton, Stratford-uponAvon 81 Baynes and Mitchell Architects 109 Beazley, Elisabeth 155 Belfast Christchurch 144–6 Clifton Villas 43 Conway Mill 39–40 Hamilton Terrace 43 Oldpark Library 28, 29 St George’s Market 68–9 St Patrick’s School 144, 146 Belfast Buildings Trust (BBT) 144, 145, 146 Bennett, Alan 120 ‘Best Use of Heritage in Regeneration’ award 40 Betjeman, John 87 Binney, Marcus 9, 25 Birmingham 3–4 Bishop’s Gate Hotel, Derry 142, 143–7, 150, 151

Calton Hill, Edinburgh 110, 111 Camborne, Cornwall, King Edward Mine 140, 141 Cambridge David Parr House 138, 139 Newnham College, Rare Book Library 10–11 Campbeltown Picture House, Kintyre 85 Carnegie Library, Herne Hill 29 Caruso St John 10 Cassidy, Pat 52 Cassiltoun Trust 59 Castle Mill Works, Edinburgh 103 Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow 58, 59 castles 132, 133–5, 158–9 cathedrals 122–4, 125, 126 cemetaries 30, 31 Charles, Prince of Wales 2, 45, 74, 145 Chatham Historic Dockyard 102, 106–9 Christchurch, Belfast 144–6 churches 27, 51, 144–5 (see also cathedrals) cinemas 83, 85, 88, 89–91

Civic Trust 8 Clerkenwell 67 Clevedon Pier, Somerset 86, 87, 154 Clifton Villas, Belfast 43 Clitheroe, Holmes Mill 76, 77, 78 clubhouses 93–5 Clytha Castle, Monmouthshire. 81 Collective 111 community uses 33, 35, 39, 59, 87, 113, 144, 146, 153 Conran and Partners 98 Consarc Design Group 39, 68, 144, 145, 146, 155–6 conservation architects 155 conservation officers 157 conservation skills training 156–7 Conway Mill, Belfast 39–40 Cornforth, John 40 Cornish Mining World Heritage site 141 Cornwall 121–2 King Edward Mine, Camborne 140, 141 country houses 3, 8, 23–5, 40, 84, 115 Cromford Mill, Derbyshire. 50, 53 Custom House, Leith 20, 21

Earl, Stephen 106 Edinburgh Calton Hill 110, 111 Castle Mill Works 103 Custom House, Leith 20, 21 Edinburgh Printmakers 103, 104 educational uses 103, 115–17, 134 (see also school buildings) Elder & Cannon 59 Ely cathedral 122 English Heritage 9 Erddig, Clwyd 8 Esher, Viscount see Brett, Lionel European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 33, 55, 73

Dance, Debbie 133 David Parr House, Cambridge 138, 139 Davies, Ashley 117 Davies, Colin 124 de Mare, Eric 10 de Rijke Marsh Morgan 83 Deakin, Roger 98 defence buildings 39, 41, 47–8 (see also naval buildings) Derry Bishop’s Gate Hotel 142, 143–7, 150, 151 Inner City Trust 151 Northern Counties Club 151 Playhouse 147–9, 148 Verbal Arts Centre 147 Walled City Partnership 156 Design Bridge 67 Destruction of the Country House exhibition, 1974 8, 9, 40 Devonport Town Hall 36, 37 dockyards i, x, 9–10, 29, 118, 119 (see also shipyards) Doherty, Claire 119, 120 Dronfield Hall Barn 152, 153 Duffy, Carol Ann 129 Dunbar-Nasmith practice 45

galleries 10, 21, 48, 83, 103, 111, 119–20 garden visiting 120 Gedye, Simon 61–2 Gillespie, Jackie 48 Gillespie Yunnie 47, 48 Glasgow 6 Castlemilk Stables 58, 59 Govan Old Parish Church 51 Govan Workspace 52 Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) 59, 93 Glen Howell Architects 4 Goss, Jenny 87 Govan Old Parish Church 51 Govan Workspace 52 government funding 157–8, 160–1 Granby Four Streets, Toxteth, Liverpool 13–15 Great Yarmouth 84, 104–6 Naval Hospital 41 Tower Curing Works 105, 106 Venetian Waterways 84 Wellington Pier 83 Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT) 105–6, 157 Greensmith, Tim 73

factory buildings 4, 39, 53, 72, 73–5, 103–4, 112, 113 Fairfield Shipyard offices 51 FCB Studios 73 Feilden, Sir Bernard 8 Feilden Clegg Design 17 Ferguson Mann 47 finance see funding First Derry School 147 Fischer, Stephanie 85 follies 81 funding 1, 43, 157–8, 160–1

