40 C O N T E X T 1 3 3 : M A R C H 2 0 1 4 appreciated.’ It was accepted that reconstruction would form the major component of this work. In Bury St Edmunds in 2012 fire almost destroyed the Grade I listed Cupola House, the town’s second most significant historic building. Despite the loss of most of the seventeenth century, timber-framed building, the ground-floor restaurant with the lower stair balusters, wooden panelling and some plaster ceilings remained intact. The fire had bypassed this area by way of ducts to consume the upper floors, roof and rear ranges, and thankfully the front facade was still standing. It was decided that Cupola House would be ‘reborn’. The front range will appear for the most part as it was before the fire, although not all the interiors will be authentic. This is possible thanks to the survival of a comprehensive record in drawings and photographs, dating from a restoration completed in 2003.The strategy is supported by most townspeople, although some, including voices within the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, suggest that the recreation will produce the type of ‘lifeless forgery’ that William Morris’ 1877 manifesto decried. The strategy adopted at Uppark House inWest Sussex after the 1989 fire may also raise concerns amongst SPAB purists, but it is now seen as an exemplar in careful salvage and faithful recreation of lost elements. Even more important than Cupola House, and owned by the National Trust, its restoration took six years.There was time to be painstaking over every detail, at least in the public areas. Every cubic metre of ash was stored and sifted to ensure that no fragment of plaster, joinery or even wallpaper that might be reusable or could inform new work was lost. This might be something to which we would all aspire, but how feasible is it on buildings of lesser significance? There are many decisions to be taken after a fire. Even small issues can present dilemmas.With Cupola House still smouldering, it had to be agreed that a part of the surviving facade should be removed in order to stabilise it. Of course the fundamental issue is how to formulate a positive, practical course of action to be adopted and set it in train as soon as possible.We have seen in Brighton how a ruin may blight its surroundings for 10 years or more. In conservation areas at risk, or on the cusp, there is a danger that,without a concerted effort and immediate professional advice, the vestiges (including any surviving historic fabric) will be cleared, leaving an empty gapwhere, in a time of recession, no developer will get involved. This not only fractures the historic townscape, but also generates an atmosphere of economic gloom and inertia. In Dovercourt, the resort suburb of the historic port of Harwich, buildings have been lost through lack of maintenance or they have ‘just fallen down’. Mysterious fires have led to demolition. This is not Brighton and a townscape heritage initiative has failed to lift the conservation area from at-risk status. The process of decline is perceptible on the approaches to oldHarwich itself,where despite years of EnglishHeritage and local authority grant schemes, conservation is still a work in progress. On a windy day in December 2011, fire severely damaged a row of five Grade II listed houses in West Street, one of the principal streets in the historic core. The houses, presenting a continuous facade, are of a construction common in the town, with timber frames from the 16th century onwards, extensive areas of brick infill and re-facing, and a complex arrangement of The first floor of 30West Street immediately after the fire, showing surviving stacks and timber frame. The adjoining modern flats acted as a firebreak.
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