Heritage Now #10

HERITAGE NOW The Magazine of Historic Buildings & Places | www.hbap.org.uk NO. 10 (WINTER 2024)

MASTER ISSUE 03/2024

CONTENTS

HERITAGE NOW THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES

Historic Buildings & Places The Courtyard 37 Spital Square London E1 6DY

Historic Buildings & Places is the working name of the Ancient Monuments Society, registered charity 209605.

Contact us Telephone 020 7236 3934 Email office@hbap.org.uk www.hbap.org.uk

Twitter @hbap1924 Instagram hbap1924

Upfront with Liz Power

Join us For membership enquiries contact membership@hbap.org.uk. Heritage Now is distributed to all members of Historic Buildings & Places.

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Diary Celebrating our centenary in 2024 and looking ahead to 2025. Three buildings by Andrew Noble Prentice Alan Calder, Prentice’s biographer, assesses work by this ‘confident and gifted architect with an inde pendence of thought and approach.’ Casework review Ross Anthony and Matthew Saunders highlight examples of recent casework that demonstrate the broad range of work carried out by HB&P. Celebrating two decades of the Village Alive Trust Edward Holland tells us how the trust works with owners to secure the future of buildings at risk.

Editor Paul Holden Email magazine@hbap.org.uk

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Editorial Board Jill Channer Martin Cherry Bob Kindred

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Historic Buildings & Places or the publisher.

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Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Telephone 01747 871717 www.buildingconservation.com

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ISSN 2754-4192

22 24 28 30 31

A warm welcome to our six new trustees

Patron His Majesty King Charles III.

In conversation… Simon Bradley of Yale University Press talks about the success, evolution and legacy of the Pevsner brand. From the sector Ross Anthony highlights the latest news and views in the world of heritage.

President The Rt Hon Lord Inglewood, DL, MRICS

Chairman Sara Robertson FRSA, FIIC

Director Liz Power

HB&P casework impact report

Deadline for contributions for the next edition will be 1 December 2024

AGM Report from the 2024 Annual General Meeting.

Cover image: Croxden Abbey, west front. This 13th-century monastic ruin is featured in the 2024 revised Buildings of England: Staffordshire by Christopher Wakeling and Nikolaus Pevsner. (Martine Hamilton Knight) Image left: The interior looking east of St Teilo’s, Llanarth, Monmouthshire. (Village Alive Trust)

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UPFRONT

Upfront

Liz Power

Running HB&P is all about teamwork – L-R Ross Anthony,

Stefanie Turza, Liz Power and Christina Avramakis (All images by Harley Bainbridge)

In 1924 the constitution document of the Ancient Monuments Society (AMS) clearly stated its chari table objectives. It determined that the Society existed for: • the conservation for the benefit of the nation of places of historic interest, ancient monu ments, historic buildings and examples of fine craftsmanship throughout Great Britain • to make representations in collaboration with other bodies or otherwise to the person or authorities concerned to secure the mainte nance and conservation of ancient monuments and historic buildings • to assist, financially or otherwise, in the maintenance and conservation of objects of historic interest • to give guidance and assistance, so far as in the power of the Society, to any person or organisation with these objects in view.

This year we have been commemorating the longevity of the Society through a programme of in-person and online events and publications. We have visited several different buildings and places − including the John Rylands Library in Manches ter, where the first ever AMS meeting took place, St James Priory in Bristol, The Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick and Nunhead Cemetery in London. I was able to join members for a visit to Cheam in Surrey, where we learnt more about the role our Society played in saving the Lumley Chapel for the nation. Likewise, our magazine, journal and social media platforms have featured stories from our past and discussed issues rel evant to our future. Our centenary AGM in Manchester was a wonder ful commemoration (see p.31). It was so good to be joined by members from across the country to celebrate with afternoon tea and cake, and to hear about Manchester’s rich history and present-day challenges from our speakers. It was an event where we welcomed new people to the Society and said goodbye to some familiar faces. After many years of loyal service, Giles Quarme stepped down as our chairman. The board exists

Our mission over the past century has been to observe to these objectives.

