as Coggeshall. Why? Given that the basic frame is sound, "the building is virtually complete", even if in need of restraint - one would have expected a cost of, say, £30 sq ft, instead of £101. And why 60,000 new tiles, when usually at least 50% can be saved? How much concrete and steel is going into "new foundations"? What, no advice from Freddie Charles, not a million miles away in Worcester! Perhaps prices so far obtained in Hampshire or Essex are not typical. More examples of costs .from readers~ please. MSP A BIG BROTHERFOR 'CONTEXT' A welcome to English Heritage's new Conservation Bulletin, first issued in February 1987, which should have been received by all ACOmembers since we gave EH our mailing list. The articles and reports are excellent, and the Bulletin will be a valuable source of technical information, statistics and news of projects within EH. My only criticism would be the lack of real topicality implicit in a four-monthly publication - not so much a Bulletin, more a Transactions. If the mailing and staffing budget would permit, a bi-monthly publication, for instance, would enable topical issues to be explored and perhaps also encourage (if this is required) a two-way communication between EH and the world outside. ENGLISHHERITAGEGIVES £1M TO CALKEABBEY Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, the Cl8 mansion of the Harpur-Crewe family which was acquired by the National Trust in 1985, ~s to receive a grant of £1 million from English Heritage. This is the largest single initial grant ever made by English Heritage, and will cover 40% of a fiveyear repair programme to the house, church, riding school, stables and dovecote. The work will concentrate on structural repairs to the main house and the other buildings. The whole of the lead roof, spanning a third of an acre, is to be repaired, together with supporting timbers. Major repairs will be carried out on the massive stone cornice. For wall repairs, the original quarry at Pistern Hills is being opened up again to provide new facing blocks. Listed,scheduled,and . ... .now read on In the last issue of CONTEXT,Peter Richards of Essex County Council commented on problems arising with buildings which are both listed and scheduled. Jane Sharman, of the HBMC Ancient Monuments Division, gives the HBMCview. The overlap of the ancient monument and historic building codes does give rise to some anomalies and problems in handling works of repair or alteration. English Heritage is concerned to reduce this overlap by recommending descheduling to the DOEwhere planning legislation· now offers appropriate and adequate protection. As many of your readers will know, scheduling predates planning legislation, and a number of buildings were scheduled simply because no other form of protection existed at the time. These should be identified in the systematic review of existing scheduled .ancient monuments which will form part of the Monuments Protection Programme to be launched soon by the Commission. The way for descheduling has been paved by the listing resurvey, one of whose objectives has been to list, or continue to list, buildings, whether scheduled or not, which are capable of return to residential use. Meanwhile, English Heritage is already considering for descheduling individual cases which come to its attention in relation to applications for grant or scheduled monument consent. Particular consideration is given to buildings which are in, or about to be returned, to residential use since, as Mr Richards points out, these may raise issues which ought to be dealt with in a general planning context. As the ancient monument legislation recognises, detailed scheduled monument control is in any case normally inappropriate for buildings in regular residential use. Timing can, however, be critical to successful transfer of buildings from scheduled monument to listed building protection. If, as in the case of Rochford Barns, the decision is left until work is underway, there can be legal, technical and financial problems for the owner in any chang~ of status. Ideally, the structure should be descheduled before detailed plans for work are drawn up. Page 11
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