Institute of Historic Building Conservation No 183 March 2025
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CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 1 www.ihbc.org.uk @IHBCtweet Registered as a charity in England and Wales number 1061593, in Scotland number SC041945, and listed in Northern Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England number 3333780 Registered Office: Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Officers President Mike Brown, president@ihbc.org.uk Vice President Rebecca Thompson, vicepresident@ihbc.org.uk Chair David McDonald, chair@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair Lone Le Vay, vchair@ihbc.org.uk Secretary Jo Evans, ihbcsecretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer Jill Kerry, treasurer@ihbc.org.uk National Office Director Seán O’Reilly, director@ihbc.org.uk Operations Director Fiona Newton, operations@ihbc.org.uk, consultations@ihbc.org.uk Administration Officer Lydia Porter, admin@ihbc.org.uk Education,Training & Application Support Officer Angharad Hart, training@ihbc.org.uk Membership Services Officer Carmen Moran, membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk Professional Services Officer Michael Netter, services@ihbc.org.uk Committee Chairs Policy Roy Lewis, policy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics Andrew Shepherd, membership@ihbc.org.uk Education Chris Wood, education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach Dave Chetwyn, communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Contacts North north@ihbc.org.uk North West northwest@ihbc.org.uk Yorkshire yorkshire@ihbc.org.uk West Midlands westmids@ihbc.org.uk East Midlands eastmids@ihbc.org.uk South south@ihbc.org.uk South West southwest@ihbc.org.uk East Anglia eastanglia@ihbc.org.uk South East southeast@ihbc.org.uk London london@ihbc.org.uk Scotland scotland@ihbc.org.uk Wales wales@ihbc.org.uk Northern Ireland northernireland@ihbc.org.uk Republic of Ireland republicofireland@ihbc.org.uk Rest of the World overseas@ihbc.org.uk 2 Briefing 4 Periodically 7 The writer’s voice 8 Legal update: Alexandra Fairclough 10 Obituary: Chris Topp 13 Editorial 14 Wellbeing and heritage: making a difference Linda Monckton and Desi Gradinarova 20 The economics of heritage and wellbeing Thomas Colwill and Adala Leeson 23 Workplace wellbeing in the heritage sector Angharad Hart 26 Healing through heritage Elaine Griffiths 29 Broken pots, mending lives Richard Osgood 32 Bricks, mortar and emotions Alexandra Dziegiel 35 Heritage, ageing and wellbeing Jessica Bowden Other features 37 Nairn’s Liverpool revisited Ian Wray 40 The destruction of the English country house Graham Tite Regulars 44 Notes from the chair 45 Director’s cut 47 New member profile 49 Inter alia 50 Vox pop 52 Reviews 58 Products and services 60 Specialist suppliers index
Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Nigel Crowe Aimée Felton Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Duncan McCallum Fiona Newton Jonathan Taylor Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2025 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £65.00 Elsewhere £100.00 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/context_archive. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: Leaders of conservation thought, June, issue 184 (11 April) Technical: roofing, September, issue 185 (11 July) Infrastructure, December, issue 186 (10 October) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 Briefing Institute of Historic Building Conservation No 183 March 2025 Cover illustration by Rob Cowan. Heritage Fund winners The National Lottery Heritage Fund has granted £27 million to what it describes as ‘saving seven lesser-known UK heritage treasures’, and £1.25 million to eight church projects with ‘innovative people-centred plans’. Edinburgh’s Old Royal High School on Calton Hill has been given support of up to £5 million. The building, designed by Greekrevivalist architect Thomas Hamilton, was built in the 1820s as the Royal High School. Vacant and at risk for over 50 years since the school’s relocation, the building is to become a venue and catalyst for music and culture. £4.7 million will support the restoration of the Grade II* listed Canada House in Sheffield’s The Old Royal High School, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, receives funding to become a centre for music and culture (Photo: Mike Wilkinson) Canada House in Castlegate, Sheffield, set to become a music venue (Photo: Vox Media)
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 3 Castlegate. Built in 1875 as offices for the Sheffield United Gas Light Company, the building will become a home for young musicians called Harmony Works. Restoration of the currently unused building will offer a range of practice, rehearsal and performance spaces and facilities that are not available in a single location elsewhere in the region. It will become the new home for Sheffield Music Academy and Sheffield Hub, and a base for many organisations including Brass Bands England, Music in the Round, Choir with No Name, Orchestras for All and Concerteenies. It will also support the University of Sheffield’s music department and the Sheffield College. In Colchester an £8 million grant will restore and convert the Grade II* listed Jumbo Water Tower, making it accessible to the public for the first time as a heritage and events space. Jumbo is said to be the last intact listed water tower. All Saints’ Church in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has been awarded £138,000 to develop plans for urgent conservation of the Grade II* listed building and its Edwardian wall paintings, and to develop its plans to deliver a programme of traditional skills development. The United Reformed Church and St George’s Church in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, are less than a mile