IIbuildings remain undiscovered. There are 315 post-war listed buildings or groups of buildings at present. When inter-war buildings first became eligible for listing in 1970, the Minister asked Nikolaus Pevsner for a list of the best 50 inter-war buildings. These buildings, commonly known as Pevsner's Fifty, were listed in 1970 at grade II, and they included some of the most impo1tant modern buildings of the period, such as Boots, Dl0 'Wets' Factory at Beeston in Nottinghamshire, designed by SirOwen Williams in 1932. Pevsner's magical stamp of approval of these examples inadvertently made it difficult to recommend other examples. A few inter-war buildings were added to the list, but it was not until 1980, when the destruction of the Firestone facto1y brought the public's enthusiasm for the listing of such buildings to the government's attention, that things began to change. Almost immediately a list of further recommendations was drawn up which typified more clearly the architecture of the inter-war period. This list, which included such buildings as St Saviour's, Eltham, designed by Welch, Cachemaille-Day and Lander in 1933, and Leeds City Hall, designed by Vincent Harris in 1930, was then approved in detail by the Historic Buildings Committee chaired by John Brandon-Jones. These 150listing recommendations were then readily accepted for inclusion on the list by the Minister during the early months of 1981. In April 1987, when the Ten and Thirty Year Rules were introduced, a different system was adopted to deal with this new influx of possibly listable buildings. The Minister responsible, William Waldegrave, decided to seek the views of the general public. From the resulting plethora of suggestions, English Heritage recommended a total of70 buildings for listing to the Minister in Janua1y 1987. The result was the listing of 18 buildings in April 1988, including famous buildings such as Coventry Cathedral, designed by Sir Basil Spence in 1958, and lesser known buildings of outstanding quality such as Cripps Hall at the University of Nottingham, designed by McMorran and Whitby in 1957. The feedback from the minister suggested that the reason for so many rejections was not necessarily that the buildings were unworthy, but that a convincing case had not been made to justify their inclusion. As a consequence a new approach was initiated based on a highly specialised research programme. In addition, English Heritage was fortunate to have two of the foremost experts in the study of post-war architecture on its staff: Diane Kay, who had carried out the first Context65 March2000 Fig.3. Willis Faberbuilding, Ipswich,begun 1972, by FosterAssociates.Listedgrade I in 1992. study of education buildings, and Andrew Saint, who produced a booklet to accompany the touring exhibition entitled A Change qfHeart, which encapsulated the spirit and flavour of the best architecture of the period. This new system for assessing buildings involved better visual images, a full thematic survey of the buildings and the setting-up of a panel of experts, known as the PostWar Steering Group, to endorse the results before they were submitted to Ministers. All post-war recommendations are seen personally by the Minister, and all therefore have to be endorsed by the Post War Steering Group and Historic Buildings and Areas Advisory Committee. The single most important element of this change was the thematic survey. Diane Kay was given the task of dividing the work into functional groups and then correlating research from the plethora of architectural journals, books and other unpublished sources. Architects of the period were approached for their opinions and recommendations, not only of their own but also their colleagues' works. Research was undertaken into the new materials available at the time and their structural possibilities, as well as the social and political history of the period, especially in relation to areas such as education and housing where government policy had such a dramatic impact on commissioning buildings. This was aided by the growing number of new monographs on architects and architectural practices prominent in the post-war period. In all cases the buildings proposed for listing have been inspected and researched and the results put before the Post War Steering Group with a recommended grade. If the recommendations survive this hurdle then they are passed on to the Historic Buildings and Areas Advisory Committee and English Heritage Commissioners before being sent to the DCMSfor the Minister's decision. Since November 1994 the public as well as owners have been invited to comment on all post-war listing proposals not under immediate threat. The result of this new approach to post-war listing has been the decision by Ministers to list over 300 further buildings, including 45 of the buildings previously rejected. This new method has therefore been successful, and the results show a healthy and diverse selection of the different architectural pre-occupations of the period. The list of schools includes such masterpieces as the Hunstanton School in Norfolk designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in 1950, as well as almost unknown examples such as the Intake Farm School in Mansfield, the firstschool designed by Nottinghamshire County Council Architect's Department in 1957 using the new CLASPsystem of prefabrication. Universities have always been acknowledged as one of the richest sources of high quality post-war buildings and these are represented by both modern and traditional buildings at the older universities such as Churchill College, Cambridge, designed by Richard Sheppard in 1959, or the Provost's Lodging at Queen's College, Oxford, designed by Raymond Erith in 1958. The often overlooked technical colleges are represented by both the modern Hollins Building in Manchester designed by Leonard C Howitt in 1957 and the more traditional Newton Building in Nottingham designed by Cecil Howitt in 1956. Public housing has understandably proved to be the most controversial area, though the listing of one group of Phoenix Temporary Homes or prefabs in Wake Green Road, Birmingham, has proved very popular. Equally popular has been the outstandingly influential rural housing of Tayler and Green, for 15
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