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UPFRONT

to further the purpose of the charity by setting its strategic direction and ensuring it is run in a legal, effective and responsible manner. Giles has done this with great enthusiasm and today we are grateful that the Society is in a better place because of his work. Whilst looking back and shaping the future we need to remain mindful of managing of change, especially whilst remaining true to our charita ble objectives. All charities need to change and evolve over time. This year we have welcomed six new board members and a new trustee chair, Sara Robertson. As we have looked for new leaders, we have considered carefully the skills that already exist within our board and what we might need for the future. We have therefore recruited people with varied experience, beyond that of casework, in areas such as marketing, events, fundraising and sustainability. All of these skills will be key to the next stages of our Society’s development and with such expert oversight our staff team can grow, de velop and explore new opportunities. You can learn more about our new trustees on pages 22 and 23. So, what skills are needed to chair our Society? In Sara, we feel we have found the right mixture of awareness of amenity societies and the heritage sector, combined with great strategic thinking and the capacity to support the team, in particular me as director. Running any organisation can be chal lenging, so to have someone to talk to, plan with, and bounce ideas off is very exciting. This will be come more relevant as we assess the opportunities and challenges a new political agenda will bring for heritage. In particular, we will be watching with great interest and be ready to offer our advice on proposed changes to the planning system. I am already looking forward to working with Sara, and learning from her, just as I am already learning from our new trustees. We are immensely grateful for their input into the early stages of the new strategy, the 2025 events programme and the recruitment of our new chair. Alongside these changes a much larger piece of work is underway, which, if done right, will be hardly noticed. Since 1924, the AMS/ HB&P has been an unincorporated charity. This has meant that although registered, we no longer follow best practice relating to good charity governance. We have therefore made inroads to become a Charita ble Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which means that we will still have an AGM, and voting mem bers, but trustees will not be personally liable for the charity. Becoming a CIO is a complicated process, not only do we need approval from the Charity Commission, but we also need to trans fer all contacts, staff and assets to the new body; needless to say, we have had much legal assistance to ensure a smooth transfer. Over the years we have been the beneficiary of many legacies from

our members, for which we are very grateful. Such bequests enable the work of the charity to continue. For that reason, a shell company for the AMS will remain, and this aspect of change was approved at the AGM. All of these changes − new board members, new chair and new CIO − are being made to future proof the charity and to ensure we deliver on our charitable objectives. We want to ensure that HB&P will have a strong presence and high impact over the next 100 years. Our presence is important as it will attract people, both within and outside of the sector, who have not worked with us before. Likewise, our impact needs to be measurable so that we remain accountable to our supporters and funders. As members, you remain the lifeblood of the Society; that role will not diminish. In fact, quite the opposite. We are already thinking about better ways we might engage with our membership and attract more support. One way of doing this is to welcome non-members to our events, both online and in person, often invited by you, our members. This helps spread the word and expand our reach. Inviting others to join us for events or as members is just one way members show their support and belief in our role as a national amenity society. The growth of membership and support not only strengthens our voice but also increases our ca pacity to undertake more ambitious projects and initiatives. The work undertaken by the students from Worcester Polytechnic University shows just how impactful our casework has been over the past few years. Their work, talking to members and trustees, as well as analysing the casework from the past three years, reveals a very clear picture of HB&P today in 2024. See page 30 for more details. We are a proud and influential national amen ity society. We provide support and advice that is heard throughout the heritage sector. That is a great place to start from as we look to build on the changes of this, our centenary year, for the future.

Giles Quarme was elected to the council of the Ancient Monuments Society in 1984 and became our chairman in 2000, replacing Professor R. W. Brunskill. We are grateful for his longevity of service and for the great difference he has made to the Society.

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2024 Centenary Events Programme Details of all our events can be found on our website at www.hbap.org.uk

Historic Buildings & Places invites you to join us for our final 2024 centenary celebrations and to embark on an exciting new programme in 2025 entitled Nurturing Heritage which explores the ways heritage is built into, and contributes to, the heart of community life. Full details are available on our website. Book your tickets now at www.hbap.org.uk

ONLINE LECTURE SERIES

We conclude our programme of events marking our centenary with two fascinating online talks.

ONLINE CENTENARY LECTURE, WEDNESDAY 13TH NOVEMBER 2024, 6-7PM

IN PERSON AND ONLINE EVENT

Join us for our sixth and final online lecture, when the editor of our magazine and journal, Paul Holden, will look at ‘Stimulating interest in Britain’s priceless heritage: the Society’s role in publishing’. Tickets are free (with optional donation) for members and £4 for non-mem bers. Book your place online via our website at www.hbap.org.uk

ANNUAL LECTURE AT ALAN BAXTER GALLERY, MONDAY 2ND DECEMBER 2024, 6-8.30PM

For our 2024 Annual Lecture we look forward to welcoming our guest speaker Duncan Wilson, CEO of Historic England, for his talk 'The Role of the Past in Creating the Future'. Duncan will reflect upon Historic England’s role, including their engagement with the National Amenity Societies, and the positive impact of heritage in terms of economic growth and regeneration, clean energy, community cohesion, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and wellbeing. We will be hosting our annual lecture at the Alan Baxter Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EL, or online.

The title page of ‘New Series, Volume One’ of Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society , 1953.

Tickets: Members: £7 online / £11 in person Non-members: £10 online / £15 in person

ONLINE CASEWORK REVIEW, TUESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 2024, 6-7PM

HB&P PUB CLUB MEET UP

WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2024, 6-8PM Join us for the last Pub Club of the year! We will be celebrating the end of the year by relaxing in an interesting, historic pub in London and enjoying a general chat and good time. Times may vary slightly closer to the date. Exact locations and further details will be shared in our e-newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to it on our website’s homepage www.hbap.org.uk

Join us on Zoom to learn about some of our most recent secular and ecclesiastical casework and hear how the society has supported sus tainable adaptation of heritage assets in our role as a statutory consultee. Tickets: Free for all

