Restoration Village
The Villages and their Buildings
Scotland
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Dennis Head Old Beacon, North Ronaldsay, Orkney
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For the residents of the remote island of North Ronaldsay,
the Dennis Head Old Beacon lighthouse is a symbol of the island's social
history. Grade A listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument, it was built
in 1788/89 and is the oldest surviving purpose-built lighthouse in
Scotland.
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Abandoned in 1809, it is currently unsafe, and needs restoration,
as do the keepers' cottages beside it. The intention is to attract
more tourists to the island to help support the local economy.
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Greenlaw Town Hall, Greenlaw, Berwickshire
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This Grade A listed Greek Revival building stands on the village green and is
the focal point of this rural community. Constructed between 1829
and 1831, with an imposing portico flanked by Ionic columns, it has
been a courthouse, county offices, Second World War military billet and,
briefly, a swimming pool.
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Lack of investment has led to its increasing
dereliction, but the 588 locals have been actively seeking its restoration,
keen that it should combine commercial with community usage. Options
include creating offices, with space elsewhere in the building for community
events, or converting it into flats.
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Cromarty East Church, Cromarty, Ross-Shire
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This beautifully simple late 16th/early 17th century post-Reformation church,
with a Category A listing, is of considerable historical significance.
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Poised on the tip of the Black Isle at the mouth of the Cromarty
Firth, it served a community whose economy, dependent on farming
and the sea, has fluctuated down the centuries.
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It is surrounded by a walled
Category B graveyard, with a number of gravestones carved by the
eminent Victorian
naturalist
and geologist, Hugh Miller. The church has a well-preserved interior
with 18th and 19th century box pews, some with painted decoration.
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The overall condition of the building is poor due to decades
of under-investment in repairs and maintenance, before being taken into
the care of a charitable trust.
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During the restoration process, young people
will be given access to training in traditional building techniques.
In addition to worship, the church will be used for concerts and for educational
activities.
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Wales
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Prichard-Jones Institute, Newborough, Anglesey
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One of seven children born on a smallholding in Newborough, Sir John Prichard Jones, managing director of Dickins & Jones, built this neo-Tudor Institute in 1905, and gave it to local people as a community resource, with library, reading room, public hall and other amenities.
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The largest philanthropic building on Anglesey, it is now rundown and money is needed to restore it to its position at the heart of the community. Its use is intended to be flexible, offering a meeting place for the local council and agencies, such as the Forestry Commission, and smaller groups such as the WI, as well as providing a venue for weddings.
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It will also be a base to promote the outstanding natural
environment of Anglesey to visitors.
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Pen Yr Orsedd Quarry Workshops, Nantlle
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These Grade II* slate quarry buildings include workshops, offices, hospital and industrial buildings. Built in two stages - in the 1860s and between 1899 and 1907 - they stand in a spectacular mountainous setting, with views down to Nantlle Lake. Four hundred and fifty men worked in the quarry here, which finally closed down in 1997.
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The walls and roofs are in place but the interiors of the buildings need total renovation in order to create a training and workshop centre for the repair, replication and manufacture of heritage engineering items.
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The intention is to provide a focal point and to provide
training and employment in one of the most deprived communities in Wales.
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Pembrey Court Farm, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire
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This early 16th century Tudor manor house allegedly visited by Oliver
Cromwell, but now little more than a derelict shell, is of historical importance
as Carmarthenshire's largest surviving pre-Renaissance house.
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Standing as it does on the southwest side of Pembrey Mountain,
it commands views over the Gower Peninsula and was once used as a navigational
point by local shipping.
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The manor plus coach house, which exhibit a variety of architectural features, are being considered for a number of possible uses, such as an interpretive centre of the Tudor and Elizabethan age for local schools, an arts centre, a print workshop and a venue for local groups.
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Northern Ireland
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White House, Newtonabbey, County Antrim
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The White House is a Grade B1 listed building in the borough of Newtownabbey. Dating back to 1569 it is believed to be older than any other building in Belfast.
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It is called the 'white house' because the building had a
limestone rendering which made it a navigation marker for ships coming
up the Lough towards Belfast.
