C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 1 A Sea Slug development round being fired from RAE Aberporth using the Gosling solid-fuel rocket motors (Photo: Cadw, Crown copyright) Institute ofHistoricBuildingConservation No122November 2011 The heritage of defence Editorial The heritage of defence ‘Sea Slug was one of the major achievements by the British during the cold war era, marking a significant escalation in the arms race.’ So writes Jon Berry (p19) in his article on sites in Wales associated with the guided weapon scheme. Was escalating the arms race really an achievement? That is the thing about defence: it raises awkward questions about the business of killing people – or, as the euphemistic word ‘defence’ is meant to suggest, avoiding being killed. We are always in an arms race, and only when it comes to war do we find whether we have won. The subject of Context is always the defence of heritage. In this issue it is also the heritage of defence. Sometimes this involves investigating grimly significant places associated with technology such as the Sea Slug system. Sometimes the focus is on industrial buildings, often of awesome size, constructed at a time when, however utilitarian they might be, they were designed by people who understood a long tradition of how to put buildings together, and they were handcrafted because there was no other way to build. Some defence buildings are among the inspiring best of their period. Other sites have structures of types unique to the business of war, of little delight in themselves, but significant in the history of war and its desperately evolving technology. That technological evolution means that surplus defence sites are in need of new uses. The scale of this is huge due to the fact that, as Chris Daniell (p13) points out, the Ministry of Defence is one of the largest landowners in the country. As ever, and particularly at a time of financial cutbacks, the government is looking to dispose of most of the sites on the open market, balancing public and community benefits with financial returns to the taxpayer. Will Holborow (p10) reports on how designation applications on such surplus sites have been handled. Other writers in this issue focus on particular places that are rich in defence heritage. Rob Harper (p16) describes Gosport’s military legacy in a spectacular waterfront location. Jeremy Lake (with Wayne Cocroft and Roger J C Thomas, p22) looks at the heritage of Wiltshire’s defence-related landscape and its military camps. The fact that the military use of Wiltshire’s Salisbury Plain has helped to conserve the archaeology of prehistoric fortifications, among other features, somehow puts the whole business in its sad perspective. www.ihbc.org.uk Registered as a charity in England andWales number 1061593 and in Scotland number SC041945. Company Limited by Guarantee. 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Officers President Trefor Thorpe email president@ihbc.org.uk Chair Jo Evans email chair@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair Sheila Stones email vchair@ihbc.org.uk Secretary Eddie Booth email secretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer Richard Morrice email treasurer@ihbc.org.uk Membership Secretary Paul Butler email membership@ihbc.org.uk Education Secretary John Preston email education@ihbc.org.uk Publicity Secretary Doug Black email publicity@ihbc.org.uk Law & Practice Coordinator vacant email law@ihbc.org.uk Director Seán O’Reilly email director@ihbc.org.uk Projects Officer Fiona Newton email projects@ihbc.org.uk Consultant Consultations Coordinator James Caird email consultations@ihbc.org.uk Membership Services Officer Carmen Moran email membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk Administration Officer Lydia Porter email admin@ihbc.org.uk Committee Chairs Policy Mike Brown email policy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics Paul Butler email membership@ihbc.org.uk Finance & Resources Richard Morrice email resources@ihbc.org.uk Education John Preston email education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach Charles Strang email communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Officers North Geoff UnderwoodTel 0191 433 3435 NorthWest Kate Borland Tel 0778 0704726 Yorkshire Keith Knight Tel 01904 658482 West Midlands Charles Shapcott Tel 0121 7044312 East Midlands Roy Lewis Tel 01636 619335 South Julia Foster Tel 01296 585888 SouthWest JamesWebbTel 01202 732849 East Anglia Phil Godwin Tel 01263 516131 South East Sean Rix Tel 01483 523379 London David McDonald Tel 020 7361 3352 Scotland Stuart Eydmann Tel 01506 775279 Wales Nathan Blanchard Tel 01492 583443 Northern Ireland Colin Hatrick Tel 028 9064 1126 Republic of Ireland Cormac O’Sullivan Tel 00353 5677 62907 Business Office Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA England Tel 01747 873133 Fax 01747 871718 email admin@ihbc.org.uk Briefing 2 Letters 4 Case report: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Rachel Case 5 Periodically 7 The writer’s voice 9 Regenerating surplus defence sites Will Holborow 10 The Ministry of Defence historic estate Chris Daniell 13 Gosport’s military legacy Rob Harper 16 Desperately seeking Sea Slug Jon Berry 19 UnderstandingWiltshire’s military heritage Jeremy Lake, Wayne Cocroft and Roger Thomas 22 Conference report: NorthWest Branch Day Conference Keith Parsons 27 Conference report: DoCoMoMo-EAHN conference on mass housing Beria Bayizitlioglu 30 Conference report: Bamberg, Germany Dennis Rodwell 31 Architecturally speaking 33 Archaeological view 35 Notes from the chair 37 Director’s cut 39 Vox pop 41 Book reviews 42 Products and services 45 Advertisers index 48
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