Let old buildings ‘rot gracefully’

HERITAGE sites that become too difficult or costly to repair should be allowed to decay, according to an academic.

Climate change, falling budgets and other pressures will mean some heritage sites cannot be protected, and sometimes nature should be allowed to take its course, said Professor Caitlin Desilvey, a geographer at the University of Exeter.

‘there is room to explore more creative approaches in heritage,’ she added.

she cited the former atomic weapons testing facility at Orford Ness, suffolk, which the National trust manages through a policy of ‘continued ruination’.

‘Where the process of physical decay is going on, and nature is moving in, we can try to see this in a positive light and ask ourselves what we can learn from those changes,’ she said.

‘it’s hard to let go and i am asking how we can do this gracefully and attentively.

‘this approach only applies in certain circumstances – when preservation or repair is not possible or realistic due to cost or other issues.’