C O N T E X T 1 2 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 2 7 look to the future positive potential of 20th century architecture. Croft naturally concurs but also emphasises why so much continuing effort will be required to maintain the integrity of the listed building control system against political erosion. This is a clarion call against the wilder recommendations of the Penfold Review and the philistinism of the Treasury. One case which Paul Maynard may have had in mind is the two failed attempts by the society (and the strong advocacy of English Heritage) to get Preston’s central bus station and car park listed. The magazine reports that, two years on from the first spot-listing attempt, this case may yet have a happy ending, with a potential change of approach by a more enlightened Preston City Council and strong local support for its retention. The society also gives a very good example of the potentially damaging absence of interim protection. The 1952–3 Kensington house by the important modern architect Leonard Manasseh (see Briefing, Context 123, March 2012) might have been better defended against the threat of demolition had heritage protection reform ever accelerated from its Methusaline pace. Prompt response by English Heritage to a spot-listing request led to the conclusion that the alterations left it short of the benchmark criteria for the listing of post-war architecture.Withdrawal of one application for demolition, refusal of two more, and a fourth recent application prompted the society to speculate how differently the case might have turned out had interim protection been introduced. In addition to regular newsletters (too informatively compendious and varied to be reviewable here), the Ancient Monuments Society publishes an annual set of Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society. Volume 56 (2012), running to 140 pages, is an excellent justification for membership, beyond supporting the society’s excellent work. It is one of the few heritage publications able to carry extended articles, with a bias more towards architectural history than to aspects of more day-to-day professional practice. The five long essays are all worth highlighting. Nick Molyneux, English Heritage west midlands team leader, has written a 24-page illustrated introduction to the architectural history of Hartlebury Castle, the site of the palace of the bishops of Worcester from the middle ages until 2008. An active campaign aims to keep the building in public hands and is fund raising through a preservation trust set up specifically for the purpose. The work of building preservation trusts also features strongly in an article by Anthony Rossi. He describes the context, significance, decline and complex repairs necessary to effect the recent rescue of two great 16th century barns at Paston andWaxham near the northeast Norfolk coast. One telling illustration shows the collapse of the east end at Waxham following the hurricane of October 1987 and the parlous state of the building before the repairs undertaken by the North Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust. Themes of rescue and regeneration are carried over into the following article. Edward Holland of the Prince’s Regeneration Trust explains ambitious proposals to repair and reuse Cardigan Castle. This iconic medieval complex, the site of the very first Welsh eisteddfod in 1176, sits in the centre of the town. Ceredigion County Council acquired the castle in a state of severe dereliction in 2003 before transferring it to Cadwgan building preservation trust. Its proposals are now well under way, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Cadw, the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund, to create a Welsh Language and Learning Centre and a visitor destination, and to generate income through the creation of holiday cottages, a café/ restaurant, and business and craft units. A highly informative and interesting paper by Judy Allen of Julian Harrap Architects explains the philosophical issues, discoveries and new design initiatives undertaken during the £4.5 million conservation of the Monument (to the Great Fire of London) between 2007 and 2009. The very popular landmark attracts 150,000 visitors a year. The article describes preparation works prior to the contract, the approach taken to the repair work and new interventions. It is a highly informative coda to an article by the same architect on the same subject, which appeared in the Journal of Architectural Conservation in November 2009. Readers with particularly good memories may recall this reviewer’s enthusiasm for a largely photographic essay by RobinWyatt in the ASCHB Transactions 2002–3 (Vol 27), highlighting the creeping change to the vernacular architecture of the Cotswolds based on a comparison of current photos with those of the same buildings taken 100 years ago. This vernacular tradition has now been examined by Stephen Hart, this time from the perspective of comparing the limestone buildings of the Cotswolds with those of the Nene andWelland Valleys in Rutland and north Northamptonshire. Hart has used his field observations to test whether traditional building techniques in two different localities with essentially similar geology resulted in houses, cottages and farm buildings with common characteristics. He concludes that despite a similarity of indigenous materials some distinctively specific architectural details have evolved in each – something not hitherto recognised in published sources. The paper emphasises the need for care and close observation to ensure that local distinctiveness is maintained. Bob Kindred MBE
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