CONTEXT 21 - January 1989

The Associationof ConservationOfficers Newsletter No. 21 January 1989

The Associationof ConservationOfficers ACO OFFICERS CHAIRMAN: Chris Smith Stroud Valleys Project Office The Shambles, High Street, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 lAP 0453673358 3 Paul Street, Kingsdown, Bristol BS2 8HG SECRETARY: Liz Marten (North Herts. District Council) 0462 686500 x 2411 FAX: 480043 25 Willington Road, Cople, Bedford (02303 616) TREASURER: Peter Richards (Essex County Council) 0245 352232 X 289 139 Lifstan Way, Thorpe Bay, Essex SSl 2XG MEMBERSHIP SE_CRETARY: James Ross 0245 352232x293 (Essex County Council) Three Bears, Laindon Common Road, Little Bumstead, Essex CMl 9TL PROJECTS OFFICER: John Fidler (HBMC) 017346010 27A Barnsbury Street, Islington, London Nl lPW (01 359 6840) ACO REGIONAL OFFICERS NORTH: Keith Murray (South Tyneside Borough Council) 0914567531 X 251 NORTH WEST: Mike King (Liverpool City Council) 051227 3911 X 568 YORKSHIRE: Robert Scriven (Wakefield Metropolitan D.C.) 0924 370211 x 417 FAX: 367292 W. MIDLANDS: Brian Moore (Dudley Borough Council) 0384 456000 X 4188 1 E. MIDLANDS: Graham Beaumont (Nottinghamshire County Council) 0602 824277 SOUTH WEST: Robert Ladd (Mendip District Council) 0749 3399 X 320 SOUTH: No contact at present EAST ANGLIA: John Preston (Cambridgeshire County Council) 0223 317616 SOUTH EAST: John Davey (Guildford Borough Council) 0483 505050 X 3633 LONDON: Rosemary MacQueen (City of Westminster) 017892519 SCOTLAND: No contact at present WALES: John James (Clwyd County Council) 0352 2121 NORTHERN IRELAND: Colin Hatrick (DoE Northern Ireland) 0232 653251 NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Jenny Pearce (L.B. Richmond-on-Thames) 01 891 7313 10 King Edward's Grove, Teddington, Middlesex TWl I 9LU (01 977 0913) ASSISTANT EDITOR: Bob Kindred (Ipswich Borough Council) 0473 262934 FAX: 0473 230851 4 All Saints Road, Ipswich Suffolk IPl 4DG Contributions from any member are very welcome. Please send copy to your Regional Contact or the Editor, double spaced and with illustration please! Front cover illustration by Andrew Millar showing typical East Coast of Scotland vernacular INDEX Page Editorial Graham Reed ...................... 2-4 SCOTTISH FEATURES A Shetland Diary Alistair Hamilton .................... 4- 6 Edinburgh's Redundant Churches Desmond Hodges ................... 6-8 A Terminal State - The Rescue of Melrose Station Dennis Rodwell ................... 9 -11 Inter-War Townscape Robert Walker .................... 11 -12 West Lothian District Council Design & Award Scheme Graham Reed .................... 13-14 Environmental Improvement Schemes ....................... 16-18 Caidean Nan Taighean and the Thatched Houses Maintenance Sceme James Souness .................. 18-19 Restoration of Lady Victoria Colliery Colin McLean ........................ 20 ENGLISH FEATURES The Third Degree Roger France .................... 21-22 British Standards for Historic Buildings Roger France .................... 22-23 Legal ............................... 24 Letters ............................. 24 ACO News ...................... 25-26 Book Reviews .................. 26-27 Europa Nostra Award ............... 28

This issue of CONTEXT contains predominantly features on conservation practice in Scotland, following in the series of 'regional' issues produced by local ACO groups spotlighting current issues in their area. Graham Reed has been responsible for compiling and coordinating all the Scottish copy and the issue was produced, with the Sassenach input, by the Editor, Jenny Pearce. The next issue will be produced entirely by North Region, to coincide with the Annual Conference in Durham in April. EDITORIAL GrahamReed I sympathise with Jon James' comments at the beginning of his Editorial in the last issue of 'Context'. When Chris Smith asked me to undertake the compilation of a Scottish issue of the journal, neither of us could foresee (luckily) the difficulties there would be. Nevertheless we did it and here it is, the first 'Context' from north of the border. I have tried to include articles covering as wide a variety as possible of subject matter, some of which may be of direct relevance to those of you working in England and Wales, and others which, although of specific Scottish interest, may give Sassenachs an insight into the particular problems and benefits of being a Conservation Officer in Scotland. I hope you find something of interest within these pages. The compilation of this issue is also my last act as Scottish Regional Officer of the A.C.O. A move of job in August from West Lothian District Council to the Historic Buildings and Monuments Directorate ( the Scottish equivalent of English Heritage) has meant that I am no longer able to carry on in my former capacity. Indeed the assembling of this issue of 'Context' was at one point proving difficult. However, Andrew Millar of Clydesdale District Council came to my rescue and I take this opportunity to thank him for his help and advice, and particularly for his enthusiasm. The production of this issue has latterly been very much a joint effort. * * * Although the concept of conservation is well established in many authorities in Scotland (a fact which will become clear as you read the journal) there is still considerable room for improvement. I believe consequently that the A.C.O. has an important role to play here in promoting the need for and benefits of good conservation practice. It is unfortunate that membership of the Association, as in Wales, has always been low. There may be good reasons for this; the area over which the membership is spread has made it virtually impossible to hold regular meetings or offer practical support; and physical distinctions between various parts of the country mean that the needs of a Conservation Officer in the Western Isles are very different from those of his colleagues in a large city in the Central Belt or a small market town in the North-East. Nevertheless I feel strongly that the A.C.O. should continue in Scotland and hope that those of you reading this issue who work in Scotland and are not members will consider joining and giving the Association the support and strength it needs to thrive. Finally I am sure Chris Smith would be only too pleased to hear from any existing Scottish A.C.O. member who 'volunteers' to step into my Regional Officer's shoes. ltlI1111111111111111111 IHIII1I111il1ll1lll 111l1tt1lIII111111111111111111111111111111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII111111111111111111111111111 Public Awareness and Conservation Andrew Millar Planner, Clydesdale District Council In several parts of Scotland, there may now be a conservation ethic, in which there is a public awareness of the value of conservation measures and arising from this, a collective responsibility towards townscape. This most obviously applies to the New Town of Edinburgh but could be applied to such gems of Scottish burgh architecture as Haddington or St. Andrews. It is my contention, based on the experience of living and working in several areas of Scotland, that there is still a distinct lack of awareness within many, probably most of Scotland's 540 odd Conservation Areas. Similarly that other cornerstone of conservation, listing, is also fraught with perceptual problems; not only regarding knowledge of listing, but in terms of the implications of listing or the standards which should be adopted. The purpose of this article is to outline the programme undertaken by one District Council in attempting to overcome or reduce this communications gap. The basic theme, therefore, is the development of coherent and systematic information bases and the dissemination of information leading to greater public awareness, initially of listing or conservation area status, and in the longer term, of the standards required. The programme of work has taken approximately 3 years and was undertaken by myself and Alistair Hackston, collectively known as the Environment Section. The district, Clydesdale, is 500 square miles of mainly sparsely populated' countryside (population 57,000) within an hour's drive of both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The District contains over 700 listed buildings but as most of the l-ist derives from the 1955-57 survey, this should not be taken as comprehensive. Only 9 conservation areas have been designated, with 4 as recently as 1982; and with Article 4 Directions having been sought and granted as recently as 1985, close control is a relatively new phenomenon for the Authority and for owners of non-listed buildings. Continued . 2

Public Awareness ..... Continued One of the Conservation Areas, as well as the greatest concentration of Grade A listed buildings, is New Lanark the Utopian model industrial village. New Lanark, however, is largely irrelevant to this article as it does not appear to have raised the conservation ethic in other settlements. In addition, if the buildings are not owned by New Lanark Conservation Trust or its sister organisation, New Lanark Association, they have been sold by these organisations to private owners who are bound by very strict restrictions within the title deeds. The "communications gap" scenario is not, therefore, relevant. The two central planks of the programme are:- 1. the development of information bases. 2. The promotion of public awareness. 1. INFORMATION BASES The Manpower Services Commission was responsible for undertaking much of the work over an 18 month period during 1986/7. The project team was of course briefed and under the supervision of the planning staff. (a) Photographic Archive The section now has an archive of 7,000 slides covering all listed buildings within the Conservation Areas. With the "back broken" of what would have been an insurmountable task for the staff of the section, the archive can now be updated and improved. The photographic archive has many uses. (i) a record in time. (ii) basis for improving recommendations on formal applications. (iii) basis for enforcement. (iv) basis for monitoring condition and uses and of course the preparation of a Buildings at Risk Register. (v) promotional/educational roles, whether for public consumption or presentation to Committee. (vi) basis for improvements, whether related to grant work, town schemes or paint schemes. (b) Sources Archive This is relatively undeveloped and only consists of secondary sources as opposed to the research of primary records. The immediate availability of extracts, old photographs, old maps, historical information, has already proved useful and it is obvious that this should be developed. Positive feedback from the public has already led to donations of hitherto unpublished material. 2. PUBLIC AWARENESS The initial steps towards the promotion of public awareness haye primarily concentrated on a sequence of publications. A number of other measures have also been undertaken as part of the programme. (a) Publications A programme of ten information leaflets is envisaged from October 1985 to the end of 1988. Design guidance will follow on two topics. Every owner of a listed building and all the properties in conservation areas have been circulated by hand delivery. All changes of owners will be "caught" by the Property Clearance Scheme administered through the Planning Division. The circulation system is intended to make it difficult for any property owner to argue ignorance of the law. As the provisions extend well beyond the statutory framework for notification, there is now a strong "moral" justification to attempts to obtain approval for enforcement action. It is my opinion that the lack of an individual notification system for owners in conservation areas is a deficiency which must be addressed. Similarly, the official notice in respect of listing is dry and uncommunicative and is often lost or not passed on to subsequent owners. The absence of registration of listing in the title deeds ( an administrative decision taken m the late Planning in Clydesdale 4 •. : ~~~'--·-~~----•.•·.1·., !~M• Clydesdale COULTER District Conservation t,Jl 1 Council Area 1940's) is remarkable, given the significant legal burdens placed on an owner of a listed building and it contrasts with other aspects of social planning controls, most notably Tree Preservation Orders. In addition, the Council published a book "Historic Buildings in Clydesdale in 1987". This is the first publication aimed at the heritage of the District. Extensive publicity was gained at the launch and the momentum has been maintained by the display of a touring exhibition, not only throughout the District but in Edinburgh and Glasgow. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 i 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 AllHI111l1liflTI11llRIDI111111111111111111111111111 3

(b) Other Measures Within conservation areas, the principle of the use of interpretation boards has been approved with the first boards erected during 1988, and a standard cast aluminium plaque has been erected in prominent locations in conservation areas to subtly reinforce conservation area status. In addition to the major exhibition, a tape/slide presentation set to music has been used, partly as a marketing service for the book but also as a logical extension of the use of the archive. CONCLUSIONS It is hoped that I have demonstrated there has been an attempt, within a relatively short timescale, to develop a coherent programme of information bases and tools to assist public awareness of the existence and to a lesser extent, the implications of statutory protection. This type of work is a prerequisite to successful conservation measures and one which must be systematically pursued over a period of time. In time, one hopes that a mutually reinforcing conservation ethic is established, which not only diminishes the need for the first stage of notification, but leads to a proper understanding of what conservation means in terms of the building fabric. 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111' Ill IIIJHIIJHllll lllfilllII1111111111111111111111111111111111111111 I 11111I11 111 I 1111111111 I Ill I I ilil 11111111 A Shetland Diary by Alistair Hamilton Lerwick was little more than a muddy bay - the Old Norse meaning of the name - until the seventeenth century, when it began to be used as a base by Dutch fishermen. Most of the old part of the present town dates from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Traders established their jetty stores, called lodberries, like the one on the left. The winding main street developed behind these, closely following the shore. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a more formal 'new town' of straight streets, parks and stone villas was created inland. The town has continued to expand and now accommodates about 7,500 people, about a third of the Shetland total. Monday* * * It's hard to believe that this is January. No snow so far, hardly any frost and the grass still growing well: it can't last. My daughters, Hannah and Rebecca, are ready and we set off from Burra Isle for Lerwick, where they go to school and I occupy myself as Conservation Officer for Shetland Islands Council. It's a pleasant journey: we cross the sea three times by bridge, then climb over the range of hills which separates the east and west sides of Shetland at this point. In not much more than twenty minutes, I'm at my desk overlooking the old harbour. My first hour or so is spent catching up on the weekend mail and in \ talking to an architect who is anxious to make progress on a site in Lerwick which happens to lie within the area of a waterfront study I've begun. Mid-morning, there is a site meeting with a Council architect who is preparing a refurbishment scheme for some of the oldest Council houses in the town, beautifully built of stone and slate in the thirties. As usual, the only real problem is how to reconcile the desire for highperformance windows with the need to stick to the original style. In the afternoon, there are some grant applications to deal with, including one for a listed church where the proposal is to replace some plain but attractive boarded panelling with varnished plywood and parana pine. I reflect again on ecclesiastical exemption and write to seek a meeting. Tonight I have to go to Levenwick, some eighteen miles south of Lerwick, where I want to discuss with the local History Group the possibility of conserving a listed lighthouse. We have a very constructive couple of hours, followed by a talk with the Community Council. Lighthouses have featured rather prominently recently; the Council is concerned about the social impact of their automation on the local community and I'm working on an amendment to the Merchant Shipping Bill which would allow such things to be considered. After the meeting, I am revived by some excellent homemade tomato soup and peach crumble at a friend's house nearby. Tuesday * * * I sort out my thoughts on a possible agreement between the lighthouse authority, the History Group and ourselves. Meanwhile, there is the usual range of enquiries about grant aid, scrap vehicles, SSSis and the odd astragal. My afternoon is spent 4

A Shetland Diary Continued at a meeting of one of the subcommittees of the Shetland Amenity Trust, a body set up to carry out a wide range of conservation functions. We discuss the current work programme, which includes such things as new interpretative facilities, access and parking at a National Nature Reserve, an archaeological trail on the island of Papa Stour, restoration of eroded dunes at two beaches and environmental improvements in the villages of Scalloway and Hamnavoe. We also discuss a paper on woodlands policy. Woodlands policy? Well, yes: to the surprise of many visitors, there are many small plantations in the islands, the most spectacular being at Weisdale, where such novelties as copper beech, horse chestnut and monkey puzzle flourish alongside more common stalwarts like sycamore, willow and Japanese larch. There's a lot of interest in new planting, hence the need for a policy. A bit draughty tonight: force 11. I make sure everything in the garden is secure and put on a nice big fire. Wednesday * * * Not long after I get to work, the 'St. Clair', one of two car ferries that provide our link with Aberdeen, sails southwards past the window, leaving 15 hours late. A bad night indeed. Among today's correspondence, I see that the Shetland Civic Society is being revived; I send them a likely agenda item, a consultation paper we've just had about the listing of telephone kiosks. Wednesday afternoon is spent largely in a meeting with Comhairle nan Eilean, otherwise the Western Isles Islands Council, in which we exchange thoughts about the control of offshore salmon farming developments. Thanks to legislation we originally promoted with oil in mind, we have comprehensive control of any works out to the three-mile limit, whereas their powers extend to a more limited harbour area. It proves a very fascinating afternoon. Our salmon industry grossed around £12m last year; the product is excellent and we're exporting all over the world. On the whole, the industry has caused us a few of the environmental problems which One of the many pleasant surprises in the Shetland countryside is Kergord in Weisdale. About twelve acres of mixed woodland were planted here, mainly around 1918 but with later additions by the Forestry Commission and others. The huge sycamore, which dwarfs the B-listed Kergord House, is around one hundred years old. A wide range of deciduous and coniferous species is represented here and some trees reach 60- 70 feet, defying wind, salt spray and voracious sheep. have arisen elsewhere, but I see all the applications for new sites and comment where necessary. Thursday * * * A flat calm, with just a hint of frost, and a gorgeous orange sunrise on the way to work as the view opens up to the east. The fishing boats which crowded my view yesterday have vanished in the night. First thing, I learn of a meeting of the Traffic Management SubCommittee which is to discuss the possible introduction of disc parking, as used in North Yorkshire and Torshavn in the Faroes, among other places. This has grown out of a proposal I made in a draft of the waterfront study. Next, I try to clarify the funding for a project we hope to run on the island of Papa Stour during the summer; it's being done under the programme of Military Aid to the Civilian Community. Then there's an impromptu site meeting with an elderly lady who wants to repair her gable and can't agree details with her neighbour. Just before lunch, I attend a preview of the new Shetland Tourist video, which features Magnus Magnusson and which all present agree is very good. More grant enquiries in the afternoon, then I give some thought to this evening, when I'm on an environmental phone-in on Radio Shetland with representatives of various organisations. The discussion turns out to be a little lacklustre, with rather more emphasis on the negative end of conservation than I think is justified. Friday * * * Hints of winter, with a dusting of snow on our hills and a sprinkling of motorway closures on the Today programme. First, a particularly obscure SSSI notification: after twelve years, I thought I had a passing knowledge of most of our long coastline, but I concede defeat on 'Tonga Greff', 'Bluescudda Kame', 'Grunka Hellier', 'Mio Tong' and 'Whinna Geo', eventually pinning the site down by grid references in north-west Unst. Will Unst's considerable tourist potential be enhanced by the 11111111II1IH1 IIUIIIII1II11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 IIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIllIIIllIIIllII II Ii 5

special feature of this site, 'elongated balls of actinolite sheathed in black mica'? Another Trust sub-committee in the afternoon, this one focussing on our anti-litter campaign and the possibilities of recycling aluminium and glass containers. The last hour of the day is spent with the Shetland archaeologist, going through some projects we're involved in. Then post haste to the office to change for a wedding; one of the NCC's staff is getting married and there's a dance to follow: nothing like an eightsome reel to blow the cares away! Saturday * * * Lots of things crowd into Saturdays: today, as well as the housework, shopping, and taking Hannah and Rebecca to roller-disco and fiddle lessons, I have to recover from the exertions of last night. In a small place like Lerwick, the job's never far away either; by the checkout in Presto, someone I vaguely know comes up to me and tells me that a nearby proprietor wants to complain to me about someone else's development. A delicate business, but all is resolved. Friends to stay tonight: big pizza. Sunday * * * Is windy, with sleet at 45 degrees. Porridge, coffee, big fire, Monopoly, bread-baking. Around mid-day, we mount an expedition to the beach, about 300 yards down the hill from the house. We return with two sackfuls of driftwood and glowing fingers and cheeks. More coffee, bigger fire and nice pictures of the Galapagos on the telly. I reflect on this diary and wonder when I'll find time to tackle the two or three bigger projects that always rest, like a mirage, in the week ahead. Roll on Monday ... Alistair Hamilton is Conservation Officer with Shetland Islands Council. He says Shetland is a great place for a holiday, with fascinating wildlife, archaeology and buildings. Any ACO members who may be visiting the islands are very welcome to pay him a visit, or call him on Lerwick 3535 extension 317. IIIIIIIIIlIlIII11111111111111111111111111111111111' 1111111111111£~~:~~:~:~;IIR~~l~=~:~1' CHURCHES * * * Desmond Hodges There are twice as many pews in Scotland as there ever were worshippers. Schism, missionary zeal and addiction to fierce argument are Scottish attributes which since 1946 helped to make 1078 churches redundant in a country where at least 80 out of every 100 people acknowledge the existence of God though at most only 17% attend church. Theatres, a concert-hall, an electricity sub-station, offices, domestic flats, stores and a casino are among the 48 more or less successful examples of re-cycled ecclesiastical buildings identified in a comprehensive study* by Kirsty Campbell, the Robert Hurd Scholar, who presented her research in a lecture to the Saltire Society earlier this year. She said that 77% of all redundant churches belong to the Church of Scotland, the Established Church; many of these are the result of re-unions of those congregations which splintered during the 18th century and 19th century into many sects, each with their own buildings. The slow spread of ecumenism will further reduce the total number of buildings needed for Christian worship; other religions may use some of those made redundant but * Kirsty A. Campbell: "Redundant church buildings in Scotland; causes and consequences". M.Sc. Thesis Heriot-Watt University/Edinburgh College of Art. September 1987. the majority of empty churches will either disappear or be converted to secular use. Edinburgh's Churches In Scotland's Central Belt (Glasgow I Edinburgh / Dundee) there has been a population movement outwards to suburbs and new towns leaving empty fine city churches. This movement is perhaps less pronounced m Scotland than 1n England. Traditional city-centre tenements are still desirable residences here, particularly in Central Edinburgh where there is a constant demand for houses in the 75% residential Georgian New Town and increasingly, in the reviving Royal Mile. In spite of this there are thirty-nine listed churches in Edinburgh which are not m ecclesiastical use. Churches, prominently sited, are often the finest examples of formal architecture in a town, designed to close a vista or to complement a view. Campaigns to prevent the loss of such urban treasures are fought vigorously and often by local and national amenity soc1et1es; Edinburgh is well provided with both. Gordon McFarlane of Edinburgh's Planning Department notes that although there are relatively few medieval kirks in the city (six of the remaining ten are still in use), there are many late-Gothic and three major 17th century churches which are rare in England. There are numerous Georgian churches, 18 with towers or spires, while the classical "preaching box" remained in vogue here long after it had ceased to be built in Engalnd. Most great churches were built when public worship was a mass movement and when the Church as an institution could rival the State in influence and the provision of social welfare. It is not appropriate for small congregations today to carry the full costs of maintaining a public monument event though the symbolic presence of a worshipping church is not to be underContinued . 6

..... Continued estimated. Ian Begg, Vice President of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, and member of the H.B.C., suggests that spires and towers, which are the most conspicuous and least functional parts of listed churches, should be maintained by the State to relieve the hard-pressed congregations. Episcopal Church, the sale of the empty building in 1957 as an electricity sub-station was regarded as a practical, even symbolic, triumph for conservation. After being fairly well maintained but now no longer required by the South of Scotland Electricity Board, the premises have been purchased by Christian Centre Ministries. However, the Planning Authority had previously consented to commercial use by another applicant with a consequent increase in selling price, so that the new church owners now have to Former Holv Trinitv Church by John He~derson 1838 ---- Case Histories ---- Of course towers alone are not always convincing monuments; the 1844 tower of Stockbridge Church transported from Lothian Road, when the Caledonian Station was built in 1867, was re-erected on its present site and attached to a new Parish Church. The church was demolished in 1980 and replaced by sheltered housing. The Norman style tower still stands, deprived of its church and demeaned by its domesticated brick replacement. Here was a case where, given a few more years for taste to change and demand to increase (as they have) there would have been a ready market for the church buildings and the sheltered housing might have been put on a less congested site - Stockbridge Parish might even have kept its church for worship! That is to be the happy outcome at Telford's great Dean Bridge where Holy Trinity Church still stands picturesquely on the northern bank high above the Water of Leith. Built in 1837 for a congregation separated with its rector from the raise considerable sums to buy and 'transform' the building before it can be used once more for worship; no doubt the Historic Buildings Council will be asked to assist. Some buildings can be rescued only by official action. For instance in Charlotte Street the church on the George Street axis was in a critical structural condition in 1960. The dwindling congregation could not afford the repairs but the Government stepped in and converted the church into an annex of Register House, the Scottish Record Office. Admittedly Colin Mc William, the architectural historian, says that the interior is now a vast filing cabinet but thanks to this official rescue operation Robert Reid's 1814 domed and pedimented elevations remain as the western hub of Edinburgh's First New Town. ---Funding Conservation --- Scotland does not have the benefit of a redundant Churches Fund but grants from the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland for the repair of churches in ecclesiastical use have risen over ten years from £51,199 in 1978/79 to £1,495,744 last year. This increase is likely to continue. H.B.C. grants are also awarded for listed but redundant churches and for unlisted churches in conservation areas. With this aid is bound to come increasing control over alterations and changes to the fabric of churches used for worship, which are at present exempt, and this control could become an impediment to radical liturgical reordering. The Dean Bridge by Thomas Telford 1829 St Bernard's \V ell by Alexander Nasmyth 1789 In Edinburgh the District Council has contributed £315,000 to the cost of repairing some of the most important churches (1979-1988) - about 10% of conservation grant expenditure. In fact until 1925 the City was the residual guardian of many "Burgh" churches built in the 18th and early 19th centuries with municipal funds for the established Church of Scotland in the expanding New Town as well as the Old. These "Burgh" churches in the New Town are now threatened with closure by the central church authorities and the future of some of Edinburgh's finest city churches is uncertain. In the Old Town one 17th century church with 19th century spire was built in the High Street at the Tron (public weighing scales) and was acquired at great expense by the City Council in compensation for refusal to permit demolition after it became redundant. In spite of this investment the Tron Kirk has remained virtually unused since 1954 though its central position, half way along the Royal Mile, should make it an ideal information ITIII11111111111111111 IIIll IIIll IIIIIHHI11IITIIIAIIIII IIIll IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 7

centre for the city's conservation and development which can be seen all around. The Old Town Trust and its twin the Old Town Committee for Conservation and Renewal are actively promoting this use. Further up the Royal Mile at the top of the Lawnmarket near the Castle is the Highland Tolbooth St. John's Church designed by J. Gillespie Graham and Augustus Pugin in 1839 as church and assembly of the Church of Scotland. This impressive Gothic building faces down the Royal Mile and its spire 74 metres high is part of every view from East and West in the Old Town and southwards from the New Town up the Mound sighted between the towers of New College. Tolbooth St. John's, now bereft of a congregation and long since abandoned for Assemblies is to be (wait for it) a Heritage Centre, where the Edinburgh story will be told by the firm which has made Jorvik more synonymous than chocolate with York. Even before Tolbooth St. John's was leased as a tourist attraction, urgent and extensive masonry repairs were neede to save its superb silhouette; substantial sums were contributed by the H.B.C. and £150,000 by Edinburgh District Council while the Church of Scotland, which still retains the title to the building, contributed the equivalent of the demolition cost. This equivalent assessment might be a useful precedent in future cases. Church of Scotland buildings are not consecrated but there may be limitations on alternative uses. These limitations can thwart a new and viable life for a church no longer required for worship, whereas in other denominations any change to secular or nonChristian use may be anathema to sacramemalists who prefer demolition to disloyalty. New Uses and still is recognisable as, Newington/St. Leonard's Church. Another, though down-market, example is the auction room in Broughton Street previously a Congregational church which, until recently damaged by fire, retained the simple space of a preaching house without obvious alterations when its function changes. Very good examples of conversions are the church used as a Hall over classrooms at St. Margaret's School, Newington, and Southside Community Centre created by Lothian Regional Council out of Nicolson Street Church. Edinburgh has no specialised library tucked into a small medieval church as in York. In fact Edinburgh has few medieval churches intact and in use, (as is general in Scotland, where burghs had only one parish church - unlike York, say with 39) but the 15th Churches are designed for formal century choir of Trinity College occasions; for worship for quiet Church (demolished to make room study and contemplation, for music for Waverley Station in 1848) was and for community use. Similar finally re-erected behind John secular uses, involving the Knox's House in 1872, is owned by minimum structural alteration will the District Council and is now a be most compatible with the design. Brass-rubbing Centre. than Registry Offices for civil marriage ceremonies. There are compelling reasons to keep the listed churches of central Edinburgh if: 1. They are places of public worship 2. They are distinguished and listed buildings 3. They serve as meeting places for local communities, for recreation, day centres, clinics and nursery schools 4. They can be converted to certain other uses without spoiling their architectural design 5. They are needed during the summer to house the Festival West Register House, Edinburgh and its glorious Fringe Oliver Barratt, Secretary of the Cockburn Association (The Edinburgh Civic Trust), suggests that a Trust should be set up to receive and maintain buildings not fully used as churches and to make them available for some or all of these and other functions. At worst they will shelter large numbers of people in a cool climate; at best Edinburgh's churches are among the finest buildings in a very beautiful city. The most successful example in Another alternative use, Edinburgh is The Queen's Hall, a unknown in Edinburgh but (The author thanks Kirsty Campbell, concert hall for chamber music, common in Scandinavia, is to Gordon McFa~lane . and Davi~ recitals and jazz which used to be, provide a more dignified setting Maxwell for. their advice when this paper was bemg drafted) ' lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ■ 8

·~· ~ l\ = ~ ~ IA<rntHlAAAAAM!lMI l9tHHHltltltHHl!l99MI T ~ ~ ~r1E _L_ Ii] !ID~ ~ -- T 1nnnnnnn1 nnnnnnnl LL ..... ' ~ µ~ :: ~ ""'"" cr ~ J~ ~ ~ = = L tJ _,. • tJ f-- f-- □□ ~ - f-- C: b f-- f-- □□ - - ' h - - □□ - fi--7 - Q_Q 1-i - - ~ C m p C m~ .. , .. BI C p C C p C C p C: I ~ '-- I ·- A Terininal State THE RESCUE OF MELROSE STATION HOUSE by Dennis Rodwell Scotland possesses many examples from its architectural heritage of buildings that have fallen into disuse and decay. They are in our towns and cities, and are scattered all over the countryside. They range from country mansions to inner city breweries. Social and industrial change has left us with a legacy of buildings whose prospects of survival can be regarded, depending on one's point of view, either as a headache or a challenge. When the Edinburgh to Carlisle railway line, better known as the "Waverley Route", was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in 1969, a microcosm of Scotland's nineteenth century railway heritage was transformed from being an every day part of our transport system to a relic of our history. And along with the hundred miles of track were all the viaducts, maintenance sheds, signal boxes, halts and stations. All, overnight, became redundant. By the early 1980's much had disappeared. Most of the track bed remained, although some, in the towns, had been absorbed into roads and car parks. Many of the tunnels and bridges had collapsed or been dismantled, the town stations at Hawick, Galashiels, and Newton St. Boswells were only memories. Melrose Station House The survivor from all this wreckage, indeed the sole remaining building of significance from any of the various parts of the old Borders railway system, was the station house at Melrose. Its survival was not the result of any deliberate policy, it was just that no one had got around to finding a reason to knock it down. Left to the elements, and a little gentle vandalism, the once fine building fell rapidly into ruin. The pigeons that used to roost in the Abbey transferred their living quarters to the station (they have now gone back!), and the future lookeci bleak. The neglect of the building, and of its road up from the Market Square, became a running sore with the people of Melrose. But what does one do with a building like this? It was not even as though Melrose Station was an ordinary country station, the sort one would expect of a market town boasting a population of little more than fifteen hundred. The station house at Melrose, designed by the great Scots railway engineer John Miller in 1846, and opened along with the first (Edinburgh to Hawick) stretch of the Waverley Route in 1849, was large and grand. Melrose was at the heart of a widely distributed community of wealthy landowners; and inspired by the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott, the town had already become a focal point for the early developments in toursim. The station buildings were designed to reflect the tourist role and the style and habits of the passengers which its promoters sought to attract. The station house was designed to look like a country mansion, in the then fashionable Jacobean style, complete with Flemish gables, stone mullioned and transomed windows, shafted chimneys, ornamental finials and carved balconies. To protect its passengers from the weather the station platforms were covered with immense iron and timber canopies, of which that attached to the station house remains. The building was sited to overlook the town, its river and its medieval Abbey, and was described at its opening as "the handsomest provincial station in Scotland" (Border Advertiser, 9th February 1849). It was the outstanding architectural quality and importance of the building which led, early in 1981, to its being listed (category A) by the Secretary of State. This represented an acknowledgement that Melrose lltl111111111 IIIIIllIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIllIIIll llBIIII IIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIII llIIIII IllIIIllIIIllII III ll llllIIIIII ll lllllIllIIIIllIII111111111 9