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LOOKING FORWARD TO 2025

ONLINE TALK: THE WALLED KITCHEN GARDEN, WEDNESDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2025, 6-7PM

ONLINE LECTURE SERIES

ONLINE TALK, THE LORD LEYCESTER: SECURING A VIABLE FUTURE, WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY 2025, 6-7PM

Join us for an online talk from Lucy Pitman, co-chair of the Walled Kitchen Garden Network, and discover the fascinating history and importance of the gardens and their recent recognition and revival. Tickets are free (with optional donation) for members and £4 for non members. Book your place online via our website at www.hbap.org.uk

ONLINE TALK: THE WORKHOUSE - FROM PAUPER REFUGE TO POSH PAD, WEDNESDAY 12TH MARCH 2025, 6-7PM

Following our successful visit to the Lord Leycester Hospital in March 2024 we are delighted to welcome Matthew Vaughan from Donald Insall Associates, the conservation architects who carried out the restoration of this incredibly significant medieval site, to talk about how the project team made it all happen. The talk will explore how the intricate and sensitive upgrade works were achieved and how the building was made more accessible to the public. Above: The timber-beamed Great Hall at the Lord Leycester Hospital has been serving food for over 700 years. Today visitors are welcomed to the new café where, in 1617, the Great Banquet of Warwick was held. Bottom Right: The Windsor Union Workhouse was built to designs of George Gilbert Scott and William Moffatt between 1839 and 1840.

Join us for this online talk with Peter Higginbotham, who will look at the evolution of the workhouse and the treatment of its inmates from the 17th century until the arrival of the welfare state and National Health Service in 1948. The talk will also chart developments in workhouse archi tecture and the fate of the hundreds of buildings that once housed the nation's poor. Tickets for the above online events are free (with optional donation) for members and £4 for non-members. Book your place online via our website at www.hbap.org.uk

2025 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

We hope you have all enjoyed celebrating this special anniversary year with us, and that you will continue to support our important work by renewing your membership for 2025. Membership renewals are due at the start of January 2025. Membership rates for 2025 will be frozen at the same rate as 2024. If you have a Direct Debit or Standing Order, these will be collected automatically at the start of January (or on the date that you set up the Standing Order). Please can we remind members with Standing Orders to check that it is set up to pay the correct fee and to adjust it with your bank if it is not as we cannot amend this for you. Members without a Direct Debit or Standing Order can make a manual renewal payment via our website or by contacting us at membership@hbap.org.uk / 020 7236 3934 to arrange a bank transfer or cheque payment. For further information about membership, rates and renewal, please visit our website: https://hbap.org.uk/join-us/membership/ Thank you for your support.

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FEATURE

Three buildings by Andrew Noble Prentice

The London-based Scottish architect Andrew Prentice (1866-1941) was known for his Arts-and-Crafts houses, his commissions in the Cotswolds and his large country houses. Alan Calder , Prentice’s biographer, describes three notable buildings illustrating the wide range of his works in England and Scotland.

In 1899 Prentice secured his first country house commission. Cavenham Hall was a substantial new country house with ancillary buildings built on a large shooting estate near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. His client was H.E.M Davies whose wealth came from gold mines in South Africa. The large main house, built of dark red narrow bricks with stone dressings, was an assured and finely proportioned adaptation of the style of the great houses of the 17th century. The mansion was demolished in 1949 but the stable courtyard which included a coachman’s house survives.

Andrew Prentice’s design for the coachman’s house at Cavenham Hall was one of his most imaginative and admired early Arts-and-Crafts buildings. The layout of the accommodation was compact and straightforward. The square plan was designed with the sitting room and stair case on the west side and the living room facing east. The entrance was from the south under an open covered porch. On the first floor there were three bedrooms with an additional bedroom in the attic. The materials were red brickwork to the ground floor, render to the upper floors, half

Symington Lodge, the south facing elevation featured parapeted bay windows to the outer bays and a central bay with a Venetian window, rising to a triangular pediment with stone balustrading either side. (Images by Robert Gough, James Dawnay and Alan Calder)

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timbering to the front gable and an all-envelop ing thatched roof. Prentice’s translation of the functional plan into a lovely asymmetrical free-style external com position was masterly. His charming perspective possessed an Arts-and-Crafts cosiness and even an Alice in Wonderland quality, a trait also seen in some of the contemporary work of C.F.A. Voysey and Edward Guy Dawber. Prentice focused his at tention on the west elevation facing into the stable courtyard. Dominating the composition was the striking half-timbered staircase gable. Built off a high brickwork base and with well-judged fen estration, the half-timbering rose to a four-light window and a gable apex with a sinuous timber design. …a confident and gifted architect with an independence of thought and approach. His Arts-and-Crafts houses were consistently excellent examples of their genre. The clever geometric design of the frontage was an exercise in minimalism. Fenestration was restricted to a six-light window to the living room and the four-light staircase window. The extraordinarily steep roof slope to the left of the gable was devoid of windows. The bedroom and attic floor windows were placed in the north wall in order to create the drama of the uninterrupted thatch plunging down from the high ridge to the eaves. To the right of the gable, the thatch cascad ed down from the ridge of the staircase gable to the open timber porch, now regrettably filled in. Completing the fine composition was a substantial multi-faceted red brick chimney. At the Royal Academy in 1907, Prentice exhibited his proposals for Orchard Farm in the Upper High Street at Broadway in the Cotswolds. The build ing began life in the early 17th century as a small, two-storey L-shaped house with three rooms on the ground floor. In the 18th century, the building was extended eastwards along the road front age and a large attached barn was built at the rear of the property. In 1905, the house was bought by Lady Maud Bowes-Lyon, an aunt of the late Queen Mother, and her mother, the Countess of Strathmore. Andrew Prentice was commissioned to implement external and internal repairs to the building to bring it back to a habitable condition and also to extend the property. The stonework and stone slate roof were repaired and the internal fabric of the house was carefully restored. Much of the old constructional woodwork was in a decayed condition and was replaced.