Gunter Mansion, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire 143–4 Gunton Park, Norfolk 40–1

industrial archaeology 121–2, 130, 131, 141 industrial buildings see factory buildings; railway buildings; shipyards industrial museums 121 Inner City Trust, Derry 151 Insall, Sir Donald 8 Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) 155, 156 Ironbridge Gorge Museum 121, 130, 131 Ivy House, Nunhead 18, 19 James’ Places 77 Jenkins, Jennifer 84 Jenkins, Simon 9, 120 Jones, Gareth 89, 91 Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire. 38, 136, 137 Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Glasgow 80, 100, 101 Kerrigan, Mary 156 King Edward Mine, Camborne, Cornwall 140, 141 Kings Lynn Corn Exchange, Norfolk 64, 65–6 Kintyre, Campbeltown Picture House 85 Landmark Trust 25, 81, 158 Leicester 5 Cathedral 126, 127–9

Macclesfield 1–2 Macgregor, John 7 Maddison, John 122, 124 Malcolm Fraser Architects 111 Manchester 71, 77 markets 21, 64, 65–9 Martin, Kit 40–1, 45 McAdam Design, Belfast 39 McCosh, James 109, 127, 129 McLeod, Sarah 53 Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire 9 Merseyside 9–10 Michael Hopkins and Partners 124 Middleport Pottery, Burslem, Stokeon-Trent 72, 73–5 Mile End Road, London 11 mill buildings 39–40, 44, 45, 50, 53, 77–9, 78 mining sites 122, 141 Mitchell Proctor Architects 153 Modern Movement 7, 8, 97 Mullarkey Pedersen Architects 151 museums 67, 106, 109, 113, 131 Nairn, Ian 5, 7, 8, 65, 155 National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) 9, 23, 144 National Trust 3, 25, 119, 120 National Trust for Scotland 43, 84, 155 National Trust Wales 83 naval buildings 29, 106–9 (see also dockyards) Naval Hospital, Great Yarmouth 41 Nelson, Pendle Village Mill 77 New Art Gallery, Walsall 10 Newhailes, near Edinburgh 84 Newnham, Claire 141 Newnham College, Cambridge, Rare Book Library 10–11 Newport, Wales, Transporter Bridge 157–8 NHMF see National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) Northampton 65 Northern Counties Club, Derry 151 Northern Ireland 155, 157 (see also Belfast; Derry) Norwich 6, 27, 69 Britons Arms, Elm Hill 70, 71 Cathedral. 123, 124, 125 Norwich Preservation Trust 71 Nunhead, Ivy House 18, 19 office use 25, 52, 53 (see also business units) Oldpark Library, Belfast 28, 29 O’Leary, Robert 87 O’Leary Goss Architects 87

Options Appraisal Grant 52 Oxford Castle 132, 133–4 Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) 133, 134 Page\Park 52, 101, 104 parks 83–4 Patton, Marcus 147 pdp Green Consulting 141 Penarth Pier, Vale of Glamorgan 83 Pendle Village Mill, Nelson 77 Perry, Grayson 119 Pevsner, Nikolaus 7, 47, 65, 121 Picture House, Campbeltown, Kintyre 85 piers 82, 86, 87, 154 Plas Kynaston, Wrexham, Denbighshire. 42 Playhouse, Derry 147–9, 148 Plymouth 29, 37 Royal William Yard 46, 47–8, 49 Pollock Hammond Partnerhip 89 populism 120 Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, Cornwall 54, 55–6, 57 Prince of Wales’s Phoenix Trust 45 Prince’s Regeneration Trust 2, 73 printmakers 103, 104 pubs 19, 71, 76, 77, 82 Purcell 7, 19, 53, 106 railway buildings 17 Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) 37 recreational buildings 85, 92, 93–5 residential buildings see houses; housing use retail uses 67, 69, 71, 77 revolving funds 43 Reynolds Jury 71 RIBA see Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Richard III tomb, Leicester cathedral 126, 127–9 Richards, Una 84 Richold, Paul 138 Rothschild, Lord 84 Rothwell, Northamptonshire 11 Royal Hospital Chelsea 5 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) iv, 1–2, 56, 155 awards 59, 74 Royal William Yard, Plymouth 46, 47–8, 49 Saltdean Lido, Brighton 96, 97–8 Saltram, Devon 113 SAVE Britain’s Heritage 9, 23, 66 school buildings 61–3, 147 Scotland 84–5, 157 (see also Bo’ness; Edinburgh; Glasgow) Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) 21, 89 Seaton Delaval, Northumberland 3 Sheffield General Cemetery 30, 31 shipyards 46, 47–8, 51–2 (see also dockyards) shops 67, 69, 71, 77, 161 (see also markets) Simpson, Gordon 93, 95 Smithfield Market, London 66–7 Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) 7, 155 Society of Antiquaries of London 137

