The Fountain Inn, Ingbirchworth, Barnsley
Application to demolish a rural pub and build out 13 detached dwellings:
Ingbirchworth has doubled in size since the turn of the century. This is a questionable aspect of Barnsley Council’s growth strategy as Inbirchworth has no shop, no amenities, no train, and is 10 miles from a sizeable employment centre.
Dubious spatial planning aside, it also seems odd to grow a village and create demand for a pub, only to see it demolished. I know this pub very well, and it thrives. There is no question of its viability. It serves as the conclusion to a number of hiking routes, and the accommodation is almost always at capacity.
Without any doubt, this is a landowner wanting to simplify their liabilities and cash in on the high values of rural development rather than keep a pub on the books. The developer, Conroy Brook, has a history of heritage destruction in this part of Yorkshire, so any integration of the pub into the development would complicate their profit forecasting.
I’d guess around 10 jobs would be sacrificed with the loss of this business, along with various contracts with local businesses. Allowing this last public amenity in Ingbirchorth to be leveled is indefensible. A cluster of houses does not a village make.
The Sidings, Shipton, York
Removal of railway carriages and demolition of buildings at The Sidings Restaurant, north of York:
https://planning.hambleton.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=Q9JFGKHUM6800
More of a removal per se, but worthy of a mention nonethless. The Sidings restaurant will be no more, and with its departure so too disappear the railway carriages.
Such an intereting feature of the Vale of York, I will miss this nod to repurposing and eccenticity.
And its one less thing to do on a Sunday for the families of Yorkshire.
The Cottage residential care home, Hull
Former cottage home, Hull:
This building was lost last year but went under my radar.
One of a number of cottage homes for orphans in this area, that have been left to the elements and have subsequently been demolished, development of this site is now in the planning process. The buildings were afforded protection under a local listing status, but this goes to show that nothing is safe, if left in disrepair.
Props to the conservation officer, Philip Hampel, who has put the time into a detailed response, giving some historical context to the site and daring to note that the replacement dwellings are unsympathetic to the context, and disrupt the rhythm of the street front.
Bengreave Farm, Bradfield, Sheffield
Application to demolish a farmhouse near Damflask Reservoir, Sheffield:
I must give thanks to the heritage statement for the detailed research, placing this building in the mid18th century, as a traditional laithe-house with local historical significance. I can feel the author’s reluctance to support the demolition of this building, in spite of being on the books of the developer.
Let’s hope the replacement is as architecturally interesting and also manages to get three centuries of use from generations of families.
Detached house, Barnsley
Application to demolish stone cottage in Elsecar:
A handsome cottage sadly now in a state of dilapidation, just down the road from the Elsecar Heritage Centre museum. Somehow the applicant is going to squeeze two detached dwellings onto this plot. Humans must be getting smaller.
Braithwaite Lodge, Doncaster
Application to demolish a farmhouse near Braithwaite, Doncaster:
This application involves the replacement of the house with a new dwelling, so perhaps the condition of the building has deteriorated internally. A lack of available planning documents leaves this to speculation. A beautiful rural house nonetheless, the building’s complex geometry of lean-to and extension elements are charming. I’d be curious to know if beneath the render it is stone or brick. Smashing it to pieces is one way to find out I suppose.
Shirebrook WMC, Sheffield
Application to demolish working men’s club of Full Monty Fame:
Not the most beautiful of buildings, but an important cultural icon, having featured in Yorkshire’s second greatest film (yes, Kes wins), Shiregreen Club is set to be demolished.
An online petition that has featured on ITV’s website has gained wide support, so hopefully the decision-makers will accede to public opinion.
Aside from stardom, let us not forget that this represents further erosion of working-class culture in Northern England. Working Men’s Clubs are disappearing at an astonishing rate. In my previous post I mentioned the opportunity loss of new immigrant churches not using vacant Victorian churches. Similarly, new micro-breweries could also set themselves up in old pubs/clubs, with a taproom ready to go. I call upon policymakers to be artistic and find a way to matchmake the pubs without beer, to the beer without pubs.
Balby Road Methodist Church, Doncaster
Prior notification of demolition of an ornate Methodist Church in Doncaster:
Even as public life grinds to a halt, still the cultural crimes fester. This stunning chapel from 1863 has been given prior approval for demolition pending a bat survey, which means the applicant, Mr Surjit Duhre, will be seeing off this example of Victorian splendor imminently.
It is rare that the Primitive Methodists displayed such ostentation, so this building seems to have caught them in an uncharacteristically extravagant mood.
The applicant argues that there is minor spalling on the brickwork (as there is in every brick building of this age); the only remedy for which is complete demolition. If thats the case why did you apply for conversion to flats 3 years ago?
Extremely sad to see this building go, as it offers a notion of civic life along this high street otherwise dominated by residential uses. With so many new churches springing up in inner suburbs such as this, namely by immigrant pentecostal communities, it is such a shame that these new congregations can’t make use of the already existing religious buildings. This is both a planning failure, and a market failure to marry supply and demand.
Doncaster needs to retain as much cultural heritage as possible, so I’ll be pressing for a spot listing from Heritage England. Sad to see no media coverage of this in the local press. Let’s hope that changes soon.
Nortonthorpe Lodge, Scissett
Gatehouse to be knocked down in Scissett, Huddersfield:
Prior notification of demolition, so no development control determination for this cute lodge.
Photos included in the application show the rear of the building to have perished, with severe structural damage that would need a large amount of investment to remedy. Unfortunately, the size of the building probably would render such a project uneconomic.
Nonetheless, four-roomed dwellings like this are a vital part of the housing stock. If/when I am in the autumn of my years and can no longer face stairs, this is the kind of place I wish to wind up.
Lodges like this make the built heritage of West Yorkshire feel like Hansel and Gretel should be leaving bread all over the place. As with Methodist Churches and Working Mens’ Clubs, they somehow are slipping through the net of policy-led planning, with no means of recourse to save them from demolition.
House in Loxley, Sheffield
Application to demolish a detached stone house in Loxley:
499 Loxley Road is a classic. Good Victorian housing stock, still robust, will high quality masonry makes up much of the housing in this area. There is no real reason to demolish such a building, particularly with the embodied energy required to build anew.
The gable facing the road, slightly offset and built below the road grade level brings a quirk in geometry to the street frontage, enhancing the townscape of the village. Unfortunately, the developer wishes to intensify the site by adding another 4 bedroom dwelling. Sadly, the wall will be lost, and the greenery of the curtilage much reduced.
And I always thought of Loxley as a place of robbing from the rich.
