Aston Hall, image by Martin Hartland

A news release from Birmingham City Council tells us that a further £300,000 has been made available for the restoration project at Aston Hall. The council writes:

A  much  loved local landmark is set to receive a £300,000 bonus grant from
Aston Pride NDC, enabling additional works to be carried out as part of the
current  major redevelopment project to improve the Grade I Listed Jacobean
mansion Aston Hall and the surrounding Grade II Listed Park.

Councillor Ray Hassall, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Sport, said:

“I  am  delighted  with  this  additional funding.  Aston Hall and Park are
already  benefiting  from  a  £12  million programme to restore, repair and
create  much  needed facilities  including a new reception, cafe, community
gallery, education centre, and new sports facilities such as an all weather
pitch, three grassed football pitches, a cricket pitch and new pavilion.
“This  additional  grant  of £300,000 will enable us to fulfil our original
ambition  of  fully reinstating CCTV to the West garden, providing improved
access and security to the Pavilion and restoring pathways in the Park.
“Further  funding  of  £131,000 has also been raised from a number of other
sources  for  additional  conservation  and redecoration works inside Aston
Hall and repairs externally.”
The additional works will be contained in the original construction period
of 67 weeks.

The Old Crown - image courtesy of Steve Cadman

You have until the 14th of November to get your thoughts in the conservation area for
Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets.  Birmingham City Council writes:

Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area was designated in May 2000. It lies to the east of the city centre. The conservation area contains the most significant remnants of mediaeval settlement in Birmingham including the fifteenth century Guildhall of St John (now the Old Crown public house). These early townscape elements are of considerable significance in the history of Birmingham’s development and were of particular importance in the designation of the area.

The draft character appraisal identifies the special interest of Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area and provides a definition of its character.

The draft supplementary planning policies provide the framework for the preservation and enhancement of Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area as defined in the appraisal. They are intended to guide and manage change through the promotion of good new design which responds positively to historic context. It supports and expands on the Birmingham Plan 2005 (the Unitary Development Plan).

Documents:

Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD (3MB PDF) - the draft character appraisal and supplementary planning policies.

Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area Draft Sustainability Appraisal (153KB PDF) - In this report, we have summarised the background to the preparation of the draft SPD, how we identified and assessed the significant social, environmental and economic effects of the draft SPD, and how this has influenced its content

Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area Draft Consultation Statement (12KB PDF) - this records what consultation was carried out during the preparation of the draft SPD.

For details of how to respond visit the council webpage on the consultation here. Thanks to Nicky at Digbeth.org.

To be found on the revamped site for the Jewellery Quarter Regeneration Partnership.  Thanks to both Created in Birmingham and Brian Simpson for spotting this. Does it do the job for you? How else could we promote this unique area of Birmingham?

Chamberlain clock image (used on the front page) courtesy of  Tim Ellis.

Gas Retort House, image from wikipedia.

Earlier this month the homeless charity Crisis reported that they have secured a two million pound investment from the Department of Communities and Local Government to help turn the Grade II* former Retort House in Gas Street into

an inspirational, world-class centre for delivering seamless homeless services. The building will enable Crisis to set up a new Skylight centre and allow SIFA Fireside to join relocate their existing provision. It is anticipated, that the centre will also be used by a range of partners, to provide complimentary services to the main offer from Crisis and SIFA Fireside, particularly focusing on health.
Crisis is now seeking further capital to develop the project. If you’d like to find out more information about this project, please contact us on 020 7426 3849.

The most recent entry on the English Heritage register describes the building as:

Retort house. Early C19. Current owner intends to let the building for range of leisure uses. Repairs have been completed and marketing has been in progress for some time, but specific end uses and users still to be determined. Discussions have taken place on possible subdivision of building to assist in marketing to potential occupants. Still for sale or let.

Although this is now clearly in the process of changing, which is great news.

Andy Foster, in his marvellous Pevsner Architectural Guide to Birmingham tells us that:

It was built with a fire proof ‘iron roof and slates’ and the roof survives inside: cast-iron trusses, wrought iron roof rods.

For more on the history of this important survivor of the earliest gas supply processes, take a look at this wikipedia page.

Photo courtesy of Oosoom on wikipedia.

As a city that saw massive expansion in the 19th century we have a large proportion of Victorian buildings, so it’s no great surprise that two Birmingham buildings are on the list. What is interesting and encouraging is that the local communities felt strongly enough about these buildings to vote them into the top ten.