apart. They each have a rare pipe organ, built by one of Britain’s leading 19th-century makers, Lewis and Company, founded by Thomas Christopher Lewis. The £163,600 grant will help reinforce links between the two places of worship through the Discover Jesmond 1888 project. As well as conserving the organs, the project will create a heritage trail and events programme to engage the community. In Bulmer, North Yorkshire, St Martin’s Church will use its £248,500 grant to conserve and improve the thermal efficiency of its 14th-century tower and improve access. Lochwinnoch Church, Renfrewshire, will receive £198,250 to support plans to buy the Category A listed church and transform it into a multi-use community hub. Jumbo Water Tower in Colchester, to be restored as a heritage and events space (Photo: Chris Gorman) St Martin’s Church, Bulmer, North Yorkshire: improving the tower’s thermal efficiency Edwardian wall paintings in All Saints’ Church, Helmsley, North Yorkshire: funding for conservation and skills development
4 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 Periodically C20 The most recent issue of C20, the magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, looks at a conservation success story which is very much the result of local enthusiasm, tenacity and commitment: restoring Brighton and Hove’s 1938 Saltdean Lido. Described by English Heritage as ‘one of the seven wonders of the English seaside’, it was disfigured in wartime and closed in 1995, until a long, exemplary restoration began in 2017. The magazine notes that the 30-year rule for listing means that important buildings completed in 1994 are now eligible for protection. It points out that some proactivity might be desirable in identifying important buildings that will be eligible for protection in the next, say, two to five years. Given the pace of commercial development in particular, there seems no guarantee that buildings of high merit of the last three decades may be secured from loss or unsympathetic alteration. The magazine asks: why wait until the bulldozers roll in to make a move to save younger buildings? The society’s new campaign is to take action on that issue. The Winter 2024 issue has an article about the life and legacy of inspired modernist architect Carlo Scarpa, with particular reference to his home city of Venice. There is a very entertaining article about the architectural cartoonist Louis Hellman, who some IHBC members with long memories and a suitable wall (I’m one) will recall having produced an edition of memorable signed cartoon prints celebrating ‘The Conservation Officer’, to coincide with the transition from the Association of Conservation Officers to the IHBC in 1997. Construction Historian The latest issue (No 14, Winter 2024–25) of the Construction Historian, the magazine of the Construction History Society, examines a number of buildings. One is the Grade II* 1899 Bristol Tramway Generator Building, now part of a wider regeneration scheme of the Old Brewery Quarter. Its construction was recorded in an album of photographs which has been preserved with the building, documenting the sequence of construction. There is a description of the Sentinel Works in Jesse Street, Glasgow. Scotland’s first reinforced concrete building was completed in 1905, abandoned in the 1960s and has been slowly deteriorating since the 1980s. The article sheds light on the importance of the building as a testimony to the early reinforced concrete industry in the Saltdean Lido (Photo: Oast House Archive, Wikimedia)
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 5 UK by highlighting the technology behind its construction. The Construction History Society has its own YouTube channel on which have been posted all the talks from the society’s 2021 annual conference, and other talks may be added in the future. These can be accessed at www.youtube.com/@ constructionhistorysociety3794/ playlists. The society has made its X/Twitter account dormant and has set up an account on Bluesky: @constructionhist. bsky.social. It seems that many other organisations are taking the same route. Construction History Construction History, the international journal of the Construction History Society, casts its net widely and Vol 39, No 2, 2024 is no exception. The papers include the US movement for mass-produced concrete housing, 1900 to 1924; the search for earthquake-resistant construction systems in Chile after the 1906 Valparaiso earthquake; and the construction of the anechoic (silence test) chamber at the Building Research Station. Two papers may be of particular interest. The first is a paper written by authors at the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid and Cartagena, about the disconnect between the technical knowledge represented in historic manuscripts and actual building practice as evidenced through a physical structure itself. The paper reminds us of the importance of interrogating historical sources. It raises questions about the validity of historic building manuals and treatises, and asks whether the technical authors really were in possession of all of the detailed knowledge necessary to build the structures they described. If they were not, who actually possessed the relevant expertise during the construction process, and how should we interpret historic manuscripts written by architects and engineers? Although the case study is from Spain, the lessons could have interesting implications for practice by heritage professionals here. Second, a paper describes the John Laing and Son photographic collection, comprising more than 230,000 images of the company’s work over more than a century as a major UK civil engineering and housebuilding business. The paper looks at how the imagery drives a specific and intended presentation of Laing, using photography to create an identity both of the company as a corporate body and as a