Biennial Conservation Report 2007-09 1
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GHEU/ English Heritage BIENNIAL Government Historic Estates Unit Government CONSERVATION REPORT The Government Historic Estate 2007-2009 Compiled by the Government Historic Estates Unit BIENNIAL CONSERVATION REPORT 2007-09 1 CONTENTS Section 1.0 Introduction 3 Section 2.0 Progress with stewardship 4 2.1 Profile of departments’ estates 4 2.2 Adoption of the Protocol 4 2.3 Specialist conservation advice 5 2.4 Conservation management plans 5 2.5 Condition surveys 6 2.6 Heritage at risk 7 2.7 Scheduled monuments at risk 8 2.8 Historic landscapes 9 2.9 Recording 10 Section 3.0 Disposals 11 3.1 Review of disposals since 1980 11 3.2 Disposals on the civil estate 12 3.3 Disposals on the MoD estate 12 3.4 Review of policies on disposal 14 Section 4.0 Current issues and initiatives 15 4.1 Heritage protection reform 15 4.2 Heritage agreements on the inland waterways 15 4.3 Scheduled monument clearance 16 4.4 Maritime heritage 16 4.5 Security projects 18 4.6 Funding and resources 18 Section 5.0 Government Historic Estates Unit 19 5.1 Team structure 19 5.2 Informal site-specific advice 19 5.3 Statutory advice 19 5.4 Policy work 19 5.5 Published guidance 20 5.6 Annual conservation seminars 21 Continued 2 BIENNIAL CONSERVATION REPORT 2007-09 CONTENTS Tables 22 A Progress by departments in complying with the Protocol 22 B Progress by other historic estate holders 36 Case studies 40 The Block Mills, HM Naval Base Portsmouth 40 Buckingham Palace Music Room 41 Buckingham Palace quadrangle repairs 42 Chiswick House Gardens 44 The quarry tunnels at Corsham 46 The Lune Viaduct, Cumbria 50 RAF Northolt: the Officers’ Mess 51 The Supreme Court 53 The White Tower at the Tower of London 57 Repository Woods, Woolwich 60 Whitehall Streetscape Project 61 Salisbury Plain: Defence Training Estate 62 The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Foulness 65 Annexes 66 A 1 Heritage at Risk 66 A 2 New listings 85 A 3 Government sites open on heritage days 86 BIENNIAL CONSERVATION REPORT 2007-09 3 1 .0 INTRODUCTION This is the ninth biennial report on the condition of the government’s historic estate. It covers the two financial years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, and subsequent developments up to the end of December 2009. It has been compiled by the Government Historic Estates Unit (GHEU) in English Heritage, and produced for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Its purpose is to draw attention to the government’s record in managing its historic estate. The report provides an overview of the GHEU is a central source of conservation government’s historic estate in England, based advice for departments and a ‘one-stop shop’ on individual reports provided by departments for the Royal Household, Historic Royal Palaces and agencies (referred to throughout this report and the Parliamentary Estates Directorate. as ‘departments’). All relevant departments have The Unit maintains a web page for government contributed information for this report, as detailed estate managers on the HELM website in Table A. Several other non-departmental (www.helm.org.uk/gheu) and disseminates public bodies have voluntarily provided reports, advice and information through its annual including for the first time the Royal Household, conservation seminars and email newsletter. as detailed in Table B. The report includes case This report is available in pdf form on the English studies of notable conservation projects and Heritage website (www.english-heritage.org.uk) initiatives, such as the conversion of Middlesex and also on HELM. Hard copies are available Guildhall to become the new United Kingdom free-of-charge from GHEU (tel 020 7973 3802). Supreme Court, and the development of Heritage Any queries regarding the subject matter should Partnership Agreements by British Waterways. be addressed to the Head of GHEU at the Annex 1 provides details of all listed buildings address given at the back of the report. and scheduled monuments at risk on the government estate. There has been considerable progress by GHEU with the development of a new suite of standards for the government estate. This began with Managing heritage assets, issued in April 2009, followed by an updated version of the Protocol for the care of the government historic estate in October 2009. A new guidance note on the disposal of heritage assets has been prepared and is due for publication in 2010. 