Heritage Now

HERITAGE NOW (01/2021) AUTUMN 2021   19 CASEWORK OLD LEPER HOSPITAL, CHAPEL AND MASTER’S HOUSE, SALTISFORD, WARWICK St Michael’s is a rare example of a leper hospital and has a long history of use documented from the 12th century onwards. A single-cell stone chap- el and a timber-framed building built on earlier foundations, known as the Master’s House, are the only surviving structures and date from the 15th century. Both are Grade II*, have suffered long-term dereliction, and are listed on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. We cautious- ly welcomed plans to restore the buildings and bring them back into a residential use, however we raised concerns about the replacement of the sin- gle storey lean-to extension and catslide roof to the front of the Master’s House (reportedly added in 1633) with a two-storey, gabled-roofed struc- ture. We also questioned the proposed external cladding which would cover its close-set timber frame. The alterations would completely change the building’s form and appearance – unaltered for almost 400 years − and would compromise its architectural character and integrity. The pro- posals for the chapel are less drastic, as this was already partially restored in the late 1970s. We await the submission of amended plans for the Master’s House. OLD CUSTOMS HOUSE, WEST STRAND, WHITEHAVEN, CUMBRIA A proposal to convert Whitehaven’s Grade II listed Old Customs House, last used as offices, into apartments was submitted to Copeland Coun- cil. There is much conjecture about the age and significance of the building, with Historic Eng- land’s list description suggesting it was built in 1811, while local records and an article in the 1986 Transactions (vol 30 pp149-185) note its construc- tion in the 1690s. The accompanying documen- tation provided very little detail to establish the correct history and significance of the building and how the proposed alterations would affect potentially much older historic building fabric than first suspected. We advised the council that a detailed statement of heritage significance was required before the application could be deter- mined. CASTLE BRIDGE, TREFOREST, PONTYPRIDD The Grade II Castle Bridge (also known as the Cas- tle Inn Bridge) first appears on an 1829 map of the area and is listed by Cadw ‘as a good early C19 for- mer road bridge’. Originally a three-arched ma- sonry bridge, it was widened in 1903 and became a pedestrian walkway in the late 1990s. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has proposed demolishing the bridge following extensive damage caused by storm Dennis in March 2020. The form of the bridge is thought to cause a severe restriction to the river flow resulting in extensive local flood- ing during the storm. While acknowledging the issues, we were concerned that the special historic interest of the bridge was not properly recognised in the application, which claimed it had lost its communal and aesthetic value due to its closure to traffic and the later additions to the bridge. We also advised the council that demolition of a listed structure should only be made in exceptional circumstances and recommended an assessment was needed of the alternatives to demolishing the bridge and what measures had been considered to reduce and slow water flow upstream during storm events. LAND AT 43–47 PICCADILLY, MANCHESTER 47 Piccadilly is a Grade II listed late-18th cen- tury townhouse, the last surviving example of this building type in the street. The three-sto- rey building makes an important contribution LEFT: The partially restored St Michael’s Chapel, Warwick. The Master’s House behind has been hidden by a tarpaulin for the past decade. (Michael Dibb, 2020) BELOW: Castle Bridge over the Taff in Treforest (Gareth James, 2017)