Engl Heritage Conserv Bull 2

The report of the House of Commons' Environment Committee on historic buildings and ancient monuments, published in January 1987, is important both for its 42 recommendations and for providing the most comprehensive survey of policy, practice and opinion in the field of conservation for many years. This article concentrates on English Heritage's (EH's) response to the recommendations, particularly those addressed to EH itself. Areas covered include: the provision of information to owners of listed buildings and prospective listed buildings; the scheduling of monuments on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire; consideration of the financial implications of increased numbers of scheduled monuments resulting from the Monuments Protection Programme; the use of modern materials in repairs and the value of what needs to be retained during conservation work; why all Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings cannot at the present time be classified as 'outstanding' when assigning repair grants; the publication of information on access to buildings for which owners have received a grant for maintenance and are thereby statutorily open to public inspection; the regionalisation of English Heritage; and study of the extent of acid rain damage to historic buildings and the cost of making it good. A number of other topics are mentioned briefly, including designations, the administration of grants, and archaeology. LD

Introduces English Heritage's (EH's) Ancient Monuments Laboratory, located within the organisation's London headquarters in Savile Row. The Laboratory's main activity is conservation and scientific support relating to archaeological excavations. However, it aims to provide scientific advice and support across the whole spectrum of EH's work; recent tasks have included studying the effects of acid rain on buildings, determining the date of a building to assess eligibility for grant aid, advising on the removal of explosives from a contaminated listed building, and advising on the conservation of the Tudor warship Mary Rose. The Laboratory is divided into five sections, each of which is described briefly here. In addition to applying established techniques to archaeological problems, new techniques are also explored and developed, assisted by the Laboratory's close links with universities and museums and by liaison with the Science-based Archaeology Committee of the Science and Engineering Research Council. LD

The investigation of sites and buildings, whether by the excavation of buried remains or the archaeological analysis of standing structures, the recording and interpretation of such work, and the publication of the results form a significant part of English Heritage's budget. The greater part of the archaeological budget is devoted to examining and recording those monuments and landscapes which cannot be protected and managed for future generations. English Heritage has the power to make grants for this purpose under Section 45 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. This article sets out recent and planned expenditure from the 1983-84 to 1987-88 financial years. It then breaks down the 1987-88 budget into broad components, alongside the 1986-87 figures, with some additional notes on where money has been allocated. LD

Sets out the amounts of money offered by English Heritage as grants to projects relating to historic buildings, historic areas, London and ancient monuments in the financial year 1986-87. For each category the sums allocated to new and increased offers (as well as new and renewed management agreements in the case of ancient monuments) and the numbers of projects involved are indicated in a table, and a small number of cases of interest are outlined. LD

Outlines how a conservation and enhancement programme has been managed in the Georgian town of Bath since the 1950s. This has involved practical assistance and grant aid from English Heritage and its predecessor, the Historic Buildings Council, in partnership with the local authority. Bath has survived remarkably intact and is recognised as one of the most important historic cities in Europe. LD

There is currently widespread concern, shared by English Heritage (EH), about the wholesale removal of K6 telephone kiosks by British Telecom. This short article outlines the action that is being taken to ensure the preservation of selected unaltered examples. Two London boroughs have served Building Preservation Notices on a number of kiosks threatened with removal, whilst EH has made representations to the Department of the Environment to begin listing selected K6 kiosks, as well as following up cases of which it has been notified so that recommendations for listing can be forwarded. LD