C O N T E X T 1 3 3 : M A R C H 2 0 1 4 41 The front range of 30–34 West Street. Some elements, such as dormers, survive charred but intact. rear ranges. Each has two floors, with basements and attic accommodation.The most impressive properties, numbers 30 and 31, comprise double bays with central entrance halls, the remaining three being more modest single-cell units. The fronts have some classically inspired domestic details with notable door cases, fanlights and early sash windows, reflecting Harwich’s 18th-century prosperity. The town, planted in the thirteenth century on a low-lying spit, is still under constant threat of flood. Its deep harbour made it strategically and commercially important. It gained a sixteenth-century Navy shipyard and HenryVIII fortifications.The Mayflower was probably built here in the seventeenth century and Samuel Pepys became its MP. The old town flourished until the early 20th century, when the Electric Palace, the UK’s second-oldest purpose-built cinema opened, but by this time the main port activities were moving to Parkeston Quay, and retail activity to Dovercourt. In the 1960s the Harwich Society and other indomitable locals thwarted the proposed clearance of the grid of tightly packed streets.Their hard work enabled many rundown buildings, including the Electric Palace, to be repaired and reoccupied. However, reinstatement in locations like West Street becomes less straightforward when, unlike Cupola House, peoples’ homes have been lost and the location is still economically marginal. The fire started on the morning of 7 December, 2011 at 32 West Street, which belongs to Tendring Council. A private contractor was carrying out repairs to a flat roof over a rear extension. A workman’s blowtorch ignited the felt and adjoining combustible materials, a situation similar to Uppark. A strong northwest wind helped the fire to engulf all five houses. Eventually the blaze was contained by the Essex Fire Service and solid masonry bookend buildings at either end of the site.The occupants were either out or able to escape quickly, but all were made homeless. By the evening most of the roof structure and upper floors had been destroyed or reduced to a shell. Chimneystacks and end gables remained, as did some enclosed features, such as a three-flight winding stair in number 33 and parts of the rear outshuts to the northernmost units. The ground-floor rooms were badly damaged, especially at the south end of the range where surviving internal partitions, panelling and other features were charred, but lower-stair balustrades and doors were still recognisable.Water and material falling from above had caused further damage, but the front facade, including much of the window joinery, was intact, with early sashes and the fine door cases and fanlights on 30 and 31 surviving.The initial impression was that rebuilding would be the preferred option, but there was no apparent threat of collapse or perceived danger to the public after supporting scaffolding was erected. I have already indicated my initial fears that we might end up with a painful gash in the town’s historic core or, as in nearby Market Street, a fire-damaged shell. The five dwellings were in separate ownerships and, it later transpired, were insured to varying levels of cover, making comprehensive sympathetic redevelopment less feasible. At least one of the owners was so traumatised that he was on the verge of walking away from the ruin. To compound problems, within days of the fireTendring District Council’s conservation officer retired, after giving more than 20 years of consistent support to the heritage of the town. In view of this, English Heritage wrote to the council offering extra support, including advice from an architect.We urged the procurement of specialist historic buildings advice as soon as possible. The district planning officer acted on both suggestions, taking advice from Essex County Council’s historic buildings team, and ensuring that a knowledgeable surveyor of their own initially coordinated the project, setting up negotiations on all five houses. The council instructed Richard Jackson Associates, building consultants and structural engineers. They surveyed all the buildings from a safe distance and from above in a cradle lift. They progressed this phase by organising temporary support, including a scaffold tower, and a roof to protect what was left of the buildings, notably the West Street facade. Later each building owner formally appointed the Richard Jackson team, headed by Glenn Cattermole, for the debris clearance and repair phase, after their loss adjusters’ and insurers’ approvals. The temporary supports, while designed to hold the remaining structure in place, also (with the new roof) enabled the surviving detached material and fabric to be retained, initially in situ, to allow the remedial scheme to be as accurate as possible. Following Uppark principles, albeit scaled down, fire-damaged material was available to be used for patterns even where incapable of being cleaned and reused.
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