C O N T E X T 9 3 : M A R C H 2 0 0 6 Context Cover: Acrobats at St Paul’s, Bristol, a church (built in 1789–95 to designs by Daniel Hague) in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust (see p17). ©English Heritage and James Davies Redundant is not the right word Editorial Briefing 2 Out of Context 3 Periodically 4 The writer’s voice 6 Model settlements conference RachelWalmsley 7 Managing historic suburbs conference Graham Arnold 8 Legal Briefing Charles Mynors 9 The United States’ National Trust DwightYoung 13 Caring for a thousand years of history Richard Griffiths 17 Protecting the disused but beautiful Matthew Saunders 22 Problem owners, not problem buildings Allan Morrison 27 The art of making stage 1 THI applications Nathan Blanchard 31 Notes from the chair 34 Director’s cut 35 Membership notes 36 Vox pop 34 Profile: Mike Brown, the Context editorial board’s new chair 37 Book reviews 38 Products and services 41 The Institute of historic building conservation www.ihbc.org.uk Registered as a Charity Number 1061593. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England Number 3333780. Registered Office: 3 Stafford Road,TunbridgeWells, Kent TN2 4QZ. IHBC Officers President: David Lovie email president@ihbc.org.uk Chairman: JohnYates email chairman@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair: Dave Chetwyn email vcpolicy@ihbc.org.uk Secretary: Richard Morrice email secretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer: Michael Knights email treasurer@ihbc.org.uk Membership Secretary: Mike Lea email membership@ihbc.org.uk Consultations Secretary: Karen Holyoake email consultations@ihbc.org.uk Education Secretary: John Preston email education@ihbc.org.uk Publicity Secretary: Sarah Buckingham email publicity@ihbc.org.uk Law & Practice Coordinator: vacant email law@ihbc.org.uk Director: Sean O’Reilly email director@ihbc.org.uk IHBC Committee Chairs Policy: Dave Chetwyn email vcpolicy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics: Mike Lea email membership@ihbc.org.uk Finance & Resources: Richard Morrice email resources@ihbc.org.uk Education: John Preston email education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach: Fiona Newton email communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Officers North: John Pendlebury Tel 0191 284 2119 NorthWest: Anthony Blacklay Tel 01270 610050 Yorkshire: Keith Knight Tel 01904 658482 West Midlands: Karen Holyoake Tel 01384 826891 East Midlands: Fiona Newton Tel 01507 601111 South: Gill Butter Tel 02380 285324 SouthWest: Colin Ellis Tel 01305 838334 East Anglia: Pippa Colchester Tel 01245 437337 South East: David Kincaid Tel 01227 862185 London: David McDonald Tel 020 8881 6724 Scotland: Charles Strang Tel 01835 822560 Wales: Nathan Blanchard Tel 020 7591 6062 Northern Ireland: Sharon BrownTel 028 9754 3087 Republic of Ireland: Bernard DeeTel 00353 1 873 7226 Business Office Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA England Tel 01747 873133 Fax 01747 871718 email admin@ihbc.org.uk Halfway through constructing the Norman nave, the builders learned about gothic, so they adopted the new style. If funds had allowed, they would have torn down those old-fashioned rounded arches and started again. Later, a fashion for flat pointed arches and big windows caused the lancets to be replaced. Further changes to the fabric followed reforms to the liturgy. Then the congregation demanded to be kept warm and to have facilities to serve tea. Still later the church was adapted to a much smaller band of worshippers. Church buildings have a long history of adapting to changes in liturgy, technology, fashion and architectural style. The greatest change of all may come when the building is no longer required for Christian worship and is declared redundant. Often demolition or drastic and destructive adaptation seems the inevitable step. But redundancy may be the wrong word. The building may still have an important role as a repository of history, art and memory, as a local landmark, as an oasis of tranquillity, or as a community facility. This issue of Context highlights what can happen when redundancy is accepted as just one more change in the life of the building. Sometimes a church that has been unloved, neglected and barely used for years can come to life, its glories opened to new audiences, and previously unsuspected potential discovered. As Richard Griffiths points out (p17), the surest safeguard for a redundant church is the place it holds in the hearts and minds of the local community. Matthew Saunders (p22) notes that some churches come into his care friendless but end up as the belle of the ball. Putting new life into a redundant church is often a case of rediscovering its wider cultural significance. In the case of those vested in the Churches Conservation Trust the significance may be architectural (such as St James, Toxteth, with the earliest known surviving use of cast-iron columns); historical (St Mary, Battlefield, built by Henry IV to give thanks after the Battle of Shrewsbury); archaeological (Holy Trinity, Goodramgate,York, untouched for centuries); social (St Helen’s, Little Cawthorpe, a Victorian church considered by The Ecclesiologist as a paradigm of the type commended for poor parishes); or landscape (such as those that are the most important built feature in towns and villages). Redundant? That’s just the start. Life after redundancy Institute ofHistoricBuildingConservation No 93 March2006
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