The construction of Wimpole Gothic Tower was overseen by James Essex and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, but its restoration raised the question of how to conserve a structure designed as a ruin, says Karen Teideman-Barrett in her recent article in IHBC’s Context No 146.
In her article, titled ‘Wimpole: conserving a designed ruin’, Teideman-Barrett discusses how the conservation works presented a number of philosophical and practical issues. First, how to conserve a structure designed as a ruin, where that ruin either does not follow the process of a built structure that will start to fall into ruin through time, or has been ruined through partial demolition. And second, how to re-instate lost elements.
The original article may help members develop their CPD across all of the IHBC’s Areas of Competence.
