14 C O N T E X T 1 2 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 2 ANTHONY CALLADINE Designating for sport For the nation that claims to have invented many of the best sports, protecting the heritage of sports infrastructure – from the Romans onwards – can be complicated. The British love of sport is well documented. Many would argue that the best sports began life on these shores. Any football tournament or international final staged here is said to be bringing football home, and many see staging the Olympics as overdue recognition of our passion. International sportsmen declare it a life’s ambition to play at Wembley, Centre Court, Lords or St Andrews; to ride at Aintree; to drive at Silverstone. When it comes to protecting the heritage of sports infrastructure, however, things are not so clearly drawn. The types of assets in question are wide and varied: courts for various forms of racket sports, gymnasia, riding schools, billiard halls, cock-fighting pits, swimming pools, stadia for team ball sports, athletics tracks, bowling greens, golf courses, velodromes, ice rinks and many others. Each will bring its own particular selection of interests and associations. In terms of designation assessment, the fundamental requirements are not so different from any other assets. Architectural, archaeological, historic and technological interest, age and rarity must each be weighed in balance. One of the challenges of designating sports-related sites, especially from the earlier periods, is that they were often so ephemeral: places where events were held traditionally, but with little or no formal structures or at most areas of timber seating which leave little archaeological trace.Where there is significant historic fabric and a venerable history, designation can readily recognise this; it is what it was designed for. The one that is arguably the most venerable, the Roman Circus in Colchester, was scheduled in 2007. The remains of a second century, elongated oval track, flanked by tiered seating along two sides and around the curved end, it is a unique archaeological monument in Britain; one of only six in the north-west provinces 1936 Highbury Stadium’s Grade II East Stand before conversion (Photo: copyright AdamWatson, from English Heritage NMR) In converting Highbury Stadium for residential use, it was felt that the listing implicitly acknowledged the significance of the pitch, the area of which has been recognisably retained. (Photo: copyright Dennis Gilbert, fromView)
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