Context Editorial co-ordinator: Dr Nigel Barker, 119 Stanford Road, London SW16 4PR. Tel: 020 8679 9116, e-mail: editor@ihbc.org.uk. Production Editor: Jonathan David, Tel: 01582 763415, Fax: 01582 467480 e-mail: jonathan_david@hotmail.com Context is published quarterly and is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2000 ISSN 0958-2746 Published for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation by Hall-McCartney Ltd, Heritage House, PO Box 21, BALDOCK, Herts SG7 SSH. Tel: 01462 896688 Fax: 01462 896677 e-mail: context@hall-mccartney.co.uk Nonmember subscriptions to Context Context is available to nonrnernbers of the IHBC at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdon £40.00 Elsewhere: US$113.00 Subscription orders, together with remittances payable to Hall-McCartney Ltd, should be sent to the Baldock, Hertfordshire, address shown above. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily those held by the IHBC or the publishers. Neither the publishers nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. The products and services advertised in this publication are not necessarily endorsed by the Institute. COVERSTORY To mark the Millennium celebrations, Context temporarily sheds its usual cover design to take full advantage of this photograph of the Millennium Wheel, or London Eye, by Elain Harwood. A feature on conservation of 20th century buildings begins on page 7. 4 NEWS PARISHIONERPOWERWINSOUT St Alban's Church, Stroud Conservationists in Stroud are celebrating news of the judgement in a recent Consistory Court case. St Alban's (1915-16), by local architect Thomas Falconer (1880-1934), is a structurally complete church in the Arts and Crafts, early Christian revival style. It is a small, stone mission church with a domed apse, pan-tiled roof and bellcote. It was listed grade II in 1951. The interior is very simple and un-English with the Rood and Screen having figures on Obituary MARTINCAROE1933-1999 Martin Caroe, who will be known to many members, died on 17 November last year. He was one of the major figures in the conservation world, with a character to match. I remember well being taken up onto the roof at Peper Harow in Surrey, where he was supervising repairs after fire damage to that 18th century house, and watching while, with unconcern, he walked along the parapet balustrade as the scaffold roof thumped from huge gusts of wind coming in the from the east. His delight in buildings was huge and he was always generous in his help. One of his greatest enthusiasms was his house, Vann, near Godalming, a 16th and 17th century building in the Surrey Hills, where his father, the Edwardian eh urch architect, W D Carne, had worked, remodelling it, where Gertrude Jekyll had laid out the garden and where his father, the architect Alban Caroe, had lived. Martin was also very pleased with the repairs he had carried out to Henry Woodyer's little church at Bascombe, nearby. He is best known, however, for his work as a cathedral architect, particularly at Wells, where he developed, with Prof. Robert Baker, the pioneering system of poulticing to extract dirt from the stonework and sculpture of the west front of the building, followed by lime watering as a consolidant and the use of lime shelter coats to protect the stonework against further erosion. This was not a process wholly without interthem painted by Henry Payne. There were a number of objections to a proposal to re-site the Rood and Screen to the rear of the church, shown in plans prepared by Peter Gilbert Scott. The St Alban's Conservation Group was formed by parishioners, Stroud Civic Society and Stroud Preservation Trust to put the case to the Consistory Court in November 1999. Chancellor June Rodgers said in her statement : "The Screen and Rood should stay in their present position so that the integvention, but it has become an integral part of the armoury of those attempting to arrest the decay of important historic buildings, particularly those with exterior sculpture Indeed, Martin used these methods during his work at his other English cathedral commission, Rochester in Kent. Perhaps his other major work was as architect to Kingston Lacy in Dorset where the National Trust had taken into care a house by Sir Roger Pratt, but which had been remodelled in the 19th century by Sir Charles Barry so that it had actually grown by having the original brick encased in stone. Martin was a formative figure in the history of conservation architecture at a time when, with the seemingly exponential growth of legislation, it could be said that conservation was being bureaucratised. He always made plain his huge enthusiasm for that part of the architectural jungle and it is perhaps his example of serious thought on practical matters in combination with energy which will be his main legacy. Richard Morrice Historic Buildings Inspector English Heritage CORRECTION Apologies that authorship of the article 'Conservation of decorative plasterwork -an Irish viewpoint' in Context 64 was incorrectly credited. The author was Andrew Smith not David McClean. Frank Keohane /HBC Republic of Ireland Branch rity of this interesting church can remain. Minor alterations should provide more than adequate flexibility for the current needs of the congregation". For more information • Anne Mackintosh, Stroud Preservation Trust; tel: (01453) 766273. IHBCSOUTH BRANCHANNUAL CONFERENCE A bitter harvest?Thefutureof Englishpubs:newtraditions,new themes,newrealitiesversusthe traditionalpub 8 April A joint conference with CAMRA to discuss all issues relating to the problems of maintaining historic public houses, including preserving the fabric and also the essential character of traditional pubs which are constantly under threat from closure or 'remodelling' to cater for changing consumer demand. Speakers have been drawn from large and small breweries, the Amenity Societies, CAMRA, local authorities and English Heritage representing all sides of this topical and interesting subject. To be held at Reading University. For further details: Martin Andrew 23 Long Furlong, Haddenham, Bucks HPl 7 8DQ, e-mail: south@ihbc.org.uk SURVEYING HISTORIC BUILDINGS 29 March 2000: The Chantry House, Henley-on-Thames More details in !HBC News. Further details: GillHine, Oxley Conservation, c/oManxCottage, Church Road, North Leigh, Witney, Oxo. OX8 6TX, tel: (01993) 883418 NEXTISSUE Copy deadline for the Summer 2000 issue (No.66) will be 20th April Please adhere to this deadline. The theme will be "Connected Conservation - Working with partners and information technology". Contributions (up to 2000 words) on this theme are invited but other contributions, experiences, technical notes, case studies and appeal decisions are welcome (space permitting). Please send them to Nigel Barker. Please submit copy on a 3.5 inch floppy disk in Windows 95 format. Alternatively e-mail text to: editor@ihbc.org.uk Context65March2000
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