place using geophysic equipment. The overall condition of the smithy is very poor and the roof has extensive sagging due to lack of purlin support. The current owners are not in a position to undertake any consolidation or repair work. It should be noted that the conservation
department at North Dorset District Council is, like many others, very small. Many local authorities, including North Dorset, would welcome the chance to investigate more buildings, archaeological sites and other related areas – but financial constraints do not allow. And, of course, many local authorities now have no formal conservation or heritage staff at all.
THE truth is that buildings and historic landscapes do not get the protection they deserve, in part due to the lack of staff and resources, and this is clearly the case across the entire country. My own “on the ground” experience strongly suggests that many deserving historic buildings and their landscapes remain “invisible”. Members of the public will not be aware of the significance of a structure at risk or indeed of the threat to the landscape that the building is situated in. The message being sent out by English Heritage and other bodies about the importance of local people taking an interest in local heritage is, I believe, not filtering
through.As a nation we run the risk that in years to come we may have
74 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011 KNOWWERE THERE
ENVIRONMENT THAT WE DIDN’T EVEN
IN YEARS TO COME WE MAY HAVE LOST ELEMENTS OF OUR HISTORIC
R‘AS A NATIONWE UN THE RISK THAT
’
lost elements of our historic environment that we didn’t even know were there. English Heritage and other bodies have for
Holy Trinity taped.Updating local authority records of historic buildings has brought several newstructures to light, and refreshed the files on known ones
long discussed and championed the idea of the protection of the historic environment alongside better education and greater involvement by the ordinary public. Yet currently there is little or no scope for developing or furthering careers within the field of conservation.A case in point is my degree at Bournemouth University – the only one of its kind in the UK – but the course will no longer exist after the current intake has completed its final year. The explanation given for the closure is lack of demand – but my intake has been the largest in the past five years, and at one point there were 40 students. There are a great deal of training
opportunities for those who choose to specialise in traditional crafts, arts conservation and related professions, but there is almost no scope for furthering a career in conservation management once you have completed your degree. Even if you are lucky enough, as I have been, to obtain a suitable work placement, you
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