Heritage Now

HERITAGE NOW (01/2021) AUTUMN 2021   17 CASEWORK organisations made good sense however there were notable differences, a consequence of the AMS being an amenity society and statutory con- sultee, the AIA being an interest group. The process behind industrial casework is rela- tively simple. Each week the society notifies me of potential cases, I will investigate, consider the planning history and make appropriate com- ments. To give a flavour of the many different building types we look at here are a few examples drawn from this year’s casework. Mills are the most common building type consid- ered, yet there is a huge variety of mills. Recent cases we have commented on include a windmill at Appleton Roebuck in Selby; D Mill at Dean Clough in Halifax and Buildings Nos 7-10, Rut- land Mills in Wakefield. Although Yorkshire and Lancashire make up much of our casework load they are by no means the only counties that have mills. Applications have been assessed at two drainage mills in Norfolk − Clippesby Mill and Pump House at Acle, and MarthamMill, situat- ed on the river Thurne – and in Gloucestershire at Clayfields Mill in Chalford and Egypt Mill in Nailsworth, two examples of the area’s rich tex- tile heritage. These latter cases near Stroud had already been converted so the applications related to minor changes only. Less well-known areas of textile production are Devon and Notting- hamshire where we recently commented against applications at the now empty Derby Lace Works in Barnstaple which was purchased by Homes England in 2017 to redevelop as new housing and at Hermitage Mill, Mansfield, where plans were presented to convert the building into a residen- tial care home. Both mills are in poor condition so we welcome the challenge of re-purposing these iconic buildings. Just because a building has the word ‘mill’ in its title, it does not necessarily mean the buildings in question were mills. This is the case with the Old Mill and Chimney in Okehampton, Devon, where the four stone built structures were associated with the former manure works and the production of vitriol. The now derelict site was subject to an application to convert for residential use. Applica- tions to re-use, now redundant, ironwork sites are comparatively popular, these range in scale from small smithies such as the Old Smithy, Shutlanger Road in Heathencote to more significant sites like the Iron and Brass Foundry Building, Nos 1-140, Victoria Road, Portsmouth. More unusual cases do appear on a regular basis, recent examples include the Snuff Works in Ken- dal; the Old Hat Factory, in Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire; the concrete Tonwell Water Tower in Hertfordshire and the Tank House, in Walwyn Road, Colwall near Malvern. The futur- istic Tonwell Tower, built in 1964 to store 50,000 gallons of water for the locality, may well be con- verted to residential use as will the Tank House which stored water for the local mineral water bottling plant. Two maltings applications that have been considered this year are Hamlet House in Dorset and Nos 1 and 2 The Maltings, Wetmore Road, Burton Upon Trent. Finally, two more problematic cases should be mentioned − the Former Engine House (previously the Power House and Boiler House), Norman Road in Altrincham and Barton Swing Aqueduct Bridge- water Canal Towpath in Manchester. Both were re-submissions, a result of revised documentation following knowledgeable representations – an important aspect of casework particularly when expressing an informed opinion which, in the extreme, may need justification if the case goes to a public inquiry. A recent example of this was at a malthouse in Reading which was not listed but was considered to be a non-designated heritage asset. When demolition was proposed the in- spector noted in respect of CO2 emissions ‘…the carbon emissions saved by the energy efficiency of the new building would be likely to be counter balanced with the loss of the existing’. This is hopefully a positive note for the future, particu- larly when demolition or major alterations to an historic asset are contemplated.   ——————— The Maltings, Wetmore Road, Burton Upon Trent. On 30 August 2021 a fire at No 20 caused extensive damage to the roof structure of an already converted part of the building.