Southend-on-Sea, Havens department store 161 Spitalfields, London 11 sports buildings 85, 92, 93–5 St George’s Market, Belfast. 68–9 St Ives, Cornwall, Porthmeor Studios 54, 55–6, 57 St Patrick’s School, Belfast 144, 146 stables 58, 59 Stanley Mills, Perthshire 44, 45 Stelfox, Dawson 144, 146, 155 Stirling, James 10 Stoke-on-Trent, Middleport Pottery, Burslem 72, 73–5 Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire 52 Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath House, Walton 81 Studio Gedye 61 studios 21, 48, 54, 55–6, 57, 61–3, 67, 104 Sum Studios, Sheffield 60, 61–3 Sunter, Nigel 106 swimming pools 96, 97–8, 98–9 Tally Ho Inn, Littlehampton, Devon 82 terraced housing 6, 11, 13–15, 43 theatres 66, 82, 84, 101, 147–9, 148 Thomas Whitty House, Axminster 112, 113 Tim Ronalds Architects 84 tourism 119, 120, 122, 129 Tower Curing Works, Great Yarmouth 105, 106 town halls 32, 33–5, 36, 37 Toxteth, Liverpool, Granby Four Streets 13–15 Transporter Bridge, Newport, Wales 157–8 Ulster Architectural Heritage 156 Urban Splash 47 van Heyningen and Haward 11, 109, 127, 129 Venetian Waterways, Great Yarmouth 84 Verbal Arts Centre, Derry 147 Wales 8, 81, 157–8 (see also Abergavenny; Newport; Wrexham) Walker, ST 8 Walled City Partnership, Derry 156 Walsall, New Art Gallery 10 Wellington, Charlie 73 Wellington Pier, Great Yarmouth 83 Welsh Georgian Trust (WGT) 143, 144 Wentworth Woodhouse 22, 23–5 West Boathouse, Glasgow Green 92, 93–5 West Suffolk College 156 Williams-Ellis, Clough 161 Wilton’s Music Hall 84 Witherford Watson Mann 158 Worcester 6 workspace see office use Worpole, Ken 98 Wrexham, Denbighshire, Plas Kynaston 42 Zara, Paul 98

165 INDEX

Hackney, Rod 1–2, 160 Hall Black Douglas Architects 147 Hamilton Terrace, Belfast 43 Harkin, Frank 149 Hastings Pier 82–3 Havens department store, Southend-on-Sea 161 Hearth 43, 146, 147, 155 Heaton, Robert 8 Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, Town Hall 32, 33–5 Heeley Development Trust 61, 63 heritage centres 42, 52 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) 9, 29, 37, 40, 42, 53, 67, 82, 84, 104, 124, 144, 156 Herne Hill Library 29 Heseltine, Michael 9, 29, 47 The Hippodrome, Bo’ness 88, 89–91 historic building conservation 155–7 Historic England (HE) 9, 77, 157 Angel Awards 17, 19, 31, 87 Historic Scotland 45, 52, 101 HLF see Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) holiday homes 81 Holmes Mill, Clitheroe, 76, 77, 78 Hopkins, Michael 10 Hopton, Mark 45 hotels 133–4, 150, 151 houses 136, 137–8, 139, 143, 146 (see also country houses; terraced housing) housing use 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 147

Leith, Custom House 20, 21 Levitt Bernstein Associates 66 libraries 10–11, 28, 29, 42, 145 lidos 96, 97–8, 98–9 Little Houses Scheme 43 Liverpool Albert Dock i, x, 9–10 Granby Four Streets, Toxteth 13–15 Lockwood, Barry 77 Long, MJ 55 lottery funding 9, 157 (see also Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF))

Credits

166 RESCUE & REUSE

Figure 1.0

Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.1

Dominic Harris

Figure 1.2

| C O M M U N I T I E S , H E R I TA G E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E

Figure 3.10 Simon Whaley Landsacpes / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 7.2

