CONTEXT The Association of Conservation Officers No 27 September 1990 SUMMER BOOKS SPECIAL New Planning Act checklist Case study: Unauthorised alterations
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CONTEXT No 27 ISSN: 0958-2746 Editor September 1990 Jenny Pearce (London Borough of Richmond-on-Thames, telephone 081-891 7313 facsimile: 081-891 7702) 76 Teddington Park Road, Teddington, Middx TWll 8LE, telephone 081-977 0913 Assistant Editor Bob Kindred (Ipswich Borough Council, telephone 0473 262934, facsimile 0473 230851) 4 All Saints Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IPl 4DG, telephone 0473-259441 Context is published quarterly and is distributed to all members of the Association of Conservation Officers. © Association of Conservation Officers THE ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION OFFICERS Officers Chairman: Chris Smith (Stroud Valleys Project Officer, The Shambles, High Street, Stroud, Glos GL5 lAP, telephone 0453 753358) 24 Middle Street, Stroud, Glos GL5 lDZ, telephone 0453 753949 Secretary: Liz Marten (North Herts District Council, telephone 0462 686500 ext 2411, facsimile 0462 480043) 25 Willington Road, Cople, Bedford, telephone 0234 838616 Treasurer: Peter Richards (Essex County Council, telephone 0245 352232 ext 289) 139 Lifstan Way, Thorpe Bay, Essex SSl 2XG, telephone 0702 468252 Membership Secretary: James Ross (Essex County Council, telephone 0245 352232 ext 294) Three Bears, Laindon Common Road, Little Bumstead, Essex CMl 9TL Projects Officer: John Fidler (HBMC, telephone 071-973 3484) 27A Barnsbury Street, Islington, London Nl lPW Publicity Officer: Mary King (Preston Borough Council, telephone 0772 266808) 24 Beech Road, Aughton, Ormskirk, Lanes L39 6SJ, telephone 0695 424297 CONTEXT 27 Published for the Association of Conservation Officers by HallMcCartney Ltd, PO Box 21, Spirella House, Bridge Road, Letchworth, Herts SG6 4ET, telephone 0462 675848, facsimile 0462 670346 Annual Subscription (inclusive of post & packing - UK only): £15.00 Single Copy: .;f 5.00 The views expressed in Context are not necessarily those held by ACO or the publishers. The publishers shall not be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. The products and services advertised in this publication are not necessarily endorsed by the Association. ~ North: Keith Murray, Durham County Council, telephone 091-386 4411 ext 2237 North West: Mike King, Liverpool City Council, telephone 051-225 5635 Yorkshire: Robert Scriven, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, telephone 0924 296590, facsimile 0924 367292 West Midlands: Brian Moore, Dudley Borough Council, telephone 0384 456000 ext 4188 East Midlands: Graham Beaumont, Nottinghamshire County Council, telephone 0602 824277 South West: David Richardson, Devon County Council, telephone 0392 21l252, facsimile 0392 272600 South: Katherine Blackwood, Hampshire County Council, telephone 0962 846831 East Anglia: John Preston, Cambridge City Council, telephone 0223 358977 ext 2630 South East: John Davey, Guildford Borough Council, telephone 0483 505050 ext 3633 London: Rosemarie McQueen, City of Westminster, telephone 071-978 2519 Scotland no contact at present Wales: John James, Clwyd County Council, telephone 0352 2121 Northern Ireland: Colin Hatrick, DoE Northern Ireland, telephone 0232 653251 CONTENTS Editorial 4 News 4 THE BOOKS FEATURE An unconsidered trifle. Peter Richards 5 The Desert Island Selection David McLaughlin 6 Mike King 7 John Fidler 7 Outraged - 35 years on. Bob Kindred 8 Are you sitting comfortably? Bob Kindred 9 New books reviewed 10 Conservation education: the part-time 16 option. Vincent Shacklock Building conservation training 17 courses M' Learned Friend. A guide to the 19 Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Charles Mynors Photogrammetry in architecture. 23 R M Stanbridge Case Study: Unauthorised alterations 26 at 14-20 North Bar Within, Beverley. T G Atkinson Conference Reports 29 Keeping local character - conservation policies and their implementation. John Preston A brief for the countryside in the 30 21st century. John Preston Law & Practice 31 Demolitions in Darlington: appeal decision. Peter Richards Means tested improvement grants Conferences 32 News 33 ACO Business News 34 ACO Branch News FRONT COVER Books for summer reading. See pages 5 ro 15. ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE Front cover: Jonathan David. Page 4: Bob Kindred. Page 5: A shop front from "Nicholson·s new practical builder'. Page 7: Dustjacket of 'Progress at Pelvis Bay' by Osberr Lancaster. 35 Page 9: Building a concrete tunnel vault over a reservoir, from 'City' by David Macaulay (Collins, 1975). Page 10: Bob Kindred. Page 11: A fanlight drawn by Charlotte Halliday, from 'Fanlights' by Alexander Stuart Gray and John Sambrook (A & C Black, 1990). Page 12: Chimney stacks from 'Brick building in Britain' by R W Brunskill (Gollancz, 1990). Page 14: Details from 'Period homes - a guide ro authentic features' by Anthony Quiney (George Philip, 1989). Page 15: The Bury, Clavering, from The traditional buildings of England' by Anthony Quiney (Thames & Hudson, 1990). Page 17: Examples of work by two students on the Leicester Polytechnic course. Page 23: City Chambers, Glasgow. Photarc Surveys. Page 27: T G Atkinson, Beverley Borough Council. 3
4 EDITORIAL This is a rather more relaxing issue than the last two have been - you don't have to feel guilty that you haven't come to grips with Information Technology or still can't find your copy of the Montagu Report. You can put your feet up and read about reading for a change. We are examining some old reputations and looking at new publications, and as even lighter relief we have an (almost) genuine castawayrambling through his desert island selection of eight - but on paper, not discs. Still on the subject of publications, ACO members will be pleased to hear that English Heritage has now committed itself to a project to provide conservation and design guidance in leaflet form from its Publications unit. This is still at an early stage, but it is intended that guidance will be limited initially to matters of national relevance rather than those with specific regional applications. There will be a leaflet on how to produce leaflets, giving general advice, then a series written by different