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Ecclesistical & Heritage World No.98

When you can’t see the building for the trees!

The photographs in this article illustrate two ‘messages’ regarding the virtues of planting trees alongside heritage buildings. They are taken from a project recently carried out at York Minster by arboricultural and landscape consultants Barnes and Associates. It involved a tree survey, a health and safety assessment, an assessment of replanting opportunities and a management plan.

The photograph on the left demonstrates how the planting of small, out-of-proportion trees may distract from the magnificent structure of the Minster. They provide habitat, cooling and water retention – but are they the right trees in the right place?

Read more: When you can’t see the building for the trees!

The history of London and Ipswich based organ builders Bishop and Sons

1886organ PICTURE 3Founded in 1795, James Chapman Bishop’s first workshops were at York buildings in Saint Marylebone. He soon became well established and took on the premises of 250 Marylebone Road as his workshops.

J. C. Bishop quickly built a good reputation and became widely known as a master organbuilder whose attention to detail and expert knowledge, combined with ingenuity and craftsmanship, produced some of the finest English organs of the nineteenth century.

Read more: The history of London and Ipswich based organ builders Bishop and Sons

Stained glass restoration helps bring 17th century manor house back to former glory

Breakspear House is a truly magnificent 17th century Grade I-listed manor house, which has undergone a detailed restoration.

Formerly the Breakspear family estate in the 13th century and home to W.S Gilbert by the end of the 19th century, it was then acquired commercially in 1956 as a retirement home. Sadly by 1987 it lay abandoned, derelict and vandalised.

Read more: Stained glass restoration helps bring 17th century manor house back to former glory

Rochdale's Victorian Town Hall benefits from new sound system

0n7650Rochdale Town Hall is a Victorian-era municipal building in. Completed in 1871, the Grade-1 listed Gothic Victorian Town Hall is widely regarded as one of the finest municipal buildings in Britain, renowned for its unique and detailed architecture.

The Town Hall functions as the ceremonial headquarters of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and houses local government departments, including the borough’s civil registration office.

Read more: Rochdale's Victorian Town Hall benefits from new sound system

Stonemasons add to converted property’s features

A stone building in the Yorkshire Dales National Park showcases the expertise of Manchester-based James Stone Masonry.

The property had originally been built for keeping livestock and at some time in the 1970s had been transformed into a house. Now it is again being modernised to an exceptionally high standard.

Read more: Stonemasons add to converted property’s features

The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery calls for Lancashire’s next top artist

0n7678Rossendale’s cultural gem, The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery, has revealed an exciting new initiative for arts graduates who have either recently studied arts at a Lancashire university, or have graduated elsewhere but are originally from Lancashire.

Launched just two weeks after The Whitaker Museum has re-opened its doors to the public, the museum has benefitted from an impressive £2.2 million re-development and extension offering a vibrant, varied and visual arts programme.

Read more: The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery calls for Lancashire’s next top artist

Beautiful abbey sensitively preserved with EB20 steel windows

0n7745Mount Saint Bernard Abbey opened in 1844 after a donation from John, the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, enabled a permanent monastery to be built to replace the original building. The most famous architect of the Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Pugin, offered his services for free and designed the beautiful building which still stands today.

Naturally this was an incredibly sensitive project for Clement. The Listed Building is of great architectural significance and the fact that we would be replacing metal windows, some of which were over 170 years old, meant a great deal of planning and thought went into deciding the correct specification.

Read more: Beautiful abbey sensitively preserved with EB20 steel windows

Imagine it, design it, build it with Michelmersh’s Façade Designer

Michelmersh is pleased to announce the release of its Façade Designer, a fully customisable tool featured on mbhplc.co.uk which allows designers, architects and clients the ability to create their own brick façade using its full range of products. The Designer aims to inspire creativity, giving users the freedom to firstly choose brick types through colour, texture or size, proceeding onto a mortar colour, and lastly, a bond to evolve the façade to the desired specification.

Read more: Imagine it, design it, build it with Michelmersh’s Façade Designer

Heritage charities celebrate share of £1million fund

0n7752Nine heritage charities have received donations of £1,000 each as part of Ecclesiastical Insurance Group’s Movement for Good awards.

For the third year running, Ecclesiastical Insurance Group is giving away £1million to charities through its Movement for Good awards. Members of the public were invited to nominate causes close to their hearts, with 500 awards of £1,000 available for donation.

Read more: Heritage charities celebrate share of £1million fund

York Handmade nominated for four awards at brick oscars

The York Handmade Brick Company, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the country, has been nominated in a number of categories in the prestigious 2021 Brick Awards.

York Handmade, based at Alne, near Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, is up for the awards following the company’s acclaimed role in the new library at Magdalene College, Cambridge (pictured); the restoration St Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire; and the brand-new Valentine House at Allostock in Cheshire.

Read more: York Handmade nominated for four awards at brick oscars

Wolverton Hall: The only Folly is to call it a Folly

0n7767A folly; an ornamental building with no practical purpose built in a large garden. Whilst aspects of this definition can be applied to describe Wolverton Hall Folly, it certainly contradicts the ‘practical purpose’ element with the most appealing of purposes. Wolverton Hall Folly is a retreat for contemplation, an office away from home, a place to entertain and somewhere to enjoy the views, sun and a good book. Can we therefore call this beautiful building a folly?

Constructed in an octagonal design, the exquisite architecture was the vision of owner Nicholas Coleridge and his wife, who took inspiration from the 16th Century banqueting house at Long Melford in Suffolk.

Read more: Wolverton Hall: The only Folly is to call it a Folly

Festive phone call takes church on the route to virtual services

0n7874In December last year, Blaydon Communications got a phone call they were not expecting. A member of the PCC at St Bede’s Church in South Tyneside called and asked if they could urgently upgrade the church’s sound system in anticipation of the festive events that were to be held in the church. The team at Blaydon were a little surprised as their installation work had been a bit thin on the ground during lockdown and they had been focussing a lot of effort on their online presence and having virtual meetings. The chance to get out was gratefully received as they were totally ‘Zoomed out’ at that point!

Read more: Festive phone call takes church on the route to virtual services

Materials Matter - BIM Version 4: A decade of the most advanced BIM Brick files

0n7769Responding rapidly to the Government’s Construction Strategy published in May 2011, Michelmersh responded with its first range of clay product files and was the first brick manufacturer to introduce Building Information Modelling (BIM) files in the UK, years before the competition.

A decade on and Michelmersh is now delighted to release BIM Version 4 (V4), its most advanced files yet. It is the only manufacturer to include Revit 2021 files to take advantage of the newest release capabilities, including its advanced rendering features, enabling customers to download the highest resolution brick walls on the market.

Read more: Materials Matter - BIM Version 4: A decade of the most advanced BIM Brick files

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