Norfolk Museums Service

Figure 7.3

James Brittain

David Whinham / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 4.0

Ashley Franklin Photography

Figure 7.4

James Brittain

Figure 4.1

Paul Massey

Figure 7.5

Paul Trinity / Alamy Stock Photo

National Trust Images/Arnhel de Serra

Figure 4.2

Paul Massey

Figure 7.6

Axminster Heritage Ltd

Figure 4.3

Paul Massey

Figure 1.4

National Trust Images/John Millar

Figure 7.7

John Hammond

Figure 4.4

Keith Hunter

Figure 7.8

Bristol Preservation Trust

Figure 1.5

Jennie Lindquist

Figure 4.5

Keith Hunter

Figure 7.9

Phil Boorman

Figure 1.6

Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 4.6

Matthew Conduit

Figure 8.0

Storvik / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.7

Helene Binet

Figure 4.7

Matthew Conduit

Figure 8.1

Clive Tully / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 4.8

Matthew Conduit

Figure 8.2

UK Churches / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.0

Matthew Usher

Figure 8.3

van Heyningen and Haward Architects

Figure 8.4

LOOK Die Bidagentur der Fotografen GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 8.5

LOOK Die Bidagentur der Fotografen GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 8.6

LOOK Die Bidagentur der Fotografen GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.8a Historic England Archive / James O Davies Figure 1.8b Martin Charles / Tim Soar

Figure 5.1

Matthew Usher

Figure 1.8c van Heyningen and Haward Architects

Figure 5.2

Matthew Usher

Figure 5.3

Commission Air / Alamy Stock Photo

Mark Waugh / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.4

UrbanImages / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.10

Assemble Studios

Figure 5.5

Figure 1.11

Steve Hurrell

Chris Lawrence / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.12

Steve Hurrell

Figure 5.6

Richard Wayman / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.8d Martin Charles / Tim Soar Figure 1.9

Figure 1.13

Phil Gammon

Figure 5.7

Consarc Design Group Ltd

Figure 1.14

Jodie Mann

Figure 8.7

Nikreates / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.8

Norwich Preservation Trust

Figure 1.15

Dave Morris

Figure 8.8

Neil McAllister / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.9

Norwich Preservation Trust

Figure 1.16

Michal Ufniak

Figure 8.9

Figure 5.10 John Keates / Alamy Stock Photo

Trustees of the David Parr House and Caroe Architecture Ltd

Figure 1.17

Carl Whitham

Figure 5.11

Figure 2.0

Phil Seale / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.12 John Keates / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 9.0

Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 2.1

David Bunting

Figure 5.13

Figure 9.1

Figure 2.2

Craig Rodgers

From the collections of the National Monuments Record of Wales

Figure 2.3

Steven Gillis hd9 imaging / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 5.14 Historic England Archive / James O Davies

Figure 9.2

Belfast Buildings Trust

Figure 6.0

Gordon Barr

Figure 9.3.

Consarc Design Group Ltd

Figure 2.4

Guy Channing

Figure 6.1

Harry Williams

Figure 9.4

Consarc Design Group Ltd

Figure 2.5

Real Ideas Organisation CIC

Figure 6.2

Ken Woods

Figure 9.5

Andrzej Blonski

Figure 3.0

The Print Collector / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 6.3

Phil Booman Photography

Figure 9.6

Bernard Ward

Figure 3.1

Radharc Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 6.4

Darren Barker

Figure 9.7

Ciaran Kelly / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 6.5

Keith Hunter

Figure 9.8

Matt Monfredi

Figure 3.2

Kit Martin

Figure 6.6

Craig Auckland/fotohaus

Figure 10.0 Gavin Rodgers / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 3.3

Kit Martin

Figure 6.7

Paul Zanre Photography

Figure 10.1

Figure 3.4

Brian Horne

Figure 6.8

Paul Zanre Photography

Figure 3.5

Collections of the National Monuments Record of Wales

Figure 6.9

Devlin Photo Ltd

Figure 3.6

Hearth Historic Buildings Trust

Figure 6.11

Figure 3.7

Hearth Historic Buildings Trust

Figure 6.12 John Maltby / RIBA Collections

Figure 3.8

George Robertson / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 6.13 Andrew Lee Figure 7.0

James Brittain

Figure 3.9

Simon Whaley Landsacpes / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 7.1

Page/Park Architects

John Keates / Alamy Stock Photo Michael Sewell

Figure 6.10 Rob Eyton-Jones John Maltby / RIBA Collections

Figure 8.10 Ainsley Cocks

Hayden Denman / Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 10.2 Freespirit Transport / Alamy Stock Photo Figure 10.3 John Miller Figure 10.4 John Miller Figure 10.5 Penelope Barritt / Alamy Stock Photo