specialistconsultants. There will be an advisory panel drawn from local authorities (of which I have been asked to be a member) and the English Heritage working group includes John Fidler, so ACO will be able to contribute substantially to the end products. Finally, the next three issues of Context will have the following themes, to give you advance warning for contributions: the CONSERVATION TRAINING - WHAT WILL THE RTPI SAY? On 26 October the RTPI is holding a conference on 'Architectural conservation: the issues and the future'. John Dean, Past President of the RTPI, is to provide a keynote paper on 'Training for conservation'. At the time of writing the ACO does not appear on the agenda of the day1 The ACO Council is following this up. The outcome of this extraordinary situation will be reported in the next issue of Context. The skill and experienceof the craftsmanremains at the very heart of the manufacturing process. December issue will be on 'Churches and Chapels', then the March issue will follow the theme of next year's Conference - 'Crafts for Conservation'. The June issue will be 'Historic Parks and Gardens'. COPY DATES ARE: December issue: 8 October. March 1991 issue: 14 January. June 1991 issue: 11 April. PHILOSOPHY OF CHANGE IN CONSERVATION AREAS Roy Worskett is preparing a publication on the philosophy of change in conservation areas. The publication will deal with alterations to historic buildings and the design of new buildings. In particular, it will concentrate on the effectiveness of local authority policies and the relationship between planning and design officers and the practising architect. He would welcome contact with local authorities, and particularly with conservation officers, and would like to receive examples of successful schemes that could be included in the publication. Correspondence should be addressed to: 32 Smithbarn, Horsham, Sussex RH13 6EB. MATHEMATICALTILES FROMBUTTERLEYBRICK Handmade to match closely the tiles produced by craftsmen of the past, Butterley Mathematical Tiles are available in seven standard colours in a choice of profiles and corner angle returns. U .. u.t.terleg a;, Butterley Brick Limited Wellington Street, Ripley, Derby DES 3DZ. Tel: 0773 570570.Telex: 37119.Fax: 0773 570575 CONTEXT 27
~~ Peter Richards' choice of books ~ _,A\~ consists of a rare gift from the Building ~ ';: Inspectors plus five favourites. ~~~ ·-------------------------- AN UNCONSIDERED TRIFLE Autumn 1962 and the department was set to move to new premises - after 28 years I am awaiting another move - but in 1962 the Building Inspectors who were on the floor beneath moved out a few days before us. In the way of things once they had gone we went down scavenging. Of course nothing whatsoever of value had been left behind: battered chairs, broken filing cabinets, all the usual detritus, and on the floor a thick old book with no covers. Well that was probably the second best bit ofluck I had ever had. The hefty volume was 'NICHOLSON'S NEW Practical Builderand WORKMANS COMPANION containing a FULL DISPLAY AND ELUCIDATION of the most recent and skilful Methods pursued by ARCHITECTS and ARTIFICERS ere ere' by Peter Nicholson and published in London in 1823.The book has 596 pages plus a further 196 pages of 'Perpetual Price Book', of which more anon. Although not a particularly early work, the book has a number of special qualities. First it is incredibly comprehensive, covering every aspect of building from the basic mathematics of geometry and algebra, through all the trades, to the Orders and ending with details of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rate houses as well as a mansion, a mausoleum and a small country prison. All this was very interesting and, once I had the book re-bound, it was a nice curio to thumb through idly. But it has become much more than that. It is so thorough that there is very little concerning building in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which is not 'elucidated'. Perhaps the only areas missing are those of the vernacular; thatching, and weatherboarding are not covered, although the latter is in the Price Book. We are in 'police', so we can find scagliola,jibb doors and the construction of domes. Nicholson has to be read with certain assumptions which are not always easy to take on board. Under Plastering he assumes that we know what tripoli is, but his advice still holds good: CONTEXT 27 Plastering is good or bad in proportion co the care taken in this part of the work (the screed); hence the most careful workmen are generally employed therein and Fir laths are generally fastened by the castiron nails whereas the oaken ones require wrought iron nails, as no nail of the former kind would be found equal co the perforation of the oak which would shiver it to pieces by the act of driving. (Tripoli is a fine earth used as a polishing powder.) The book is marvellous for mouldings, roof construction, brick and masonry walls, centering, bridges and so on. When referring to brick bonding he has much to say in praise of English bond but I can find no reference co our old friend, the bonding timber. y The 'Perpetual Price Book' is very comprehensive with, for instance, 13 different lengths of flush bolt, circular headed 2 in. 4-. sash frames @ ls l ld/sq. ft. and common Yorkshire paving @ ls Id/ft. super. But, aside from the quaintness of the costs, the Price Book is a mine of practical information on such varied subjects as the varieties of sand availablefrom the Trent, Severn and Thames and the various methods of pointing: "tuck pointing is much in fashion and produces an agreeable effect". If an opportunity comes your way to pick up (literally) a copy of Peter Nicholson, consider it seriously. Perhaps we will gee a facsimile edition. As a postscript, and in case no one else mentions them, can I put in a word for five particular favourites. (1) 'Architectural building construction' by Walter R Jaggard and Francis E Drury (Haggard and Dreary to students in 1946). CUP, 3 vols, 1923with revisionsup co 1946. Much recommended for both materials and construction and to my mind superior co Mitchell. (2) 'Specification' from the Architectural Press, the earlier the edition the better. (3) 'Specification writing' by Arthur J Willis. Crosby Lockwood, 1954. Very good check list for all building