mechanism to encourage a particular character within its workforce. The paper by Tony Presland looks at the use of photographic images in advertising, branding, and internal and external documents. It concludes that it is not possible to identify any unique aspects of Laing’s approach to its corporate identity. SPAB Magazine In the Winter 2024 edition of the SPAB Magazine, SPAB chief executive Matthew Slocombe highlights an issue that might concern heritage practitioners, arising in parallel with the revision of the National Planning Policy Framework. The text of the NPPF’s heritage section remains unchanged but the government has taken the opportunity once again to ask about application fees. Although no fees are currently levied for submitting a scheme for a listed building, the SPAB has responded that such fees could act as an additional burden on owners and a deterrent to seeking consent; but that if a reasonable fee could ensure a speedy, well-informed decision, and revenue could be fenced in law for conservation advice, there might be a general benefit in such a change. It will be interesting to note the response of other heritage bodies and the outcome of this enquiry in due course. The Winter issue particularly concentrates on the climate crisis and how historic buildings can manage, adapt and recover from the impact of water. It identifies CONSTRUCTION ____HISTORY Volume 39, No. 2 2024 ____ International Journal of the Construction History Society CONSTRUCTION HISTORY Volume 39, No. 2 2024 CONSTRUCTION HISTORY International Journal of the Construction History Society Vol. 39 No. 2 (2024) CONTENTS Editorial Inge Bertels, Nicholas Bill, Michael Chrimes, Sarah Melsens, Yiting Pan, and David Yeomans i Theory and Practice in Sixteenth-Century Stonecutting: The ‘Bóveda de Murcia’ in the Manuscript of Alonso de Vandelvira Enrique Rabasa-Díaz, José Calvo-López, Pau Natividad-Vivó 1 The U.S. Movement for Mass-Produced Concrete Housing, 1900 to 1924 Etien Santiago 23 The Search for Earthquake-Resistant Construction Systems in Chile after 1906 Valparaíso Earthquake Sandro Maino, Stephen Tobriner 51 Constructing Identity: The Photographic Archive of John Laing and Son Ltd’s UK Operations, 1914-2002 Tony Presland 81 Revolutionising Engineering Under Duress: The Qi River Project’s Impact on Lock Engineering and Cement Innovation During the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945 Zhenyu Zhu, Haiqing Li 103 Free Fields and Four Foot Walls: Constructing the First Silent Test Chamber at the Building Research Station Fiona Smyth 133 Book Reviews The Fabric Accounts of Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, 1292-1396 Edited by Tim Ayres, Translations and Transcriptions by Maureen Jurkowski The Imperial Underbelly. Workers, Contractors, and Entrepreneurs in Colonial India and Scandinavia Edited by Gunnel Cederlöf Interwar: British architecture 1919-39 by Gavin Stamp 157 159 162
6 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 a number of aspects required to understand the heritage impact of flooding; reports on how climatechange analysis modelling is being used; and discusses the impact of supersaturation of structures, and how this can lead to failures. An instructive case example is given by Ed Morton, an eminent CARE structural engineer, involving the Grade I Lincoln Castle, whose banks are designated as a scheduled ancient monument. Morton discusses how problems of water saturation can be mitigated. A further article looks at protecting and adapting historic buildings for 21st-century levels of rainfall, noting that there are equal and opposite problems arising from prolonged periods of dry weather. Journal of Architectural Conservation The Journal of Architectural Conservation (Vol 30, Nos 2–3, July–November 2024) has two papers of particular note. The first, by five joint authors from The School of Architecture, Tampere University, looks at climate-change mitigation potential in building conservation. It compares the carbon dioxide performance of four refurbishment alternatives to new construction, using a locally listed modernist 1950s school building in Finland. Four scenarios are examined, representing different approaches towards repair needs, cost implications, the time horizon of refurbishment and conserving the building’s architectural interest. These are compared with a similar contemporary new-build case study building completed in 2018. The two differ by the materials of their structural frame: concrete or cross-laminated timber. The former is described as ‘businessas-usual’, while the latter represents a competing low-carbon technology. The study is based in Finland, with a cold continental climate, where operational energy consumption is significant for a building’s carbon footprint. The second paper, by four joint authors at Durham University, looks at electrical resistivity tomography applied to the Grade I listed masonry Prebends Bridge (and scheduled ancient monument) in Durham. The purpose is to examine water ingress using non-invasive imaging methods to inform the proposed conservation of the structure. The methodology used is clearly explained and the paper sets out the basic principles behind the measurement technique. Previous use of electrical surveying for assessing historic masonry is also described. The paper concludes that geophysical electrical imaging has the potential to be a powerful tool in monitoring water-induced deterioration of heritage masonry bridges, informing intervention strategies and testing the effectiveness of the application. The Georgian In The Georgian (Issue 2, 2024), the magazine of the Georgian Group, outgoing director David Adshead discusses the longstanding and controversial approach to repairs following the disastrous fire that swept through the National Trust’s country house, Clandon Park, in 2015. The initial approach to reinstatement and