C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 17 S IHBC Annual School 2012 Significance: who decides? IHBC South branch organisers of the annual school, from left to right Richard Hoskins, Zoe Croad, MichaelWhite, Alison Davidson, Helen Parvin, Emilia Hands and Kevin Stubbs The government describes ‘significance’, for the purposes of heritage policy, as the value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. Significance in this sense derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence but also from its setting. So far so good. But who makes judgements about the value of such archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic interest? Deciding on the value of our heritage is the first step in assessing how best to care for it. If we do not understand what is significant, we can not be sure that we will care properly for what we value, or allocate precious conservation resources efficiently. That was the subject of the IHBC Annual School 2012, on which we report in the following pages. Held in the historic city of Winchester, with the main Day School in the Victorian Guildhall, the school was organised by the IHBC’s South branch. The organising team, headed by Alison Davidson (featured in Vox pop, page 48), included Helen Parvin, Michael White, Zoe Croad, Kevin Stubbs, Richard Hoskins, Emilia Hands, Nick Tarrier and Fiona Newton. The programme and presentations from the Day School can be found at http://2012school.ihbc.org.uk/. The Gus Astley student awards were presented at the annual dinner. The winner was Emma Anderson for ‘Rising from the Rubble: an examination of the rebuilding of listed buildings after catastrophic destruction – principles, process and practice’. Commended were Tristan Dewhurst for ‘Enhancing a public place: the setting of St Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol’ and Grant Prescott for ‘The Future of Constructivist Architecture in Moscow’. There was a special mention for Michael MacDonagh’s ‘Finding New Uses for Irish Demesnes: authenticity and integrity issues’. Full details are at http://ihbconline.co.uk/ newsachive/?p=3935. The awards were presented by the judge for 2011, Rory Cullen, head of buildings at the National Trust.
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