trades. Useful to ensure chat all the items in a grant specification are included - bur it is only a check list, not specification clauses. (4) The city and country purchaser and builder's dictionary', by Richard Neve. Philomath. First published 1703, recently in facsimile (1969) by Latimer Trend & Co. Quite good fun but lacking moft of the derailed intereft of Nicholfon. Some of the prices are interefting to compare - "broad Stone taken our of the Quarries, (commonly called Free-ftone) and cut into Lengths and breadths promifcuoufly and in chicknefsabout 2 or 3 inches is ufually rated at 6d, 7d, or 8d the Foot fquare." Finally, 'Food in England' by Dorothy Hartley. McDonald, 1954. Ar first sight this maynor seem relevant to building conservation, but there is a great deal of information on the organisation of kitchens, stoves, baking, brewing, smoking, curing and so on. Charmingly illustrated, but I am nor too sure about the privy design; the recipes are very extensive but a bit light on vegetarian menus. Peter Richards is with Essex County Council. ADVERTISEMENT THE CONSERVATION PORTFOLIO In the September 1990 edition of the portfolio are: Charnwood Brick Holdings Ltd - Specialist hand made clay bricks and special shapes. Hand made paviors Kctley Brick Co Ltd - Staffordshire blue brick manufacturers Kcymer - . Traditional hand made clay.peg and oasr house tiles Spicer Tiles - Traditional hand made clay roof tiles and fittings Tudor R0<>.fTile Co Ltd - Traditional hand made-clay tiles 5
l 6 Some ACO members volunteer their eight all-time greats, guaranteed a place in the suitcase. THE DESERTISLAND SELECTION AMERICAN PIE David McLaughlin's desert island choice. (Editor's note: the books are non-fiction, but the interview isn't: I certainly wouldn't have been as restrained as I appear to be here.) Our castaway this week has been cast away on an island for just over 27 years; 15 years of this time have been spent working in one of the island's historic settlements - Bath. David McLaughlin is Conservation Architect for Bath. We are gojng to cast you off on a desert island, no doubt to the joy of many people! Instead of the 'Complete works of Shakespeare', we have agreed to your suggestion that you may take the Complete Works of the late Nikolaus Pevsner, so you will have plenty of reading with the 47 volumes of The buildings of England' series'as well as some of the standard works such as 'Outline of European architecture' (1963, first published 1943), 'Pioneers of modern design' (1960, first published 1936) and 'Some architectural writers of the nineteenth century' (1972). jenny: What have you chosen then as your first book? David: It has got to be John Betjeman's 'Ghastly good taste or a depressing story of the rise and fall of English architecture. For the first time revised with annotations by the author together with a beautiful folding illustration nine feet long speciallydrawn by Mr Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh' (1970, first published 1933). Jenny: And what is special about this for you? David: John Betjeman would enthuse any schoolboy to think about falling in love and about learning co look at Victorian architecture with all its quirks, eccentricities and fun. What is so beautiful about this particular book is - and I hope I will be able to take my own copy with me - that it was given to me by my very dear friend David Rhodes who I campaigned with to save Manchester's Victorian buildings. It is particularly poignant for me because it includes the spectacular drawing by Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh who came to my rescue at a Lancashire School in the mid 1960s when I tried my first campaign to save Decimus Burton's Custom House Lane buildings in Fleetwood, Lancashire. At that time Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh was the architectural correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and his articles were regularly illustrated with beautiful drawings by Leonora Ison. I remember Mr. FleetwoodHesketh arriving at the school in his rather grand car and little boys crowding round to admire the car which soon whisked us both off to meet the Town Clerk of Fleetwood. Despite the appearance of the best silver tea service in the Town Hall, and our careful pleading for this elegant late Regency terrace, sadly it was soon demolished and the site spent many years as a rather unspectacular car park. While this was the first defeat in the conservation battle, I was encouraged as a young schoolboy by the kindness of an elder who helped draw me to my life in conservation. Jenny: Well David, even on your Desert Island you don't seem to have lost your ability to talk on for too long! What is your next choice? David: Simple, Jenny. It is the 'Avery obituary index'. Jenny: Pardon? David: Yes, the 'Avery obituary index' published by the Avery Architectural Library of Colombia University, New York. I really enjoy reading obituaries and I assume I will not be able to have The Independent airdropped to me on my desert island each day, and will therefore miss reading a continuing biographical history of the 20th century. Reading the Obituary Index and pining for the relevant architectural journals and imagining them on the shelves of the RIBA library in London will be a good way to pass the time. Jenny: What about a third book, David? David: Well, no desert island library is going to be complete without Howard Colvin's 'A biographical dictionary of British architects 1600-1840' (1978, first published 1954). I am sure I can spend many happy hours looking up the obscure and the well-known and picturing their buildings. Jenny: Are you a practical person? What are you going to do about shelter on your desert island? David: YesI am a practical person, but I will need two good books co guide me on my way in a suitably low-tech way. My first choice is Marion Elizabeth Blake's 'Ancient Roman construction from the pre-historic period to the age of Augustus' (published 1947). Jenny: Surprising choice! David: It is just what you need to have - a full appreciation of lime mortars and stonework. I am hoping on my desert island that I will be able to create for myself a suitable shelter and, as a devotee of lime and lime conservation methods, I will,of course, want to follow the best practice. Another joy of this particular