C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 37 S EMILY GEE Defining significance in designation Who assigns significance – and how categorically – was a topic of much debate at the 2012 IHBC annual school. The state of designation continues to evolve. English Heritage has a statutory function in assessing significance and recommending designation, but how far designators go in setting out what is special, and what is not, continues to evolve. Linked to this is the future programme of revisions of the National Heritage List for England (NHLE), and the proposals set out in the Implementation of the Penfold Review (published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in November 2011), and the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Bill, such as legally defining the extent of listing. As we all know, the first heroic lists which emerged after the second world war were primarily about identification.We chortle too quickly at two-line list descriptions without acknowledging that the important thing is their designation, which prompts the involvement of expert local planning authority colleagues in helping to manage the future of these buildings. But surely a modern list entry can and should aspire to do much more than simply identify. Listing is not just about Date, Architect, Materials etc (set out in the well-known mnemonic), but also the Reasons: why is it so significant? And the Extent: which parts of the building are more special than others? It is the designator’s duty to give a clear steer about significance at this important moment in a building’s life – the point at which it is statutorily designated – but others vitally feed into this. In an age of modern government, consulting property owners at this stage is essential, but the local planning authority and other sector colleagues’ views are equally important, and detailed input into consultations is very welcome. Many of you will be familiar with the scope and format of the past decade’s list entries, with their reasons for designation at the end, for example. Local planning authority colleagues often report satisfaction with this contextual information about a building’s significance, and the steer on whether the interiors or the extension are as special as the exterior, for example. List entries now exist not just to identify the special buildings, but to help guide future management, and surely more knowledge is a good thing. Designation is just one step in the process, and the expertise and experience of the conservation officer will play a vital role, as might also a conservation plan or a management agreement.The list entry can not be exhaustive. It should work in tandem with these other important documents in assigning significance and managing change. The National Heritage List for England, launched in 2010, brings together for the first time, in one searchable database, all the listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens and battlefields, and protected wrecks in the country (www. english-heritage.org.uk/professional/protection/process/ national-heritage-list-for-england/). This resource, together with our Selection Guides (www.englishheritage.org.uk/caring/listing/criteria-for-protection/ selection-guidelines/), are important steps in making protected heritage more understandable and accessible to the owners and to the wider public. We must be guarded, however, that this compendium of national significance is not a comprehensive one and it can never be entirely up to date. Searching it will also reveal quite quickly how different modern list descriptions are from older ones, and draw attention to the limitations of earlier list entries in explaining significance. The government is committed to continuing revisions of the NHLE, which we are addressing through a targeted programme of work.This includes the current pilot project suggested in the Penfold Review of revising the list entries for all listed post-war office buildings – an eminently knowable building type and one that is symbolic of the growth agenda – to ensure that these are as helpful and practical as possible. If special interest is concentrated in the exterior and the entrance lobby, while the offices above are unexceptional, we are duty bound to say so, and owners, managers and conservation colleagues report that such indications are welcome. Other work in this area includes revising older designations for buildings and complexes included in public land disposal programmes (such as hospitals, military Emily Gee: a modern list entry can and should aspire to do much more than simply identify.
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