Prentice then designed a new single-storey L-shaped wing, of kitchen quarters and a serv ants’ hall, as an eastwards continuation of the building along the street frontage. In the barn, the west-facing cart door opening was blocked up to allow an enormously wide and cavern ous fireplace to be built, and the interior became an impressively long oak panelled living room and music room with a raised dais at the south end. The roof of the barn was raised to provide a second storey for bedrooms. The eastern aspect of the barn conversion was attractively designed with a large mullioned and double transomed ground floor window and stone gabled dormer windows. A long L-shaped ground floor window was wrapped round the south-eastern corner to maximise oblique views of the garden from the music room. The eight-light stone mullioned window provided drama to the gable elevation which also accommodated a wall sundial.

TOP: Coachman’s House, Cavenham

Hall, Suffolk. Andrew Prentice’s perspective illustrated a charming and imaginative design revealing his strong allegiance to the Arts and-Crafts movement. BOTTOM: Coachman’s House, Cavenham Hall. The front elevation was designed with a dominant and assertive half-timbered gable to the staircase, well-judged fenestration and all enveloping thatched roof.

On the west facade, the barn conversion added

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TOP: Orchard Farm, the long garden elevation with the barn conversion on the right displayed Prentice’s assured and confident handling of the Cotswold tradition of architecture. RIGHT: Orchard Farm, Broadway, Worcestershire. The long leaded-light and stone mullioned L-shaped window, wrapped round the corner of the barn conversion, illustrated how Prentice would subtly and imaginatively develop the Cotswold vernacular.

and old Cotswold farmhouse to suit the modern requirements of a country house.

gravitas to the long elevation with Prentice’s chimney gable in the former cart door opening, rising elegantly to lofty stone stacks. The exten sive garden to the south and west of the house was ambitiously landscaped and featured sweep ing lawns and topiary, with individual areas defined by hedging and dry stone walls. Orchard Farm showcased Prentice’s considerable skill in remodelling, altering and extending a large

Symington Lodge, near Biggar, in Lanarkshire and built in 1914, was Prentice’s second build ing project for his shipping magnate brother Thomas Prentice, who commissioned a grand country residence to complement his town house at Kelvinside in Glasgow. The brief encompassed

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a substantial mansion, an entrance lodge, stables, garaging and the design of the garden. The large and impressive house was sited with the back drop of the gently rolling southern uplands in Scotland. Curving stone garden walls led to the north-facing entrance frontage. A main east-west orientated rectangular block was adjoined by a side wing for the kitchen quarters to the east. The drawing room, library and dining room faced south towards the gardens. The house was designed in the manner of an 18th-century Scottish classical mansion, in both the plan and the elevations. The external walls were built of a dark local whinstone with a lighter cream-coloured stone to the full-height quoins imitating pilasters, the window and door sur rounds, the cornice and stone balustrading. The colour of the light grey Aberfoyle roofing slates subtly complemented the colours of the stonework to the facades. On the symmetrical, seven-bay entrance front, a three-bay central projection rose to a wide triangular pediment capped with three urns. The handsome frontage presented an attractively designed entrance door casing and canopy and well-proportioned, multi-paned sash windows rising to a steep hipped roof with the architect’s favoured flat-roofed dormer windows. Exces

sively high and dominant chimneys loomed over the building in an almost threatening manner and were extraordinary even by the architect’s standards. The five-bay symmetrical garden front was de signed with a three-bay central projection. The façade was well composed with parapeted bay windows to the drawing room and dining room, and a central bay with a Venetian window to the library rising to a triangular pediment with stone balustrading either side. The kitchen wing, subservient to the main house, was well-judged with a lower eaves and roof height, and triangular pediments to the dormer windows. An examination of Prentice’s buildings must con clude that he was a confident and gifted architect with an independence of thought and approach. His Arts-and-Crafts houses were consistently excellent examples of their genre. He will perhaps be best remembered for his Cotswolds work which included his charming and sensitive ad ditions to such historic buildings as Court Farm, Orchard House and Abbot’s Grange in Broadway. Andrew Prentice’s life and works are described in the author’s monograph Andrew Prentice: A Scottish Architect in the Cotswolds (2024). For more details, contact acalder17@gmail.com

Symington Lodge, near Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The handsome front elevation was designed in the manner of an 18th-century Scottish classical mansion. The three-bay central projection rose to a wide triangular pediment capped with three stone urns.