book is that is has not only a brilliant index, but beautiful footnotes which are actually displayed in a column alongside the text on each page. It is a beautifully designed book and for that alone I shall treasure it. Jenny: Your next book, David. David: A R Powys: 'Repair of ancient buildings', 1929. Jenny: Will you be able to look after yourself? What about food - do you enjoy cooking? David: Yes, I do, although I am not sure I will be very adventurous in attempting to deal with living things; but perhaps this will come with time. I shall certainly miss my chocolate chip cookies! But I hope that AR Powys' book will not only remind me of all I have learned through being a Life Member of SPAB and reading William Morris' Manifesto of 1877, but that it will also give me guidance on keeping my traditional chimney stack in good repair so my cooking is not spoilt! Jenny: You were born in America. ,What book would you choose to reflect your boyhood there? David: 'Metropolitan corridor: railroads and the American scene' (1983) by John R Stilgoe. This is a delightfully produced book with beautiful images of American. railroad architecture, which I love. It is particularly evocative in that as well as celebrating that gutsy chunky architecture of Henry Hobhouse Richardson (whose only work in England, the great house of Lululand at Bushey 'in Hertfordshire, for the Victorian society portrait painter Sir Hubert von CONTEXT 27
Herkomer, survives only as a tiny fragment of wall in front of the British Legion Hall); it alsohappens to have a beautiful circa 1905 photograph of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Greencastle, Pennsylvania,where my father got on the train in 1929 on his way to England for the very first time. jenny: How are you going to relax on your desert island?What would you like for your luxury item? David: It's a debate between going drawing with my sketch pad and water colour box or building models of the buildings I knew asa boy for my American toy train set.Just to be safe, I think I will opt for the latter and to cover the first I shall take one of my favourite books about drawing buildings - Paul Hogarth's 'Drawing architecture: a creative approach' (1979). Jenny: A final book. David: Without a doubt Osbert Lancaster's 'Progress at Pelvis Bay' (1950, first published 1936). I love being in towns and cities and I shall miss the hustle and bustle of urban life on my desert islandvery much. So it would be lovely to enjoy the most English of seaside towns evolving over the years as immortalised by Osbert Lancaster in this delightful book. Jenny: Well, if you were to take only one book, what would you choose? You are allowed 'The complete works of Pevsner'. What other one book would you choose to take with you? David: As a true Conservationist I shall take A R Powys' 'Repai~ of ancient buildings'. Afterword ~ 'Tm not that old but I know a lot because I . used to hang out with old people back when there used to be real old people. Now everyone is sort of my age or younger, and most people don't know much more than I 1 do. It's disappointing to become a leading 1 authority in the field when you still have so much you want to learn." Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home, 'Lyle's Roof', p 99. rPffi@(~lHR rn ~ ~ ~~ rPrnl1Wll~ ID~W OSBERT LANCASTER CONTEXT 27 LIVERPOOL BOUND By a cunning choice of books, a shipwrecked Mike King gets 15 volumes out of the eight titles which he considers to be essential teading for conservation officers. The choice of Palladio's 'Four books on architecture' as a first choice may seem a little pedantic, but any serious student of classicalarchitecture should remember that before Summerson and Wittkower can be digested properly it is necessary to understand the classicaltradition. Source books are the key to any of the more popular primers. 'I quattro libri dell 'architettura' (Dominico de Franchesci, Venice, 1570) incorporates the principles ofVitruvius and is the foundation of any study of classical architecture. Maurice Barley's work on 'The English farmhouse and cottage' (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1961) is important because it illustrates how archival research can help us to understand the history of simple vernacular buildings. All conservation officers must develop serial vision and a feeling and appreciation for the grouping of buildings and the spaces between buildings. Gorden Cullen's 'Townscape' (Architectural Press, London, 1961) has never been bettered as an essential primer. Traditional repair techniques are rarely given prominence in the 'high-tech' world of today's architectural students. The reprinted SPAB edition of 'The repair of ancient buildings' by Powys (SPAB, London, 1984) helps to set the record straight; for example, just exactlyhow do you replace the headstock on a bell cage? Every conservation officer must have a sound knowledge of listed building legislation and, although it might be difficult to IPrR®@filrn~~ ~~ rPrnl1Wll~ ID~W BY OSBERT cho_osebetween 'The Cambridge guide', the new Mynors book and Suddards, it could be that the Suddards book would make the best alternative to several volumes of the Journal of Planning Law! ('Listed buildings: the law and practice of historic buildings, ancientmonuments and ConservationAreas', Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1988). For an introduction to the use of materials in the English tradition, 'The pattern of English building' by A Clifton Taylor (Batsford, London, 1962) remains the best introduction. The English Heritage Technical Handbooks Oohn and Nicola Ashurst and others, Gower Press, London, 1989) if taken collectively as one book are an important new addition to the library of any conservation officer,and, although one would be tempted to go for earlier books such as an 1860edition of Gwilts or an early edition of Mitchell, volume 5 of the Technical Handbooks must be the best buy since it contains an exhaustive bibliography (presumably for planning your reading after you are rescued - but might it make the wait unbearable? - Editor). The last book has to be 'English vernacular houses' by Eric Mercer (HMSO, London, 1975) as it opens the door to the wider study of the RCHM County inventories and leads on to the appreciation of the work of the VAG and a wider understanding of our built heritage. Mike King is Conservation Officer for Liverpool City Council. FIDLING THE BOOKS John Fidler's desert island choices. (1) J Marston Fitch: 'The curatorial management of the built world'. (2) Sir B Feilden: 'Building conservation'. Butterworths, London. (3) N andJ Ashurst: 'Practical building conservation'. EH Technical Handbooks Vols 1-5. Gower Technical Press. Aldershot, 1988. (4) R Suddards: 'Listed building legislation'. (5) A Clifton-Taylor: 'The pattern of English building'. Faber & Faber. London, 1982. (6) J Salzman: 'Building in England: down to 1540'. Oxford University Press, 1952. (7) R Brunskill: 'Handbook of vernacular architecture'. 7
8 Bob Kindred looks back to a time before Conservation Officers had been invented, and suggests some suitable reading for ACO Junior Branch members. OUTRAGED THIRTY FIVE YEARS ON Where is your Outrage? If you can't find your copy of the Montagu Report you may well not even have heard of 'Outrage'. Thirty five years after its publication as an Architectural Review special, it is worth looking again at those far-off concerns and to ponder - do the same eyesores beset us now? Ian Nairn's book systematicallyrecorded the environmental blight of the immediate post-war era. There was still a legacy of army camps, airfields and abandoned and bomb-damaged buildings, barbed wire and rubbish. There was,also a virulent, aesthetic myopia in municipal and other public bodies. In the period before 'we never had it so good' there were lessons to be gained from Nairn's tirades. They could have prevented so much of the damage that was to follow in the 1960s - before the 1967 Civic Amenities Act; and, as we became complacent again, in the 'greed is good' 1980s. The objects that concerned Nairn then still concern us. He was the country's first popular architectural journalist. He began writing for Architectural Review from 1954 after calling at its offices almost daily until AP agreed to employ him. His targets were concrete lamp standards, 'Keep Left' signs, municipal rockeries, chain link fencing, truncated trees, garish shopfronts, pretentious and intrusive outdoor advertising hoardings, wires, poles, and ill-sited public utilities that engineers, spec builders, surveyors and time serving architects were spreading over the country like a pox. Many of these targets seem eerily familiar but the indignation now seems lacking. Has familiarity blunted our ability to see how tawdry many of our surroundings still are' At the time of publication, the Daily Mirror - never much of a paper in the vanguard of environmental issues - described Outrage as a "devastating and appalling photographic indictment of the industrial disease that is ravaging the once lovely face of England". The mess was almost beyond repair. By the end of the century, Britain would consist of "isolated oases of preserved monuments in a desert of wires, concrete roads, cozy plots and bungalows". This seemed to anticipate not only the provisions of the Civic Amenities Act on the one hand but also the decline into market economics and the gradual collapse of civilised public services on the other. What progress has been made in 35 years?While the planning system can claim some credit for slowing the encroachment of the subtopia upon the countryside, and conservation has achieved much which need not be catalogued here, the rest is a depressing picture. Outside conservation areas -('the oases') the same time serving architects and developers still consider land as a 'free-fire' zone where design quality is not a legitimate issue or activity for the public domain. Nairn died in 1983;he wasonly 52.Were he alive today he would be appalled still by the poor quality of development and the state of the landscape of Britain. He would be deeply saddened and angry at the continued decline in public environmental standards and the sharply marked discrepancy between the private affluence and public squalor of our major towns and cities. Part of the book was in the form of a traverse directly south-north through the heart of England, starting in Southampton and ending 400 miles later in Carlisle. A travel agent's trip in reverse picking out the bad rather than the good. At one point near Chipping Norton, Nairn came upon the Rollright stones. These pre-Roman monuments are situated in open countryside high on a hillside overlooking south Warwickshire. The location had a primitive grandeur but the Kings Stone, the principal monument, had been fenced in with spiked railings by the Ministry of Works which had also erected one of its familiar, unlovely and unhelpful cast plaques. The public had worn a muddy earth track up to it from the road. It could have been a monument to the Unknown Bureaucratic Prisoner, Nairn said. Today, the scene is exactly the same except that the muddy track is wider. This seemed emblematic of much else in the book. The fact that it looks no better now is a sad comment on our continuing lack of visual awareness and our unwillingness to improve it. Now, as then, advertising hoardings dominate the approaches to our towns. Now, as then, hoarding companies offer ludicrous and gratuitously offensive token landscaping believing not that it will soften the impact of the hoardings but that it will soften the brains of the Planning Officers. Two shrubs in a tub or an enclosed dwarf wall? I'm not sure I agree with the AR's 1955 prescription that what we needed were more not lessadverts - "neater, crisper and less standardised" - this just seems like a recipe for bigger and with flashing lights. We still lack the will to rid ourselves of them. If big hoardings are not acceptable in new developments, they are not acceptable in existing ones. Why are we not outraged that this continues? The standard of design and specification of street furniture remains uniformly low. Specifiers are driven by a combination of cost and poor choice. Why must we endure so much pseudo-Victorian lighting in conservation areas? Our European counterparts have stronger faith in the quality of modern design. Outrage took the view in 1955 that lamp standards were one item of street furniture where there was hope of improvement. Sadly this proved falsely optimistic. Only European competition after 1992 will improve the quality and choice of manufacturers and designs, but our engineers