Kent, at an early point in a long and successful campaign to save it. Sometimes a building was not in imminent danger but merely in a sorry state, and SPAB advice has been sought. For example, in 1959 Lord Euston visited Gullege farmhouse, Imberhorne, West Sussex, which was suffering from the theft of lead fromthe roof, to discuss its future. There is also an unconfirmed story that in a town in Shropshire, seeing a building in a poor state of repair, hemarched up the front path, knocked on the door, announced he was the Duke of Grafton, and asked the intimidated owner what he was going to do about it. Though he had begun working as a local agent for


the National Trust, Lord Euston’s first heritage appointment outside the SPAB came in 1955 when he joined the newly-formed Historic Buildings Council for England. For the first time this provided private owners of secular buildings with the possibility of grant aid. This meant that he was able to raise SPAB concerns with the HBC and vice versa. Inevitably, moving in the circles he did, he was sometimes privately lobbied by owners of buildings or senior churchmen who objected to a line that the Society had taken. To his great credit, once hewas clear about the


reasons for the Society’s position, the Duke’s resolve was stiffened and he resisted those who thought they could influence a change of view. Education and training have long been a priority for


the Society, and the Duke was a dedicated supporter of SPAB activities. Thanks to him significant endowments for the SPAB Scholarship were secured. Formany years hemade a point of introducing the Society’s annual Repair Course, and was a founder of theWilliam Morris Craft Fellowship in 1986. As Chairman of the Society the Duke steered


sometimes contentious Committeemeetings through difficult issues, and was often able to bring in his knowledge of cases from other committees on which he later served to the benefit of discussions. Every year, just before Christmas, he would turn up at the SPAB offices with bags of pheasants from the Euston Estate, for staff members. Thanks to his long standing friendship with Her


Majesty Queen Elizabeth TheQueen Mother, the Duke had no difficulty in inviting her to become the Society’s Patron in the SPAB Centenary year 1977. She in turn took part in a number of SPAB activities, including fundraising events at St James’s Palace and Spencer House. As a patron of the Fellowship she welcomed to Clarence House a small private SPAB delegation, led by the Duke, when Mike Painter, a former Fellow, presented her with a bust of William Morris that he had carved. Throughout his 39 years as SPAB Vice Chairman


and Chairman the Duke lectured regularly on behalf of the Society both at home and abroad, in Italy, South Africa, and the United States, among others. A special interest was in the erosion of the character of historic towns. Not surprisingly, Bury St Edmunds and Kings Lynn, not far from his family estate at Euston Hall, attracted his close scrutiny and active intervention on behalf of the SPAB. He also lobbied hard over the Euston Arch, and strongly supported


4 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 2 2011


Helmet sales, from previous page


of going to press had received no reply. Speaking to the Art Newspaper,Anne Sloman, Chair of the CBC, said they “should have been formally consulted about the proposed sale”, adding: “Our view is that the helmet ought to have remained in the possession ofWootton St Lawrence church, as an essential part of the 1677 monument.” Nevertheless, the CBC’s powers to overrule


Above, the Duke of


Grafton, as he would later


become (on the right of


the picture), on the SPAB


annual repair course visit, Houghton


Regis, 1951. Right, the


Duke with the Queen


Mother (left)


at the SPAB’s centenary


garden party at his home, Euston Hall, in 1977


proposals to set up the Victorian Society (Sir John Betjeman had joined the SPAB Committee to fight for 19th-century buildings, but it was recognised that a dedicated society such as the Georgian Group was essential).He also played a key role in the early days of theUK branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Churches and cathedrals were another of the


Duke’s causes. Hewas an early member of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust (now National Churches Trust); served on English Heritage’s Cathedral and Churches Advisory Committee, as well as other EH Committees. Perhapsmost significantly from1981 to 1991 he was chairman of the Cathedrals Advisory Commission (a forerunner of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission), which advised cathedrals on proposals for repairs and alterations. The Duke also chaired the Architectural Heritage


Fund from1976 to 1994, and was patron of the Historic Houses Association. He served on the properties committee of the National Trust; was a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission from 1971 to 1994; Vice Chairman of the National Portrait Gallery; and Chairman of Sir John Soane’sMuseumat a time when therewas an armed break-in and one of the burglars was shot dead (bullet damage can still be seen in the hall). The Duke’s family house, Euston Hall, on the


Suffolk/Norfolk border, was a pale shadow of what it had been (having suffered fromfire and partial demolition), but was a welcome venue for the Society’s centenary garden party and for the annual meeting of the Dance Scholarship Trust. The latter had been launched on the same occasion that the Duke’s retirement as SPAB Chairman was celebrated in London. PhilipVenning, SPAB Secretary


the Winchester Diocese are understood to be extremely limited.Wootton church, having obtained the faculty to sell the helmet, duly notified the RoyalArmouries that it intended to sell.As the Art Newspaper reports, under Charity Commission rules a church is obliged to obtain the highest price for any item itmight wish to sell. Accordingly, Wootton church invited an offer for the helmet fromthe Royal Armouries. However, the museumreportedly felt that it could only respond to an offer at a fixed price. The helmet subsequently sold at public auction. The sale of heirlooms is a vexed issue for the


Church. Fears persist that sales of smaller, non- architectural items will open the floodgates for the disposal at auction of increasingly large historic pieces, even elements of a building’s structure. Proceeds from such sales would not necessarily feed back into churchmaintenance and repair, and could be diverted into general parish funds. “With churches facing the prospect of reduced


funds for repair from the public sector, including the loss of grant in lieu of VAT on professional fees, it is understandable that the sale of fittings might be seen as a quick fix,” says SPAB Deputy Secretary, Matthew Slocombe. “But this disposal of the family silver is bound to lessen the interest of the building as a whole.”


SPABCaseworkResearchVolunteers THE SPAB is seeking a volunteer or volunteers to assist with the development of its strategy for casework.With volunteer assistance, targeted research is planned which will investigate the


usefulness and effectiveness of SPAB casework advice, and ways in which the Society can best assist historic ‘buildings in need’. Volunteering for this work will need to take place during this


summer and applicants will be asked to commit formally to an agreed period of work to ensure


completion of the research. Workmay be part or full-time, and could be home-based – but some visits to the SPAB office in Spitalfields, East London will be essential. Travel and


administrative costs will be reimbursed, and volunteers will be given opportunity to learn


about SPAB casework and the Society’s other activities. Interviews (during June)may be necessary as part of the selection process. For further information, please contact


Matthew Slocombe, Deputy Secretary and Head Caseworker, matthew@spab.org.uk


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