repair, from what the Georgian Group considered a flawed brief, amounted partly to ‘reimagining’. This was thoroughly contentious, leading to the rejection in 2017 of a radical scheme prepared by architects Allies and Morrison. A countervailing argument was that Clandon’s interiors, including secondary spaces of lesser significance, should be completely restored and not denatured by what Adshead describes as something ‘zeitgeisty’. Proposals are now the subject of significant redirection on which the Georgian Group had been consulted on a pre-application basis. Adshead concludes that the case of Clandon highlights the fact, as is now all too apparent in almost every sphere of life, that we cannot all agree on everything on every occasion, but we can disagree agreeably. There is much to learn from the question of the appropriateness of irreversible The Georgian The Magazine of The Georgian Group | Issue 2 | 2024 Georgian Group Architectural Awards 7424_00_COVER_v4.indd 3 03/12/2024 10:23 An oriel window at Lincoln Castle (Photo: Rodw, Wikimedia)
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 7 interventions to historic fabric. The decade-long saga of the ‘correct’ approach to saving Clandon is one that has important lessons for virtually every current practitioner. This issue also addresses the Georgian Group’s Architectural Awards 2024, now in their 20th year, recognising exemplary conservation and restoration projects in the UK. It also continues the series of articles on the design and development of Georgian and Regency exterior door furniture, illustrating over 30 examples, emphasising both their aesthetic and historic value, and their usefulness in providing dating evidence. War Memorials Trust Bulletin As part of its public engagement programme, the War Memorials Trust has been doing excellent work via its bulletin in identifying war memorials in photos in unknown locations. Although its regular appeals for information continue to meet with success, more local knowledge from heritage professionals would be invaluable. What is also worth highlighting to practitioners is situations where ownership of a memorial cannot be established because legislation still exists on the statute books under the War Memorials (Local Authorities Powers) Act of 1923 (and subsequent amendments). This enables local councils to carry out work to war memorials within their area whether they officially own them or not, but it does not oblige them to do so. Nevertheless, where a war memorial is found to be contributing positively to a conservation area, but its ownership is unclear, it is possible that the 1923 statute could be invoked. It is not a piece of legislation that appears prominently, if at all, in any book on historic building law. Historic Environment Policy and Practice The latest issue of Historic Environment Policy and Practice (Vol 15, No 3 2024) notes that many of the papers submitted to the journal aim to understand the context in which heritage professionals work: the relationship between policy and practice. The emphasis of the current papers is very much on assessing where theory lends a hand in better practice. The opening paper in the current issue begins with the observation that in India the procurement of work through traditional methods of tendering and contracting has typically resulted in poor project performance. To understand how this situation has emerged, the four authors describe the heritage conservation sector and analyse project management contracts. They argue that an awareness of institutional practice is essential in dealing with the level of uncertainty in Indian conservation. This has obvious implications elsewhere. Another paper explores postconflict religious heritage protection, examining the relationship between policy and practice, using the example of the conservation of churches in northern Cyprus. This is achieved through an approach inspired by what is known as actor-network theory, assessing those responsible for protecting religious heritage sites abandoned by displaced communities. Analysis and empirical data from exhaustive fieldwork has categorised how sites have been used and their state of preservation. This has revealed multiple networks of users and activities, and which networks are active, in a complex situation where the island is divided among Greeks and Turks. A further paper looks at the destruction and disappearance of villages caused by mass migration and rapid urbanisation that has led to the depopulation and abandonment of rural settlements in China. The government response has been to create multiple officially recognised typologies to restore, protect and showcase traditional villages. By examining the implementation process of this ‘village conservation project’, the study reveals the motivations and impacts of their efforts in listing villages for conservation and development. It provides an introduction to understanding conservation practices in rural China. The geopolitical range and the subject matter of the papers illustrates that if there are changes to the practice of historic environment management, these may be found in a deeper understanding of practice itself. Moreover, the theories of practice which have emerged in the papers shows that the interest lies not only in academic institutions but also among those working in practical implementation. Bob Kindred MBE 11 mm Volume 15 Number 4 2024 The Historic Environment POLICY & PRACTICE POLICY & PRACTICE The Historic Environment ISSN 1756-7505 Volume 15 Number 4 2024 ISSN 1756-7505 www.tandfonline.com/yhen The Historic Environment POLICY & PRACTICE Volume 15 Number 4 2024 CONTENTS Editorial Editorial 15.4 Politics, Philosophy and Economics Michael Dawson 443 Research Articles Intangible Cultural Heritage and UK Built Heritage Practice: Opportunities and Future Directions Johnathan Djabarouti 450 Towards