will still buy on price alone. Street lighting has such a profound impact on historic environments but we no longer express our indignation. Growing car ownership in the 1950s brought with it the 'arterial road'. These were necessary and could have been beautiful said AR, but they weren't. Nairn deplored narrow straight alignments and the brutality of concrete footpaths at the sides. Why no similar outrage now at their successors?The suburbanisation of country roads with lighting columns, concrete curbs and tarmac paths, detracting from village conservation areas, continues. My heart sinks every time I see urban lighting in the countryside. I am outraged. Are you? Fortunately the 'municipal rustic' of the 1950s has all but died out. In its place has come the curse of indiscriminate concrete block paving. Precisely machined, uniform in texture, colour and size, this red and cream tide has flooded conservation areas and environmental enhancement schemes CONTEXT 27
alike. Nairn, who would have rejoiced at the influence of the artisan's hand on the laying of paving in Hoiland or Denmark, would have deplored this and he would also have been suitably rude about attempts to soften this machine aesthetic by the suppliers of "die-cast setts in panels". Outrageous. AR tried to encourage a better approach to all this, and in 1956 published 'Counter Attack', a companion volume. It aimed to cut through the apathy, helplessness and greyness but sadly this had less impact. What it proposed then we are still trying and failing to do, to roll back the depredations and clutter of traffic engineers and the public utilities. Counter Attack tried to set standards for the public domain: better footpath materials, better railings, better walls, better signs, better bus shelters, better street Lighting.Many of the designs illustrated still look as good as they did in 1956. The examples of Swiss street Lighting have an almost timeless, classic look. Some designs it has to be admitted have dated badly; nevertheless standards were set and the examples were there to be debated. A prescription was also offered for countering urban sprawl. On design control, the book said " ... this frankly has done more good than harm. For every modern house lost to us there have been 50 so ameliorated. We propose it should remain: if it were to be interpreted in terms of visual effect instead of administrative formulae (and in fact most planning officers do interpret it visually) the friction would disappear, for architect and planner would be talking the same language." I wonder what Ian Nairn would have made of Conservation Officers and their efforts? I have no doubt that he would have had a devastating impact on two of our recent betes noir: British Telecom and Sky/BSB. What he wrote in the final pages of Outrage is as relevant today as it was 35 years ago: Places are different. Subtopia is the annihilation of the difference by attempting to make one type of scenery standard for town, suburb, countryside and the wild. The future will be too late. The action is needed NOW. That is a job for all of us, and the only qualification we need is to have eyes to see. You have eyes to see if you are exasperated by these lunacies; if you think they represent a universal levelling down and greying out; if you think they should be fought, not accepted. Don't be afraid that you will be one individual registering dissent. It is your country that is being defaced, it belongs to you. Why do these eyesores still beset us? Becausewe are British and we don't like to make a fuss. Remember Ian Nairn. Express a little Outrage! CONTEXT 27 ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? I'm sorry, but 'Mortars, cements & grouts used in conservation' (ICCROM, 1981) is just not good bed-time reading for nineyear-olds. If you want to encourage the next generation of Conservation Officers, what are the best books for junior ACOs? Try the books of David Macaulay. Macaulay is one of the modern masters of narrative drawing, combining elements of the comic strip, the photograph, the screenplay and the analytical diagram. His first book 'Cathedral' (1973) has become a classic. It grew from his twin interests in architecture and publishing. He studied architecture at Rhode Island School of Design in the USA in the 1960s,graduating in 1969.He felt that the cathedral would be a particularly appealing first subject as he had been born in England and admired its great buildings. Although conceived and promoted as a children's book, it was eagerly bought by adults. Macaulay soon built up a cult following among a small band of Conservation Officer devotees. 'Cathedral' and subsequent books deal with the process of construction - illustrating what has not often been presented in architectural history books, as historians rarely have original drawings other than plans to show the sequence in which the piece of the physical environment are assembled. This first book became the prototype for all Macaulay's subsequent volumes. Each starts with the site and illustrates the arrival of man and the beginnings of building activity. 'City' (1974), his second book, portrays the planning and realisation of a Roman Camp as it developed into a city. Once again, the first tentative marks of Building a runnel vaulr over a reservoir in a Roman town, from 'City' by David Macaulay. human structures gain substance and form. The drawings, all in black and white, are often complex but have remarkable clarity despite the considerable amount of information they contain. Two further books followed. 'Pyramid' (1975) and 'Castle' (1977) explain, respectively, the construction of the great pyramid at Gizeh and an English castle in Wales at the end of the 13th century. All these great monuments are broken down into small, understandable logical steps. In this period, Macaulay also produced 'Underground' (1976), perhaps his most didactic work showing the utilities that exist below ground in every city exposed Likean anatomical skeleton and left floating as if in mid-air. It is a triumphant masterpiece of perspective. 'Unbuilding' (1980) is altogether a different enterprise. Here the process of the earlier books is reversed. The subject is the demolition of that most potent New York symbol, the Empire State Building. Unlike earlier books, the illustrating style is scrappier and less satisfying but is is also evident that considerable research has been undertaken to develop the ideas. The books* work in several different levels. Tucked away in a corner of one illustration is a nice in-joke; the hairy paw of King Kong. The viewer must scrutinise the drawings for these occasional subtle puns, looking beyond the dashing Linework for these charming interventions. Macaulay's work should appeal to all Conservation Officers who have not yet discovered him - pa.rticularly those who are nine-y.ear-olds at heart. •All these books are published by Collins at .(3.95. 9
