Heritage Now #10

FROM THE SECTOR

News from the heritage sector

WALES

CHALLENGES TO THATCH SUPPLY THREATEN VITAL RURAL INDUSTRY

The Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice launched a 15-week consultation on the draft Priorities for Culture: 2024–2030 . The document is shaped by the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 and its goal of ‘A Wales of Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language’. It focuses on three main priori ties − bringing people together through culture, promoting Wales as a nation of culture and ensuring the culture sector is resilient and sustainable. These priorities are supported by a further 20 ambitions for the culture sector which encompasses the arts, museums, archives, libraries and the historic environ ment. However, the actions relating to heritage are largely confirmed to a brief mention of Cadw’s statutory duties. HB&P, in collaboration with the Wales Heritage Group, is seeking greater recognition of the contribution of Wales’s built heritage to its culture, particularly local vernacular architecture, and hope this will be included in the final ‘Priorities’ document. The consultation closed on 4 September 2024. The Welsh Government has also published new guidance on public commemora tion which intends to help local authorities, town and community councils, and other public bodies reach well-informed decisions about existing and future public commemorations. This will help them play their part in making Wales an anti-rac ist nation and celebrate individuals from all parts of our society who have made an outstanding contribution to Welsh life. ENGLAND Following the General Election, some big changes have been made to the key departments that oversee the historic environment, with the Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government reverting to its previous name −The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Sir Chris Bryant (MP for Rhondda and Ogmore) has been appointed Minster for Creative Indus tries, Arts and Tourism, and his role will cover the heritage brief. The ministry has launched a consultation for amendments to the NPPF which reintroduces housing targets, introduces the concept of ‘grey belt’ (essentially brownfield land in the green belt with development potential) and removes restrictions on the develop ment of onshore wind energy. Since 2015, the development of onshore wind energy has been subject to extra measures necessitating local community ap proval, something that no other form of development was required to achieve, and was considered a de facto ban on onshore wind. They will now be assessed under the same criteria as other energy infrastructure where issues around the setting of heritage assets and protected landscapes will be relevant. The House of Commons Library has published a research briefing on housing and net zero, exploring how improved energy efficiency and energy performance certificates (EPCs) are to be utilised to reduce emissions in line with the UK’s aim of net zero by 2050. It also gives a brief overview of methods of decarbonising existing homes. See the House of Commons website for more. HB&P has been involved with the delivery of carbon literacy training for the heritage sector on behalf of Historic England.

A new report published by Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland highlights threats to the thatching industry. The majority of growers and producers of cereal straw for England’s traditional thatching industry are currently relying on old, inef ficient and unreliable machinery, as thatch straw production is incompatible with modern combine har vesters. English thatcher’s also warn they are facing a shortage of thatching materials, due to a series of poor harvests caused by changing weather patterns, as well as difficulties in finding skilled thatchers and reed cutters. Thatchers are often booked years in ad vance and HB&P have now seen several applications to change roof materials as a result of the shortage of both materials and labour. The Grade II* monastic buildings at Downside Abbey, near Radstock in Somerset, have been vacant since the monks relocated to Devon in 2022. Furniture, sculpture and paintings were auctioned in 2023 and a resurvey of the remaining buildings has been undertaken before any further disposal, resulting in three new listings at Grade II. These are the Grecian Lodge and gate piers (c. 1827, designed by H. E. Goodridge), the Ball Place (Ball courts, c. 1854, designed by Charles Hansom) and the Abbey Library (1965 by Francis Pollen) comprising a five-storey octagonal structure above a circular pedestal. In London, the Western Marble Arch Synagogue has been granted Grade II status. The original cres cent on Great Cumberland Place was built between 1775 and 1789 as part of the Portman Estate. The southern end of the crescent suffered serious bomb damage during the second world war and was rede veloped between 1958 and 1961 to designs by T. P. Bennett and Son. The development reinstated the Georgian buildings facing the crescent as offices and apartments, with the 1960s prayer hall built behind. The listing notes the striking interior of the synagogue, making use of varied geometric forms in combination with lavish and inventive application of materials and detailing. In Colchester, Essex, the former infirmary stables at the Royal Artillery (Le Cateau) Barracks, built in 1874-75 to designs by Lieutenant General Charles Brisbane Ewart, deputy director of works, are listed at Grade II. The listing recognises the building as a LISTING NEWS

THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER

The Palace of Westminster world heritage site had previously been recommended for inclusion on the ‘in danger’ list, but upcoming changes to the London Plan , including better protection of view corridors and limits on tall buildings, meant this was avoided.

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HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES