44 Following the rush to designate sites in the 1970s, attention _has moved in recent years to effective plans for protection and management. Although it might be reasonable to ask how well the 14 United Kingdom cultural monuments compare with this global view, Christina Cameron of the Canadian Parks Service, and a UNESCO representative, rightly asked how the incomparable could be comNred, and gave Gothic cathedrals as just one specific example. She discussed the difficulties raised at the designation stage by the cases of New Lanark and the Lake District. This theme was also covered later by Frank Lawrie and John Hume who referred to other sites, Edinburgh Old and New Towns and the Forth Rail Bridge which have also been deferred for further consideration. This last example perhaps indicates a broadening by UNESCO of definitions of heritage over the last 20 years to include, for example, industrial archaeology. Other papers presented at the seminar included the inevitable position statements from some of the key players; ICCROM; English Heritage; RCHME and ICOMOS UK, but there were also specific case studies on Ironbridge Gorge and Avebury, with particular reference to the damaging pressures of development; and the management of the city of Bach and of Hadrian's Wall. Richard Gem, Secretary of the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England, examined existing ecclesiastical nominations as well as their legal protection and management; while Edward Fawcett, Chairman of ICO MOS UK Gardens and Historic Landscapes Sub Committee, David Jacques of English Heritage and Peter Goodchild of IoAAS discussed the development of thinking on landscapes and gardens. The advantages of this publication are the way it permits both an overview, by bringing together the main strands of current thinking, and a reevaluation of the philosophical basis for the proper conservation of sites by relating the standards applied to World Heritage Sites back to the national listing system and the "cherished and well loved local scene". Altogether a thought provoking report. Bob Kindred BOOKS HEALTHY BUILDINGS? Hospital and Asylum Architecture in England 1840-1914: Building for Health Care. Jeremy Taylor. Mansell, 1991. 256pp, 250 x 219mm, ISBN O 720 I 2059 4. Price £60.00. The 19th century saw a high level of architectural activity and innovation in health institutions. Given the speed with which medical developments have taken place even since the 1960s, it is surprising that so many important buildings should survive from the period beginning with the birth of urban expansion and sanitary reform in the 1840s through to the outbreak of the First World War. This is perhaps a reflection more of the level of public spending, than of medical or architectural priorities. This is a remarkably neglected area of architectural history, and the appearance of this book is timely as the National Health Service goes through a further period of radical reform. The RCHME has been recording threatened, obsolete hospitals but Dr Taylor, who was formerly Research Director at IoAAS, has been able to synthesise the dynamics of the period through his research for the Department of Health and the Public Services Agency on the extent and merits of the buildings within their estate. The 60 or so illustrations, many of chem from the architectural journals of the day, include useful plans and sections showing the evolution of medical and architectural thinking, but it is a pity a few more modern photos were also not included. In the main text, the author analyses the main building types as well environmental, decorative and technical aspects. He also clarifies the individual contributions of particular architectural practices, many of which are not well known. These specialists often competed against each other for work which was both technically demanding and severely constrained by cost. Part One thoroughly covers the architectural develop men cs including the architect's role and their image of health care as well as the siting of hospitals and how they were paid for. Part Two looks at institutions both for the physically and mentally ill. Specialist hospitals, of which there were many types, are described as are the ancillary buildings such as chapels and residential buildings. The third part might cause some confusion unless the introduction is carefully studied. A quick glance might convey the impression that all the schemes for the period are included (listed by town, then by project type in date order and finally by architect), but the author makes clear that chose listed over about 53 pages are a selection of designs and completed schemes. Unfortunately, present-day names are not used in all instances and a number of projects in each county may well have been omitted. Also it is not clear if all the buildings are still standing. Nevertheless, the information will allow many buildings to be put in context for the fast time and is precisely the kind of objective analysis that might become possible for other building types of only the Statutory List were to be computerised. An excellent note on relevant publications of the period and after is given and foornotes are scrupulously documented. An invaluable book, recommended - but rather expensive. Bob Kindred THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE Yorkshiretextile mills 1770-1930. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and West Yorkshire Archaeological Service (Colum Giles and Ian H. Goodall). HMSO, 1992, xi + 26lpp, 338 illustrations. ISBN O 11 300038 3. Price £16.95. For many people the textile mill symbolises, perhaps more than any other building type, the essence of industrialisation, a process which transformed rural landscapes and created urban ones. For the Conservation Officer, the textile mill may represent the ultimate challenge, either in defence of a monument under threat or in participating in the process of sympathetic adaptive re-use. Massive mulcistoreyed buildings, vast areas of open floor aceas, soaring chimneys and towers and endless saw-tooth-profile weaving sheds can corn bine to produce a nightmarish tangle of conflicting issues, values and re-use options. Help is now at hand from the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England and the West Yorkshire Archaeological Services in this collaborative volume. This much needed and welcome book does not provide the answers to a Conservation Officer's prayers, but it does provide an invaluable analysis of the buildings of the Yorkshire textile industries which allows a textile mill or mill complex to be placed with some confidence within architectural, technological, chronological and typological contexts, allowing an informed sift of the information contained within a particular site to be made, en route to decisions concerning future options being made. Textile mHls are a threatened species throughout the UK. English Heritage has recognised chat they are under-represented as a type within the statutory lists. The appearance of this volume based • on an examination of some 1,750 .sites, of which 150 were recorded in detail, is therefore timely. The examination and analysis of a vast and varied legacy of textile buildings cakes the reader systematically through the history of textile manufacture and the evolution of the buildings of all six branches of the Yorkshire textile industry, before examining, in admirable detail, the component buildings of the mill complex. The need to understand the inter-relationship between the eye-catching mulci-storeyed buildings, and the smaller, lower, meaner, but equally important, ancillary structures before a site can be fully understood and assessed, is a powerful theme of this volume, which those concerned with future options and strategies must accept. Detailed examrnauon of architectural form, site development, the selection and location of power systems, structural technology and the relationship of the mill site and its surroundings left this reviewer with a significantly enhanced perception of the range, quality and significance of textile structures, and perhaps better equipped to assess priorities for protection. The text is broken up by a wealth of high-quality photographs, site plans and illustrations; and it is little wonder chat sometimes references CONTEXT 36
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