Enhanced Built Cultural Heritage Conservation Practices: Perceptions on Industry 5.0 Principles and Enabling Technologies Alejandro Jiménez Rios, Maria Nogal, Vagelis Plevris, Rafael Ramirez and Margarita L. Petrou 466 Reconstruction as a Tool for ‘Ideological Preservation’ in the Three Former Ottoman Capitals of Turkey Pnar Aykaç 493 The Dilemma of Urban Heritage Conservation in Post-Con ict Bamiyan: A Critical Analysis of Causes, Failures, Consequences and Prospects Reza Abouei and Mahdi Tavasoli 517 Energy Ef ciency and Socio-Cultural Values in Public Policy in the City of Stockholm Stina Hagelqvist, Mattias Legnér and Paula Femenías 540 Unmasking Dominant Features in a Transformed Cultural Landscape Marta Rusnak, Andrew Tadeusz Duchowski, Agnieszka Tomaszewicz, Izabela Garaszczuk, Anna Brdulak, Małgorzata Biegańska, Zo a Koszewicz and Daria Dobrasiak 564 Determination of Shoreline Variability for Adaptation of Maritime Built Heritage to Climate Change: A Case of Southern Kenya Coast Wallace Njiiri, Mugwima Njuguna and Ephraim Wahome 594 Underwater Cultural Heritage in World Heritage Sites: Figures and Insights into Possibilities and Realities Elena Perez-Alvaro, Martijn Manders and Chris Underwood 611 The Importance of the Listed Buildings Resurvey in England (1982–1989) Al e Robinson 644 Taylor & Francis takes seriously its commitment to sustainability. In addition to all paper used in our journals being from certi ed responsible sources, this journal is plastic-free and no longer uses plastic cover lamination or polywrap for mailing. Our print publications are certi ed CarbonNeutral® in accordance with the CarbonNeutral Protocol, meaning the emissions from production, shipping, and end-of-life disposal have been compensated for through the purchase of high quality, third-party veri ed offsets. YHEN_COVER_15_4.indd 1 2/3/2025 6:37:56 AM
8 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 ‘DOYOU remember Annex C of PPG15? Although it was cancelled about 15 years ago, to me it still captures and distils much of the way we think about listed building management. Its messages have been shredded and largely repackaged in other (voluminous and disaggregated) guidance documents but I think some of the simplicity and directness has been lost as a result. Annex C still contains the core language used to debate change affecting historic buildings. ‘I am not, of course, suggesting it can or should be resuscitated in its original form. It would need some updating if it ever again saw the light of day. My regret is that we do not have a succinct 5,300 word go-to equivalent in 2025. ‘Perhaps I will be told that things are more complex now than they were in 1994, and that we need ever more guidance to swim through. Really? Much of what I see in heritage impact assessments and consultation responses can be traced back to Annex C. Those of you who once used it in anger might like to cast a nostalgic eye over it. Those of you who know it only as a folk memory might like to ponder on how many of its homespun exhortations still stand, more than three decades after it was issued.’ Jonathan Edis writing on LinkedIn ‘DRAFTED by Ian Jardin with a little help on technical conservation issues from me while we were at English Heritage. [Annex C was] not comprehensive but as much as government departments would then allow. ‘Later, when I commissioned Paul Drury and Anna McPherson to draft the English Heritage Conservation Principles, Policy and Guidance, we envisioned that the policies and guidance components would take up the mantle of Annex C and generate an illustrated version because many users need exemplars to understand abstract concepts. We considered the format of ICOMOS Australia’s later editions of the Burra Charter as a graphic model. ‘Sadly, EH, then Historic England, never generated the policies and guidance elements, so the principles remain open to misunderstanding and poor interpretation.’ John Fidler replying on LinkedIn to Jonathan Edis ‘SHOULD the “conservation officer” job title change to “heritage planning/development/regeneration officer” to reflect the positive role they play in supporting the planning process and helping sustainable development to happen?’ Robert Lloyd-Sweet on LinkedIn ‘IN AN IDEAL world I think you would have both. The breadth of issues conservation officers have to deal with is such that it sways from slimline double-glazing solutions to setting impacts of a 60-storey tower, and on to urban design strategy for site allocation, and often all at once. However, the skills (technical and personal) to best support those processes do not always overlap. ‘Local authorities generally cover some areas well, and others less so. Most now have resource for up to one full-time-equivalent conservation officer, so the heritage skills they are well resourced in depend on the educational track taken by their appointed officer, and the selection of candidates who applied to the post in the first place. ‘That creates issues with recruitment. Would I apply for a singular conservation officer post, for instance, knowing that I am well placed in the placemaking/planning/ regeneration side of things, but less so on technical conservation measures? Probably not.’ Jack Hanson replying on LinkedIn to Robert Lloyd-Sweet ‘DEFINED by its sculptural concrete exoskeleton, this is an excellent surviving example of a post-war art school that has remained in its original use and survives in very good condition, both externally and internally. ‘It clearly has abundant potential to be sympathetically upgraded or reconfigured to suit whatever plans the university may develop in the years to come. On the other hand, demolition would simply be wasteful, irresponsible and anti-growth.’ Oli Marshall of the Twentieth Century Society quoted in the Wolverhampton Express and Star on the campaign to list Wolverhampton University’s School of Art.