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CASEWORK

Casework review

Ross Anthony

Matthew Saunders

Our casework officers Ross Anthony and Matthew Saunders highlight recent casework which demonstrates the broad range of work we do across buildings and places of all types and ages.

THE STATUTORY ROLE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES Historic Buildings and Places (HB&P) is recog nised as one of the National Amenity Societies un der the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 . This means we are a statutory consultee on applications for listed building consent in England and Wales. The government has reconfirmed this role in the recently updated Arrangements for handling heritage applications – notification to Historic England and National Amenity Societies and the Secretary of State (England) Direc tion 2021 . The direction requires all local planning authorities to consult the amenity societies on all applications involving the partial or total demoli tion of a listed building. Our remit covers build ings of all types and all ages.

boundary and protect the curtilage and local views around the church. The leisure centre was recently demolished and the proposed new restaurant would be located on the car park site next to the church, particularly close to the ruins at the rear, and would extend across part of the graveyard. The overall site is large and, if a drive-through is considered an appropriate town centre use, there is opportunity to locate the restaurant in a less sensitive area toward the port. Our opposition has been widely covered in the local media.

Proposed restaurant development in Dover (Planware, part of the application)

SECULAR CASEWORK BY ROSS ANTHONY

LAND NEXT TO THE RUINS OF CHURCH OF ST JAMES, DOVER, KENT

HB&P have objected to a scheme for a drive through restaurant at the base of Dover Castle next to the ruins of the 11th-century Church of St James (later used as a court for the Admiralty and the Barons of the Cinque Ports). The ruins with extensive graveyard, once situated within the old town walls of Dover, were badly damaged during in the second world war, but were preserved as a memorial − both are a scheduled monument and Grade II listed. The graveyard closed in 1862 and, after a brief programme of archaeology and burial removal in the 1970s, a car park was built along with a leisure centre to the south. The car park was not ideal but it did demarcate the graveyard

GARTHMYL HALL, GARTHMYL, MONTGOMERY, POWYS

The first house on the site was timber-framed and built during the late-17th century. This was re placed in 1762 by the present house which in turn was substantially remodelled in 1859. This work by James K. Colling introduced stone quoins, new fenestration, a pediment and Tuscan porch, as well as a service range to the rear and a conserva tory to the side. The Grade II building also sits

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within a Grade II registered park and garden and is currently used as a wedding venue. It remains a good example of well-preserved mid-19th century grounds enhancing the setting of a fine small, Italianate country house. The hall itself has been restored and redecorated, but a large ‘temporary’ marquee stands on a ter race on the site of the former conservatory. HB&P have raised concerns with a proposal to replace the marquee with a permanent banqueting hall. The location on the east elevation facing the main gardens within key views of the house, as well as the boxy design, make it an inappropriate per manent addition. We have requested an options appraisal to investigate other locations that would reduce the impact on the composition and setting of the house and garden, or potentially consider reinstating the large conservatory, for which good archival evidence remains, to inform a new design. This mill is nestled into the west side of the Pen nines, next to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and Dingle Brook. It dates to 1772 and is one of the earliest mills to survive in the area. Initially it was a teasing mill, but by the early 1800s it was extended and used for cotton spinning. By 1900 it had become a tannery − powered by an internal waterwheel drawing water diverted from Diggle Brook. Gas power was installed in the 1920s and the mill race was back-filled. The original 1700s portion of the building was, in part, later used as a dwelling, but it has been vacant for over a dec ade. A proposed development will convert it to a mix of holiday lets and a co-working hub. While the structural repairs and a new use is welcome, a large, parallel range is planned to the rear, which overwhelms the original mill building. We are concerned about a large, 2.5 storey ‘picture window’ opening to the front elevation of the older 1770s building (which involves the loss of the ramp), the lowering of the basement level, remov ing all evidence of the mill race, as well as the loss of other historic building fabric, such as floors and some of the original oak beams. BROWNHILL BRIDGE MILL, SADDLEWORTH, OLDHAM

street in Brecon. But its heritage significance lies within its design and as one of the first new post war libraries in Wales to be built. Influenced by Scandinavian architectural thinking, the build ing’s flexibility and openness facilitates a variety of reading material in one space, including a specialist children’s section and Welsh language books. The library facilities have been relocated and it is now proposed to convert the building into a school. A viability assessment concluded that few other uses in the town would need a floorplate of this size and the school use would keep the building as a whole, rather than requiring a hard subdivision for multiple units. Concerns were raised about the impact of subdividing the space into individual classrooms, which would alter the open plan that contributes to the significance. We recommended that movable (and reversable) dividers be considered to address the issue and allow flexibility and that original space to be

TOP: Garthmyl Hall, Powys, a Grade II-listed building, built in 1762 and remodelled in 1859 by James K. Colling for the owner, Major Gould. (Tyssil) BOTTOM: Brownhill Bridge Mill, Oldham. We remain concerned about the loss of fabric to this important 18th-century mill. (M. Smith)

