This year marks the 50th anniversary of the European Architectural Heritage Year and the post from the Historic Towns and Villages Forum – written by James Thatcher –provides an introduction to the events and impact of this Year.
Historic Towns and Villages Forum writes:
‘The conservation of our architectural heritage … contributes to the quality of life. It gives variety, colour and interest to the surroundings in which we live. It lifts our thoughts above the daily routine and broadens our spiritual horizon’ [said] Lord Duncan Sandys, Introduction to ‘European Heritage’ 1975. Fewer people had more experience in fighting for the conservation of heritage than Lord Duncan Sandys, president of the notable cultural network Europa Nostra from 1969 to 1984, and one of the driving forces behind the 1975 European Architectural Heritage Year and other pan European initiatives and institutions to protect architecture and physical spaces. But what makes his sentiments here so special is his understanding of heritage as something we share together and that impacts and shapes our life – a core message behind the Year which significantly marked a shift in public understanding of the culture sector, and one that continues to resonate with us today.
Designated by the Council of Europe, the initiative had been conceived in 1973 and reached its peak in October 1975 with a conference by the Council of Europe in Amsterdam, which articulated the key principles that countries should adopt for future regulation of the heritage sector: heritage is part of our ‘common history and common future’ and is of ‘joint possession to all the people of Europe’ and as such should be funded by regional bodies appropriately and should be used as a way of educating people. This approach not only articulated a forward-thinking mentality but was in response to the serious threats – posed by the damage of war, cultural neglect, and underfunding – that were present across Europe.
We can see how the same concerns over the danger posed to the heritage sector were prevalent across Europe and it led to many incredible efforts to bring it to the forefront of the public’s mind, one of the most impactful of these was the Victoria and Albert Museum’s exhibition ‘The Destruction of the Country House 1875-1975’. Curated by Sir Roy Strong (then director of the V&A), John Harris (from the Royal Institute of British Architects), Marcus Binny (of Country Life Magazine), and Peter Thornton (from the V&A’s department of furniture and woodwork), the exhibition welcomed in the Heritage Year, running from October to December, and was a powerful display of the vast destruction of country houses across the UK and most importantly, emphasised the visceral threat which this trend posed to all other heritage sites. Visitors to the exhibition were first greeted with a display of some of the finest houses in the nation, all of them in their prime during the 18th and 19th centuries. But the next room – entitled the ‘Hall of Destruction’ – could not have been more different. Around the room were a series of Palladian-style columns, but jaggedly held together as if crumbling down, and on each one were images of the destruction and neglect that houses faced. The image could not have been more stark.
Since 1900, 1,200 country houses have been destroyed, most the result of social changes and decline of the aristocracy, the damage of war, and the rising cost of death duties, which meant that many of these houses simply could not be sustained as private homes. The threats to houses were serious and nowhere was exempt: this included the near destruction of Wentworth Woodhouse (the largest private house in the country) for mining, whose reprieve did not save its 300-year-old oak trees or its gardens which were piled high with soil right up to the walls of the house. By 1955, one country house was destroyed approximately every five days, and this came after measures such as the Gowers Report (1950) which tried to institute measures to protect houses, including expanding the listing system. The exhibition was therefore of vital and urgent relevance.
What the exhibition did so masterfully was to change public perceptions of the nature of our architectural heritage. Instead of viewing these buildings as the product of an elite group in society, the exhibition presented them as part of our shared cultural history, they belonged to all of us, something that slotted perfectly into the goals of the European Architectural Heritage Year and is still an attitude held by many organisations to this day. In 1984, the saving of Calke Abbey through a public fund (before being handed to the National Trust) was a sign of changing public engagement with heritage and now 370,000 buildings are listed in the UK, each guaranteeing it protection from unnecessary demolition.
But the Year prompted engagement beyond the UK, it was a collective effort across Europe. Each country involved chose sites to show how it had preserved, and was developing, its heritage sector: France selected many small villages such as Conques, Colmar, and Sarlat, to demonstrate its idyllic rural heritage; Austria and Belgium chose to focus on larger metropolitan areas, Salzburg and Bruges respectively; and in the UK, the focus was particularly on the nation’s industrial and trading heritage – northern cities such as Chester received particular attention along with ports such as Poole. Though such a broad choice of sites, each demonstrated an understanding of how people and communities should be connected with their local community’s history.
This is something that many organisations had long fought for. There has always been a long tradition of conservationism in the UK; organisations like the National Trust (1898) had already made an impact – in fact, the Trust was given a special award as part of the 1975 events to mark its longstanding support – but the Year supported many other groups and gave a boost to the heritage sector. We can still see its impact in many schemes: the gardens of Ham House were restored to their original 17th century style, many canals were dredged around the country, and even non-traditional methods of engaging with heritage were supported such as the mooring and floodlighting of HMS Belfast on the Thames.
But what made the year special was the way that it promoted and engaged with individuals to educate and plan for the future. Many conferences were held during the year – such as on Midlands’ Industrial Archaeology – but one of the largest and most prominent groups to stem from this was undoubtedly SAVE Britain’s Heritage. Founded by Marcus Binney, who remains its president, SAVE was founded to perpetually promote and work to save, restore, and educate people concerning Britain’s architectural heritage. Other groups also have a significant impact, including the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), one of the six national amenity societies, which by law must be notified of any work to a listed building where demolition is involved.
The outlook on Britain’s heritage is bright, much brighter than it was in the early 20th century, but in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the European Architectural Heritage Year, it is important to ensure we still adhere to its values of protecting heritage and educating and reintegrating communities within it.
