C O N T E X T 1 3 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 5 3 ‘ESSENTIALLY the architecture is part of the country’s historical fabric, representative and testament to a period of a nation’s history. In terms of interpretation of the past, Germany is widely regarded as a leader in dealing with its darker history. ‘It is evident in German museums and heritage sites of the period that a fastidious approach to documentation and evidence dominates. Built heritage and architecture simply have to be treated in the same way. ‘Interest in the history of the period is well documented and the buildings are part of the historical legacy constituting visitor attractions in many parts of Europe.’ John Lennon of Glasgow Caledonian University introducing a conference exploring opportunities for tourism in Germany to National Socialist architecture, some of which requires conservation. The conference was held at the Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum, which between 1936 and 1945 was a technological facility where slave labourers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war built armaments. Sir Donald Insall with Lisa Greenhalgh, senior archivist at Cheshire Archives practice. Cheshire Archives hopes to secure funding to repackage, describe and digitise the slides, making them accessible for researchers. In the 1960s, Chester’s historic centre and its remarkable heritage of historic buildings were still suffering from years of wartime neglect. The loss of archaeological remains such as the baths, still of great size and a high degree of preservation, had also provoked much controversy. By 1966 opinion was changing. The government’s minister of housing and local government commissioned a pilot study of four towns of special historic importance, including Chester, to elicit what special problems such places faced in relation to their modern development. The study led to the formulation of a national policy on conservation. The Insall Report dealt with all aspects of town planning, from traffic management to tree-planting. It recommended that the restoration of old buildings could enhance both their own value and that of the whole city centre. The report provided a realistically costed 15-year programme which identified the buildings most in need of saving. In 1969 a conservation area of 200 acres was declared, including the city within the walls. The council began acquiring, restoring and selling endangered buildings, and encouraged private owners, developers, and architects to undertake similar renovation work. In 1971 Chester appointed what was Britain’s first local authority conservation officer. ‘IT WOULD be a huge pity if we decided that by the time we had reached the 200th anniversary of the vast fire which consumed the old Parliament and brought this one in to being we had to abandon this site and look elsewhere in order to serve the public interest properly. ‘Yet I will tell you in all candour that unless management of the very highest quality and a not inconsequential sum of public money are deployed on this estate over the next 10 years that will be the outcome. ‘This is a fabulous institution located in awesome surroundings. It must not have the ethos of a museum. It will require bold and imaginative managerial leadership to ensure that we are a parliament fit for purpose and that this Victorian legacy can be rendered practical for contemporary representation.’ John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, warning the Hansard Society of the urgency of repairs to the Palace ofWestminster. ‘THE CARLTON Tavern, built in 1920–21 for Charrington and Company, probably by Frank J Potter, was an early inter-war improved public house, carefully detailed and built of good quality materials, showing the vision of a leading London brewery. ‘It was laid out as an improved pub with a public bar, and originally off sales, a saloon, and unusually a luncheon and tea room. The site was remarkably well-preserved externally and internally, it displayed the hierarchy of rooms in their fixtures, fittings and decorative treatment and retained all its external signage. ‘Few pubs were built at this date and fewer survive unaltered. It also had great historical interest as an improved pub, illustrative of growing concern at raising the reputation of public houses, by providing family facilities and reducing drunkenness.’ Historic England expressing regret at the sudden demolition of a pub in Kilburn, London, which it had been considering recommending for listing.
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