10 Despite the impression you may have gained so far, there are some worthwhile new books. Unless otherwise stated, the reviews are by Bob Kindred. NCIENT NGLISH HOUSES 1240-1612 Christopher Simon Sykes (Chatto & Windus, 1989). 239 pp. ISBN 0-7011-3489-5. .,{14.95. This large format (10 in. x 10 in.) paperback has many full page and two page illustrations, mostly in colour. It is a visual treat. It covers 37 outstanding English country houses built in the period immediately preceding the classical influence of Inigo Jones. Some of the properties will be familiar and are regularly open to the public. Ightham Mote in Kent, and Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire are two outstanding examples out of nine in the book which are in the care of the National Trust, and since publication Stokesay Castle in Shropshire has become English Heritage's responsibility. One of the merits of the book however is that it also illustrates 14 major houses not open to the public and in private hands. Apparently, several of these have not been written about or photographed before. Although more for pleasurable browsing than for serious academic study, the quality of the photographs alone makes the book good value at the price. JOHN RUSKIN AND VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE Michael W Brooks (Thames & Hudson, 1989). 364 pp. ISBN 0-500-34109-5. ..(14.95. The academic study of Victorian architecture began very late and has not settled Ruskin's place within it. This is perhaps because for a time his contemporaries hoped that his influence on English architeaure would be as brief as it was unexpected. Ruskin, after all, was a man of letters whose love of architecture developed by way of a passion for mountain scenery, natural history, the picturesque and the art of Turner. The publication of 'The seven lamps of architecture' in 1849 and 'The stones of Venice' in 1851 and 1853 had the profoundest effect not just on architectural thinking but upon those who were to influence the formation of the SPAB in 1877;and a modified version of Ruskin's philosophies is today established principle. His influence was to last for half a century but in some quarters it never lost its hold. In the Seven Lamps, Ruskin argued that the artistic and historic value of medieval NEW BOOKS buildings layin their actual surface. This was not only literally part of their historical record but visible evidence of age and the individuality of the craftsmen who created them. 'Stones' was intended as a history and description of the medieval architecture of Venice, but it contained much that was neither of these. Rather it was an expression of the author's own beliefs in the relationship between art and society and the ethical implications of that relationship for architecture. Ruskin again attacked the inhumanity of industrial society and the subjugation of the craftsman to machine ideals, the extinction of their creative powers, comparing the workman's output unfavourably with the vitality of ancient craftsmanship. It is particularly interesting to see how Ruskin's writings influenced Victorian architects as diverse as George Gilbert Scott on the one hand and Philip Webb and William Lethaby on the other. Morris had founded the SPABunder Ruskin's influence to save old buildings as much from Scott as from demolition. In Ruskin's eyes, Scott was a vandal scraping shabby old plaster off walls, replacing weathered masonry with new and removing what he considered inappropriate and 'reinstating' features for which there was no evidence. Webb had already been influenced by Ruskin's views in a number of conservative repairs and additions to old buildings. He had known Morris from GE Street's office, and became a founder member of the SPAB. Lethaby, having been chief assistant to Norman Shaw, played an important part in the Arts & Crafts Movement and joined SPAB in 1891. Although the Seven Lamps is frequently quoted, particularly by SPAB,Ruskin's ideas did not remain static and his writings evolved over the years, as this book admirably demonstrates. This is a remarkable book of formidable length and scholarship. Professor Brooks writes fluently, and persuasively illuminates not only Ruskin's ideas and the context of his thoughts but also how his views on colour, style, ornament, craftsmanship and restoration were reinterpreted by his contemporaries and followers. It also shows how religion and politics are interlaced into his architectural writing. The book has 106 contemporary illustrations mostly taken from periodicals illustrating Ruskinian Victorian architecture. Unfortunately some of the reproductions of engravings are a bit murky. This book should greatly expand the understanding of the importance of Ruskin's thinking, not least as expressed in the philosophy of the founders of the SPABbut also in the architecture of Ruskin's contemporaries as can be seen in Victorian Conservation Areas throughout the country. At the price this book is excellent value. LISTED BUILDINGS AND CONSERVATION AREAS Charles Mynors (Longman, 1989). This book is directed at all those involved in listed buildings and conservation areas; it deals with the law as it stood at November 1988. Charles Mynors very effectively points out to building owners and their advisers the significance of even seemingly minor works. One of the notable features of his book is the tremendous range of cases quoted, although it is tantalising for the non-lawyer not to have slightly more detail in order to be able to visualise what was involved (one of the features of the Hebden Bridge conference for me was seeing the 'bridge' inade famous by the Calderdale case, which is very different in reality to what is suggested by the printed word). Mynors' discussion of the thorny topic • of curtilage is very good. There is an excellent table of the powers, and scope, availableto local authorities for buildings in need of repair (this includes s65 notices). I have a few quibbles with the analysisof unauthorised works: Mynors argues that CONTEXT 27
