2 C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 Briefing Context Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Fiona Newton 21 George Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9JU Tel 01507 602567 email editorial@ihbc.org.uk Editorial Board Fiona Newton (chair) Nigel Crowe (main features) Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Michael Taylor (main features) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2012 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Published for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation by Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Fax 01747 871718 email context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £60.00 Elsewhere £90.00 Subscription orders, together with remittances payable to Institute of Historic Building Conservation, should be sent to the IHBC Business Office at Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November. The remaining copy deadline in 2012 is: November, Issue 127 17 September CONTEXT READER SURVEY Let us know what you think about Context. Please take a minute to fill in our survey. www.surveymonkey.com/s/contextsurvey Baronial style in the Merchant City A programme of repairs to Glasgow’s B-listed Houndsditch Building has been completed. The ornate three-storey building in the Merchant City was built to house a wholesaler, J&W Campbell. The family became something of a political dynasty. The founding partner was Provost Sir James Campbell and his son was Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal prime minister from 1905 to 1908. Built in about 1854, its highly decorative facade was designed by the historian, artist and architect RW Billings. ‘Most people associate Scots baronial architecture with grand country houses,’ says Gordon Urquhart of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, ‘but Glasgow’s Merchant City has a couple of notable examples designed as commercial premises. ‘Because Campbell’s warehouse – an early form of department store – sought to attract the attention of shoppers, it was a clever move to use a showy style of architecture that would stand out from its more subtle classical neighbours.’ Urquhart says: ‘Billings’ love of historic styling can be seen on the detailing of small rosettes that line each of the large windows. There are also other flurries of decoration such as Dutch gables, turrets and oriel bay windows projecting from the facade.’ The architect became best known for his illustrations and studies of other great Scottish buildings. Unusually for his time he had a fascination with conservation, and was himself involved with the restoration of several Scottish castles such as Cawdor Castle and Dalzell House. James Macaulay, author and formerly architectural historian at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, adds: ‘RW Billings’s reputation rests on the four volumes of his Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, 1845–52. From that came the attempt, not wholly successful, to introduce Scottish baronial forms into an urban setting. Today these buildings can be accepted as early brutalism and therefore worthy of note.’ In the 1980s the facade was retained when new flats were built behind. But aggressive stone cleaning and cement patching techniques, popular in the 80s, had left the stone facade vulnerable to further decay. It was not until 2011 that Glasgow City Council was able to take advantage of a change in the law which meant that it could fill the gap in funding to allow the necessary repair work to go ahead. Owners were grant-aided by Glasgow City Heritage Trust and the shortfall was underwritten by Glasgow City Council. Glasgow City Council paid the shares of a minority of owners who were unwilling or unable to participate. It will pursue them for full recovery of the costs plus expenses on completion of the works, using the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. Call for ethnic diversity Those involved in the historic environment sector need to take more action to ensure success in developing the ethnic diversity of its work and volunteer force. This is the conclusion of a research project that examined ethnic diversity in the historic environment workforce. The report, commissioned by the Council for British Archaeology diversifying participation working group and funded
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