Heritage Now #10

CASEWORK

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 That application has now been withdrawn.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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HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES