Bernard Cottage, Sheffield
Application to knock down an office block, which includes a historic villa in Sheffield:
Shown on the town plans series of historic maps that were drawn up between 1840 and 1860, this Victorian villa has been incorporated into a more modern office development to the south of Sheffield City Centre, and is now the subject of an application to clear the site.
The stone mullions and tall ornate diamond chimney pair suggest the building is much older than the date of the map, and was erected well before the area was a highway dominated fringe of the city centre.
Shame to see it lost to progress. The chimneys in particular show a lost art in stone masonry unlikely to ever be repeated.
The building named as Bernard Cottage on the 1840-60 map
Reindeer Inn, Wakefield
Yes another pub to be dropped for housing:
A pub dating back to the early 1700s in the coalfields of West Wakefield is set to be demolished for 5 houses.
The pub is owned by the National Mining Museum in Flockton, as it was an important destination for thirsty miners after a shift so is fundamental to the museum’s estate in providing the full narrative of mining culture.
Presumably the sale of the pub is to maintain the museum’s revenue budget. However asset disposal is never a sustainable way of ensuring cultural institutions remain in place. Furthermore, the demolition of the pub is not required for conversion to housing.
Plenty of opposition from heritage groups has come forward, including the Georgian Group and Historic Buildings And Places cogently citing planning policy which can not be refuted.
Hopefully this input will offer enough weight for the planning case officer to make the right decision.
The five houses proposed for the site, which could easily be accomodated without the demoliton of the pub.
Gas Club, Huddersfield
Plans to demolish the iconic Gas Club, and last gas holder in Huddersfield:
An application has been submitted by Northern Gas Networks to clear their site off Leeds Road, Huddersfield. The route, which is populated by thousands of Huddersfield Town fans on match day is known by everyone in the Town, and the Gas club is the most important fans’ pub being tantamount to a club house. The gasholder is likely a liability as it is no longer used. But the demolition of the pub is a default inclusion in their asset management strategy. Its a popular venue with a large thriving community that is also home to Rawthorpe Boxing Club.
Local and national media have covered the plans in detail and there is universal lamentation over its proposed loss. Planning Officers now need to negotiate the retention of this icon using whatever legal instrument they can summon.
The site which will be infilled and tarmacked is a fascinating insight into the town’s industrial history. The service railway is still visible, set in the cobbled yard. An overlooked artifact that has survived for over a century.
I sincerely hope the correct decision is made, as there is no justification for the demolition of the Gas Club.
Veterinary surgery, Ilkley
Plans to demolish a beautiful Victorian House in Ilkley for three houses:
Currently operating as a vets, this late 19th century house is to be demolished to make way for three new townhouses.
The proposal is a good design, albeit lacking chimneys. However, there isn’t a need to demolish the existing building at all. Hardly any old buildings are still standing in Ben Rhydding – the Eastern suburb of Ilkley. Its not a notable building by any means, but it is the type of building that will be missed by the locals that walk past it each day. When there is no need to demolish a building, why not keep it and convert it creatively? Those stones benefit from over a century of weathering. That is a long wait to see the character of a building begin to reflect its relationship with nature. A century of storms, snow, sun, all captured in the stone.
The Old Red Lion, Whinmoor, Leeds
Pub to be demolished for a McDonalds Drive-thru:
Seacroft was a rural village beyond the city limits of Leeds 100 years ago, until it was subsumed into the Council Estates of East Leeds in the 1960s. A couple of the buildings from the old village remain but they are slowly being picked off.
This 260 year old pub, to the North of Seacroft in the former hamlet of Winn Moor is the last surviving old building for miles around. Open until 2021, the pub has been shuttered now for a few years and looks likely to be demolished by McDonalds to make way for a drive-thru. Just what the deprived communities of East Leeds need.
The pub was a hub of anti-social behavior and subject to police action that resulted in its license being revoked. Regulars described it as a lifeline for the community when threatened with closure, as there are no other pubs left in the area. Predictably, and arson attack earlier this year preceded the submission of the planning application.
Clearly the demand for a pub is there. It is not the pub that creates the anti-social behavior, and its closure will not address the violence that belies this community. It has however resulted in the loss of a community hub for the elderly locals that patronised the Old Red Lion for over 40 years.
The age of the pub alone should pique the interest of Heritage England who should immediately intervene. To demolish this building and replace it with a grey box that serves fast food would be criminal.
Whinmoor, before and after the social housing revolution of the mid-20th century
Grenoside Primary School, Sheffield
Application to demolish a school building and outbuildings in Sheffield:
A very charming Victorian school in the village of Grenoside to the North of Sheffield will be (or has been in the case of the outbuildings) demolished. Plenty of local opposition to the demolition is unlikely to influence the decision as it is a Council asset, and its disposal will generate some income. Possibly enough to cover half a days worth of the adult social care budget.
The chimney is audacious in size, quirkily emerging from the roof valley. Brickwork detailing in the arched windows add to the charm.
I’ve seen plenty of buildings like this repurposed as housing, so the loss is unnecessary. One way in which planners could ensure its retention would be to deploy a local development order on the site, effectively granting planning permission for its conversion. A small building firm would jump at the chance to evade the planning process.
The outbuilding with the main school building to the rear. This has already been demolished falling a collapsed roof.
Former St Marys RC School, Batley
Proposal to demolish a former nunnery and school in Cross Banks Conservation Area, Batley:
Demolition in a Conservation Area should be resisted unless the most urgent circumstances present themselves. Demolition can not be justified because of commercial interests, because by definition designated heritage assets are irreplaceable.
This is such a building. The extended school was finished in 1898, 30 years after the original school, and can not be considered a latter modern extension. It is a beautiful building, that is attached to adjacent listed church, which makes this cluster of buildings a unified campus.
The nunnery is even older and . As admitted to in the heritage statement, all the buildings add significant value to the heritage townscape and the frontage of Upton Street.
The proposed terraced row. Inappropriate for a conservation area
Troubling is the reference to extensive pre-application conversations that have been had out of the public eye, which have apparently established the principle of demolition already. Planning decisions can not be tacitly made prior to public engagement.
The number of ‘anonymous’ public comments supporting the proposal is also circumspect. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 18 anonymous comments were all made by the same party.
Sadly a crownfunding campaign didn’t make enough money to save the building, but it is a clear indicator of the civic importance the building holds for the people of Batley.
Much of the Cross Banks Conservation Area is a grave yard, and so the loss of these two buildings would see a significant amount of the Victorian fabric removed. If it goes ahead, I can not see how Conservation Areas offer any protection as a planning designation.
Aire Mills in Leeds to be demolished in full
A large industrial site is to be cleared for development on Kirkstall Road in Leeds:
An extremely large industrial complex is set to be leveled on Kirkstall Road in Leeds. No plans for development have been made publically available yet, but I imagine there have been years of pre-application meetings with the Council effectively granting planning permission before the public or elected members can get a word in. This is a demolition notice, which is shrewd because it can not be refused.
The removal of the Kirkstall Road frontage will be a severe loss to this area of Leeds, which I’ve previously documented has been denuded of nearly all its heritage. Despite 70 years of reformed urbanism that has demonstrated the value in heritage-led regeneration, this is the easier and quicker option.
The frontage shown above is a beatiful example of an industrial townscape, with a varying roofline and rhythmic intricate elevation that directly addresses the street. This quality of built form no longer exists and is rarely replicated in modern development.
The above building would be perfect for residential conversion. There appears to be nothing structurally wrong with it, and it is a fine example of a modestly detailed Victorian building – modest, but not quite utilitarian.
The elongate former tannery around the corner is not quite as pretty, but still would make for an excellent piece of repurposed industrial stock.
Also a shame will be the loss of the rear elevation which forms part of the canal’s retaining wall. This Venetian form of development will never be repeated again.
The turn of the century map shows that much of this building stock is Victorian, and represents Leeds’ gilded age. Without a spot listing nothing of this area will remain, and my guess is that the Council have already generated enough momentum with a development partner to ensure this will be swift and not subject to public scrutiny. Even more of a shame is the fact that I worked on a masterplan for this area many years ago, and central to this was a local heritage list. I suppose this never made it to adoption.
Terraced row, Sheffield City Centre
A charming terrace in Sheffield to be lost:
Swift and clinical. This was a prior notification so three weeks between submission and decision.
These houses appear to be of a very old South Yorkshire stock brick which mottles grey and red predating the mass movement of building materials on the railways. A perfectly serviceable cluster of terraced houses in the University’s portfolio, this must relate to the substation to the rear where back gardens should be. Bigger vehicles, more access needed.
A beautiful stagger of a building line, the correct amount of asymmetry. Was it designed like that or was it all incidental? Who knows – its a lost art.
The three foot high arch to the right is an enigma. Some urban archaeologist could explain it I’m sure. They were never that short in Sheffield.
The Prospect pub, Bradford
Beautiful stone pub to be demolished in Bradford:
I can’t stress this enough. Just keep the pub. The proposed plans submitted have nothing on the footprint of the former Prospect, so why demolish it? Bradford Council Conservation Officers, this is why you’re there. A non-designated heritage building and an asset of social value, but no justification for its loss. No public benefit. No net gain in dwellings. Step in.
This is an extremely beautiful Victorian building, stemming from an urban tradition that anticipated neighbours, hence the unadorned potential party walls to the sides. This was built in Bradford’s gilded age, when the city had aspirations for an urban culture tantamount to Rome.
The proposal, regardless of the iconoclasm, is a design that says nothing of or to Bradford. The design and access statement goes heavy on the heritage analysis, yet concludes with the gesture of retaining the pelmet, possibly in the garden somewhere.
And the flanks have windows. unlike the pub, they don’t invite neighbours to come and join them in the creation of a high street.
Trams, pubs, industry, houses – an urban street in Bradford, eroded to nothing.
