Heritage Now #10

CASEWORK

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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HERITAGE NOW (03/2024) WINTER 2024