where works have been carried out their effects are easier to ascertain, but does not take into account the question of evidence lost through the works (could a local planning authority refuse a listed building consent application for works already carried out on the grounds of inadequate information due to evidence destroyed?).He does not deal with the 'window replacement' problem where it is the contractor rather than the unwitting owner (who has been advised by him that consent is not required) who instigates the unauthorised works. The minor faults in what is otherwise a very good book are largely due to the inevitable delays in the publishing process. Conservation Officers requiring up-to-date information in a fast-changing field (no discussionof satellite dishes here!) will need to look elsewhere as well, but the casedata and discussionof the issues in Mynors' book will remain valid. The question remains whether the very finite form of a book is the most appropriate for this field; surely the law with its constant stream of amendments and new casesis an ideal candidate for information technology? John Preston FANLIGHTS Alexander Stuart Gray andJohn Sambrook (A & C Black, 1990). 148pp. ISBN 0-71363077-9. £12.95. This book is described as the first monograph on the subject, but it was preceded last year by a book on the same subject by one of the same authors and published under an identical title in the 'Chatto Curiosities' series. (Reviewed in Context 25, p 34). Those readers who bought John Sambrook's earlier book will want to know what is new in this rather more expensive if larger format hardback. The answer is not a lot. In an introduction, Anthony Stuart Gray traces the origins of fanlights and skips rather lightly over their significance in English and American architecture. There are few documentary sources for investigating the developments of the fanlight but Gray ascribes rather too much inspiration to Brunalleschi, Donatello and Robert Adam and not enough to the more prosaic James Gibbs, Battey Langley and more humble and obscure pattern book writers. There is also some nonsense about the relationship of 18th century architecture and music in general and between Robert Adam and Mozart in particular. John Sambrook's essay covers similar ground to his earlier book but with the advantagethat there is a little more explanaCONTEXT 27 One of Charlotte Halliday's pen and ink sketches from 'Fanlights'. tion of the techniques and problems of repair. It is very unfortunate that an opportunity was missed to illustrate this in any way. There is also no explanation of the decline of fanlights, brought on by the introduction of plate glass around 1839. Neither the earlier book nor this one has anything useful to say about lanterns in fanlights. This is an aspect of doorway design and conservation which deserves further serious study. For each city Sambrook gives a brief pen portrait, while at the end Tony Birks-Hay contributes a short essayon the fanlights co be found all across New England in the Colonial and Federal periods. The principal attraction of the book is the numerous pencil and ink-wash sketches by Charlotte Halliday of fanlights from London, 'Country Towns', Bath, Bristol, Edinburgh New Town and Dublin. Attractive as these are, one longed for some of the dazzling pencilwork co be replaced by some good close-up phorographic details and comparisons with 18th century pattern book designs which had been such an illuminating aspect of Sambrook's earlier study. This is a book which will interest the serious layman, but all-in-all it promises more than it delivers. While it would be nice co have both books for reference I think Sambrook's Chatro book will be the one Conservation Officers will turn to. GOOD AND PROPER MATERIALS - THE FABRIC OF LONDON SINCE THE GREAT FIRE The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments for England in association with The London Topographical Society.Report no 140, 1989. 70 pp. ISBN 0-902087-274. £5.95. Despite the substantial literature on the hiscory and development of London, little study has been devoted to the materials used in its buildings. The six papers (several commendably illustrated in colour) brought together here are based on a day seminar organised by the Survey of London and held at the Society of Antiquaries in October 1988. They deal with what is described as the structural envelope of everyday life - the common building materials which, after the Great Fire, established London's character: the manufacture and use of London stock brick, stucco, terracotta and faience, structural carpentry, the application of iron to traditional construction, some of the services and furnishings in Victorian houses, and - rather the odd one out - how the Brookings Collection of architectural details can be applied to the dating of original construction and later alterations. Fashions and innovations set by London buildings and,he introduction oflegislation such as the Metropolitan Building Acts frequently influence manufactured goods, construction methods and taste well beyond the Capital. This useful publication which "illuminates much that is so common place as to be obscure" will be of interest not just to Conservation Officers in London but to anyone interested in the archaeological exploration of buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries. Good value. ARCHITECTURAL GUIDES TO LONDON & PARIS Renzo Salvadori. (Butterworth Architecture, 1990). 120 and 130 pp respectively. ISBN 0-408-50056-5 and 0-408-50068-0. £8.95 each. These two paperbacks are part of a series which also includes Rome, Florence and Venice. As Conservation Officers spend their holidays studying historic buildings in foreign parts, it is appropriate that, for example, Paris is reviewed here as well as London. All the books are written by Italian architects and it is interesting to see how they have set about choosing their buildings. The guides are described as indispens11
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