Oldham Town Hall
A list of the ten most threatened Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales has been published by The Victorian Society.The list includes Oldham’s decaying town hall, a fortified barracks on the Welsh coast, a grand but crumbling Victorian house in Lincolnshire and a grade II*-listed hotel in the west Midlands.
For the third year running the list includes the Moseley Road Baths, the country’s only Grade II*-listed public swimming pool in which it is still possible to swim. Most of the buildings are listed, but there are three which have no such protection; a church in Salford, a cemetery chapel near Leeds and a small station building in Suffolk.
The Top Ten was drawn up after a national appeal to find the nation’s best and most threatened buildings. Nominations flooded in from conservationists, campaigners and members of the public.
To be eligible a building has to be at risk, but the nature of the risk varies considerably. Some are at risk of closure, such as the Moseley Road Baths in Birmingham; or demolition, which has been proposed for Trimley Station in Suffolk; but for most it is years of neglect which threaten their future.
‘We have been amazed at the response from the public. People clearly feel very strongly about beautiful, robust buildings being left to decay. Many of the buildings in our Top Ten have empty for more than a decade and are in a very poor state’, said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. ‘Even in the current economic climate money must be found to weather-proof these buildings and protect them from vandals. Future generations won’t forgive us for leaving our heritage to deteriorate beyond repair.’
Featuring in the Top Ten can have a very positive effect; the chapels at Cathays Cemetery in Cardiff which were on last year’s list have now been completely re-roofed. The Swedish Church in Liverpool has had its listing upgraded to II* and Stonebridge School in Brent has recently been listed at Grade II, following an application by the Victorian Society.
http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/
we-reveal-our-top-ten-endangered-buildings-for-2009
