Recently listed buildings
In our paper newsletter we let you know about buildings that have recently been added to the National Heritage List for England. As we haven't published one for a while (mainly due to our focus on CBG50 in 2019) we thought that this new addition to our website would be of benefit and cheer you up in these strange times.
So, below are the buildings that have been added to the List in the last year or so.
STOKE CLIMSLAND VILLAGE HALL
Sir Albert Richardson FRIBA (1880-1964) for the Duchy of Cornwall, 1913-15.
List entry number: 1461517
Grade: II
Date first listed: 23 January 2019
Richardson was appointed architect to the Duchy estate in 1912, although most of the work was done through the partnership of Richardson & Gill. Alongside buildings for the Duchy of Cornwall around Stoke Climsland, into the 1920s they also designed several farmhouses on Dartmoor and regenerated the Duchy estate on the Isles of Scilly (for example 1-8 Hugh Street on St Mary’s (c1926) which are Grade II listed). The partnership was dissolved in 1939 but Richardson went on to design many milestones of mid-C20 design, including Bracken House for the Financial Times in 1958.
Stoke Climsland Village Hall (also known as the parish rooms) was commissioned by the Duchy in 1913 and it was completed by June 1915. Plans, sections and elevations for the hall were included in the Architects' Journal in 1919, and it also featured in Lawrence Weaver’s ‘Village Clubs and Halls’ in 1920. The successful listing of the building will help the Princes Foundation manage the future of the building as a valued community asset.
Some of the reasons for designation include:
Architectural interest:
* for its design by Richardson & Gill, of which Sir Albert Richardson is a highly-regarded architect with many examples of his work included on the List;
* for its vernacular yet sophisticated design, reflecting Richardson’s Classical influences;
* as the hall remains virtually intact with good-quality woodwork and unpretentious Classical detailing.
Read the full List entry here.
Photos: S Barnes / Historic England
SCHEDULINGS ON LESKERNICK HILL
Whilst not strictly within the CBG’s remit, members and followers might like to read about four sites on Leskernick Hill, Bodmin Moor which were scheduled in October 2019. Click on the names to read the List entries.
Photo: courtesy of Cornwall Archaeological Unit
HIGHER LEVANT MINE
Another new scheduling (June 2019), on the road to Levant Mine. The giant retaining wall with its ore chutes is believed to be exceptional within west Cornwall, if not the whole county. Read the List entry here.
Photo: S Barnes / Historic England
NATIONAL EXPLOSIVES, HAYLE
One of the largest scheduled monuments in Cornwall at 663 acres, this extensive former explosives factory within the dunes at Upton Towans is a rare example of an explosives factory designed on Continental methods, here done under the direction of the Hungarian engineer, Oscar Guttmann. The factory was one of two to provide Cordite MD to the Royal Navy during the First World War, at which time the workforce was mainly women.
Read the List entry for this fascinating site, here.
The chimney to the nitric acid factory at National Explosives is separately listed.
More information and photos can be found on the internet, including this site.
Photos: S Barnes / Historic England
LAMORRAN DOVECOTE, ST MICHAEL PENKEVIL
Late-C17 or early-C18 dovecote, or culverhouse. Out of the eight dovecotes associated with rectories in Cornwall as identified by Charles Henderson in 1929, it is one of only two known to survive.
List entry number: 1466911
Grade: II
Date first listed: 6 May 2020
The Church of St Moran sits within an Early Christian circular enclosure – or lann, as reflected in the hamlet’s name ‘Lannmoren’ which was first recorded in 969. The lann, church and its detached bell-tower, and churchyard cross are broadly contemporary C15/C16 structures. Lamorran was an important manor in the early-C13 and was the mansion of the Halap family until 1349. To the south of the church is a C16 and later manor house, and the former rectory (Lamorran Glebe Farmhouse) lies to the north-west of the church.
The rectory is mentioned in the Glebe terrier in April 1680, and again in April 1727. The latter mentions ‘a stone dovehouse’ (along with other outbuildings) ‘built of mud and covered with thatch’. In the early-C19 the rectory was remodelled. At the time of the Tithe survey in 1840, the rector at St Moran’s was Reverend William Curgenven; the apportionment includes a reference to ‘Culver Meadow’, which is likely to be the field in which the dovecote sits (a dovecote is often also known as columbarium, and in Cornwall the term ‘culverhouse’ is usually used, an old English derivation of that word). The rectory ceased to be used as such in 1874. Little else is known about the early history of the dovecote. In 1929 Charles Henderson wrote an article about culverhouses, mentioning the one at Lamorran and its similarity to the one nearby at St Michael Penkivel rectory; however he states that ‘it has disappeared’.
List entry here.
LAMORRAN DOVECOTE IS ON PRIVATE LAND – PLEASE RESPECT THIS AND DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ACCESS IT.
Photo: S Barnes / Historic England
PASSMORE EDWARDS FREE LIBRARY AND FORMER REDRUTH COLLEGE, AND BOUNDARY WALLS, REDRUTH
In September 2019 it was reported in the Cornish press that Cornwall Council (the owners of the library) had put in a pre-application request to see if it was feasible to convert the building or demolish and rebuild, to provide flats. This request was withdrawn on 10 October 2019. That November the building was put on the market.
Whilst this potential threat was one reason that Historic England decided to reassess the building for listing (it had been turned down as part of a strategic project in 2015) other factors included the better-recognition of its architect James Hicks; the revised Pevsner volume for Cornwall; and the Cornish Distinctiveness project.
Photo: S Barnes / Historic England
The library and the adjacent former Redruth College were listed at Grade II in March 2020. The Reasons for Designation took into account the strong townscape value of the C19 building and its part in Redruth’s social history, alongside its architectural special interest. It is also is a positive contribution to the Redruth Conservation Area.
Read the full List entry here.
PALAIS DE DANSE, ST IVES
The Palais de Danse in St Ives has C18 origins and was used from 1910 as a cinema, and from 1925 as a dancehall and for concerts. The sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth bought the Palais in 1961 and the prototypes for her large-scale bronzes were made here, including Single Form (1962-3), Winged Figure (1962) and Theme and Variations (1970). Evidence of Hepworth’s creative process remains visible at the studio. It is now owned by Tate. The Palais de Danse was listed at Grade II in May 2020. The listing news attracted lots of press attention, including Radio 4’s Today programme; regional press and news websites; the Architect’s Journal; and Radio Cornwall, where listing adviser Sam Barnes was interviewed on 18 May. The listing announcement coincides with the 45th anniversary of Hepworth’s death at Trewyn studio, opposite the Palais, on 20 May 1975.
Nick Cahill was passionate about this building, and we hope that he is looking down on us with a big grin on his face about this news.
List entry here.
Fabulous photos of Hepworth working at the Palais here.
Photos: S Barnes / Historic England