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The building was gifted to Major Brunker by Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 as reward for his services in the Spanish Wars. At this time the building was believed to be a tall, square town house and the addition of turrets were made during the plantation period.
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Around 100 years later it passed into the ownership of Thomas
Boyd, a close associate of the infamous Thomas Blood, better known as Colonel
Blood.
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While on the run from the law Blood sought refuge at the White House and, whilst there, allegedly plotted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671 - probably the most famous bungled heist in British history.
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The building continued to serve as a residence until 1840 from which point it was used as a stable and barn. By 1923 it was a derelict shell but it was at this point that it was taken on as a gospel hall.
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The group using the building installed a roof, some of which
survives today. In 1996 the building was put on the market and was bought
by Ulster Garden Villages on behalf of Abbey Historical Society who had
ambitions for its reuse.
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Gracehill Old School, Gracehill, County Antrim
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This elegant Grade B Georgian school is in the centre of the award-winning village of Gracehill, Northern Ireland's oldest conservation area and the only complete Moravian (a pre-Reformation Protestant Church) settlement in Ireland.
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The main structure is intact, but the building is unfit for use owing to dry rot and fire damage. A local Building Preservation Trust has raised the funds to buy the building and now hopes to convert it into a centre in which to explain the social and cultural history of the village and its links with similar settlements around the world.
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There are plans for educational and visitor facilities, a
tearoom, business units and space for an after-school club and community
use.
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Cushendun Old Church, Cushendun, County Antrim
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De-consecrated in 2003 because of a dwindling congregation, this former Church of Ireland parish church is one of the most significant buildings in the National Trust village of Cushendun.
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The entire village is a work of art, a unique planned settlement
partly designed by Clough
Williams-Ellis, the celebrated architect who
went on to create the world famous North Wales picture postcard village
of Portmeirion.
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Cushendun became the focal point for a vibrant, bohemian colony of artists; among them Northern Ireland's most celebrated landscape painter – James Humbert Craig.
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Today, there remains a flourishing artistic community here,
many of whom are particularly interested in being able to use the church
for exhibiting their work.
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The red sandstone building, dating from 1840 and just 4m by 14m, has attracted the enthusiastic support of local people who want to develop it as a community space for meetings, performances and school projects.
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The building is in reasonable structural condition and free
of damp; it is, nevertheless, on the Northern Ireland Buildings at Risk
register.
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Northern England
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Howsham Mill, Howsham, North Yorkshire
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Built in about 1755, this Gothic revival folly - now vandalised and roofless
but still charming - was designed for both practical and ornamental purposes.
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Standing on an island, the square Grade II corn mill was constructed to use the fast-running water of the River Derwent, as well to provide an attractive landscape feature which could be glimpsed from Howsham Hall.
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Redundant since 1947, the building has recently become a
focus for the local community – less than 200 people - who are looking to create a community
space and educational centre. The intention is that it will be self-financing
by generating electricity from its own restored water wheel.
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Heugh Gun Battery, The Headland, Hartlepool
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The battery was constructed in 1860, and, as the only surviving coastal battery
to have engaged enemy ships in the First World War, it is of considerable
historical interest and a Scheduled National Monument.
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The Heugh Battery
Trust was founded in 2000 to promote the history of the site and local
residents are keen to preserve the battery, which is important to both
the town's identity and character.
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Although in increasingly poor condition,
the battery is open occasionally to visitors and includes two gun
emplacements, an underground magazine, a command post and a barrack building.
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Higherford Mill, Lancashire
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Built originally in 1824, and modernised after a serious fire 20 years later,
Higherford Mill embodies the development of the cotton industry, from
its water-powered days through to steam and eventually electricity.
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Now
Grade II listed, it provided employment and led to the development
of the village. After it finally closed in 1969 it was threatened with
demolition.
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The water wheel was removed, but the site and water courses
remain and it is likely to become a major attraction in an area which
now relies heavily on heritage tourism to sustain its economy.
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Villagers,
led by Heritage Trust for the North West, hope the mill will become
a centre for creative enterprises, with workshops, exhibitions and special
events, as well as being a community focus for local people.
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