CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 7 architectural culture of early-18thcentury England. He reflects that the members of the newly created SPAB in 1877 were themselves in no doubt that ‘within the last 50 years a new interest almost like any other sense, had risen in the ancient monuments of art.’ Goodwin notes that the half century of radicalisation and regret which culminated in the SPAB’s foundation was not without precedent, as 150 years before St Alban’s Abbey became the SPAB’s cause celebre, the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, already fearing that it was being ‘Martyr’d by ye Neglect of a Slouthfull generation’, was producing an engraving of the abbey to fund its restoration. Such evidence, drawn from a rich vein of conservationist action and theory in the architectural culture of the early 18th century, is largely occluded in recent histories of the subject. This valuable article is pertinent to considerations of the evolution of heritage principles and practice by examining how existing buildings were understood and valued by architects of that era. It is particularly good to see this 18-page paper in print as a condensed version of Goodwin’s much longer, justifiably winning submission for the 2024 Gus Astley Student Awards for post-graduate dissertations. Heritage Now Regular readers of this column will be aware that Historic Building and Places (and its predecessor the Ancient Monuments Society) is celebrating its centenary in 2024, having recently separated from the Friends of Friendless Churches. The director of the latter, Rachel Morley, explains in the latest issue of Heritage Now (No 9, Summer 2024) a brief history of that charity since its foundation in 1957, and its current role and activity. Elsewhere, Luke Nagle of Donald Insall Associates looks at changing attitudes towards conservation in the context of the continuing function of the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick, and crumbling Battersea Power Station, and its controversial restoration as a London icon. Iain Borden, professor of architecture and urban culture at University College London, examines skateboard fever in the 1970s. He charts the ‘boarding boom’ and what is left of those early urban playgrounds. (It seems Historic England earned some street cred by listing one in Hornchurch in 2014.) SPAB Magazine In the Summer 2024 issue of the SPAB Magazine, the director, Matthew Slocombe, explores the rich history of the SPAB’s headquarters at Spital Square in London E1. His account should fascinate those who have never HERITAGE NOW The Magazine of Historic Buildings & Places | www.hbap.org.uk NO. 9 (SUMMER 2024) founded in 1571 and now serving as a home for service veterans. Amber Patrick reviews the society’s role in industrial casework. Matthew Saunders, the former secretary of the AMS, continues the story of the society in the second 50-year period of its centenary. He identifies eight crucial factors at play in that recent era: the diminution in the powers of local government (and the lack of conservation officers); the collapse of the car lobby, and with it the damage done by inner relief and ring roads; the discredited use of dangerous structures notices by borough surveyors to justify demolition of listed buildings unnecessarily; the gradual recognition by developers of the value of conservation; smart use of enabling development; conversion versus redevelopment, with more pressure for the former than the latter; the spinoff effect of the green revolution (lovely plastic windows anybody?); and the generally beneficial application of the ecclesiastical exemption to places of worship. C20 In the first 2024 issue of C20, the magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, Catherine Slessor, president of the society, reviews one of the 20th century’s longest-running causes celebre, the conversion of the long-redundant THE MAGAZINE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIETY ISSUE 2024/1 | £9 24 MID-CENTURY MEETS AMERICANA PARK LIFE: THE 1970s SKATE WAVE SICILY’S RADICAL NEW TOWN The hidden history of buildings 37 SPITAL SQUARE, LONDON The rich history of our headquarters THE OLD HOUSE PROJECT Archaeological discoveries and conundrums KIBWORTH HARCOURT MILL Revealing and interpreting historic graffiti THE SPAB MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024
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