38 C O N T E X T 1 4 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 Vox pop Andrew Mottram (see his article on page 18) is heritage buildings and community development officer in the Anglican Diocese of Worcester. A place of worship support officer post, it is part of a national scheme 50 per cent funded by Historic England. Employed by the Worcester Diocesan Board of Finance, Mottram is also an ordained priest with permission to officiate in the dioceses of Hereford and Worcester. Who has been your greatest inspiration? It is definitely not one individual. I have never had a hero. I could say the greatest influences on me as a person were, for good or ill, my parents and being a member of a weird cult. Several years of therapy and a spiritual director unscrambled the mess. The radical and revolutionary person of Jesus in the Gospels is an inspiration – as opposed to the insipid, meek and mild character maintaining the status quo preferred by some religious authorities. Brother Roger of Taizé inspired a religious community which had a great influence on my life. Laurens van der Post’s writing was a huge source of inspiration during my 20s and 30s. When it comes to conservation, my work is all about enabling church buildings (in addition to the primary function as a place of worship) to be meeting places for the community; places for learning and telling stories; centres of artistic endeavour; and thresholds between heaven and earth. The inspiration for this has been all manner of influences, but most particularly my work in two parishes in Bedfordshire and then at All Saints Hereford, subsequently backed up by source evidence in books like The People of the Parish by Katherine French and TheVoices of Morebath by Eamon Duffy. What has been your best idea? The re-ordered All Saints Hereford – the outcome of utilising the commercial site occupied by the church building to generate a revenue stream. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? I became a conservationist because of growing unhappiness as a stipendiary priest in the Church of England. I am a conservationist by accident but I never set out to be one. However, if conservation is the management of change that is alright as I have always been a change agent. If I was not a priest I would still be a change agent in some kind of role, sometimes I think with either the historic environment or with a mechanical engineering bent – I love industrial archaeology. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? I help people to look after old buildings, and help Church communities get the best from their church buildings in the 21st century and to have buildings which work for their mission. What is the biggest frustration in your job? People who won’t take risks or stick their neck out because perhaps they don’t want to get it wrong on their watch. Fear is a significant inhibitor to conservation – it is safer to say no. What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? Hopefully retired from paid employment. Gardening and fishing. What is your favourite building? That is an impossible question to answer. At the moment the Landmark Trust’s work at Astley Castle is, in my opinion, the best demonstration of excellent conservation.We stayed there the weekend it won the Stirling Prize, it is brilliant. I love going around the parts not normally seen at St Paul’s Cathedral. Wren was a genius. Your favourite place? I am tempted to say the city of Oxford – not just the architecture but a very special period of my life discovering beer, girls and early church music. Otherwise it is the Mull of Kintyre and much of the west coast of Scotland –so beautiful it sometimes moves me to tears. Your favourite book? A Story Like theWind by Laurens van der Post. Alternatively, the whole series of Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps for Britain will keep me happy for years. What do you do in your spare time? What is that? Four grandchildren, a house that we built and a garden that we created mean I am rather busy. If I had more time I would read more and fish more. What organisations are you a member of? The National Trust and Landmark Trust are the other bodies I support. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? That conservation is the management of change.The task of the conservationist is to facilitate change in response to the peoples’ wishes.The IHBC should campaign for less focus on the expert pontificator and more focus on community-led decision making. People power is essential for the well-being of society.
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