C O N T E X T 1 2 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 3 9 Among her conclusions is that the court proceedings and sentencing failed to address the social consequences of the defendant’s actions, and therefore failed to ‘redeem’ the defendant as a ‘good citizen’. Readers may well wish to consider if this should be the purpose of the enforcement aspects of heritage legislation. For those who might have taken advantage of the aggregates levy to fund heritage projects, its use to fund archaeological research in the lower Severn Valley is explained in a collaborative paper by seven authors. The project has used geomorphological mapping and specialist remote sensing techniques to investigate deeply buried archaeological sites. The methodology has particular value in river valleys where prospection is particularly difficult because of the deposition of alluvium. Of the two other papers, the first explains the lessons learnt from the development of renewable energy plants in Greece, focusing on the cultural and social aspects rather than the more usual technical, economic and legal ones. As several of the Greek examples relate to wind farms in the vicinity of heritage sites, this will interest anyone wrestling with such issues in the UK where the setting of historic buildings is affected. The second looks at the forces leading to the decline of rural settlements and the deleterious impact on the dilapidation and abandonment of vernacular buildings in an area about 90 kilometres from Ephesus in western Anatolia, Turkey. International perspectives dominate the latest issue of The Institution of Civil Engineers Proceedings on Engineering History and Heritage (Vol 165, issue EH4, November 2012). A paper by Gerhard Eisele and Josef Seiler on the reconstruction of the Neues Museum (1841–1859, sited on an island in the middle of the River Spree in Berlin) looks at the balance to be struck between historic structural designs and the requirements of modern use. Other papers look at extending the life of historic Swiss bridges; the impact of new tunnels on those from the industrial era in Spain; and the effectiveness of local railway networks in Baroda and Sachsen states in India. The paper particularly worth noting is that by Sir Neil Cossons. He asks the (rhetorical) question: Does the engineering heritage matter? His answer is unsurprisingly yes, but the heritage engineering community needs to recognise and assert that the engineering heritage is not a separate or alien part of our lives. Cossons states that it must also be cherished, requiring the support and especially the advocacy and expertise of engineers with the aim of generating a portfolio of outstanding heritage places, preserved and presented to exemplary international standards. Items plucked from the columns of recent issues of Natural Stone Specialist (November and December 2012) include the increasing number of towns using stone festivals as a way of attracting visitors (Gloucester, Ludlow, Bristol, Lincoln and Barnard Castle are five of the venues in 2012); an introduction to superheated water cleaning of stone (of which, the DOFF system may be the most familiar); and coverage of the Natural Stone Awards 2012, in which heritage projects featured strongly. The December issue also draws attention to a new EU Scholarship (worth €4,000–€24,000) under the Erasmus Mundus Programme, for those who would like to spend a year in Europe studying for the advanced masters in structural analysis of monuments and historical constructions. The course is in English, but no English institution appears presently to be involved. The closing date for 2013 has passed, but interested readers may care to make a note to check this scholarship out again this coming winter. TheVictorian (No 41, November 2012) has used the occasion of a major exhibition on the Pre-Raphaelites at Tate Britain to revisit the work of William Burges. J Mordant Crook returns to the subject of his 1981 biography of the architect (recently revised and reissued by Frances Lincoln). In addition to being an architect, Burges was ‘a wide-ranging scholar, an intrepid traveller, a pungent critic, a coruscating lecturer, a brilliant decorative designer and a hilarious companion. His range of friends runs the whole gamut of Pre-Raphaelite London. His list of patrons reads like a roster of vintage eccentrics’. The ideal dinner guest from history, perhaps? Burges is famous for his work on Cardiff Castle, which many IHBC members will have visited at the 1999 Annual School. MatthewWilliams, the castle’s curator, reprises the architect’s involvement there, and Rosemary Hannah discusses Burges’ collaboration with his patron, the Third Marquess of Bute.
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