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.
Grade II listed Cargill Works, Hull
Application for the demolition of various buildings within a listed industrial complex in Hull:
Extremely ambiguous plans have been submitted with a number of options for the removal of the listed buildings shown in the image above. Various options for thinning out the site have been put forward, the most comprehensive of which would see the entire site cleared.
This is the Cargill Works, formerly a major processing plant for seed oils, the largest of the buildings being an oil silo. The buildings are Grade II listed due to their historic relevance to the industrial history of Hull.
We have seen similar storage buildings re-purposed for successful cultural regeneration, such as the Baltic in Newcastle. A similarly scaled building in Brighouse is now the highest rock clibing wall in the country. Demolition should be minimised to any dangerous tanks and external plant. The Chimney, and surrounding brick buildings could be retained and brought into a new use, complementing the central silo.
Low Hall Mills, Holbeck, Leeds
One of Holbeck’s last mills to be demolished:
We are truly down to the last few remnants of old Holbeck now. One of the last remaining clusters of the old red brick industry of South Leeds for miles around looks like it will be lost. Lessons learned from the successful heritage-led regeneration of Water Lane in the South of the City would hopefully convince the Council that they should fight for this building and bring together a masterplan.
The building is in a conservation area, and to their credit, Leeds Council’s heritage team strongly oppose this demolition. Indeed the very shape of the conservation area has clearly been mapped out to include all of the remaining Victorian Stock Holbeck. To ignore the designation would be malpractice.
Roughly dating from circa 1827 this former flax mill has eolved to include some impressive strutural buttresses that have resulted in a unique form. A testament to a lost culture of modifying buildings rather than flattening them.
It would cost a lot to regenerate this building as a residential development, but it has been done successfully (and profitably) with Hunslet Mills on the canal.
I sincerely hope this application is resisted.
The Cricketers Arms, Keighley
Plans from Aldi to knock down a previously saved pub:
An extremely cute back alley pub in Keighley is to be dropped by Aldi, who have assembled a swathe of land in the area to provide a huge surface car park for their second store in Keighley Town Centre.
The pub closed and has been deemed unviable. I’d argue that when Aldi want to buy your pub, you will do what it takes to demonstrate it is unviable.
The pub was squeezed in between a mill (now gone) and a terraced row. Blink and you miss it. Its exactly the sort of place you’d discover serendipitously on a wander, and add it to your mental map of the town’s cultural circuit.
A lot of effort previously went into retaining this pub, and it is a shame that all that work will have been for naught. Another nail in the coffin of Yorkshire’s culture, and sadly one of hundreds like it nationally.
West Grove House, Bramley, Leeds
Victorian mini-mansion to be demolished for 8 houses in Bramley:
Looking at this historic maps of Bramley, this would appear to be West Grove House, which somehow survived the suburbanisation en-mass of Bramley. As such the house now sits within a matrix of semi-detached red brick former counsil housing behind high hedges and an estate wall.
I doubt this house would make it to Heritage England’s list, and with no heritage status the application is likely to be successful.
It seems odd that this is exactly the type of villa the high-end bespoke developers are trying to emulate with their new builds. Is it worth sacrificing for a net gain of 8 dwellings? Probably not. Conversion into flats would offer a similar return, and the grounds are large enough to develop a couple more units.
West Grove House, as a country villa, and latterly subsumed into the suburb of Bramley. Source NLS
Victorian Buildings in Leeds’ South Bank
More of the scarce few heritage buildings are to be lost for the regeneration of Leeds’ South Bank:
By no means are these buildings of any particular merit, but they are the last few remnants of the industrial past of Holbeck, and should be used as a nucleus for the ongoing regeneration of the South Bank in Leeds, which is the largest regeneration project in Europe.
To denude the entire site (which is the size of the existing City centre) of any buildings that link to the past will make it impossible for any new development to inherit an identity. Just around the corner in Holbeck Urban Village is a great success story predicated on heritage-led regeneration. These are the buildings that micro-breweries and vegan cafes want to occupy.
This application follows a similar one from last year which saw another Victorian block removed. This was a natural cultural nucleus of what will be a massively dense and populated urban quarter. The site of the old brewing industry for the city, it means a lot to Leeds, and these few remnants should be integrated into the modern urban form that will emerge.
There really isn’t much left of the Victorian building stock in the South Bank. Source NLS.
The Monkey Pub, near Barnsley
Appearing on maps from the turn of the (last) century as The East Field Inn, The Monkey is a classic English Country pub, and famously featured in Last of The Summer Wine.
Sadly the demolition has already taken place so there is no saving this one. South Yorkshire’s cyclists will miss this halfway house between Barnsley and the Peak District.
I sincerely hope this undervaluation of pubs to cultural heritage will eventually be recognised by the planning system. Every pub in the land would generate a huge pay-out if the land is redeveloped for residential use. The market would see them dropped relentlessly, and so planners must do their job and protect assets that benefit communities and culture against market forces.
Highways Office, Fartown, Huddersfield
Prior approval for the demolition of a Council owned Victorian building in Kirklees:
I can not find any information on the former use of this building. It appears in the earliest historical maps of Huddersfield, but is unlabelled. I would love to know more about it before it is pulled down.
This is an industrial street with buildings of a variety of ages, this being the oldest. The application does not indicate why Kirklees Council are demolishing the building. While it appears to still be in use, and remains a robust structure, for some reason the disposal of this public asset requires a site clearance. Wouldn’t it be easier to sell it as seen? At least then a buyer may well look to repurpose it.
The building is delightful, with a double front facing gable separated by a tall chimney. The detailing is appropriately modest, with ornate iron weather veins on the ridges.
This falls within permitted development, so the Council’s development control officers have no planning control. However it would be unlikely they would refuse one of their own applications even if they did have the power.
Parade of shops, Burley,
Plans to demolish three shops to make way for a student residential tower in Burley, just outside central Leeds:
Not much of old Leeds remains in this part of the city. Once a patchwork of dense back to backs, with a tramway circumnavigating the area, this part of Burley is slowly transforming from a nowhere belt on the periphery of the city centre into a student village.
The buildings are to be demolished to make way for the tower below. Quite a level of densification, which will further the repopulation of the area. Reluctantly the loss of Victorian Leeds is outweighed by the regenerative benefits in this instance.
The buildings are simple, and atypical of the era with painting facia boards and large eaves overhangs. One aspect of the site that would be a lamentable loss is the erasure of Back Burley Street, which is still paved with the original stone sets. Maybe the developer would have integrated the street into the ground floor. A bit of innovation like that would serve to give the building a real identity, and an appealing commercial pull on the ground floor.
Cross Roads Inn, Keighley
Application to demolish a pub for a housing site for 11 dwellings:
The attractive stone pub above will be lost to clear a site for 11 dwellings, the elevations for which can be seen below
While I admire that the development would turn the corner of the roundabout and create a strong street frontage (unlike most residential developments which have no concern for the surrounding built form), intensifying the built form to deliver 1 homes, the elevations are a bit bare. A lack of chimneys, quoins and roof detailing in general would result is a somewhat stark frontage in this village centre location.
And the loss of such a beautiful and robust pub is never acceptable. It would be simple to integrate the pub into a residential scheme and achieve the 1 1 units. The Local Authority Planners should also take note of the increase in scale to a three story building. Its not quite right for this street. A better proposal is possible and ten minutes of well-deployed negotiation would achieve this.
As a local authority planner I know this is eminently possible, and if this landed on my desk I’d be certain to secure the longevity of the pub, whilst delivering homes in this location. Intensification is good. Erasing social institutions is not.
