Conservation Bulletin Issue 61
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A BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IssueCHAPTER 61: Summer 2009 HEAD Issue 61: Summer 2009 Conservation bulletin 2 Editorial 3 In Praise of Spires and Places of Worship Towers 4 Our Shared Inheritance 4 How many listed places of worship are there? 5 Cathedrals – reaching out to visitors 6 Major places of worship in England 8 A Catholic perspective 11 Identifying the Challenges 11 Conserving our cathedrals: the funding of repair campaigns 13 Historic synagogues: appreciation and challenges 16 Places of worship at risk 18 ‘Places of Worship 2009: Hackney and Tower Hamlets’ 20 Redundancy of listed chapels within the Methodist Church 22 Maintaining the Legacy 22 The Repair Grants for Places of Worship in England scheme 24 Good maintenance – three pilot projects 26 Maintenance of churches in Norway 27 Staving off decay by daily care: maintaining places of worship 30 Looking Forward 30 Inspired! in action: Support Officers for historic places of worship 31 Busting the myths: how historic churches have a future 33 Building Faith in our Future: five years on 36 Liturgy and spaces: some recent trends 38 Making room for mystery 40 Monumental problems? 42 News Historic places of worship are among the best-loved and most potent of 44 The National our cultural landmarks. But they need loving care and creative management Monuments Record if they are not to become lifeless monuments. 46 Legal Developments 47 New Publications St Giles Farmers Market, Shipbourne, Kent, held outside and inside the church every Thursday morning – an inspiring example of the way new functions can often be accommodated at minimum cost to the existing fabric and fittings of an historic place of worship. © M T Steward Editorial: Places of Worship – Places that Matter Historic places of worship are integral to our physical and cultural landscape, so how do we understand, celebrate and sustain them? The vocabulary of conservation is weighted by a Church’s Taking Stock while Sharman Kadish illus- particular ethical culture, which previous genera- trates concerns for the Jewish community. tions associated with ‘the caring professions’ or The Heritage at Risk programme is to be ‘voluntary work’ rather than buildings and places. extended to include places of worship in 2010 so We are to help others share in the historic environ- the Building Exploratory’s work with volunteers is ment; to manage change on the basis of clear of great interest. All faiths and denominations understanding;to ensure historic places are sustainable recognise the importance of grants to help with for future generations. Such concepts are rooted in urgent repairs and Guy Braithwaite sets out the a need for good and improving communication story of Repair Grants for Places of Worship. between those who own or manage the historic Demographic change, funding limitations, environment, conservation professionals and the congregational expansion or exhaustion can mean wider public. that a place of worship is no longer needed in a Places of worship are emotive sites: diverse particular location. Ian Serjeant sets out the interest groups compete to ensure that their partic- Methodist Church’s perspective on closing and ular appreciation of significance, their perception disposing of its buildings in contrast to Crispin of the building’s use and their vision of its Truman’s ‘myth-busting’ view of future opportuni- future dominates over others’. This may lead to ties. Efforts to help congregations to use buildings conflict and misunderstanding: it does not have to. creatively are identified by Janet Gough as she sets Improving communication is thus the underlying out the Church of England’s approach. English ambition of this edition of Conservation Bulletin. Heritage’s own innovative partnership project to Candida Lycett Green puts mortar-mixes and part-fund Support Officers is also recognised as a gutter-clearance into context with her declaration creative way to help congregations help themselves. of the ineffable magic of the places of worship The voice of user-groups is represented: Sarah that decorate England. Taking such buildings King describes the value of the Association of for granted can lead to a failure to undertake English Cathedrals’ visitor survey, Jenifer White regular housekeeping, thus maintenance was one focuses on burial grounds and Peter Moger of the major targets of English Heritage’s Inspired! expresses an often overlooked but utterly crucial campaign. Nick Chapple considers English aspect of places of worship – how Christian Heritage’s work with three dioceses that have worship is ‘done’in the 21st century. established maintenance schemes and Sara Croft The review of two invaluable books about the reports on SPAB’s missionary Faith in Mainte- history, development and use of churches is by nance project, showing that positive efforts are another theologian, Mark McIntosh: it is an being made. The challenge for cathedrals is unusual book review for a conservation journal but explained by Nick Rank while Richard Halsey sets conservation respects difference! Places of worship out the particular issues facing other large and have a significance beyond simply existing within complex buildings. Oddbjorn Sormoen describes the landscape:they proclaim layers of meaning with the different experience of Norwegian churches. which we must grapple if we are to manage change Cataloguing places of worship is a challenge. and sustain them for the future; they both share The efforts being made to prepare an accurate ‘list and nuance our culture.We care about them. ■ of the listed’are described by Nick Chapple.Sophie Diana Evans Andreae offers a clear analysis of the Catholic Head of Places of Worship Policy,English Heritage Conservation Bulletin is published three times a year by English Heritage and circulated free of charge to more than 15,000 conservation specialists, opinion-formers and decision-makers. Its purpose is to communicate new ideas and advice to everyone concerned with the understanding, management and public enjoyment of England’s rich and diverse historic environment. When you have finished with this copy of Conservation Bulletin, do please pass it on. And if you would like to be added to our mailing list, or to change your current subscription details, just contact us on 020 7973 3253 or at [email protected]. 2 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 61: Summer 2009 In Praise of Spires and Towers Candida Lycett Green Cathedrals, churches and chapels are a vital pres- beautiful and the spirit of William Morris, who ence in the landscape of England.They are woven loved Inglesham,hovers there. into its beauty and part of it. Spires and towers, England’s cathedrals and minsters are sublime and rising from a cluster of town roofs, soaring into the the spirit of the men who made them moving sky on the horizon or suddenly upon you around beyond compare. They are works of love, religion the bend in a country lane, lend a feeling of settled and art. I know of no nobler works of art than stability,of safety.Churches are at the heart of every the famous leaves of Southall, still as crisp and fresh community and provide a sense of continuance. as the day they were carved in the 12th(?) century. They are our history and symbolise, through chris- Nor do I know of a nobler building than Liverpool tenings, marriages and funerals, our way of life and Anglican Cathedral, a celebration of the city’s pride who we are. They tell of generations of the local and a great testimony of the faith and determination people and of lives well spent through the names of a community which was never deflected, not and inscriptions on the gravestones and memorials, even by two world wars.It was begun in 1904 when or on the flower and cleaning rota pinned up on times were brilliant and completed in 1978 when the noticeboard in the church porch. Each genera- they were not. It soars over the city, on St James’s tion has contributed to the adornment of our Mount, overlooking the great commercial edifices ecclesiastical heritage and to abandon churches and the Mersey. It is the largest Anglican church in would be to destroy the story of England. the world and the second-largest cathedral after St Churches are also islands of calm in the anxious, Peter’s in Rome. For the moment it is my favourite speeding roar of the way we live now. Atheist or cathedral in Britain. I have only recently discovered not, it is undeniable they are places where, as that my father, John Betjeman, was also smitten: in T S Eliot’s Four Quartets, ‘prayer has been valid’. ‘This is one of the great buildings of the world’, he Because of his poem, Little Gidding in Hunting- wrote, ‘the impression of vastness, strength and donshire is one of my places of pilgrimage. ‘A height no words can describe . suddenly,one sees people without history/Is not redeemed from time, that the greatest art of architecture, that lifts one up for history is a pattern/of timeless moments ... So and turns one into a king, yet compels reverence, while the light fails/On a Winter’s afternoon, in a is the art of enclosing space.’ In contrast, the pure secluded chapel/History is now and England.’ I simplicity of the Quaker meeting house like defy anyone to enter Inglesham church in Wiltshire Come to Good in Cornwall is awe-inspiring in a for instance and not be overwhelmed. Once completely different, equally wonderful way.Where through the door into the cool, the church’s still on earth would England be without these great or calm wraps around you.The feeling of prayerfulness small, modest or elaborate, but above all familiar is tangible,the Saxon carving of a mother and child symbols of faith? We would be rudderless.