SHIP STREET LIBRARY, BRECON, BANNAU BRYCHEINIOG (BRECON BEACONS) NATIONAL PARK

Constructed in 1969 as the county library for Bre conshire, the modern design has long been con troversial not least because it replaced a row of medieval buildings. It remains an anomaly within the otherwise traditional architecture of the high

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elevations which is causing extensive internal damp issues. But the initial scheme went too far, attempting to adapt the house for modern life, rather than celebrating its rich history. More harmful proposals include new window open ings, realigning Georgian partitions, removing plasterwork for the installation of a dry cavity membrane to the walls, realigning the stair and staircase hall ceiling, altering the historic roof structure to create a parapet and replacement of historic doors and fireplaces. The local conser vation officer has worked had to negotiate and address our objections and a lot of concessions were made by the applicant to allow the scheme to finally be approved. Vision King’s Lynn is a draft Town Investment Plan by King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council to regenerate its historic riverfront and town centre. The plan involves underutilised buildings includ ing the Grade I listed Custom House – a building of exceptional national significance and widely regarded as the finest building in the region. Sitting on Purfleet Quay, it was built in 1683 to designs by Henry Bell and was the first classical building to be built in the town. It remains em blematic of the growth and status of King’s Lynn at the time and has been described in Pevsner as ‘one of the most perfect classical buildings in provincial England.’ THE CUSTOMS HOUSE, PURBECK DOCK, KING’S LYNN, NORFOLK

TOP: Former Ship Street Library, Brecon. Built in 1969 as the county library for Breconshire. It was designed by the County Architects Department under the direction of J. A. McRobbie. (Tyssil) BOTTOM: King’s Lynn Customs House, built as a merchants’ exchange in 1683, commissioned by Sir John Turner MP, a local wine merchant and three times town mayor. (CC-BY-SA-2.0/ Habiloid)

easily reinstated. Concessions made on both sides and sound proof glass panels will be installed in the classroom divisions, so that a sense of inter connectivity is maintained.

MANDINAM, LLANGADOG, CARMARTHENSHIRE

The Mandinam estate, Llangadog, near Llando very, means ‘place without blemish’. At its heart is a Grade II listed, double pile house, probably of the late-17th to early-18th century, which was gentrified in the 18th century, re-fronted in the 1830s and further extended and altered internally in the 1900s. The house needs extensive repair, including the removal of cement render to the

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The ground floor arcades were originally open as a meeting place for merchants, but was enclosed in the early to mid-1700s, around the time it was formally purchased by the Crown for full use as the Customs House. The enclosed arcades have remained in place virtually unaltered for 300 years, though we understand the current glazing is 19th-century. The infills may not be original, but given its long term civic function, this second phase is arguably more significant than its initial phase as a merchant exchange. The oak staircase and bolection moulded panelling was installed in 1718, likely to coincide with the enclosure of the ground floor. The lower steps were remade in the 1930s in the same style following flood damage. The draft plan has proposed a café/restaurant/ function space and the opening up of the arched arcade bays and, potentially, excavation into the basement for a commercial kitchen. Ejection of the 300 year-old infill walls and glazing would result in a significant change to the character and form of the building, and the related removal of the 18th-century internal partitions and altera tions to the stair, would cumulatively amount to a high-level of harm. HB&P therefore has objected to those demolitions and changes. The Customs House is a rare survivor and any changes would need to be outweighed by a clear and long term public benefit, which HB&P do not consider has been made at this stage and further options need to be considered. We reported in the last edition of Heritage Now about a scheme to convert the former St James' Baths (1932, Grade II listed ) in Doncaster into a hotel and leisure facility. Amended plans and a her itage statement were produced, which addressed some of our concerns about changes to the support spaces. However, HB&P remains concerned about the lack of detailing and impact assessment within the main pool hall, particularly how the pool will be split in half, the impact on the historic tiling and the extent of changes proposed to the balconies that extend along three sides of the hall. The developer behind the Liverpool Street Station redevelopment issued a press statement advising that they intend to submit an amended scheme before the end of the year, though the statement suggests this is mainly to address the protected view corridor to St Paul’s Cathedral. Given 90% of the development site is above a listed build ing (both the station concourse and the hotel), it is unlikely amended plans will address any of the significant concerns raised by HB&P, the other amenity societies or Historic England. We are pleased that the application to demol ish Rawlings Farm in Buckinghamshire, a locally UPDATES ON PREVIOUS CASES

listed house with 17th-century origins, has been withdrawn. We welcome Birmingham City Coun cil’s refusal of what they call an ‘utterly ludicrous’ proposal for a 42-storey tower straddling a Grade II listed former Georgian villa at 80 Broad Street. The planning committee vote was unanimous.

ABOVE: Benenden, Kent, a proposal for a new toilet block to be attached to the south porch. Should the small extension be aligned with the side wall of the porch and extend towards the tower or should it jut towards the camera at a canted angle?