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 9 ‘EVERY TIME I post about parliament, restoration people say “turn it into a museum”. It has asbestos, falling masonry, ancient cabling posing a huge fire risk, the sewage pipes could fail. Making it a museum doesn’t solve this. It’s not MPs making this expensive, most offices aren’t there anyway.’ Political correspondent Jessica Elgot, jessicaelgot.bsky.social ‘ALEXANDER Thomson’s only surviving church in St Vincent Street has now closed to worshippers, his Egyptian Halls remain vacant, James Salmon’s Lion Chambers is crumbling, JJ Burnet’s exquisite Savings Bank Hall lies empty and, as far as Mackintosh’s surviving buildings are concerned (having already lost his School of Art), as Stuart Robertson (the director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society) recently confirmed, Scotland Street School is currently closed, the Lighthouse never reopened after the pandemic, the Lady Artists Club lies vacant and, in the last couple of weeks, the city council has put his Martyrs School on the open market. These are just the leading examples, with many, many more architecturally and historically important buildings now at risk… ‘Glasgow is still, just, Britain’s finest Victorian city (as opined by John Betjeman, one of the founders of the Victorian Society) – and it now has a heritage crisis that needs both a local and a national response.’ John Stewart writing in Building Design Alexander Thomson’s Holmwood House was saved from destruction by the National Trust for Scotland in 1994. (Photo: Jonathan Taylor) From The Life of Alexander Thomson, an 1888 address to the Glasgow Philosophical Society by the architect Thomas Gildard (available at www.archiseek.com) We must take Thomson’s genius as we find it, and that is chiefly in having re-created a style – re-created it as water exhaled from the pure clear lake returns to the earth refreshing it as new. This style is homogeneous, not here a little and there a little, but is within itself complete. A cultured architect visiting Glasgow sees from a distance some building of original composition, yet exquisite proportion, and hastes towards it that he may examine its details. He finds that these are of the aptest congruence with the general design – as if an arboriculturist, seeing from a distance some unusual tree, uncommon in its massing, grouping, and general configuration, found when he came to it, that its bark, its leaves, its flowers, its fruit could belong only to itself, and that they naturally arose from the very disposition that gave to this particular tree its specialty of outline. In this re-creation there is as much genius exercised as in the original devising. Shakespeare, in re-creating the story of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar – fitting it for an Elizabethan audience – showed perhaps more genius, so ‘bettering the instruction’, than did Plutarch, from whose Lives he derived the information. Thomson imposed upon himself the task of carrying the spirit of Greek art from the temple-crowned Athens to the warehouse-thronged Glasgow; and, notwithstanding that the Greek remains are comparatively few, so conjuring with them that had it been possible for our nineteenth-century architectural necessities to have been the architectural necessities of Greece in the time of Pericles, they would have been to the old Athenians as they are to us by Thomson. As I have said elsewhere, his genius seemed to be less derived from than native to Greece, as if it had breathed its air, and joyed in its sunshine – developing under Helios, rather than ‘pushing’ in a conservatory – less educated by Stuart and Revett [authors of The Antiquities of Athens] than impulsed from such circumstances as gave colour and character to the Athenic life when at its fullest. The aptest congruence The writer’s voice
10 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 Law and policy update Planning for change (and a shark) Alexandra Fairclough writes: In developing legislation and policies to promote economic growth, the government will inevitably impact heritage assets. The Plan for Change proposes 1.5 million new homes and 150 decisions on major infrastructure projects within this parliamentary term. The new National Planning Policy Framework was published in December. Since my last column went to press, the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 has come into full effect (4 November 2024), with the related regulations. Wales now has the most up-to-date historic environment legislation of the UK nations. However, although the new legislation is clearer in terms of understanding and applying the law, there are no changes to the operation of the management and protection regimes for the Welsh historic environment. Note that the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 no longer apply in Wales. In Scotland, a reminder that amendments introduced by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 (GPDO) have extended permitted development rights. These relate to the alteration and replacement of windows to a wider range of locations and building types than previously and significantly now include buildings in conservation areas, with some restrictions. In England, the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) made no direct changes to the heritage policies (other than revised numbering). However, it is worth familiarising yourselves with grey-belt policies, the definition of grey belt, and paragraph 11 of the NPPF in relation to footnote 7, which refers to designated heritage assets. It is crucial that heritage specialists get involved in the identification of grey-belt land. The glossary definition of grey belt excludes land where the application of policies relating to designated heritage assets and non-designated archaeological sites of demonstrably equivalent significance to a scheduled monument (footnote 75, NPPF) would provide a strong reason for refusing or restricting development. The revised NPPF includes changes relating to urban design and master planning. References to ‘beauty’ as a strategic objective
