Context 154 - May 2018

4 C O N T E X T 1 5 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 8 Alnwick names its heroes Some Alnwick Heritage Heroes , a 40-page, illustrated book published by Alnwick Civic Society with Bailiffgate Museum, was part-funded by the IHBC as part of its 2017 commemoration of 50 years of conservation areas. If heritage professionals know of the Northumberland town of Alnwick apart from its rich heritage, it may be through its use as a case study by the pioneering urban morphologist, MRG Conzen. He is one of the book’s heritage heroes: ‘although too specialised to be widely known locally, he has raised Alnwick’s profile around the world in the planning, conservation and human geography professions.’ The civic society’s other heroes are the local historian George Tate; the architect and engineer FRWilson (‘although not a first-rate architect, even in the context of the Victorian gothic revival’); the builders Henry Hudspith and George Armstrong; Barbara Woodhouse, writer and illustrator of books about Alnwick; Duncan Sandys MP (who ‘may never have visited the town’ but ‘had a huge influence on countless urban areas’ through his legislation introducing conservation areas); and the originators A page from Characterising Neighbourhoods by Richard Guise and JamesWebb (Routledge). A review will follow in a later issue of Context. of Alnwick Civic Society, which emerged from the Alnwick Society, formed in the 1960s in the face of development proposals that would have ruined the town centre. Other sections of the book put those heroes in the context of the town’s history. Among other delights it describes the job of pantkeeper , a pant being a regional term for a public fountain, cistern or well. Elsewhere the story is told of the Duke of Northumberland reducing his tenants’ rents by 25 per cent when prices for agricultural produce fell after the Napoleonic wars. In gratitude, his tenants subscribed to erect a stone column, which is still a local landmark. Despite the rent reduction, many of the tenants lost their farms, and no doubt regretted their contributions to the column fund. Alnwick Civic Society is making 25 copies of the book available free to readers of Context . First come, first served: contact Lydia Porter, admin@ ihbc.org.uk .