‘The Golden Square’ is one of the first projects in the Big City Plan which aims to transform the city centre in the coming years. The new public square will be located in the Jewellery Quarter in front of the Big Peg. It will comprise of a paved plaza, a grassed area, tree lined orchard with seats and a canopy marking the entrance to the square will be decorated with a gold leaf to mark the Jewellery Quarter’s historic significance.
The proposals have been submitted for approval by Birmingham City Council. Details of the application can be seen here and the application number is 2010/02482/PA. The application will be determined before the 8th July 2010.
For further information on ‘The Golden Square’ follow the link below:
Click above to find out more about Birmingham's bid for City of Culture
In an extract from an article in today’s Birmingham Post, Chris Hargreaves, Birmingham City Council’s head of conservation (who after almost 40 years in city planning, is retiring this month) says that the city has ‘failed to exploit great marketing opportunities from its rich history,’ and that whilst the city has many conservation successes to its name, there has been little mention of this with regards to the 2013 City of Culture bid.
The article also mentions the sad news that the council will not be replacing Hargreaves and his team of conservation experts will be ‘broken up and absorbed into the planning department as part of recession-prompted clampdown on council spending.’
Brandwood End Cemetery has twin Grade II-listed Mortuary chapels which are in need of restoration and improvements.
Brandwood End Mortuary Chapels
The chapels make the centrepiece of the cemetery and are designed by Birmingham-architect J. Brewin Holmes in the Gothic style of terracotta and red brick. Sadly, a fire made the chapels unfit for use several years ago. Unless funds are raised to survey and carry out expert restoration work, they will continue to deteriorate. You can read more about the history of the chapels on the Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery (FBEC) website.
In 2008, FBEC worked with Birmingham Conservation Trust on options appraisals for the cemetery chapels, looking approaches to their restoration. However when councillors at Birmingham City Council saw the options they decided to take matters back into their own hands, which has put a stop to any further work on restoration. The Friends Association have launched an epetition to re-initiate work on the chapels.
Sarah Courbet, whose mother set up the Friends Assocation to maintain the landscape and restore the chapels for the community, said:
“There are twin Grade II listed chapels that are in desperate need of repair and restoration and we are not having much luck with the owners, Birmingham City Council. They are seriously beautiful buildings and will fall down if we don’t do something soon.
We would dearly like the chapels to be once again used by the community but need serious funds for this to happen.”
The Association is asking for people to show their support for the restoration of the chapels by signing ane-petition to the council.
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Central Library in Birmingham by Rory Munro - click for original.
The government has announced that the John Madin designed Birmingham Central Library will not be listed – which means that the building can now be demolished as part of Birmingham’s Big City Plan.
English Heritage has expressed disappointment after advising the government to grant the building Grade 2 status, saying this morning:
English Heritage believes that the Library is worthy of Grade ll listed protection. Listing identifies whether a building is nationally important and not whether it must be kept. It is not a preservation order, simply a mark of special interest. Listed buildings can still be demolished once the case has been made and all other options have been explored. We have been working with the City Council throughout, and maintain an open dialogue with them.
In offering the Government our expert advice, we examined all aspects of its architectural interest including: whether it fulfilled its brief; whether it was a particularly good example of a public library; how well it survives; how it compares to other listed buildings of a similar type; and how influential the building has been. In our view, these tests were met.
We are naturally disappointed that Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw came to a different conclusion and we believe many local people will be too.
Birmingham City Council reports the decision as “immunity from listing” Mike Whitby, the council leader, has said:
“We are delighted that Government has granted our application for ‘immunity from listing’ for the Central Library, giving us a major boost in our plans to regenerate the city.
“Now, our vision around a new world-class library and theatre will be enriching transformational change in the heart of the city.
“Today’s decision helps pave the way for a multi-million pound redevelopment of Paradise Circus, which will allow people to enjoy a spectacular long-view from our Council House up to the new Library of Birmingham.
For more on people’s views about the library please see our post from yesterday. Jon Bounds – who opposes the demolition of the building – has been collecting a whole range of constantly updated articles here.