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 11 of the planning system are retained but the references to ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful’ that were added to the NPPF in 2023, and one other reference to ‘beautiful’, have been removed. Chapter 12 (‘Achieving well-designed places’) states that ‘… design guides and codes can be prepared at an area-wide, neighbourhood or site-specific scale, and to carry weight in decision-making should be produced either as part of a plan or as supplementary planning documents.’ DCMS Select Committee An inquiry into protecting England’s built heritage has been launched by the DCMS Select Committee. It will examine how to prevent the loss and decline of historic buildings and other sites of heritage amid warnings of the serious financial and practical challenges many face. In particular, it will look at how the government can tackle practical and regulatory challenges, such as policy issues arising from net-zero targets and planning policy. We await the results of the consultation that closed in February. Marks and Spencer Angela Rayner, as minister of housing, communities and local government, has reconsidered the Oxford Street Marks and Spencer redevelopment refusal and the quashed High Court decision. She has concluded that the options for retaining the buildings had been adequately explored and that there was no visible and deliverable alternative. She has determined that there was a compelling justification for demolition and rebuilding. Disappointingly she did not believe that the alternative of refurbishing the building would result in less embodied carbon. She did recognise the financial contributions to the council’s carbon-offset fund. She gave weight to the design, the employment opportunities, public realm and wider regeneration benefits. We now need clarity on the weight given to schemes that promote retrofit and re-use of buildings as an alternative. Planning appeals Tall building within the setting of a scheduled ancient monument, listed building and conservation area (linked 3343569 and 3345943) These appeals relate to two different schemes that were determined together; both include tall buildings near heritage assets. The inspector noted that there would be a change in the setting of the scheduled ancient monument but considered that there would be no harm to its significance. ‘The existing building remnants, which appear isolated but are provided with context through interpretation boards, would not be altered’ and ‘there would be no harmful effect on the ability to appreciate the significance of the scheduled ancient monument’. The inspector considered that in views towards the site in which the new tall building would be glimpsed, buildings are always visible alongside the green areas of the conservation area. He stated that openness would not be significantly affected and that this building would add to the current character in which the natural and built landscapes interact but would not result in any harm to the setting or significance of the conservation area, nor the ability to appreciate either. The inspector agreed that the listed buildings would remain in the foreground of the development. The proposed building would appear some way in the distance and the silhouettes of the buildings’ roofscape would remain clearly identifiable. In conclusion, the inspector stated that the development would not detract from the features of the buildings, nor harm their historic or architectural significance, or the ability to appreciate them. One appeal allowed, one dismissed. Cleaning of a listed building (3334740) The appeal was against an enforcement notice following the unauthorised cleaning of a terrace making up a Grade II listed building on a London street. The appellant also dyed the brick window arches bright red. The council considered that the building had been excessively cleaned, and required the dye to be removed and the cleaned brickwork to be treated with a soot wash. The inspector considered that the removal of the dye and soot-washing the brickwork would cause damage to the listed building and asked whether the host building being cleaner than the other buildings in the terrace would harm its significance. He concluded that although the host building was cleaner, it was not incongruous. The appeal was allowed, the enforcement notice was quashed and listed building consent for the works was granted. Change of use and conversion of a large, listed, purpose-built public house of around 1820 to a single dwelling (linked 3345859) The proposal included some internal changes and the removal of the pub signage. The inspector considered that the plans did not provide a convincing proposal or show that the conversion had been carefully considered. Consequently the inspector concluded that ‘harm would arise from the loss of its original use, and I am unable to conclude that the proposal would secure the building’s optimum viable use, given the obvious difficulties incorporating a single house into such a large building’. The inspector drew attention to the appellant’s argument that the removal of the original pub signage would be a benefit of the scheme and rejected this approach, stating: ‘The existing signage is appropriately designed and scaled for the building, and is part-andparcel of its original use. Removal of all signage would be harmful to the building’s significance and can certainly not be accepted as a public benefit.’ The scheme would harm the significance of the listed building and the conservation area within which it was situated. Appeal dismissed. Installation of renewable energy sources to include a new solar photovoltaic array on a Grade II listed church (3346796) The inspector considered that the
12 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 proposed panels would appear as an overtly modern intervention and an atypical feature on an important roof slope, eroding the church’s aesthetic and historical interest. The inspector was also concerned about the loss of some slate to accommodate fixing the panels directly on to the roof structure and without adequate details he could not conclude that the historic roof could manage the additional load to the roof structure. The inspector also noted that the panels would be reversible but ‘would nevertheless be a feature for some considerable time’. Appeal dismissed. Installation of a photovoltaic array comprising 168 panels and associated infrastructure on the setting and significance of heritage assets (3333427) This scheme relates to a refusal of planning permission for a large area of ground-array photovoltaic panels and a cabinet within the grounds of a large historic house. The building, Paxhill Park House, its gardens, outbuildings and other structures are designated heritage assets. The inspector found that there would be less-than-substantial harm to the setting of these heritage assets but that this harm would be outweighed by the fact that the scheme would reduce the amount of energy drawn from the national grid, and it would improve the designated heritage assets’ carbon footprint. He concluded that it would also future-proof against potential rises in energy costs, particularly for the upkeep of a large historic house and grounds. Appeal allowed. The installation of a solar farm adjacent to a scheduled ancient monument in Norfolk (3351873) The proposal includes south-facing solar arrays grouped in five blocks of between seven and 13 rows. These have been estimated as being capable of generating 725 kilowatts of clean energy for the vegetableprocessing plant adjacent to the 11th-century motte-and-bailey Wormegay Castle, a scheduled