Current Issue
Heritage bodies fear crisis in LA services
Heritage bodies have united to urge Government to use its proposed statement on the historic environment to encourage local authorities not to cut historic environment services. A new report into local authority conservation and archaeology resources in England has revealed a recent drop in staff levels that could, heritage bodies claim, lead to a future crisis.
Regeneration seminars stress importance of 'knowing the building'
More than 90 delegates attended a day of seminars on Regenerating Historic Buildings at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester at the end of April.
Read more: Regeneration seminars stress importance of 'knowing the building'
New funding announced for Bowes Museum
The transformation of The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle in County Durham is continuing apace. The latest news is the announcement that a further bid for £250,000 to the Garfield Weston Foundation has been successful.
Last retreat faces £1m bill
One of the country’s last remaining Church of England retreat houses is launching a public appeal in a desperate bid to raise the £1m it needs for essential renovation work. If the money cannot be raised by the beginning of September the doors of Launde Abbey, which welcome in around 20,000 people a year, will be forced to close for good.
Report backs community uses for faith buildings
The Government and the Church of England has published guidelines to help all religious groups overcome the ‘squeamishness’ they can encounter from funding providers. Churches and Faith Buildings: Realising the Potential identifies funding and support for faith groups that will enable them to adapt their buildings for community use and build on their capacity to engage at local and regional level.
Restoration wins out over replacement: on cost
Wooden sash windows at a historic 17th-century mansion in Warwickshire have been saved and restored, because it proved more cost-effective than replacing them.
Late night opening set for May
The annual ‘Museums at Night’ event will this year take place from 15-17 May. A national campaign for late night opening across the UK, it seeks to attract people into museums who don’t usually visit simply by staying open late or by creating special events. It will link up with the European-wide campaign of the same name (La Nuit de Musées), which takes place on 16th May.
Heritage bodies announce shared commitment to skills training
Several leading organisations behind the drive to preserve and maintain the built heritage met in Westminster on 31 March under the auspices of Sir Patrick Cormack’s Arts and Heritage All Party Parliamentary Group, to launch a shared commitment to promote the highest possible standards and best practice in the built heritage workforce.
Read more: Heritage bodies announce shared commitment to skills training
New light shines forth at Beamish
Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham will open its latest exhibit to visitors on 28 March following an exclusive VIP preview on 26th March when it unveils a new £1m colliery lamp cabin, which complements the existing recreated 1913 Colliery Village, a centrepiece of the museum.
Merger creates a partnership of experience
Two architectural practices with track records in the ecclesiastical and heritage sectors have merged to form a new firm. PEP Architects Ltd and the Peter Bradford Partnership – both based in Tring, Hertfordshire – have come together to form Thompson Bradford Architects Ltd.
Olympic dig unearths ‘unknown London’
A flint axe over 4,000 years old was the cream of a crop of discoveries during a two-year archaeological investigation into the past of London’s Olympic Park. Archaeologists believe the unfinished prehistoric axe was placed in waterlogged ground on purpose, giving a unique insight into the first eastenders that lived and hunted in the area.
Eco glazing graces listed Meeting House
Quakers living close to the birthplace of their 357-year-old way of life are warming to a new solution for double glazing in listed buildings. The picturesque Sawley Friends Meeting House, a Grade Two-listed building that dates back to 1777, is situated on the edge of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire – just a few short miles from Pendle Hill, where Quakerism first began, inspired by George Fox in 1652.
Blackfriars refurbishment will see new station
London’s 120-year-old Blackfriars Railway Bridge is to undergo a £6m refurbishment by industrial services group Pyeroy.
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