CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 53 pursuit of their vision, they have also given us some charming autobiographical insights. Rodwell functioned as his own architect and project manager throughout, using local craftsmen as required rather than employing a main contractor. All of them are individually acknowledged by name in an appendix. Nearly 400 photographs, mostly in colour, illustrate the progress of the work and illuminate their achievement in creating a home to accommodate their unique lifestyle. A notable feature is their painstaking attention to the interior decoration, which has helped to provide a home for Rodwell’s obsessive collection of period objects from salvage yards throughout the country. A necessary addition to the house was the creation of a library wing on the footprint of a vanished orangery to house their enormous collection of books. Architecturally it is seamlessly integrated with the house externally, and internally it is graced by book presses designed in 1841 by C R Cockerell for Queen’s College, Oxford, and rescued at the outset of the project. Their busy professional lives demanded that they should have separate studies, and independent access is gained by an octagonal staircase tower in the East Anglian tradition, which forms a distinctive feature of the garden elevation. The book concludes with a personal chapter in which Rodwell reflects on what he calls his ‘manorial odyssey’. Having shared their journey through the pages of this book, the overriding emotion is amazement at their bravery in embarking on it in the first place and a profound admiration for all they have achieved. As Ptolemy Dean comments in his lively foreword, ‘… it is one of the most remarkable historic building rescues of modern times.’ By their involvement, Northwold Manor has indeed been saved when it once seemed impossible. More important, its future has been secured by the intention of Rodwell and Gibbs to leave it as a gift to a charitable trust so that it can be enjoyed by future generations. It will come with an exemplary record of their professional approach and selfless determination in the form of this book. Malcolm Airs, past president, IHBC To inspire and inform RIBA Conservation Guide Marion Barter, Anna Joynt, David McDonald, Andrew Shepherd, RIBA Publishing, 2024, 264pp, 168 illustrations, paperback, ISBN 978 1 914124 87 7, £35 Historic England defines conservation as ‘the objective of sustaining heritage values’ (Conservation Policies, Principles and Guidance, 2015). Conservation aims to protect and enhance heritage assets and includes a philosophical, social, practical and technical approach. It requires multidisciplinary collaboration in decision-making and implementation. The aim of the RIBA Conservation Guide is to assist conservation professionals who have the responsibility to implement conservation through managing change, protecting and enhancing heritage assets. As Jane Price states in the foreword, the book aims to ‘inspire and inform’. The method adopted by the authors is to educate, using as reference the international guidance and national legislative framework that underpins conservation in practice. The chapters are designed to provide an overview of the education and training guidelines of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the Unesco charters and conventions, the UK National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and their implementation in conservation. The book takes a 21st-century perspective, drawing attention to the emerging interest in climate change and retrofit. Its limited size prevents it from being a comprehensive guide on all aspects of conservation, but it is useful for conservation accreditation in any discipline, and complements previously published books, including Bernard Feilden’s Conservation of Historic Buildings. The authors, who are all educators on the RIBA conservation course, are experienced conservation professionals from diverse disciplines. Indeed, the publication reflects the RIBA course that supports architects in their preparation for conservation accreditation. Each author provides their own perspectives, experiences and interpretation of the ICOMOS guidelines within a UK context, enriched with case studies. The well-illustrated publication has a consistently clear and accurate narrative. Marion Barter, a heritage consultant, introduces the understanding of heritage significance, history and identity, setting and context, and the need for documenting the conservation works and making these accessible to a wider audience using digital technologies. Andrew Shepherd, a lecturer and architect, delves into the diagnostic analysis of defects, buildings’ structural integrity and fabric’s performance. He emphasises the practicalities of repair and ‘maintenance plans’ that prevent further damage and reduce cost. David McDonald, a conservation consultant and IHBC chair, explains the importance of the
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