ECCLESIASTICAL CASES BY MATTHEW SAUNDERS

BENENDEN, KENT, ST GEORGE

St George’s is placed in picturesque majesty at the head of the village green which is bounded to the east by a converted school by George Devey and to the north by a run of vernacular cottages. Quintessential ‘Garden of England’. We visited in the middle of June to discuss a proposal for a new toilet block to be attached to the south porch. The textures are so exquisite – the irregular 13th century stones of the porch and the richer honey hue of the aisle, rebuilt in part with great care by David Brandon in the 1860s − that the instincts are to say, ‘You must find somewhere else.’ But a consensus seems to have emerged which rates this site highly for practical reasons. So we are having to argue not whether, but how. The presently pro posed footprint is for a hammerhead jutting out at a canted angle dictated by the buttresses of the porch and the aisle, both of which it avoids as a re sult. But we felt that this would strike a discordant note and we are pressing for the newcomer to fol low the line, slightly recessed, of the porch, run ning on the west-east axis. This will mean greater masking (but no destruction) of historic fabric but will appear a more organic extension. Everything pivots on the turning circle required for someone in a wheelchair on which we are in discussion with the architect. We shall also be pressing for the use of irregularly variegated Wealden Sandstone for the exterior.

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CASEWORK

BEXHILL ON SEA, EAST SUSSEX, ST BARNABAS

St Barnabas is a substantial building with, in effect, two naves and two aisles, the combined creation of Sir Arthur Blomfield (1891), his son, C. J. Blomfield and L. T. Moore who rebuilt much of the chancel in 1935. The church has been under threat of demoli tion for some time, especially after a fire in 2005. A scheme to form a doctor’s surgery in part of it fell through and now, on the back of a £800,000 be quest, the parish are looking to keep the building in religious use, although with later plans for external lets – in phase 2 they will subdivide the north aisle and the south nave/south aisle. The main (Blom field) nave and chancel and the Lady Chapel at the east end of the south nave, the principal areas of elaboration would stay now and into the longer term and are, no surprise there, the richest spaces. Phase 1 which is all they consulted on formally in the Spring of 2024 moves the font and creates toilets and servery in the north aisle, which is to be partitioned off. Probably the most significant loss is the tester to the pulpit which would be a casu alty of that partitioning. Given the sea-change in approach to the building, these compromises seem unobjectionable. St Nicholas was a victim of Hitler’s Baedeker raids on Bristol in 1940. The nave had been the work of James Bridges and Thomas Paty (1762-69) who re tained the 14th-century medieval crypt. The shell was gutted by the firebombs and remained roof less until 1974 when the building was reincarnated as one of the country’s few church museums. This closed in 2007 and from 2018 St Nicholas has been resurrected as a new place of worship aimed par ticularly at the City’s student population. There are now plans to bring the crypt back into use but that needs a lift. We supported the view that it must not be punched through medieval fabric and a location has emerged which would sacrifice subsidiary 18th-century vaulting. One major unresolved element on the site is a huge painting by William Hogarth − Sealing the Tomb − painted in 1755 for St Mary Redcliffe. The Victori ans did not appreciate it and after removal in 1858 it ended up as the property of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The authorities were pleased to see it as the largest exhibit in the church museum and it remains in St Nicholas, albeit hidden behind curtaining. There are (very) long term plans to re patriate it to St Mary Redcliffe but that depends on the construction of a purpose-built new facility. In the interim we urged that the curtain be drawn back so that it might be enjoyed. BRISTOL, ST NICHOLAS

ABOVE: Blomfield at Bexhill. We are opposed to earlier plans for more extensive changes and have also resisted closure. Now everything shown here will stay except for the tester to the pulpit (and we hope the green plastic chairs). LEFT: The medieval crypt at St Nicholas survived Hitler and will be spared the indignity of a lift.

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DOUAI ABBEY, UPPER WOOLHAMPTON, BERKS

phasised by a new screen and glazing-in. Blee was not asked to include any confessionals and that function is presently performed in the monastic buildings themselves. We re-visted the site in July and a compromise is expected.

ABOVE: Douai Abbey − the drama of contrast.

BELOW: Smyrna Chapel Llangefni – now in safe hands.

Douai is one of the most powerful examples since the war of an uncompromising extension to a Gothic church − made even so by the fact that the Gothic is so late. The image is taken from the choir designed by J. Arnold Crush that was built between 1928 and 1933. His client was the Catholic Benedictine community of monks that had been thrown out of anti-clerical France just a few decades before. But plans ground to a halt with only the choir and its aisles and the Lady Chapel finished and matters stayed that way for some time. Then the late Michael Blee was com missioned in 1989 to complete a truncated nave which, with a spectacular disregard for the lan guage of Gothic, even if some nod to its spirit, he did with a new polygonal top-lit space where the great concrete passing rafters are trenched into massive concrete revetments. The result is more shotgun marriage than gentle fusion but Blee’s work has its own forceful presence which we felt deserved to partake in the Grade II* listing that was granted to Crush’s work in 1983, barely 50 years after construction (the listing description remains unrevised and does not mention Blee at all). Given the elemental importance of symmetry in the Blee design we had to oppose a scheme to create an asymmetrical confessional room on one side of the entrance, which would be further em

LLANGEFNI, ANGLESEY, FORMER SMYRNA CHAPEL

Smyrna (originating of 1840 but a rebuild of 1903) is one Welsh chapel that has fallen into benign hands. Two young Welshmen and their families have returned to their native Anglesey (Ynys

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Picturesque magic at Llanlowell, an ‘old and gnarled’ church which so moved William Morris and John Ruskin.

