Heritage and Archaeology – Page 4
Heritage significance, harm tests, listed building consent and archaeological evidence.
Heritage and Archaeology articles – page 4
210 articlesMonitoring structural movement before repairing a listed building
Repair a historic building before you know whether the movement has stopped and you will repair it twice. Here is how monitoring answers the question, and what it changes about consent.
Reinstating lost features: the evidence a council expects
Putting a lost feature back needs listed building consent, and the decision turns on your evidence for what was there. Here is what conservation officers accept and what they treat as conjecture.
Historic window glass and the case for keeping it
Joinery can be remade but historic glass cannot. How to tell crown from cylinder from float, which draught and comfort measures keep the glass, and how to document it pane by pane.
Lime plaster ceilings and consent to remove them
Lath and lime plaster ceilings are protected fabric in a listed building. How they fail, which repairs keep them, how fire and services pressures are answered, and what the specification must say.
Thatch, listed building consent and the fire conditions
Heritage control wants the base coat and the regional material kept. Fire safety wants a lined flue and a raised terminal. Here is how thatch applications reconcile the two.
Grade I and II applications: the referral requirements
Referral adds two stages to a Grade I or II determination, not one: consultation, then notification of an intention to grant. Here is how each works and what it costs in time.
What listing protects inside historic pubs and shops
Listing covers the interior as well as the exterior, and the list description is not the limit of protection. Here is what counts as part of a listed pub or shop, and what consent needs.
Archaeological geophysics: matching technique to ground
Geophysics detects contrast, not archaeology. Geology, land use and the target decide which technique will work, and a negative result never proves a site is empty.
Archaeological watching briefs and when they fit
A watching brief suits sites with real but low potential and limited groundworks. On a site with known remains it is the wrong instrument, and the escalation lands on your programme.
Certificates of lawfulness for works to a listed building
Section 26H of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 lets you establish formally that described works need no listed building consent. The application turns on the precision of the schedule.
Sash window details and dating a terrace
Bar width, box position, horns and the way the glass distorts a reflection will date the sashes on a terrace in an afternoon, and that survey shapes the whole consent strategy.
Cast iron rainwater goods and like for like repair
Repairing cast iron gutters in the same material rarely needs consent. Swapping them for plastic almost always does. How to repair, match profiles and make the case for aluminium.
Historic paint analysis and specifying redecoration
Paint analysis gives you layers, not appearances. How to sample a listed interior, read a stratigraphy honestly, and specify a redecoration that will not blister off the lime plaster.
Grade I and II star cases and the notification duty
A higher grade listed building consent is more than a harder argument. Notification to Historic England, the amenity societies and sometimes the Secretary of State changes the programme.
Bats in a church roof and the repair programme
A confirmed bat roost adds a survey season to a church repair programme. Ecclesiastical exemption removes the listed building consent, and none of the wildlife licensing.
Historic shop interiors and the loss nobody records
A listed shop is listed inside as well as out, and fitted counters, tiling and cabinetry are usually fixtures. Strip them out without consent and the liability sits with whoever instructed the work.
Front boundary walls in conservation areas
Demolishing a front wall in a conservation area is only outside the definition of development below 1 metre next to a vehicular highway. Above that, it is relevant demolition and needs permission.
Conservation area boundary reviews and de-designation
Boundary reviews change what neighbours can build without permission. The evidence that shifts a line is dated photographs and survival surveys, not general appeal.
Tall buildings and strategic view assessment
Strategic view assessment for a tall building has to move from visibility to significance. View selection and image methodology decide whether it holds up.
Reinstating lost features and the evidence threshold
Reinstatement on a listed building is judged on the strength of your evidence and the value of the fabric you would remove, not on whether the result looks better.
War memorials and the protection they carry
Listed war memorials need consent for relocation or alteration, and undesignated ones carry weight as non-designated heritage assets through their communal value.
Listed street furniture: consent, damage and repair
Small structures such as milestones, pumps and telephone kiosks are listed in their own right. Moving or removing one needs consent, and most damage happens during routine highway works.
Industrial heritage conversions and retained machinery
On a listed industrial building the listing can extend to fixed machinery and curtilage structures. This covers what gives these buildings significance, subdivision, glazing, recording and viability.
Lidar and aerial photography in desk based assessment
Lidar shows surviving relief, aerial photographs show what has been levelled and when. This covers where to get coverage, how to render it, the limits under woodland and the false positives to rule out.
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