Heritage Report 2015-2016
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Heritage Report 2015/2016 November 2016 November 1 The Canal & River Trust cares for 2,000 miles of historic canals and river navigations in England and Wales – an internationally important landscape of heritage assets that is free for everyone to enjoy. Note: from August 2016 the Central Shires Waterways was absorbed into neighbouring waterways. 2 Case Studies The following case studies are included in the Report: Engine Arm Aqueduct Re-lining 7 Saul Junction Lock New Gates 8 Graffiti Removal in London 12 Winter Floods 2015 13 Nantwich Aqueduct Repairs 14 Grantham Canal Restoration 15 Re-lining Goytre Aqueduct 16 Dundas Toll House Restored 17 EveryMileCounts Project 18 Recovering Naburn Locks Workshops 19 Birmingham Roundhouse Partnership 20 Rebuilding a Dry Stone Wall 21 Art Meets Heritage 22 Heritage Training 23 Vale Royal Cottages Refurbishment 24 Diglis Workshop Re-used 25 Aldcliffe Yard Redevelopment 26 3 Foreword Managing and conserving the waterways heritage is one of the Trust’s most important objectives. In 2015/16 we again saw excellent work carried out to historic structures by our staff, volunteers and contractors. We also faced the challenges of the winter floods in late 2015 which caused significant damage to a number of our waterways and resulted in the failure of the Grade II listed Elland Bridge. On the property side of our business, for which we rely for much of our income, we made strong progress at a number of sites, including the high quality development at Aldcliffe Road on the Lancaster Canal. Our residential heritage refurbishment programme continues to roll forward and we have other schemes in the pipeline. Richard Parry Once again, in 2015/16 we repaired Heritage Chief Exectutive at Risk assets with the support of Heritage Fund Lottery (HLF) and Historic England and progressed our partnership project with the National Trust at the Birmingham Roundhouse. Working with heritage assets requires a skilled and competent workforce and we continued our training campaigns with our HLF backed Heritage Skills scheme and a new heritage competency course for our key engineering staff. I am proud of the work that we and our volunteers, who contribute so much, have achieved for the Trust’s heritage, which is one of our key drivers for transforming places and enriching lives. 4 Our Heritage Protected heritage assets Our canals and river navigations represent an internationally important historic environment that largely dates back to the years of Britain’s Industrial Revolution. Much of this historic environment and its heritage assets is protected by scheduling, listing and conservation area designation. In England and Wales the Trust has the responsibility for looking after 2,000 miles of historic waterways, 49 scheduled monuments. 2,701 listed buildings and 317 conservation areas. In addition, thousands of other non-designated buildings, structures and earthworks are almost equally important. Our waterways are also touched by other heritage designations including five World Heritage Sites, 42 historic parks and gardens and nine historic battlefields. The heritage we care for is free to access and use; it provides an everyday, local connection to our past. Kennet & Avon Canal – Sydney Gardens, Bath World Heritage Site 5 James Bridge Aqueduct, Walsall undergoing repairs prior to removal from the HaR register in 2015/16 Heritage At Risk At the end of 2015/16 there were 24 individual More positively, the West Midlands region saw the assets on national and local Heritage at Risk (HaR) removal from the local authority HaR register of registers. These include listed buildings (Grade II James Bridge Aqueduct following repairs and road and II* structures) and one scheduled monument. lowering, which will protect it from futher damage. In addition, there were 31 conservation area HaRs through which our waterways pass. These include Work also progressed at Soulbury Pumphouse Trust-owned assets and third party buildings and (Grade II) on the Grand Union, the Birmingham structures that are beyond the Trust’s control. Roundhouse (Grade II*), Saul Junction Lock (Grade II) and Fox’s Kiln (Grade II) at Gloucester There was no net increase or decrease in the Docks. It is hoped that several of these can be overall number of heritage assets on the registers removed from HaR registers in 2016/17. Other compared with the 2014/2015 returns. However, structures, including Semington Aqueduct (Grade there has been some movement within the Trust’s II) on the Kennet & Avon and Appley Locks waterway regions. The North West has gained (Grade II) on the Leeds & Liverpool present an additional asset at risk – Stainton Aqueduct longer term challenges in terms of funding and (Grade II), as a result of the 2015 winter floods. repairs but are being monitored over time. 6 Case Study Engine Arm Aqueduct Re-lining Engine Arm Aqueduct is a scheduled monument that carries a feeder from Edgbaston Reservoir over the Birmingham New