C O N T E X T 1 1 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9 51 Book reviews A passion for buildings All We Need is Love: the buildings-atrisk catalogue 2009-10 Save Britain’s Heritage, 2009, softback, 174 pp, colour photos, ISBN 978 0 905978 58 1, £15 + £2.50 p&p from SAVE Britain’s Heritage, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ Finding solutions for threatened buildings has long been at the top of the local authority conservation officer’s priority list. The annual English Heritage register (now Heritage at Risk) receives good national publicity, but in the case of buildings only includes those that are scheduled or listed at Grade I and II*. A lesser-known but more long-standing source is SAVE’s Buildings at Risk catalogue, published this year in its 20th edition. As well as including 100 threatened buildings, mostly listed Grade II, with some unlisted, the publication features additional articles and a section on properties from previous SAVE reports that have been successfully repaired. The principal market for SAVE’s register is potential purchasers, typically small-scale entrepreneurs with a passion for old buildings, and the success stories paint an encouraging picture. Great House, Carmarthenshire, which was included in the 1997 catalogue, took 10 years to restore, love rather than profit being the motivation. Several buildings have been removed from last year’s register, including Clifton Lido in Bristol, which had been unused for 18 years, and Frank Matcham’s sumptuous Royal Hall, Harrogate. But these are balanced by ‘scandals’ which record losses to fire, vandalism and neglect. Indeed, the 2009-10 register, which is produced to a high standard, is a sad compendium of everything from small cottages and farm buildings to churches, hospitals and even a fire station. Most surprising is Norgas House, Killingworth, one of a group of impressive office buildings designed by Ryder andYates and erected in 1965. In addition to the annual publication, SAVE’s website includes an online register of 1,000 properties which is free to subscribers and ‘Friends’, and usefully complements English Heritage’s better-known project. Peter de Figueiredo, historic buildings consultant Everyone’s pocket Tudor Houses Explained TrevorYorke, Countryside Books, 2009, softback, 63 pp, B&W photos and drawings, ISBN 1 84674 150 0, £4.99 The Victorian House Explained TrevorYorke, Countryside Books, reprinted 2007, softback, 127 pp, B&W photos and drawings, ISBN 1 85306 943 4 Over the last few years the artist and designer TrevorYorke has created a small industry producing pocket-sized guides to architectural periods and styles. Aimed at a popular readership and focused largely on domestic buildings, they explain both the social background to the specific period as well as the construction, planning and decoration of typical house types. The latest is a slim volume on Tudor houses, which ranges from Hampton Court to thatched cottages. There are simple descriptions of brick making, timber framing and window construction, as well as common internal features and finishes. A short chapter on gardens is included, and there is even a final section on the Tudor revival, with an explanatory drawing by the author of a 1920s suburban house of the type found in Metroland. By comparison with Tudor houses, 19th century dwellings are plentiful, and TheVictorian House Explained is a slightly more substantial volume. Others in the series include Georgian and Regency, Edwardian and the 1930s, as well as English Castles, Abbeys and a general one entitled Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300–1900. While these books will probably not tell the conservation professional much they do not already know, they provide simple, reliable source of information for a general audience of building owners and interested amateurs. Each includes a short biography and list of places to visit. Peter de Figueiredo, historic buildings consultant
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