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIII111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 ' Station was not merely almost the sole surviving structure from the Waverley Route, but that it was in its own right a building of national importance ranking in the town alongside the only other category A listed building, namely the Abbey. The listing of the building also paved the way for its eventual salvation. I become a Station Master By 1981 the dilapidation of the Station had already reached an advanced stage, but from the time British Rail sold the Station in 1982 until I acquired it in 1985 it rapidly fell into almost terminal decay. The slates from the platform canopy were stripped off, and parts of its structure had collapsed. The interiors were completely removed, leaving only the rotting remains of some floor beams and joists. There was just a decaying structural shell, with a roof whose eaves supports were so rotten that they were held in place more by force of habit than by the conventional rules of gravity. Of course it is not every day that one is phoned up and asked if one wants to buy a railway station. (And as it happened in the course of time, it is not every day that an insurance broker is asked to insure one. He thought I had overindulged at lunch: "Which one do you have in mind, sir, Waverley or Haymarket?") I held many discussions with the then Director of Planning, David Douglas. He proved unremitting in his efforts to secure a future for the Station. We assessed the prospects. Melrose remained the focal point for tourism in the Borders, one of the mainstays of the local economy and with a substantial growth potential. Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House, the source as we know it of all things "Waverley", is just a mile away. It has averaged 80,000 visitors in recent years, and is the most favoured of Border attractions. There are the Motor Museum, the National Trust for Scotland's Priorwood Garden, and of course the Abbey. Then there are the River Tweed for fishermen, the Eildon Hills for walkers, the Southern Upland Way for trekkers. And near at hand the three other Borders Abbeys (Dryburgh, Jedburgh and Kelso), Smailholm Tower and numerous stately homes. Melrose Station, Roxburghshire before restoration Interior, 1985 them to the potential of Melrose Station the fit seemed right. The promotion of an industry whose goals place quality high on its scale of values, in a building of great elegance, was appropriate. The relationship between the successful presentation of locally made craft products and tourism is direct, and again the portents were favourable. The conversion potential of the building itself was highly suited to such a promotional centre, and with the offers of financial assistance which David Douglas masterminded from the Scottish Development Agency, the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, and the Borders Regional Council itself, the project soon demonstrated viability. Melrose Station follows the contour lines at the foot of the Eildon Hills and was constructed on two levels. The lower, passenger entrance level, provided the accommodation for the stationmaster and his staff - which is why the building is often referred to as the "station house". The railway track was at the upper level, and all Melrose Station, Roxburghshire after restoration Interior of Craft Shop Melrose is just a couple of miles each way from the A68 and the A7, two of the principal north-south, England-Scotland trunk roads for home and foreign travellers. The need for a focal point for the Borders crafts industry had already been presented to the Regional Council by a group of leading local craftspeople, and after introducing of the waiting rooms, ticket and booking offices and other operational rooms were sited off the platform. The two levels were connected by an open staircase through the middle of the building, a trolley path up the side, and an internal staircase (which no longer exists). By 1985 the platform, together with its canopy and the 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 10

A Terminal State ..... Continued within the local community and support from public sources that amongst visitors. Local arts and were essential before even the craftspeople value the opportunity acquisition of the property could be to present short one man or group justified. But ironically that same goods shed behind, which lay on the exhibitions in the gallery. local authority has displayed an other side of the track bed, had Of course the crafts industry is almost unbelievable lack of been dismantled. This was prep- not, and likely never will be, a enthusiasm for authorising the aratory to the construction, in 1987, highly charged commercial activity. directional signposting that visitors of the Melrose town by-pass, which It is not an industry that offers high need in order to find the property. roughly follows the line of the turnovers, or large margins. So the Hopefully, after two years of removed buildings. rents on the workspaces, and for effort in research and lobbying, this The restoration and conversion the short lets of the gallery, are matter will shortly be resolved, and of the station house, which was modest by other commercial for its third operational year, 1989, completed in 1986 and opened in standards, and the margins in the Melrose Station will at long last July of that year by the Rt. Hon. craft shop are not those of a high have achieved the directional Malcolm Rifkind, Q.C., M.P., street mass market retail unit. In signposting to which it is entitled successor to the Secretary of State short, the match of use to locality to and which it requires in order to who listed the building in 1981, building is not a typical profit- function properly. provides accommodation on three orientated development Projects such as the restoration levels. The volume of the building proposition, but one that in the of Melrose Station need all the is such that the third level is particular set of circumstances that support they can get, from all enclosed within the original arose in this instance served to parties acting in unison. Scotland roofline, and it is virtually invisible suggest the realisation of a number possesses many examples of major from most viewpoints from the of objectives. However, although historic buildings which are in outside. With a restaurant, craft the building has now been saved, desparate need of "eleventh hour" shop, gallery, model railway centre the development has yet to reach its treatment, and without the and museum, and craft workshops, full operational potential. assurance of continuous backing, at the Melrose Station Crafts Centre Borders Regional Council was all stages from inception through to provides a lively focus for a number instrumental in supporting the operation, others will be deterred of complimentary activities and is initiation of the project and in from tackling them. becoming well-established both securing the offers of financial 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 INTER-WAR TOWNSCAPE by Robert Walker Medieval settlements or streets of Victorian villas would, I guess, constitute most planners' idea of a conservation area. But the notion of a pleasant, urban environment does not stop with the beginning of this century - after all surely one reason for introducing development control in the 1947 Act was to achieve good townscape? There is no reason therefore why the housing developments of the early twentieth century should not warrant protection. Recently, Scottish Planning Departments have shown an increasing concern for Inter-War townscape. The importance of individual buildings constructed between 1919 and 1939 has been recognised for some time, with several being listed. Townscape of that period was, however, neglected until this decade, when its merits have now been realised. To be accurate the name "InterWar" applies to a style of urban planning rather than strictly defining a chronological period. It Denbeath Methil describes housing estates where the layout is planned, traditional local building materials and styles are used, and gardens trees and public amenity space are the norm. The concept is epitomised by the local authority "garden suburb", which was built onto many towns during the Twenties and Thirties. Some townscapes just pre-dating the First World War, such as Denbeath in Methil, reveal the forementioned features, so the term must be used liberally in order to include them. 111111111 fl 111111111111111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlfl 1111111111111111111111111111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII11111111111U111 11

