Trust looks back on success of drive to rescue heritage
FOUR YEARS ago, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust started a project to help community groups battling to save their local heritage.
Since then, the programme has run more than 30 workshops around the country offering advice and support on how historic buildings can be saved and reused, and today the last of these is being held at The Bar Convent, which dates back to 1686, in York today.
The first of these workshops was held at the Milton Rooms in Malton so it’s fitting that they culminate back in Yorkshire at The Bar Convent, which underwent a multi-million pound renovation two years ago and is now a heritage centre and also home to a guest house, café, conference centre and exhibition space.
Laura Norris, programme director of the Brick project, says it’s about ensuring that local people have the support they need to safeguard the historic sites on their doorstep. “Community groups play a pivotal role in taking on the revival of these important local assets and there is an urgent need to equip them with the right skills to do so,” she said.
In October, Historic England revealed the places added and removed from the 2107 Heritage At Risk Register, offering a snapshot of the state of the country’s most historic buildings.
There are currently 5,290 historic buildings, places of worship, gardens, battlefields and conservation areas are under threat, including 619 in Yorkshire.
There’s a growing appreciation for historic buildings and landmarks in this country matched by a desire to ensure they don’t fall into a state of disrepair or, worse still, disappear altogether.
As a result there are now many community groups and organisations that play an important part in breathing new life into buildings of historic or architectural significance.
Jane Jackson, Heritage at Risk Principal for Historic England in Yorkshire, says there are 21 fewer buildings on the At Risk Register than there were last year.
“We’ve taken 50 off the Register but more have come on so it’s a constantly changing picture.”
She says there have been some notable successes. “We are particularly delighted to take Sheffield’s ornate clock tower and gateway at the former Green Lane Works off the Register, as well as ensuring the survival of the Tudor barn at Watton Abbey.”
There are 93 Grade I and II* Listed buildings in Yorkshire on the Register along with everything from places of worship to stone markers and battlefields.
“A colleague of mine visited a farm in North Yorkshire where they have the remains of a castle in the farmyard. It’s not battlements but there are three vaulted arches and we’ve been able to help them and now they’re using them to store farm machinery.
“Previously they were just crumbling away and in the way. So it’s about finding the right solution rather than just throwing money at it,” says Ms Jackson.
Historic England has architects and surveyors that offer advice to local authorities, as well as firms and private landowners that are responsible for these historic sites.
“They’re right across Yorkshire. There probably isn’t a single local authority that we don’t work with,” she said.
It’s an indication of the scale of the challenge faced by those tasked with conserving our heritage. “There is always more to do, and we are dedicated to ensuring Yorkshire’s irreplaceable historic sites will survive for generations to come.
“There’s something about historic buildings that energises people,” says Ms Jackson. “They are tied up in the history of our cities and our towns and villages and we don’t want to lose them.”