ancient monument. Although the solar arrays would face away from the scheduled monument, the inspector stated that it would harm the setting of the asset. Although the inspector found that the setting of the scheduled monument had changed over time, the historic undeveloped rural landscape setting dominated. He concluded that the proposed change would significantly erode the surviving open, undeveloped rural setting of the scheduled monument by further enclosing the castle. This would curtail and distract from the extent to which the castle could be enjoyed within an open, verdant setting and would result in less-than-significant harm. The sustainable public benefits were considered not to outweigh the harm. Appeal dismissed. The installation of two LED advertising screens to the facade of the London Pavilion building in Piccadilly Circus (linked 3334774) These appeals relate to three applications for planning permission, listed building consent and advertisement consent. The appeal concerns the Grade II listed London Pavilion, part of the Trocadero. It is close to many other listed buildings in the Soho Conservation Area, and adjacent to several other conservation areas. Built in 1885 as a theatre, it was converted into a cinema in 1934 and has been altered since listing in 1978. Currently the building is being refurbished and converted to tourist accommodation. This decision, an interesting analysis of local and national policy, is worth reading in full. The inspector identified the building as a prominent feature in a locality whose character was dominated by illuminated advertising. Although she found less-than-substantial harm for the host building, she stated that there would be no harm to the setting of the adjacent listed buildings or the conservation areas and that the proposed shopfronts would have a positive impact. She stated that, overall, the public benefits, including small-scale economic and social benefits, would outweigh the harm. Appeals allowed. Change of use of dwelling from C3 use for short-stay letting (linked 3335859) These appeals relate to an appeal against an enforcement notice and a refusal of planning permission. The planning appeal was dismissed based on the loss of a dwelling house and the unsustainable location outside recommended locations, as defined by policy. Consequently the enforcement notice was upheld (but varied). The appeal dwelling is the home of the Headington Shark, described as a ‘spectacular tall model of a shark crashing through the front roof slope [which] has been in place since 1986 and has become a local tourist attraction’. As a result, the house is on the local list of heritage assets. The inspector highlighted the fact that the appellant did not contend that the use of the house as short-term let was necessary to fund maintenance works to the sculpture or roof. Alexandra Fairclough is a member of the IHBC law panel and a barrister (non-practising). She teaches heritage law at Manchester School of Architecture, and is principal built heritage and design officer at Bolton Council. The London Pavilion: LED appeals (Photo: Spudgun67, Wikimedia)
CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 13 OBITUARY Chris Topp, heritage blacksmith Bethan Griffiths writes: Chris Topp (1949–2024) became interested in wrought iron at the age of 18 with a summer job in the engineers’ department at Bolton Town Hall, within walking distance of Thomas Walmsley’s Atlas Forge, the last in the world to produce puddled wrought iron. Given the freedom to roam the works, which to him was full of drama, with high-pressure steam exhausted from the huge engines of the rolling mills, he got into the habit of spending his lunch breaks at the forge. He studied civil engineering with mining at the University of Newcastle. Dismayed by the closure and dismantling of historic industrial sites, he and his friends started collecting disused equipment. This coincided with the establishment of several openair museums such as Beamish, Ironbridge and the Black Country Museum, which enabled them to find homes for the equipment they had salvaged. Soon it became clear that museums not only wanted the equipment, but they wanted them refurbished and working. Chris and his friends enthusiastically took on this line of work and formed Dorothea Restorations in 1974, named after Dorothea Quarry in North Wales, where they had their initial base. Living an itinerant lifestyle, they moved to where the work was and ended up in Buxton, where the lease for Westons Forge became available in 1976 when the two brothers running it retired. Taking on the forge to widen the skillset of the group, each of the friends took a turn in the forge under the guidance of the brothers. Chris soon decided to run the shop on his own, becoming a full time blacksmith. Later he settled near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, undertaking general blacksmithing work. In 1982 he responded to a call for local craftspeople to get involved in the restoration of Middlethorpe Hall in York, making new wrought-iron railings and gates in a sympathetic style. They attracted attention in the restoration world, and this is when Chris really found his niche. His interest in wrought iron was not just in the techniques of working it and the products made; he also wanted to know about the material itself. He discovered that, unlike steel, wrought iron has a grain, due to the silica slag mixed with the iron. This makes it more resistant to corrosion but requires an understanding of how to work with it. Demand for wrought iron began to wane, as it was more expensive to produce and not standardised (in engineering terms) like modern steel. The last company in the world to produce puddled wrought iron had ceased production in 1973. Chris set up his own rolling mill, and in 1984 his Real Wrought Iron company began selling re-rolled wrought iron to blacksmiths for heritage conservation work. Today his work is visible in important buildings, including Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Palace of Westminster, the Natural History Museum, Chatsworth House and York Minster. Chris was also a committed teacher. A stream of journeymen from all over the world would find their way to Carlton Husthwaite to work and live on site. Some would stay just a few weeks, some a couple of years, and some never left, choosing to settle in the area and work for Chris’s company, Topp and Co. In 2009 he and I (his wife) initiated the National Heritage Ironwork Group, bringing together a group of experienced professionals from related disciplines to raise standards. In addition to setting up National Occupational Standards, the organisation is responsible for undertaking and publishing research, providing a place for developing individual and collective knowledge and championing heritage ironwork. Bethan Griffiths
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