28 C O N T E X T 1 3 3 : M A R C H 2 0 1 4 VALUING HERITAGE SOPHIE NORTON Fluctuating heritage values at the Borobeck Store The conservation of an unscheduled and unlisted 19th century outbuilding in rural Yorkshire by three construction apprentices raises questions about heritage value. The Borobeck Store is a 19th century outbuilding located at the back end of a long, medieval burgage plot in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. Situated next to a footpath along a stream and visible from the road, a number of the building’s characteristics contribute to the character and appearance of the area. It is traditionally constructed from solid stone walls with a timber roofing structure that supports pan-tiles fixed to lathes with lime.These vernacular materials and features, including boarded windows and door, are typical of this part of ruralYorkshire. Although it is neither scheduled nor listed, the building’s heritage value is recognised in the Helmsley Conservation Area Character Appraisal. Such buildings ‘provide an important break in the building line, afford an insight into how this area was previously used and valued, and contribute to the sense of openness within the town’. The store also adds ‘a lower-scale element to the streetscape, providing views of incremental ridge heights’ and ‘make[s] a positive impact on the conservation area’. The appraisal asserts that ‘these buildings should be conserved wherever possible’.This pragmatic statement hints at two divergent issues: finding conservation solutions for valued heritage is important, but extremely challenging when that heritage is not rare, nationally significant or sustainably reusable. To disentangle this seemingly problematic position, it is important to reflect on the heritage value of the Borobeck Store.When considered in relation to English Heritage’s 2008 Conservation Principles, which identifies four key value groupings (evidential, historical, aesthetic and communal), those attached to this building most clearly derive from its evidential and aesthetic characteristics. Not only does it provide evidence about activity in 19th century Helmsley, our rectified photographic survey of the building clearly showed it to have been built in two phases. Further, some of the larger stones in one of the phases were probably taken from the medieval castle site across the road.This evidential information is interesting but not unique, as similar interpretations can be inferred in other sites locally. Correspondingly, the building’s aesthetic value, which relates to its appearance and the way it contributes to the character of this part of the conservation area, derives from several buildings’ collective character. Situations like this are not unusual: according to the National HeritageTraining Group, around 94 per cent of pre-1919 buildings are Grade II listed or unlisted, which means that they are not registered on English Heritage’s Heritage at Risk Survey, and any neglect usually goes unrecorded and unimpeded.There are funding sources, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund’sTownscape Heritage Initiative, that can support works to groups of buildings like this. But this misses the point somewhat, when limited funding is an effect of the problem rather than the cause.This relates to the way in which value is ascribed to heritage and, more significantly, to conservation. Conservation Principles begins by stating that the historic environment is dynamic. But the overriding sense in the document is that values are established, and The Borobeck Store. ‘These buildings should be conserved wherever possible,’ the conservation area character appraisal says
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