Image from olovecharlieo on flickr.

The Red Lion closed more than a year ago and the local Victorian Society’s casework group (chaired by one of our Trustees Joe Holyoak) writes:

A possible sale by auction of this remarkable grade II* listed pub of 1901-2 by James and Lister Lea in December did not take place, and the building with its fantastic interiors stands empty and vulnerable. We have urged Birmingham City Council to take action, and a full record of the building is currently being made. Efforts are also underway to resolve structural problems, negotiate new tenants and find a suitable use. We are particularly concerned that this building should not suffer a similar fate to other local pubs, as was highlighted through the Society’s “Crawl to Save our Pubs” last August, and resulted in some positive media coverage, including a short piece in the Guardian. Last year the grade II listed Duke of York, Hockley was lost, though its fittings and those of the now derelict but also grade II listed George and Dragon, Albion Street had been stolen some years ago. The grade II listed Wharf Inn, Cradley Heath is about to be demolished following several fires, and the interior of the grade II* listed Bellefield Inn in Winson Green was destroyed in a fire three years ago, and is now being converted to housing. Across the region unlisted, but nevertheless often interesting pubs of the 19th and 20th centuries are being closed at an accelerating rate and stand boarded up, many of them awaiting almost certain demolition or less than suitable conversion to other uses.

It is also on CAMRA’s list of pubs under threat.

The Moseley Road Swimming Baths are the last working Grade II* Edwardian baths in Britain, according to the Victorian Society. They are the centre of a longstanding campaign to keep the pools working, often led by Cllr Martin Mullaney (a onetime trustee of ours!). See this, the first of many youtube films he has made to help the cause:

Recently Dr Ian Dungavell included the baths on his round Britain swim of endangered pools.

Other buildings on the list include:

Stonebridge School, Brent, London
Gustav Adolfs Kyrka (The Swedish Church), Liverpool
Newsome Mill, Huddersfield
St Maries’ Church, Widnes, Cheshire
Chapels at Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff
Holy Trinity, Hove, East Sussex
Palace Theatre, Plymouth, Devon
Fletcher Convalescent Home, Cromer, Norfolk

Blognor Regis points us to this interesting piece in the Daily Telegraph about Dan Cruickshank’s campaign to see Euston Arch Rebuilt when Euston Station is redeveloped sometime during or after 2012. The website provides some context:

The failure to save the arch was a bitter and public defeat for the forces of civilization - headed by Sir John Betjeman and the Victorian Society - and a gruesome victory for the penny-pinching forces of crude Modernisation headed by British Railways, aided and abetted by the then British Government.

But the loss of the Euston Arch - an event that shocked and appalled the British public - helped to kick-start the conservation movement. Never, it was felt, should such a gross act of barbarism ever again be committed in the public’s name yet against the public’s desire. In a very direct manner the sacrifice of the Euston Arch saved the station buildings at St Pancras and Kings Cross because it was clear to both British Railways and to politicians that such cavalier and brutish conduct - pursued in the face of popular opinion - dared not be repeated.

This would be a wonderful complement to Curzon Street, the other end of the world’s first railway trunk line Euston to Curzon Street.

The pool by co-op historian on Flikr

If you want to see inside this Grade II listed building then the Stirchley Neighbourhood Forum has negotiated a one hour window of opportunity between 11am and noon this Tuesday 12th August 2008.
For more please look here.

Click here to see the orginal image.

Created in Birmingham reports for us

Here’s the “outline design” for the new BIAD campus in Eastside, as revealed on Simon Howes’ Eastside blog. Millennium Point is in the foreground and the red blob is Curzon St Station. Simon also has a top down map which pleasingly shows how much open space they’re planning to leave, which is nice as I like the amount of green currently there.

Lovely blog post (click here) from Simon Felton about the possibilities of the new excavation taking place next to the newly refurbed offices at Baskerville House, to study the archaeology before work begins on a new central library.

He has dug out the map above which shows now lost canals and tells us the dig aims to

to look for the remains remains of an old canal wharf, the Union Mill and the house of John Baskerville – one of the city’s 18th century printing pioneers on the site of what will be the new Library of Birmingham.

How fantastic to ncover the site of Baskerville’s house. What font should we use to describe what is found?