JHWalter - Adding Value to Property & Business

It is our privilege at JHWalter from time to time to work with property which has some historic significance. We see this both as an exciting opportunity to be savoured and as a serious responsibility. It is our aim is to ensure that our advice and actions are but a light touch accepting that against the buildings life our passing is brief moment. Sadly when we are instructed some have fallen out of use and into serious disrepair and we must assist to find a new beneficial use by working closely with planners conservationists and the heritage industry. However it is a true delight to return a few years later and find the building with a new lease of life. The style of our buildings have been influenced by the development of the professions in the construction industry as first there were builders, then craftsmen followed by surveyors and finally architects.

• From Medieval times buildings were of the locally available materials and style and quality reflected the occupiers wealth and power - vernacular construction.
• From 1700 master craftsmen worked on larger buildings and applied some aesthetic design – polite vernacular construction.
• From 1800 architects emerged and developed architectural styles.

• 1400 to 1500 Vernacular and Polite Vernacular local builders use local materials and techniques.
• 1500 to 1600 Tudor. in 1574 bricks standardised. Glass is very expensive.
• 1600 to 1700 Jacobean. Fire of London leads to new national standards.French and Dutch influence.
• 1700 to 1800 Georgian. Classic influence from Rome and Greece. UK produces own pantiles and Welsh slate popular. Industrial revolution provides uniform materials. Cylinder glass cheaper.
• 1800 to 1900 Victorian and Edwardian. Massed produced materials. Emergence of the middle class. Cavity walls and damp proof courses introduced. Terrace housing around industrial areas. Cement mortar starts to replace lime.
• 1900 to date. Development of the architectural profession Introduction of a national system of Town and Country Planning. Concrete construction . Flat roofs. Rebuilding after world war 2. The National Grid makes electricity widely available from 1926.

Listing System

English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk) are responsible for the listing of the nations buildings. Criteria are set out in Circular 01/07: Revisions to Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings

• Grade I - Buildings are of Exceptional Interest
• Grade II* - Buildings are Particularly Important Buildings of more than Special Interest
• Grade II - Buildings are of Special Interest, warranting every effort to preserve them.

Architectural Interest

To be of special architectural interest a building must be of importance in its architectural design, decoration or craftsmanship; special interest may also apply to nationally important examples of particular building types and techniques (e.g. buildings displaying technological innovation or virtuosity) and significant plan forms.

Historic Interest

To be of special historic interest a building must illustrate important aspects of the nation’s social, economic, cultural, or military history and/or have close historical associations with nationally important people. There should normally be some quality of interest in the physical fabric of the building itself to justify the statutory protection afforded by listing.

• Before 1700, all buildings that contain a significant proportion of their original fabric are listed;
• From 1700 to 1840, most buildings are listed;
• After 1840, because of the greatly increased number of buildings erected and the much larger numbers that have survived, progressively greater selection is necessary;
• Buildings less than 30 years old are normally listed only if they are of outstanding quality and under threat.

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (www.spab.org.uk) was founded by William Morris in 1877 to counter act the highly destructive ‘restoration’ of medieval buildings being practised by many Victorian architects. Today it is the largest, oldest and most technically expert national pressure group fighting to save old buildings from decay, demolition and damage. The SPAB advises, educates and campaigns. Members include many of the leading conservation practitioners as well as homeowners, living in houses spanning all historical periods, and those who simply care about old buildings. As a result of the society’s work, thousands of historic buildings – from castles to cottages, churches to mills – survive which otherwise would have been lost, mutilated or badly repaired.

Images of England

Images of England (www.imagesofengland.org.uk) is a snapshot of the buildings listed at the turn of the millennium. It is a groundbreaking heritage initiative run by the National Monuments Record (NMR), the public archive of English Heritage. The project aims to create a 'point in time' photographic record of every listed building in England. Each of the images are being posted alongside existing list descriptions for each building to create one of the largest free digital image libraries in the world with over 300,000 images when complete.