Main Line. Designed by Thomas Telford, it was constructed in 1825 as a Gothic Revival structure, comprising an iron trough with iron support arches with stone and brickwork abutments. The aqueduct has suffered from long term seepage and water ingress, with consequent deterioration of its wing walls. The Trust was successful in gaining £200,000 match funding from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk fund and started a programme of repairs in March 2016. Work has involved re-lining the canal trough with a specialist plastic liner, repointing with lime mortar, replacing small sections of material with like for like and repairs to stone copings. Engine Arm Aqueduct, de-watered prior to re-lining work, 2016 7 Case Study Saul Junction Lock New Gates Saul Junction Lock is a Grade II listed disused lock at a unique canal cross-roads where the Stroudwater Navigation of 1779 is bisected by the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal of 1827. The lock has been on the HaR register since 2002 but in 2015 it received an HLF grant of £70,000 to install new gates and repair its chamber. This is part of a £220,000 scheme that includes landscaping, interpretation and installation of a dipping platform. Dendrochronology shows that the gates date from the early 20th century and included douglas fir, oak, pitch pine and elm in their construction. New gates will match the old and ironwork will be re-used. Saul Junction Lock, historic gate removal, winter 2015 8 Managing the Waterways Historic Environment The Canal & River Trust has a charitable objective to ‘protect and conserve heritage’. We also have a Statement of Principles for the Waterways Heritage, developed with our Heritage Advisory Group, which reflects our charitable objectives and responsibilities. We will: • Base our policies and practice on a sound • Work with others to secure the conservation of understanding and recognition of the history the wider context and setting of our waterways. and significance of the waterways heritage. • Benchmark and report on our heritage • Apply the optimum conservation conservation performance at regular intervals. standards to maintain the integrity and authenticity of our heritage assets. • Maintain a Heritage Advisory Group to advise us on our policies and to monitor performance. • Accept a presumption in favour of conservation of these heritage assets, while recognising the wider aims, objectives and resources of the Trust. Heritage Advisory Group In 2015/16 the Trust continued to benefit from its own specialist Heritage Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Neil Cossons. The group acts as a sounding board and provides advice and support to the Trust on a wide range of matters affecting the historic environment of the waterways. During the year, the Group met three times (in June and November 2015 and March 2016) and members have also been consulted in between meetings on a number of planning applications affecting the waterways. There has been a particular focus on third party development proposals affecting waterways and planning applications made by the Trust’s tenants. The Group has also assisted the Trust in identifying potential sites for HLF and other heritage-related funding. Other examples of the Group’s work include advice on balancing the needs of health and safety with the retention of heritage value and significance. A particular issue addressed is that of installing parapet safety railings on bridges and the offside of aqueducts that do not yet have them. 9 Annual Review Sir Neil Cossons Chair of the Heritage Advisory Group The Canal & River Trust’s heritage portfolio is an Building Consent Order under which the Trust engaging and accessible one, there for everyone, will enjoy delegated powers to handle much of to be savoured, enjoyed and understood. Most is the repair to its numerous listed structures that over two hundred years old and offers, through would otherwise require individual consents. It its intrinsic values of integrity and authenticity, a is a tribute to the Trust that this is being used vivid and readable insight into the nation’s history. by Historic England as a pilot project to test the And, as the Trust’s greatest resource, it affords methodology for future Orders with other owners. immense pleasure to millions of people, as a place of quiet away from the rest of the world, a We continue to keep a vigilant eye, and comment haven for wildlife or as the mainspring of urban where appropriate, on property development in regeneration. At once robust and unpretentious, immediate proximity to the waterways, in particular this astounding asset can also have a delicate where ill-considered development may threaten fragility that demands the utmost care and the context of the historic setting. Waterfront sensitivity to ensure its qualities are not degraded. locations, considered only a few years ago as insalubrious and to be avoided, now offer immense All this is the primary responsibility of the Canal & attraction to developers.