Newsletter article - The use of older buildings

Uses for older buildings.  (Published in the Spring Issue of 2011)

Ever since we started building in stone rather than wood and reed we have left our descendants with a problem of what to do with old buildings that no longer served their purpose. Initially the answer was simple, pull the building down and reuse the valuable stone to make a new building. However as some of the buildings became grander with more time,effort and skill invested in them there has been a tendency to say “We started off in caves. Now look how clever we have become.”

Most of the larger stone buildings were built by the rich, emperors, kings, the church and owners of large estates. We are left with castles and bits of castles, monasteries and bits of monasteries, cathedrals and bits of cathedrals. Some of the cathedrals took over a hundred years to complete. Coming down the scale we have Manor houses of past estates. With the wealth created by the industrial revolution we have Grand houses in large parks that required an army of servants to make them work. The Victorians, in giving thanks for their prosperity built churches all over the country when the majority of the population were expected to support their local parish. With the growth of communities their local leaders felt the need to show how wealthy and well run their community was by building large Town Halls and public facilities.

Now the nation has a problem. What do we do with all these old buildings? What about all these ruined castles and forts? Some of these buildings are important as they are our heritage in that they are the evidence on which a lot of our history is based. They tell us how we arrived at where we are now. Some are important in demonstrating the crafts and skills our ancestors possessed. Some act as museums to display works of art that were commissioned for the wealthy to enjoy.

Time moves on. Society changes. The population grows. All buildings need money to maintain them. Priorities on expenditure alter. Rapidly developing technology makes the future uncertain with lifestyles changing by decades rather than centuries or millennia. How many old buildings do we need to full-fill the service they provide? What new uses can we make the old buildings perform? What do we do with those where there is no obvious use but we feel they are part of our heritage? This can be emotive when, through the local council, they are OUR buildings!

The Isle of Wight has its share of problem buildings – The Guildhall at Newport, the Town Hall at Ryde, Shanklin Theatre, The Grammar School in Newport, Dinosaur Isle, Northwood House, Frank James Hospital, the York Hotel in Ryde, Fort Victoria at Norton. This list is a mixture of private and public properties. The private ones are the responsibility of their owners but the community can indicate their importance to the public by having them placed on a national register of buildings of architectural and/or historic importance. This “Listing” is carried out through the Isle of Wight Council applying to English Heritage to add a property to the register as a Grade I, Grade II or Grade II* according to its importance.

The public buildings in the above list have differing circumstances but most of them were well built, are well located near the centre of communities and large enough for a variety of uses.. Northwood House is managed by a board of trustees now that the IoW Council has relinquished its role as Custodian Trustee. The Trustees work according to conditions established by the Charity Commission. They have support from English Heritage and a band of volunteers who are helping with the start of a long restoration programme. A similar situation exists at Shanklin Theatre where volunteers have taken on the task of running the theatre as a viable entertainment facility and have started on a long programme of refurbishment. Fort Victoria at Norton has been a successful visitor attraction for many years with organisations providing exhibitions on underwater archaeology, astronomy and local marine wildlife backed up by a café.

Dinosaur Isle is representative of a number of public amenities that were set up by the IoW Council but, now that budget conditions are very difficult, find themselves at the bottom of the priority list and struggling to maintain sufficient funding to continue operating. The Guildhall is a building where the decision of the Council is that they cannot afford to continue funding it. The community is now concerned that the present Council has decided to sell as much unwanted property as possible to help with a temporary easing of the financial situation. It does make sense to do something about buildings in Council ownership that do not full-fill a useful function but residents are afraid that the public estate that has been built up over the centuries is going to be sold off for cash that will disappear into the accounts, leaving the community worse with no or few amenities..

What has been demonstrated by the supporters of Northwood House and Shanklin Theatre is that voluntary organisations can be more effective with their lower overheads and some free labour. In recent years central government has decided to make the most use of the work of volunteers. They are now valuable parts of the educational and health services of the country.

On the Isle of Wight there are as many voluntary organisations as anywhere in the country. They work in many society activities including sport, the arts, community groups and historical organisations. The IoW Council could be well advised to help set up a Charitable Trust to manage property the Council owns but does not want to use and help voluntary organisations make use of these buildings for public benefit.

Society has changed radically over the last two centuries. In 1800 the average house may have contained some books but little more in the way of home entertainment. Today there are means of entertainment for 24 hours a day in almost every home. Despite this there is a continuous demand for public meeting places for voluntary and local community groups to hold their functions. However such venues are not affordable at commercial rates. It needs the economic efficiency of the voluntary sector using publicly owned buildings to provide this essential service to maintain a good quality of life for Island residents.

The Guildhall and Ryde Town hall are examples of the community having invested in itself. One of the easiest things to do is to spend somebody else's money. If a Council has got into financial difficulties it should not have the right to sell off the public estate without a public vote on the matter.