Themeasureof it I
am a mature undergraduate student at Bournemouth University, studying Heritage Conservation Management at BSc level. This is a multi-layered discipline, with buildings and archaeology at the heart, and encompasses ecology and ecological management, field research and
There have been other examples of historic
environmental archaeology. My work before I became a student was as a
trained stonemason. To help expand my academic learning and gain an understanding of the many issues which arise within this field of conservation, I have been working within North Dorset District Council as an assistant conservation officer under the supervision of Kevin Morris (the authority’s Environment Manager). My particular area of responsibility at the council has been to re-design and update its buildings at risk register. To do this, I have so far investigated more than 70 buildings of all kinds – agricultural, domestic, retail and ecclesiastical. Several buildings have come to light which had not previously been recorded. Whilst recording a 19th-century barn on the
Eastbury Estate at Tarrant Gunville I was delighted to find an 18th-century ice house which, after some investigation, we managed to date to 1757. It is reasonable to suggest that it once formed part of the original, earlier Vanbrugh design for the house and its surrounding buildings. I’m currently carrying out further research into this structure and preparing a listing proposal for English
Heritage.Although the ice house lies within the curtilage of the listing of the house it is vital that the structure has its own listing and is not overlooked. I am only aware of one other building of this type in North Dorset. It would appear that its overall condition is fairly sound, but, like all largely subterranean structures, this cannot be taken for granted.
72 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011
buildings coming to light during my close inspection work. Many of them deserve listing yet are unlikely to swiftly gain the protection they need due to the present budget constraints within English Heritage and local authorities. But at least they have now been recorded. Nor would these buildings have come to light had I been a full-time paid employee of the council, as the kind of proactive, detailed work I have undertaken is not part of a local authority’s normal approach to heritage conservation. Local authorities have to target limited budgets on areas such as planning and development, with heritage a lesser concern.
A SMALL, apparently late Georgian, smithy I came across during my work is a great example of a building which deserves listing but is, I believe, unlikely to gain statutory protection. The later phase of the building, at Shillingstone, is early 19th century. It can be confidently dated, as I found the initials of one of the family which owned the land scratched into the door frame, with a date of 1832. On closer inspection of the smithy we noted at least three building phases, and it is reasonable to suggest that, from the evidence of the large, dressed blockwork used in portions of the smithy structure, it may have formed part of a much earlier building. Then as now, stonework was very expensive, and would not normally have been used for a small smithy building. Inside the smithy the corner chimney breast is still intact, along with its original ironwork – of course, good evidence for smithy work. Further investigation will take
Main picture, Mark Watson gets to grips with Holy Trinity church, in the north Dorset hamlet of Turners Puddle. Now redundant, the church dates from c1500 and is grade II listed. Right (from left), detailed recording of buildings has been a key element of Mark’s work; the 18th-century ice house at Tarrant Gunville and (far right) the smithy at Shillingstone, now both recorded, for the first time, by Mark
Just how much of our built heritage is ‘invisible’? The need for old-fashioned field work – hands on, hands dirty – to assess the historic landscape in detail has never been greater. Yet courses are being cut, jobs
axed.Mark Watson is one of the small band of students of conservation management. He reports on his work in Dorset, and his fears for the future care of the nation’s past
JOHN LAWRENCE
JOHN LAWRENCE
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