Do you live in a conservation which you think is at risk? Have you had experience of regulations protecting conservation areas being eroded?
English Heritage is approaching every local authority in the country for a first national survey of Conservation Areas as a means of identifying those at risk. Recently Birmingham City Council said it could not longer full protect the Ideal Village Conservation Area in Bordesley Green (pdf map), which had an article 4(2) protection, because of the extent of breaches of conditions there. (See the Birmingham Post report here.)
EH wonders if you too are worried about a proliferation of plastic windows or oversized extensions, if so you can sign up to keep track of it’s campaign by signing up here. The English Heritage news release tells us:
“England has some 9,300 Conservation Areas, historic parts of cities, towns, suburbs and villages designated by local authorities to protect their special character. But what condition are they in? Are they cherished through a close partnership of council and residents? Or are they at risk from neglect, decay and inappropriate development?
Conservation Areas vary enormously. They include, for example, the Belgravia Conservation Area in central London, the industrial heritage of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, the fishing village of Clovelly in North Devon and the Victorian People’s Park Conservation Area in Halifax. The heart of a historic town might be a Conservation Area. So too might be a street of well-preserved 1930s semi-detached houses or an isolated group of farm buildings. Details of local Conservation Areas are held by councils and can usually be found on their websites.
English Heritage has asked every Local Authority in the country to fill in a questionnaire for each of their Conservation Areas as part of the first nationwide census of the condition of this important element of our heritage. The results will be announced and a campaign will be launched on 23rd June to help councils, communities and individual residents to care for these special places.”
Birmingham’s first conservation areas were created in 1969 in Harborne, Yardley, Edgbaston, Kings Norton and Northfield. You can find a full list of all 27 areas in Birmingham here:
Moseley Road Baths in Balsall Heath and the Red Lion Pub in Handsworth have made it onto a list of the Victorian Society’s 10 most endangered buildings in the UK. The list was a product of a public vote and campaign.
As a city that saw massive expansion in the 19th century we have a large proportion of Victorian buildings, so it’s no great surprise that two Birmingham buildings are on the list. What is interesting and encouraging is that the local communities felt strongly enough about these buildings to vote them into the top ten.
The Red Lion closed more than a year ago and the local Victorian Society’s casework group (chaired by one of our Trustees Joe Holyoak) writes:
A possible sale by auction of this remarkable grade II* listed pub of 1901-2 by James and Lister Lea in December did not take place, and the building with its fantastic interiors stands empty and vulnerable. We have urged Birmingham City Council to take action, and a full record of the building is currently being made. Efforts are also underway to resolve structural problems, negotiate new tenants and find a suitable use. We are particularly concerned that this building should not suffer a similar fate to other local pubs, as was highlighted through the Society’s “Crawl to Save our Pubs” last August, and resulted in some positive media coverage, including a short piece in the Guardian. Last year the grade II listed Duke of York, Hockley was lost, though its fittings and those of the now derelict but also grade II listed George and Dragon, Albion Street had been stolen some years ago. The grade II listed Wharf Inn, Cradley Heath is about to be demolished following several fires, and the interior of the grade II* listed Bellefield Inn in Winson Green was destroyed in a fire three years ago, and is now being converted to housing. Across the region unlisted, but nevertheless often interesting pubs of the 19th and 20th centuries are being closed at an accelerating rate and stand boarded up, many of them awaiting almost certain demolition or less than suitable conversion to other uses.
The Moseley Road Swimming Baths are the last working Grade II* Edwardian baths in Britain, according to the Victorian Society. They are the centre of a longstanding campaign to keep the pools working, often led by Cllr Martin Mullaney (a onetime trustee of ours!). See this, the first of many youtube films he has made to help the cause:
Stonebridge School, Brent, London
Gustav Adolfs Kyrka (The Swedish Church), Liverpool
Newsome Mill, Huddersfield
St Maries’ Church, Widnes, Cheshire
Chapels at Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff
Holy Trinity, Hove, East Sussex
Palace Theatre, Plymouth, Devon
Fletcher Convalescent Home, Cromer, Norfolk
