Grade I Listed Church Repairs Start In Time To Protect History

Repairs costing £1m have begun on the roof of a Grade I listed church to protect murals that are over 800 years old.

St Leonard’s Church in Flamstead, Hertfordshire is a 12th-century church that has been at risk of closure since 2017 due to dangerous levels of decay that have affected its medieval roof.

This problem was magnified after the building’s copper roof was removed and the true level of rot was made clear, with the main ridge breams being completely rotted through due to damp and deathwatch beetles, causing a potential safety hazard and leading to the erection of temporary supports.

This led to an appeal for funds to undertake a listed building restoration, which would ultimately raise nearly £300,000 from local donations and a further £750,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This allows for large-scale repairs and improvements to the building’s weatherproofing and damp issues to protect and conserve centuries of wall paintings.

Currently, the scaffolding is complete, the roof has been installed and the next step is to uncover and restore as many original features of the church as possible.

The building and its various shifts and changes are markers of major events in English history, with the beautiful murals being hidden during the Reformation period in the 16th century, where the rise of Protestantism led to a lot of older catholic churches being significantly renovated.

A lot of art was either removed or covered up and was not rediscovered until the 1930s, where a treasure trove of murals, monuments and graffiti from the medieval period was rediscovered.

It is believed that the murals in particularly were made by the same artist who painted the murals found at St Albans' Cathedral.

How Does A Building Become Listed?

Architecture comes in all shapes and sizes, and many towns and cities are filled with a mix of buildings from new build houses to ancient historic buildings from a different era with a different set of design goals.

As examples of buildings from a particular period of design either get demolished or fall into disrepair, it becomes an ever-greater priority to preserve the surviving examples of that type of construction, as a living monument to our history.

This is the principle behind listed buildings; buildings noted for their special interest, either as architectural marvels or of historical importance.

Preserving these buildings is important, but it does not freeze them in time or stop them from changes. Listed building restoration is a common occurrence to bring old buildings back to their former glory.

Instead, it is about preserving what makes them special, and requiring special consideration and consent if you wish to make changes to the building that may ruin this.

Buildings can be nominated by anyone, although the main governing body behind listed buildings, Historic England, has certain priorities, such as preserving places of worship, improving the heritage of high streets and particularly striking and important buildings.

Typically any building built before 1700 as well as most buildings built before 1850 are likely to be considered as listed buildings, as well as some buildings after 1945.

The listing process has caused controversy in the past, particularly regarding brutalist buildings that are of architectural importance but are not universally seen as aesthetically pleasing or important.

Preston Bus Station is a major example of this, with the building set to be demolished in 2000 and only getting Grade II status after a 13-year campaign to prove its historical importance.

The 5 Golden Rules Of Victorian House Renovation

Period properties can be difficult to renovate, and silly mistakes can end up costing thousands to correct, and could ultimately devalue your house.

Whether you’re introducing eco-friendly features or restoring your Victorian home to its former glory, there’s no room for costly mistakes. We have five golden rules to help you renovate your period home sympathetically.

1. Take your time to do research

Start by researching the history of your property. Once you know details such as the year of construction or the architect, you can place your house within its historical context. The Victorian era spans over six decades, with design trends emerging and disappearing. So knowing the specific details will narrow down your options.

2. Respect the architectural period

Features such as the number of panels on a window, joinery details and fireplace style are all unique to their eras (Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, etc.)

You do not want to replace features only to find later that they are the wrong style, as they will look out of place.

3. Give your home the Conservation Area treatment

Any modifications or repairs on a building in a conservation area will need to be approved by your local authority, which has strict guidelines to preserve the building. Ensure you follow the guidelines.

6. Let go of perfection

Period properties are always a little wonky. You might be able to re-plaster the walls to a sharp finish, but the windows and doors will all be slightly different sizes, and the rooms won’t have square angles.

But this is what gives them character, so don’t obliterate the wonderful imperfections. Embrace them, and make them a feature.

7. Think long-term

What are the long-term aims for your renovation? Are you planning to sell once it’s complete, or extend to accommodate a growing family? Think beyond the current trends, and invest your money where the real value lies, such as high-quality wooden sash windows.

If you’re looking for experts in listed building restoration, talk to us today.

Retrofitting Historic Homes ‘Could Save Up To 84% In CO2 Emissions’

Retrofitting the country’s historic homes could save up to 84 per cent in carbon emissions, important because England has one of Europe’s oldest building stocks in Europe. A fifth of all homes are over 100 years old and buildings are the third biggest producers of CO2 emissions in the UK, accounting for 13 per cent.

In order to hit the 2050 zero emissions goal, it will be necessary to retrofit the existing building stock, which includes historic sites. A new report from Historic England and Heritage Counts has suggested that taking care to retrofit these properties, significant amounts of CO2 emissions could be saved.

To meet the carbon neutral goal, the country’s existing historic buildings will have to be recycled and reused, instead of demolished and new ones built, so the embodied carbon will not be lost. Demolishing sites produces millions of tonnes of waste, while building new comes with high energy costs and uses up lots of resources.

The report shows that retrofitting historic homes could see CO2 emissions reduced by up to 84 per cent in a detached Victorian property, 62 per cent in a Georgian terrace, 58 per cent in a 1900s terrace, 56 per cent in a semi-detached Victorian and 54 per cent in a Victorian terrace.

Chief executive of Historic England Duncan Wilson said: “From small behavioural changes to larger energy efficiency improvements this new research demonstrates that we can greatly reduce the carbon footprint of our precious historic homes, whilst maintaining what makes them special.

It can be difficult to know where to begin with historic renovations, however, and you may have to adhere to a variety of different rules and regulations to ensure that the significance of the property is maintained. If you need any help or advice relating to listed building restoration or similar, get in touch with Ovolo London today.

One Of Newcastle’s Oldest Buildings Sees Modern Makeover

Alderman Fenwick’s House, one of the most historically important buildings in Newcastle has seen a modern transformation through significant investment by a business space provider.

Constructed 1670, the Grade I listing building’s restoration was undertaken by the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust before the building was bought by Central Space in December.

The building was initially built in the 17th Century as a merchant’s house and was later named after Newcastle Mayor Nicholas Fenwick, who was Mayor of Newcastle in 1720, 1726 and was an MP for Newcastle for 20 years from 1727 to 1747, with alderman simply meaning an elder in the historical sense.

It has seen many different uses in the past, including as a coaching inn where the novelist Charles Dickens stayed.

It is now seen as one of the most important townhouses of its kind in the North of England, and the restoration seeks to transform it into an attractive, modern business space complete with the heritage features you would expect from a 17th-century building.

Central Spaces’ upgrades beyond the existing restorations include installing ultra-fast broadband internet for all of its occupiers, a contemporary breakout space for office staff working there as well as modern meeting rooms.

As well as this, a phased refurbishment has been planned to replace the décor, lighting and flooring, whilst being mindful of the protected features of the historic building.

Central Space is keen to keep the building’s character intact, including its grand entrance hall and cupola.

Do you need help with lath & plaster? Get in touch with Ovolo London today.

How To Prevent Heritage Crime

If you’re the custodian of a listed or heritage building, it’s important that you know what steps you need to take to protect it as, unfortunately, heritage crime is a very real threat to such sites and it can be very damaging indeed.

Figures from Historic England show that, in England, historic places are targeted for valuable materials and artefacts, with an estimated 18.7 per cent of all listed buildings physically affected by crime in 2011 - more than 70,000 sites in total.

The biggest single threat was found to be metal theft, while the most threatened type of building was churches, with around three in eight churches or religious sites damaged by crime.

So what can be done to tackle the problem head on and deter potential vandals and thieves from targeting the sites you’re in charge of?

Historic England has a very useful guide to help building owners and managers prevent heritage crime, which includes crime prevention measures (which may need consent), denying access, monitoring exits, formal surveillance, concealing targets, removing temptation, marking property and so on.

What is particularly important to remember where crime prevention measures are concerned is that you may need to sort out planning permission, listed building consent, advertisement consent or scheduled monument consent in order to move ahead with these plans. It can be an offence to carry out work without consent if it is indeed required.

It would be wise to get in touch with your local authority planning department if you’re in doubt as to whether consent is necessary in order to introduce crime prevention measures.

For help with listed building restoration, get in touch with Ovolo London today.

Historic Art Deco Cinema Saved From Hotel Conversion

A West End theatre turned cinema will not be converted into a hotel after a planning application was rejected, lending hopes it can be brought back to its former glory.

The Saville Theatre, a Grade II listed Art Deco theatre that is currently an Odeon cinema, is primarily known for its famous 40m long relief across its front, known as “Drama Through The Ages”.

This has raised hopes in the theatre world that listed building restoration can bring the historic structure back to its former glory.

The Saville Theatre was originally opened in 1931 and spent nearly 40 years as a live performance venue until 1970 when it was converted into a twin cinema, and later a four-screen cinema in 2001.

In 2018 it was set to be converted into a hotel, with a basement cinema as a small memorial to the venue’s importance to the art world. However, an investigation that took place revealed that a substantial amount of the old theatre had survived throughout the years.

The old stage house remained large parts of the outer walls and original roof, the dressing room block as well as the staircases. There may be even more of the original Art Deco design underneath the fabric.

Converting the building into a hotel would have destroyed any chance of restoration and destroyed all of the surviving interior details, leaving just a fascia, which led to the application’s rejection in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Due to this discovery, any potential conversion will need to be a cultural venue, to ensure it does not damage the original aesthetic.

Top Tips For Looking After Historic Buildings

Renovating historic or listed buildings can be quite tricky and if you’re the custodian of such a site, it’s essential that you know what you’re doing and what your particular responsibilities are in this regard.

The Historic England website is an incredible resource for anyone embarking on a restoration project, no matter how big or small. It explains the various approaches to repair that you can adopt, helping you get off on the right foot at the outset.

As the organisation explains, you should only use techniques and materials that are appropriate to the fabric of the building, either the same as the parent material or something that has technically and aesthetically compatible properties if the original material isn’t available.

The idea behind any and all interventions is to maximise the life expectancy of the building in line with sustaining the significance of the property. It is also important to make sure that interventions are reversible or retreatable at the very least, while not prejudicing future interventions as and when these are required.

Keeping adequate records is also necessary and these should be made available for others to use, with interventions contributing to the sustainability of future management and maintenance where necessary.

If you’re keen to make your site more energy efficient, Historic England also has a section covering this on its website. Advice includes understanding the significance of the building and any harm that could be done because of the changes being made.

It is also necessary to understand how local environmental factors will influence the buildings, including wind, rain and sun.

With just a little bit of research and preparation, you should be able to successfully restore your particular building - and you can easily get in touch with the team here at Ovolo if you need any help with cornice restoration in London.