Case Name: Great Barr Hall and Chapel Case Number: 1432461
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Historic England Advice Report 27 April 2016 Case Name: Great Barr Hall and Chapel Case Number: 1432461 Background Historic England has been asked to assess Great Barr Hall to ensure that its statutory listing at Grade II* is appropriate. The present amendment case was raised internally and follows discussions with interested parties concerning the fact that the building is on the Buildings at Risk Register. The hall was listed at Grade II* in 1971 and the designation of the Hall and the Registered landscape were last considered for amendment in 2008. At that time the boundary of the registered park was redrawn and the grades were confirmed at Grade II* for the house and Grade II for the park. The hall building functioned as a hospital until 1978, together with a cluster of purpose-built, mid-C20 hospital structures to the south-east of the hall. The C20 hospital buildings were demolished in the early-C21 and replaced by a denser residential development, grouped around a former driveway to the hall. The Hall has gradually become dilapidated and the park is overgrown in some areas. A previous owner had plans to restore the hall with money from an enabling development in part of the park, but this did not happen. The present owners also wish to restore the house to use as a wedding venue and conference centre through an enabling development. The site was formerly fenced and guarded at all times, but this constant vigil has now lessened and there are signs of vandalism on site, together with further dilapidation. Asset(s) under Assessment Facts about the asset(s) can be found in the Annex(es) to this report. Annex List Entry Number Name Heritage Category HE Recommendation 1 1076395 Great Barr Hall and Listing Amend List Chapel Visits Date Visit Type 17 February 2016 Full inspection Context This former country house, which is currently designated at Grade II*, was turned into a mental asylum in the early years of the C20. It stands in a park which is designated Grade II on the Historic England Register of Parks and Gardens and lies within the Great Barr Conservation Area. In 1978 the local health authority categorized it as surplus to requirement and since then it has suffered from neglect and vandalism and is now in category A on the Historic England Buildings at Risk Register. It is currently the subject of a restoration project for which funding is sought through an enabling development. This has prompted a request for re-assessment of the listing and grading of the house. HISTORIC ENGLAND INVOLVEMENT: The West Midlands Office have been involved in a series of discussions with the present owners, their architect, and Walsall B.C. about the intended restoration and enabling development. A report on the historic background to the Hall and the architects involved was commissioned from our Research Group. This report has informed our assessment. Assessment CONSULTATION Page 1 of 15 Historic England Advice Report 27 April 2016 Our consultation report was issued on 23 February and sent to the owner, their agent, the local planning authority, the HER officer, a local history society and other interested parties, including two Members of Parliament. We received seven responses. One, from an MP, initially asked for clarification of certain points contained in the consultation report. A subsequent response from them addressed the points contained in our Reasons for Designation of 2008, when the grading was confirmed at Grade II*, commenting that the building is a shell without a roof; that the lack of specific mention of Nash in the report was taken to mean that his involvement was unsubstantiated; that the association of the Hall with the Lunar Society is of minor importance to the history of the house and noting the lack of specific mention of the Registered Landscape within which the Hall sits. The MP concludes that, for these reasons, they do not feel that Great Barr Hall meets the standard needed to be listed at Grade II* and that the building must be judged by present-day standards, not as it was when first listed. A local interest group (Beacon Action Group) responded saying that they had witnessed the continuing deterioration of both the house and the Registered park. They reiterated the view, voiced by the Planning Inspectorate at planning enquiries, that preservation and restoration of the park and house should be viewed as one holistic exercise and said that local residents view enabling development in the parkland, which will raise funds to restore the house, as a potential harm to the local community and noted further evidence of the poor condition of the building. Another local MP wrote saying that they fully supported the sentiments contained in the responses received from their fellow Member of Parliament and from the local interest group. The Walsall Civic Society responded, referring to the present planning application for enabling development on the site of the surrounding Registered park (Grade II). They felt that any restoration of the hall would be prohibitively expensive and rehearsed similar sentiments to the respondents above, adding that they consider that future resources should consequently be directed to retrieving and restoring the historic landscape surrounding the hall, but that the hall building should be replaced with a structure of similar prominence to ‘hold’ and make sense of the parkland setting. The local planning authority responded, referring us to their earlier note sent as a result of our notification letter. This said that the building is in ‘very bad’ condition, and could be categorized as ‘Heritage at Risk’. Despite these losses they felt that there is still a strong Strawberry Hill gothic presence in the design and some sense of architectural detailing in various features. They also felt that the meetings of the Lunar Society at the hall and its consequent association with some of the leading industrialists of the time, together with associations with prominent architects were of importance. Although in a visually poor condition, they felt that the building retains much of its communal, evidential and historic significance as well as its association with the grounds which are a Registered Historic Park and Garden. They felt that the building still has a story to tell and is still significant and worthy of listing as a building of national architectural or historical significance. The local vicar responded and noted that the park and house are closely inter-related. The park is on the Historic England Register at Grade II and the park also falls within the Great Barr Conservation Area. They felt that the damage to the historic landscape, which is a fragile but complete ecosystem, that enabling development would cause was inappropriate. They helped to clarify the history of the parishes and the churches built in the C19 and provided further history of the estate, indicating the considerable changes made to the hall building throughout the C18 and C19. The Chairman of the Great Barr and Aston Local History Society responded asking that the list description be updated to include greater reference to the Lunar Society and referred to their own paper ‘Touched by Genius’ which gave detailed descriptions of those members of the Lunar Society who were known to have attended meetings at Great Barr. They said that the only eye-witness accounts of meetings of the society were those held at Great Barr. They also provided possible evidence of the design of the chapel by Sir George Gilbert Scott. We are grateful to all the respondents for the information provided. Those points of fact regarding the details and history of Great Barr Hall have been incorporated in our report where appropriate. Although it is acknowledged that the current condition of Great Barr Hall and its associated landscape are the focus of much local concern, our assessment can only consider the special architectural and historic interest of the building as assessed against the statutory criteria for Listing. Matters such as the condition of the building, its economic viability and associated planning considerations are not relevant to our assessment and will not be discussed further here. The special interest of the building is considered in our Discussion below. Page 2 of 15 Historic England Advice Report 27 April 2016 DISCUSSION The Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings issued by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (March 2010) state that buildings of pre-1700 date that contain a significant proportion of their original fabric are listed. Also, that most buildings of pre-1840 date are listed. After 1840, because of the greatly increased number of buildings erected and the much larger numbers that have survived, progressively greater selection is necessary. The Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings also indicate the qualities of the different grades of buildings: Grade I buildings are of exceptional interest; Grade II* buildings are particularly important buildings of more than special interest; Grade II buildings are of special interest, warranting every effort to save them. This information is amplified by the Historic England Building Selection Guide for Suburban and Country Houses (2011) which says of country houses which date from the period pre-1700, that recognisable survivors will merit listing even when substantially altered and that houses built between 1700 and 1840 will probably warrant listing. Country houses are assessed against the criteria of age, rarity, intactness and quality of design, materials, craftsmanship and historic associations. Quality of elevational design, interest of planning, quality and survival of decoration are also factors. Some degree of alteration can be expected and may, in certain circumstances, add to the interest of the building. Integrated assessment of a house together with the surrounding structures and landscape is essential to establish the combined special interest of the group and of individual elements in the grouping.