4 BIENNIAL CONSERVATION REPORT 2007-09 2.0 PROGRESS WITH STEWARDSHIP 2.1 five scheduled monuments and about 58 Profile of departments’ estates individually listed items. The Royal Household is Table A gives details of the historic estates responsible for two scheduled monuments and managed by 23 government departments and 73 individually listed buildings, distributed across agencies (including four property centres which a dozen separate sites. The Parliamentary Estates report to the Department for Transport), and Directorate manages the Palace of Westminster one non-departmental public body (English (listed grade I) and ten other listed buildings. Heritage). A brief profile of each estate is Some assets have received statutory protection included in the first column of the table, during the reporting period, as listed in Annex 2. describing a wide range of heritage assets. In The majority of new listings have been on the addition to statutorily-protected listed buildings MoD estate; these include 19 buildings or and scheduled monuments, departments’ estates structures which were listed in April 2009 include designated conservation areas, registered following English Heritage’s thematic study historic parks and gardens, registered battlefields of ordnance yards. and world heritage sites. There is a wide range in the number of designated assets on each 2.2 estate; ten of the estates are small, with less Adoption of the Protocol than ten listed buildings and scheduled The standards laid down in the updated version monuments. At the other end of the scale, of the Protocol for the care of the government there are seven estates with over 100 listed historic estate (see 5.5.2) provide a benchmark buildings and scheduled monuments: of good conservation management practice Ministry of Defence (1,358) which is widely understood and accepted. Forestry Commission (952) Common minimum standards for the procurement of built environments in the public sector, (Office English Heritage (765) of Government Commerce, 2005)1 states that all Highways Agency (463) projects or programmes impacting on the historic Ministry of Justice: HM Prison Service (166) estate should comply with the requirements of Ministry of Justice: HM Court Service (158) the Protocol. The previous report referred to The Royal Parks (148) how the Ministry of Defence, among others, had formally adopted the Protocol and integrated it Table B provides details of four other organisations into their in-house reporting procedures and which have voluntarily provided reports on their strategic objectives. More recently, the newly- estates. British Waterways, a public corporation, established Homes & Communities Agency is responsible for 2,671 listed buildings and 51 has been quick to adopt the Protocol and to scheduled monuments in England and Wales, disseminate it internally. the third-largest estate of listed buildings in the United Kingdom after the Church of England Table A provides a commentary on the progress and the National Trust. Historic Royal Palaces of each department against some of the key has five historic sites in its care; these include points in the Protocol. Overall, the majority of 1. www.ogc.gov.uk/construction_procurement_common_minimum_standards_for_the_built_environment.asp BIENNIAL CONSERVATION REPORT 2007-09 5 2.0 PROGRESS WITH STEWARDSHIP departments have provided detailed information specialist conservation consultants by each in their biennial reports which demonstrate department. There are many different compliance with the Protocol. However, some arrangements, ranging from the ad-hoc are not yet fully compliant. For example, Forest appointment of specialists to the systematic Enterprise and the Environment Agency have use of framework agreements. not been able to provide details of the individual The framework contract for specialist architectural heritage assets in their ownership. advice run by OGCbuying.solutions and available There are an increased number of exemplary to all government departments expired in departmental reports which contain a detailed spring 2007, and was not renewed. HM Court analysis of current issues. These include the Service, part of the Ministry of Justice, took on reports from the Ministry of Defence and the the renewal of the framework, and worked with Homes & Communities Agency (the first since Parliamentary Estates and the Cabinet Office to it was established in 2008). Some reports are appoint new specialist conservation consultants available on the internet, including those for the in May 2007. Three architectural practices are MoD, BRB (Residuary) Ltd and the annual State available under the new framework, covering all of the waterways heritage report produced by parts of England and Wales. This arrangement British Waterways. English Heritage has yet to is available to all government departments, provide a biennial report on its estate. local authorities and other public bodies. Table B provides a commentary regarding four non-departmental bodies which have volunteered 2.4 information, including a first report from the Conservation management plans Royal Household. All of these have provided an A key element