Bright Future for Tyneside and Northumberland Sites
Tyneside and Northumberland Sites On Course to be Removed from English Heritage's Heritage at Risk Register
The future looks bright for several of the North East's most vulnerable historic treasures – including the old Assembly Rooms and Jesmond Cemetery in Newcastle, a manor house in Whickham, Blenkinsopp Castle near Haltwhistle, St Lawrence Church in Warkworth and Shilla Hill Bastle in Tarset. English Heritage expects that 2009 will see these and a number of other historic places removed from its Heritage at Risk register.
Heritage at Risk is an annual survey of the threatened heritage in our cities, towns and countryside. It includes listed buildings, historic parks, archaeological remains, battlefields and protected wrecks. This year’s register will be published in the summer but already English Heritage is confident that a number of sites across the North East region will be removed from the register as the result of a lot of hard work from a range of partners who are ensuring that the region’s historic environment has a future.
Carol Pyrah, English Heritage's Planning and Development Director in the North East, said: “We have a real challenge to tackle the heritage at risk in the region but these examples show what can be achieved by owners, local authorities and English Heritage working together to secure the future of some of the region's most important and vulnerable historic sites. Our heritage makes a major contribution to our identity and quality of life. Investing time and money in saving these special places can stimulate regeneration, encourage tourism and a sense of belonging. It also makes sense environmentally, why discard an old building if a new use can be found for it? English Heritage is delighted to have helped the owners of these sites to save them and ensure a positive future.”
One such example is 55-57 Westgate Street, Newcastle. From 1716 to 1736, the site was the home of the city’s first Assembly Rooms. The present Grade II* listed buildings date from 1757 and served both as private residences and, from the Victorian period onwards, shops. During the second half of the last century, the condition of the buildings declined as they became vacant and suffered from vandalism. They have been a constant presence on the Heritage at Risk register since 1997. However, thanks in part to an English Heritage grant of £100,000, the buildings have been repaired. Crumbling brick has been replaced and new roofs with Westmoreland and Welsh slate installed, making the buildings wind and weather-tight. The existing sliding sash windows have been restored and the Venetian-style window at the rear unblocked, flooding the interior with light.
The Old Hollinside fortified manor house in Whickham, Gateshead is another heritage success story. The Grade I-listed building was first recorded in 1317 and for 400 years it was a symbol of wealth and strength in the area, gaining the nickname 'Giant's Castle' as its owners reputedly stood some seven feet tall. The fortunes of the house changed when it was downgraded from a manor house in its own right to simply a tenanted house. Its fate was sealed in the early 1800s when it was abandoned and allowed to fall into ruins. It has been on the Heritage at Risk register since 2002. However, an English Heritage grant of over £14,000 towards a rescue and interpretation project has seen its future secured. Gateshead Council has cleared away the overgrown vegetation, stabilised the remaining stonework and installed two grilles to prevent any vandalism. An illustrated interpretation panel will tell the story of the building to people taking a stroll along the Derwent Walk.
Blenkinsopp Castle, the 14th century scheduled ruins of a castle near Haltwhistle, has been on the Heritage at Risk register since 2005 because of its unstable condition. The castle was adapted in the 19th century, first as a poor house, then as a residence for the supervisor of the adjacent coal mine, and finally as an impressive mansion. Following a disastrous fire in the 1950s, part of the castle was converted into a family home, while the rest has remained a ruin. However, following discussions with English Heritage, an unusual solution to the problems faced by the castle has been found. The owners, Mike and Lee Simpson, already ran a building firm and their skills meant that they were able to carry our consolidation works on the castle themselves, with English Heritage grants of around £24,000 given to provide scaffolding and specialist architectural advice. The results of the Simpson’' work, which amounted to many hundreds of hours, have successfully secured the ruined castle and later phases of the building, and have also led to them establishing their own heritage building company, expanding the provision of traditional skills within the community.
Shilla Hill Bastle, near Tarset, is another site which can expect not to feature on the Heritage at Risk register in 2009. Today there is much debate as to whether such farmhouses were fortified against Scottish attacks or whether they are evidence of a cautious optimism and a willingness to invest in the land once King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne in 1603. There is no doubt that Shilla Hill Bastle was built in a turbulent past but modern times saw it in danger from neglect and rampant vegetation. It was placed on the Heritage at Risk register in 1997. Working with English Heritage and as part of a £34,000 grants package towards a number of Tarset bastles, the Forestry Commission has rescued the walls of Shilla Hill from the undergrowth, made them water-tight and ensured the bastle's likely removal from the register. An illustrated interpretation panel will tell the story of the fortified farmhouse for people walking along the Reivers Trail.
Newcastle's Jesmond Cemetery and the Church of St Lawrence in Warkworth represent works in progress. The south lodge, gateways and walls at the John Dobson-designed cemetery have been in a sorry state for many years. On the Heritage at Risk register since 2002, the lodge was blocked up in the 1930s. The interior was full of rubble and stone, the roof was infested with dry rot and a section of it had collapsed. A grant of just under £35,000 to Newcastle City Council will help see the buildings repaired and brought back into use.
St Lawrence Warkworth is a Grade I parish church built in 1120 and still retaining an unusually intact Norman north wall, chancel and arch. The church is built in the bend of the River Coquet on 18 metres of alluvial sand. The foundations are massive boulders which, with the weight of stone on top, compressed the sand underneath. This was effective until the early 13th century when the wall started to lean outwards. A major investigation in 2006 found the movement was accelerating. The church was placed on the Heritage at Risk register a year later, underlining the critical nature of the situation. A massive fundraising effort was launched by parishioners who organised concerts, talks, auctions and raffles. English Heritage has funded an appraisal of what is required to secure the wall and work is expected to start later this year. Once complete, it will solve an 800-year old problem and prevent any further deterioration to an important, well-attended and much loved church. For details of how to help the fund-raising efforts, visit St Lawrence Church website.
For further information on Heritage at Risk, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/risk
Email this to a friend