Heritage Now #10

IN CONVERSATION

fundraising charity, the Buildings Books Trust (latterly the Pevsner Books Trust), which was set up under Penguin in the 1990s. These arrangements have averted the need to slow down or scale back the process of revision so the books have continued to appear in a steady stream: 43 revised Buildings of England volumes since 2002, of a total of 56 in the revised series. And Yale has also been more active in marketing the books and getting them into the shops which was a weak link in the chain in our latter days at Penguin. For the user, probably the most obvious change under Yale has been the move to colour for the photo insets of the hardbacks, after Clare Hartwell’s Man chester city guide broke with the monochrome tradition in our final year at Penguin. Everyone with an interest in our built heritage owes everyone involved with the Pevsner guides a huge debt of gratitude. How do you view their legacy? Revision of the whole English series since 1983 has allowed the books to re main a definitive resource as the study of architectural history has developed and matured. Had work stopped in 1974, the first series would have remained of interest as a survey of the post-war architectural scene, but it would have missed out on the great diversification of architectural history that has fol lowed. Authors writing for the revised series have therefore had to grapple with a much wider variety of building types and angles of approach than Pevsner ever did. Vernacular buildings and industrial archaeology come to mind, as does the evolving sense of 20th-century architecture as a subject of historical interest as well as a matter for personal critical response. The larger format of the revised series has allowed the Buildings of England to re flect this broadening of interest, and to help in pushing forward some of the frontiers of knowledge and understanding. We also hope that the books will continue to be used not just as standard works of reference but also as field guides, as Pevsner always intended. For instance, a lot of work goes into ensuring that the descriptions reflect the ways in which buildings are encountered on the ground, that perambulations are easy to follow, and that distances and directions are clear and accurate.

In the longer term, the obvious next step is to provide a digital version of the gazetteer entries for England, Scotland and Wales, in a form that would also allow further corrections and additions to be made.

ABOVE: Birmingham, Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Ashley and Strathcona buildings, by Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis (1961-4). (James O. Davies)

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HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES