Bramham House, near Leeds

19th century manor to be demolished for housing:

Bramham House, built in 1806 remains unlisted, and has fallen into a state of dilapidation. An application for housing development has been received by Leeds Council, that would involve the demolition of the building with the exception of the ground floor front elevation which would be incorporated into the new housing.

Incredibly sad to see a house of this age fall apart and ultimately become unfeasible for restoration. I hope this wasn’t the preferred strategy of the owner, as there are scores of similarly neglected houses in the UK, and there is a duty of care to look after these historic places.

Nonetheless, the proposed housing is impressive in design terms (although that may just be the eye-catching renders). Residential housing design has to move forward and this feels like the heritage of the future in the making.

Still, I’d rather see the building restored and incorporated into the development.