A revised list of the protected historic buildings of the City of Bath has been published and includes 830 new entries since the list was last updated in 1975.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport today published the long-awaited revised list of protected historic buildings for the City of Bath.
Drawn up by the Government's advisers, English Heritage, the list is a vital tool for the protection of individual historic buildings through the planning process, and will help ensure that Bath, a World Heritage Site, retains its outstanding architectural character.
The new list contains 2376 entries (constituting over 5000 individual properties), 830 more than the existing list issued in 1975. While the earlier list identified almost all Georgian houses as worthy of special protection it did not include many Victorian or 20th century buildings, tombs or items of street furniture such as telephone boxes and lampstands which add distinctiveness to the city.
New entries on today's list include some 29 monuments in the Abbey Cemetery and 15 monuments in All Saints Churchyard, Weston. Effort has also been made to explain more clearly why each entry is historically or architecturally of interest. The list is not a Domesday survey of all of the city's buildings but it does identify what is special and makes the greatest contribution to the World Heritage Site.
Most of the new additions to the list are publicly owned. Where private houses are being proposed for listing, English Heritage will notify the owners of its intentions and consult with them before adding the building to the list.
Listing started with the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. Towns across England -like Bath - which were recovering from wartime assault needed to know which buildings were worth repairing and which damaged buildings could be demolished. A 'list' was devised to identify those which should be retained and protected. Bath's first list was issued in 1950.
Peter Beacham, Heritage Protection Director at English Heritage, said: "It is most fitting that the last old-style list to be published will be for this city of such outstanding architectural importance. Next year we move onto an electronic system which will be much more accessible to all."
"Ian Lund, from the Historic Environment Team at Bath and North East Somerset Council commented: "I am looking forward to working with the new list. The old list was about 40 years old and contained numerous amendments. An upgraded publication will help give the Council and owners an improved insight into the significance of historic structures within the city."
Caroline Kay, Chief Executive of the Bath Preservation Trust, said: "Statutory protection of identified buildings in Bath started with the 1937 City of Bath Act, ten years before national listing, and the new Bath List is a key milestone in the continuing assessment and protection of Bath's national significance as a heritage asset in its own right as well as a living city".
A listed building is protected from its front boundary wall to the rear of the garden, and interiors are protected, as well as exteriors. Listing also gives a building a certain cachet as it denotes character, authenticity and architectural quality and usually adds to its value.
A hard copy of the new list is available for the public to view at the Bath & North East Somerset planning office, and in the central library. A fully searchable computerised version is being prepared and will be made available in the spring.
