industrial heritage

Shops ‘of the plainest kind’? The architecture of England’s co-operative movement

Planners predict that our historic town and city centres will be transformed over the next decade as online shops take over from bricks-and-mortar retail outlets. But change in the High Street is nothing new. Chris Catling is reminded how we used to shop by Lynn Pearson’s recently published book on the architecture of England’s co-operative movement, winner of the Association for Industrial Archaeology’s Peter Neaverson Award for Outstanding Scholarship 2021.

Battersea power station credit charlie round turner

The Past

Restored Battersea Power Station finally removed from ‘heritage at risk’ register

Battersea Power Station is one of several sites to have been removed from Historic England’s ‘heritage at risk’ register, the organisation has announced. The former electricity station in southwest London is in the final stages of an extensive redevelopment project…

Northampton Museum & Art Gallery

Following a £6.7 million transformation, Northampton Museum & Art Gallery has reopened to the public, with new galleries showcasing the town’s history – particularly its proud shoemaking heritage. Carly Hilts visited to find out more.

Excavating Kent

Large infrastructure projects have led to some remarkable discoveries down the years – think of Heathrow Terminal 5, as well as the more recent work along the route of HS2

The Red Phone Box and Post Box Appreciation Society

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the telephone kiosk.

The Past

Historic Dockyard building rated top sustainable structure

The Fitted Rigging House at the Historic Dockyard Chatham won The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South East Sustainability Award 2021 for its £8.2m preservation project.

Excavating Glamorgan and Monmouthsire

This publication features, among other highlights, the extraordinary, emotive survival of a series of footprints made by a Mesolithic child.

The Past

Contractors bid to deliver Hull’s new maritime visitor centre

The North End Shipyard is a surviving reminder of Hull's 800 years of maritime history.

The Co-operative Heritage Trust

Historic England’s latest book is an architectural history of England’s Co-operative Movement.

Inside the Loughborough Bellfoundry museum (FAR LEFT) and manufactory (LEFT), where the ‘Great Paul’ bell, the heaviest rotatable bell in the world, was cast in 1881 for St Paul’s Cathedral. The last time that bells were silenced in British history was during the Second World War, when it was agreed to use them only to signal an invasion. The Trust has recently received £246,500 from the Cultural Recovery Fund to enable it to continue opening to the public with social distancing measures and one way routes in place.

Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust

In October 2020, a public inquiry was under way to consider whether planning consent should be given for the conversion of London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry into a ‘boutique’ hotel. An alternative proposal has been developed by those who wish to…

The Past

Adventures close to home

Many of us have developed a stronger appreciation of the natural and cultural heritage in our own back yards.

PHOTO: © The Trustees of the British Museum

News in brief

British Museum revamps Collection Online The British Museum has recently launched a new version of its Collection Online website, featuring over half its collections, making it one of the largest such databases of any global museum. The updated resource encompasses…

Scotland in Six: celebrating stone and steel

Since 2009, the Scottish Government has been designating themed years to mark specific aspects of Scotland’s cultural and creative life, as well as the country’s natural beauty. As we look back on 2017, the Year of History, Heritage, and Archaeology, Julianne McGraw explores how Scotland’s World Heritage Sites played their part in the festivities.

BELOW Overlooking the remains of Scar House Village in North Yorkshire. In the early 20th century, this was a thriving navvy camp.

If you go down to the woods… discovering Yorkshire’s hidden heritage

A wide-ranging archaeological survey across more than 1,000 hectares of Yorkshire woodland has revealed the secrets of hundreds of sites, many never recorded before. John Buglass takes us on a tour of some of the highlights.

Below These now roofless dwellings at the Dinowric quarry were built as so called ‘barracks’ for unmarried quarrymen, or for father and son, uncle and nephew. Each unit consists of two or three rooms, with a communal kitchen at one end of the terrace.

Welsh slate: chiselling through time

The extraction of slate from the hills of Snowdonia is not just an industry – it is a way of life bound up with chapel, politics, and the preservation of the Welsh language. Chris Catling explains why the Welsh Royal Commission is supporting efforts to have this industrial landscape designated a World Heritage Site.