Listed buildings

Q. When did the listing of historic or interesting buildings start in this country

A. Listing began in Britain on 1 January 1950, under the post-war Labour government. At the time there was a mood of sweeping away the old, whether taking advantage of the work of the Luftwaffe or the almost religious zeal with which the architectural modernisers and social reformers tore down run-down Victorian housing. Consequently a need to preserve the national architectural heritage of the nation was identified.

Q. Were we the first

A. No. The French were pioneers in the field. They had been classifying historic buildings for the previous hundred years. Up to that time in Britain we had had to rely on pressure groups such as the Georgian Group, which formed in the 1930s to prevent the wholesale destruction of our Georgian architecture, perceived at that time as dull and lacking in merit.

Q. So fashion plays a role in this

A. It certainly does. In the last few years people are once again beginning to see the aesthetic and historical importance of many building from the 1950s and 1960s. It was not always so. When in the 1980s Alexander Fleming House, the old DHSS offices at the Elephant and Castle in London, were put on the list, there was an outcry - it even made the tabloids. How could such an ugly concrete mass be perceived in any way, shape or form as anything other than an eyesore Today it has been converted into over-priced, 'des-res' loft apartments.

In the 1980s there was a fashion for re-cladding 1960s buildings with 1980s pastel-shaded panels and adding ludicrous postmodernist features, thus completely ruining the architectural integrity of many a 'curtain-wall' glass office block.

Think how desirable your Victorian pile is today. Yet in the first half of the last century Victorian Gothic architecture, particularly public buildings, were derided as vulgar. There was even a proposal in the 1930s to cover Tower Bridge - now one of the most visited tourist attractions in London - in Art Deco glass because, only 30 years or so after it was opened, it was seen as unbearably ugly, but it would have been too expensive to knock it down.

In the 1970s whole streets of 18th-century Huguenot houses in the Spitalfields area of London were earmarked for bulldozing. A group of concerned individuals, including architectural historian Mark Girouard and Poet Laureate John Betjeman, squatted some of the buildings, saving them for the nation. Well, I say the nation, but not many of us could now afford such properties - but you know what I mean.

So the need for a body to administer the protection of buildings, impartial to the vagaries of fashion, is obvious.

Q. Why is a building listed

A. Listing is not meant to fossilise a building. Its long-term interests are often best served by putting it to good use. If this cannot be the one it was designed for, a new use may have to be found. Listing ensures that the architectural and historic interests of the building is carefully considered before any alterations, either outside or inside, are agreed.

Q. How are buildings chosen

A. Buildings can be listed because of age, rarity, architectural merit and unusual methods of construction. Occasionally a building is selected because the it has played a part in the life of a famous person or as the scene for an important event. An interesting group of buildings - such as a model village or a square - may also be listed.

The older a building is, greater chance it has of being listed. All buildings built before 1700 that survive in anything like their original condition are automatically listed, as are most built between 1700 and 1840. After that date, the criteria become tighter, so that post-1945 buildings have to be exceptionally interesting to get on the list.

Q. How are they graded

A. The buildings are graded to show their relative architectural or historic interest:

Grade I are of exceptional interest

Grade II are particularly important buildings of more than special interest

Grade III are of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them

Q. What makes English Heritage list a building

A. English Heritage is responsible for the listing of buildings in England and Wales, and they list buildings in two principal ways:

They look at individual buildings, hundreds of which are brought to their attention each year by members of the public. Without this public interest, many important buildings might be lost or damaged. You have a say in this.

They assess buildings by type and by area, to bring the lists up to date by ensuring that the best buildings of a particular type are listed. Recent themes have been the industrial mills of Manchester, pubs and the buildings of the Royal Naval Dockyards. A major public consultation exercise to debate which post-war buildings should be listed has attracted enormous interest and controversy.

Q. How does one consult the lists

A. With great difficulty. Although the listings have been digitised, the general public can currently only consult scrappy photocopies of the original listings. You can ring the Listed Buildings Information Service on 020 7208 8221, who will fax you a copy of the listing for one particular building.

Computerised searching is at present impossible, except for internal staff at English Heritage in Swindon. You can see lists covering your local area and obtain copies of individual entries at your local council planning department, county council offices and most local reference libraries. The full English national list is kept by English Heritage at the National Monuments Record, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2GZ.

See also the articles on St Pancras, Poet Laureates and Art Deco/Art Nouveau

For more on Phrases & Sayings click here

By Simon Smith