Mon) and purchased it with a view to living in the Sunday School and keeping the chapel space in community use. They have even secured the communion plate to prevent dispersal and set about the professional conservation of the bibles. Although there is undoubtedly comfort in seeing the full conservation of the chapel and Sunday School proceed at the same pace we recognise the logic of the sequencing that is planned – secur ing a presence on site by converting the Sunday School in the first place should help to prevent a repeat of the tragedy that hit the County Council Offices opposite where a vacant listed building drew the arsonists late in 2023. And the good news does not stop there − the applicants longer term plan, through ‘Smyrna Heritage’, to be based at the chapel, is to take on other conserva tion projects elsewhere in Wales. And in an equivalent case in England, we op posed a damaging scheme of conversion in the modestly evocative chapel at Garsdale in the Yorkshire Dales built in 1841. That application has now been withdrawn.

Our wonderful sister charity, The Friends of Friendless Churches, has taken a record number of redundant churches into care in recent years but buildings like St Llywel, which is ‘just listed Grade II’ and is very plain inside can survive only with a new use. But this must be done with understand ing and care. A residential scheme recently re ferred to us subdivided the interior vertically and horizontally to create a single house. Quite apart from the fact that computer-derived drawings are no way to capture the subtlety and archaeological complexity of a building that is approaching its second millennium, there was no heritage impact assessment nor design and access statement nor indeed any other paperwork showing any under standing of St Llywel as a listed building. The east window appeared to be taken out. It is something at least that the exterior will not be altered. Resi dential conversion may be the only feasible way forward but how it is done is all important and we have expressed great concern. As already rehearsed at Benenden above, one of the most profound challenges in conservation is how to extend an historic church. The image shows the west front of the church at Old Mil verton where the parish want to append a new counselling and meeting room which they hope will better assure the long-term sustainability of the building. But, as can be easily seen, the present charm lies in the asymmetrical, picturesque grouping – of the heavily rebuilt medieval tower and the Victorian aisles (architect, John Gibson). What is proposed is an over-square box and we had to say that the contrast will be uncomfortable OLD MILVERTON, WARKS, ST JAMES THE GREAT

OPPOSITE PAGE TOP RIGHT: How do you

LLANLOWELL, MONMOUTHSHIRE, ST LLYWEL

extend a church like Old Milverton in ways that echo the subtlety, variety and informality of the original? BOTTOM: Salford Roman Catholic Cathedral. The interior is already much less severe than shown here and the reinstatement of lost character is to continue with the uncovering of the mural that used to sit over the chancel arch.

Only 1000 years, give or take a century, can create such an exquisite, picturesque effect as this, the exterior of the ancient church of St Llywel. It is the sort of guileless ‘old and gnarled’ church which so moved William Morris and John Ruskin. At the time of its redundancy in 2016 the church had windows ranging from the Norman to Perpen dicular, that is from the 12th to the 16th centuries, a 12th-century circular font and a particularly fine east window of 1897 (designed by A. L. Moore).

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and unacceptable. We urged a return to First Prin ciples – is the extension necessary and viable? If it is, it needs to be pushed back so it projects west ward from the outer aisle. The rectilinear form needs to be dropped in favour of more informal massing, the footprint needs to be the minimum required and external materials chosen to match the quality of the existing. And there needs to be no truck with large expanses of glazing. Amended proposals are expected.

SALFORD, GREATER MANCHESTER ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL

Salford Roman Catholic Cathedral (1844-48, by M. E. Hadfield) is on a welcome trajectory. Having been a by-word for emasculation in 1970-71 to make it conform with the demands of Vatican 11 (the image shows some of the effects, particularly the destruction of the impressive reredos of 1855 by George Goldie) the cathedral has been beauti fully, if partially, reinstated in recent years at the hands of Purcells, the conservation practice. HB&P have been consulted at each of the stages and in 2024 we have been able to welcome the projected recovery of the lost mural which used to grace the chancel arch, shown here. This was wholly painted over in 1971 but used to portray the ‘Bishops Tree’, Salford’s equivalent of the

Apostolic Succession. We appreciated that there is no exact ‘original’ schema to uncover in that at least two patterns, occasionally in conflict, have been identified but the programme (the line age of the bishops) suffers where there are gaps more than other less precise depictions would. We therefore raised no objection if key lost elements significant to the programme had to be recreated. The historic photos suggest that the wording, the coats of arms and the repeated background should be capable of recapture by a skilled artist (which would be less true of a more pictorial, more free-flowing design). The view would be from a distance which increases the chance that the ‘new’ and ‘old’ would merge well.

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