The main characteristic of "InterWar" townscapes is their spacious environment resulting from the layout. Their housing is low density, which was a deliberate attempt to get away from the Victorian tenements. Most schemes incorporate a garden for each property. Streets are used as a design element, being curved to provide interesting vistas, and contribute to the general ambience with grass verges and trees. There are also parks - a 19th century legacy - and small areas of incidental landscaping. In essence these suburbs followed the larger examples of high-amenity, lowdensity planning at Letchworth and Welwyn Garden, which were internationally praised. Traditional construction in Scotland over the previous two centuries has consisted of vertically proportioned sash and casement windows, slate or sometimes paQ.tile roofs, and the extensive use of rendering on walls. It is not surprising that the designers of the new estates, faced with a similarity of building form, namely one or two storey dwellings, continued with the familiar materials and techniques. They had been tried and tested over time. Harling as an outers skin had, for example, been found to increase protection against the wind and rain. In addition, it could be coloured white or other light shades which were aesthetically compatible with the concept of new, attractive environments. Thus harmony of building appearance was a not inconsiderable element in these suburbs. In addition, a high standard of detailing prevailed; witness the use of astragals to form eight or twelve pane sash windows. This was to continue until the introduction of government-cutbacks in the 1930's led to cheaper forms of construction, interrupted the link with the past, and diminished the quality of later townscapes. To tackle the problem of overcrowding, especially in the cities, "Inter-War" estates were built not only around Scotland's four big cities, but also in every mediumsized burgh in the country. In pure townscape terms, the quality of these schemes varies. The features of the better ones have already been described. But some have boring, straight streets or uninteresting relationships between buildings, whilst in others dry-dash render or red, concrete roof-tiles may have been used. Those estates of lesser character are, as a rule of thumb, the ones built in the 1930's when the cut-backs operated. The better development in the 1920's shows how traditional design was taken and used beneficially for twentieth century planning. Inter War Conservation Areas The importance of "Inter-War" housing has been recognised. Conservation Areas have been designated at public sector estates at Piersland Park in Kilmarnock and Rosyth near Dunfermline; the latter was begun in the middle of the First World War to accommodate workers for the dockyard and building continued up to 1950. One private scheme, Cadham village, which was built for the workers of a paper mill, was also designated by Kirkcaldy D.C. Cadham Crescent These three are only the beginning of a proliferation of such schemes. A magnificent heritage of intact estates from the period existed at the beginning of the 1980's. The commercialism of this decade has, however, all but destroyed the legacy. The government requirement to sell public sector dwellings and the indirect compulsion for hard-pressed businesses (particularly public ones) to sell privately-rented housing has led to the destruction of most schemes homogeneity. Regrettably home-owners want to establish the fact of ownership and personalise their property with new doors, windows, shutters etc. At the same time the realisation that double-glazing is a vastly profitable industry has spawned even more salesmen than life insurance. The pressures on the average householder to rip out mullions and timber casements have been too great to resist. A Direction to control permitted development rights is required to prevent these minor alterations. There is reluctance to impose such measures after the changes have started; after all how do you tell someone they cannot have doubleglazing when the neighbour installed it before the restriction was m force? In such circumstances, protecting the layout and harmony is the best that can realistically be hoped for, by ensuring extensions and new buildings are in keeping. Very few "Inter-War" estates of any quality are now likely to remain in Scotland as orginally designed. Perhaps some still survive in England: the basis for this slender hope is that the more clement weather south of the border has not yet encouraged double-glazing everywhere. The purpose of this article is to awaken interest in the merits of "Inter-War" development in conservationists who have not otherwise appreciated it, and as a result maybe one or two more examples may yet be saved. Robert E. Walker MRPTl IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111111111111111111111111 LllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllfll 11I1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111111111111111 12

Made with FlippingBook

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=