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ISWE PHD RESEARCHER SECURES INTERNSHIP AT SAVE BRITAIN’S HERITAGE

In this piece we hear from Bethan Scorey about her experience as an intern with one of Britain’s leading architectural preservation bodies.

This summer I’ve been working as an Intern for SAVE Britain’s Heritage, an organisation that campaigns and intervenes to save historic buildings in danger of demolition and decay. What sets SAVE apart from other heritage organisations is their emphasis on finding sustainable reuses for buildings at risk, by bringing together architects, engineers, planners, and investors to offer viable alternative proposals. Taking action, and in some cases legal action, to prevent needless loss is central to their work. Their recent high-profile success stories include Smithfield Market in the City of London, which is currently being transformed into a new home for the Museum of London, and Richmond House.

SAVE’s work involves buildings and sites of all types, and country houses were at the heart of the organisation when it was created in 1975 in response to the Destruction of the Country House exhibition held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1974. The exhibition highlighted the extent of the loss with a ‘Hall of Destruction’ filled with images of the thousand country houses demolished in Britain since 1875. One of the exhibition’s curators, Marcus Binney, is the executive president of SAVE.

My research project at ISWE is about the architectural and landscape history of St Fagans Castle, the Elizabethan country house on the outskirts of Cardiff, now home to St Fagans National History Museum. As a member of the museum staff, I have been fortunate enough to spend much time in the building and its grounds, notably during the pandemic when the museum was closed. St Fagans Castle itself is my primary source, and I am acutely aware of how fortunate I am that the building not only survives but is accessible and in good condition. This is just one of the reasons that I feel so passionately about the important work that SAVE does.

There are many parallels between the work and aims of SAVE and ISWE, and I hope that this Internship will be an opportunity to develop a relationship between the two. ISWE recognises that the people of Wales have a vested interest in understanding the history of the places where they live and contributes towards the interpretation and communication of Welsh history to the public. SAVE celebrates the built heritage of Wales through their events and publications, for example their recent virtual talk ‘The Lost World of the Welsh Chapel’ which attracted viewers from across Britain. Of course, one of the key cross-cutting themes of ISWE’s research is the Welsh country house, its past, present, and future. Here, SAVE’s work is all-important because without their campaigns many Welsh country houses may not have survived into the present.

Recently they have helped secured futures for some of the most prominent country houses in Wales: in March they publicly called on Conwy County Borough Council to issue an urgent repair notice for Kinmel Hall near Abergele, the ‘Welsh Versailles’ which is in a state of decay but has now been sold to a local buyer. SAVE have also been involved in supporting efforts to find a solution for Ruperra Castle in Caerphilly over many years and in 2018 they paid for emergency repair works to prevent imminent collapse of part of the building. There are currently 143 buildings in Wales on SAVE’s Buildings at Risk Register, which highlights buildings that are currently vacant with uncertain futures. Some of the country houses they are currently monitoring include Gwrych Castle, which appears to have a hopeful future, Blaenblodau Hall, Calcott Hall, Gelli Aur, Hafodunos, Hendrefoilan, Pencoed Castle, Piercefield, and Plas Gwynfryn; but there are also chapels, cottages, town halls, and industrial buildings aplenty.

I applied for the Internship because despite my passion for historic buildings and having studied Building History, faced with the imminent demolition or decay of a building I felt helpless to act. As a resident of Cardiff, where there have been several campaigns to save local landmarks from modern developments, I felt this even more keenly. The Internship so far has been invaluable, as I have learnt what actions can be taken in response to threats of demolition and decay, from letters of objection to listing applications. Seeing your efforts come to fruition and knowing that you have helped secure a future for a building is a great feeling, and just a few weeks ago a listing application I submitted for an old Engine House in Manchester was successful, halting its imminent demolition. Other work has included market research for future events, updating the Buildings at Risk Register, and preparing dossiers of information about buildings that have been brought to SAVE’s attention. One example is Zeals House near Mere in Wiltshire, a Grade I mansion which has been neglected by its owner since 2010.

I’m so grateful to SAVE for giving me this opportunity. Working as an intern at SAVE alongside my PhD studies, I truly feel immersed in the past, present and future of historic buildings in Wales and Britain.

Publication date: 2 September 2021

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