Happily nesting: Professor Martin Rudwick at home in ancient The Three Blackbirds, Ely
remains an Emeritus Professor of History. “Of course, there aren’t many old buildings in San Diego!” he laughs, adding: “They have a sort of listing system, but houses built in the 1880s or 1890s are considered ancient. There’s such a different view of what constitutes old.” Prof Rudwick confides that teaching history in California was “…something of an uphill task, as most of the students don’t really have a feel for the past”.
I
ncreasingly Prof Rudwick found himself looking forward to coming back to Britain – “not least for the sheer pleasure of seeing historic buildings of all
kinds. Although, back then, I could only dream of owning what I’d call a SPAB-type house.” As a long-term prospective
period property owner, he had already joined SPAB and attended a homeowners’ weekend course, but when work took him to the US he had put the aspiration on a back
burner. The dream became reality ten or so years ago when he moved back to Britain permanently. When a part of The Three
Blackbirds became available at the right time Prof Rudwick knew immediately that it was just the place he was looking for. Intriguingly, it was a building he was already familiar with. In the early 1980s the house
was saved from dereliction by the Ely Preservation Trust and Prof Rudwick had regretted that he was not, at that time, in a position to buy it. However, when it became available again after his return to the UK, just when he was looking for a house near Cambridge, everything came together. While planning further repairs
on the building it was a great help that Philip Venning, the SPAB Secretary, found in the Society’s archives some of the architect’s drawings for the 1980s repairs. In fact, many things about The
Three Blackbirds have dovetailed neatly into place. Two years ago, Prof Rudwick was able to buy the smaller part of the building next to his own, reuniting the original
open hall and the merchant’s warehouse to create one spacious home.What’s more, when looking through documents connected to building, he was delighted to discover that back in the 1980s his godfather, Clive Rouse, the celebrated medieval wall-painting expert, had been called in by the Ely Preservation Trust to look at some faint remnants of decoration as part of the repair project. Prof Rudwick says: “I was
checking some records about the house and I came across his report, which was rather nice. He was a huge influence on me in my childhood and I remained close to him until his death in the 1990s. He enthused me about history in a wonderful non-school way. If we are thinking about how I came to be a SPAB sort of person then I very much believe that Clive Rouse is at the root of it.” He also suspects that his
grandparents’ home may have left a lasting impression. “They lived in a very ‘Spabby’ house in Oxfordshire, which I loved as a child.” he recalls. “It was a rambling, 17th-century building
with a medieval core, and I think it rather seeped into my imagination. It certainly planted the seed of something.
“WHAT I like about SPAB is the practical side… that we go in for history rather than heritage – which I think is an awful term. “The great thing about SPAB
and Cornerstone is that both very clearly reckon on catering for a wide range of people – from professionals to those mainly interested in the aesthetics, with owners like me somewhere in the middle.We are interested in the nuts and bolts of a property, but also in its social history.” He breaks off and looks up
again at the chunky wooden beams arching into the space above him. “This is very much what I’d call a SPAB-type house, if you know what I mean. My brother is also very interested in architectural history, but he likes the Georgian ones – what I call ‘the smooth ones’. He lives in a beautiful Regency house in rural Devon.” He laughs: “Now me – I like the
rough ones. Ones like this!” Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 2 2011 61
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