As we begin 2023, we take a moment to look back on some of the highlights from 2022, and to upcoming activities for the year ahead.
2022 was the year that we were able to once again offer in-person events, and it was a real joy to see our Members join us on exciting visits to fascinating historic places, having been restricted to online-only events for the past couple of years. Highlights included visits to Knedlington Old Hall, Coal Drops Yard, Kensal Green Cemetery, our AGM at St Barts Hospital, House Mill, and lastly Holland House. We also continued to hold a number of free online Casework Reviews, which allowed our caseworker Ross Anthony to provide members with a look into some of the recent casework the team have been working through.
Casework itself remains at the heart of what we do in order to help to protect and defend all aspects of the built historic environment. In 2022 we commented on approximately 400 cases. These covered a broad range of built heritage, including supporting the listing of Croesawdy in Newtown, Wales; defending the Grade I listed post-modern Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery, and advising on extensions to the Grade II* St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church in Ripon, Yorkshire.
2022 also saw the first edition of our newly rebranded Journal of Historic Buildings & Places, which included exemplary essays on the built environment from a number of wonderful contributors, such as Amy Bettinson’s look at infill housing in post-war London, and Victoria Watson’s examination of the sensitive issues around the restoration and extension to Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Heritage Now continues to be an indispensable resource published three times a year, and contains updates and casework overviews alongside features and news from the sector.
Looking ahead, 2023 will see Historic Buildings & Places continue to champion heritage of all kinds, from our most important Grade I structures to humble heritage that surrounds us all. One of our first highlights will be welcoming Liz Power as our new Director, who will take up the role in February. We’re excited to be offering more visits to historic sites across the UK, including to Bentley Priory Museum, Manchester Jewish Museum, Ledbury, Leeds, and Reading Abbey, as well as an upcoming online talk on the restoration of Sir John Soane’s Drawing Office. We will also host our 99th AGM in person at Hutton-in-the-Forest, a magnificent Grade I listed historic house and garden close to the Lake District in Cumbria.
We look forward to seeing our members at one of our events in-person or online, or hearing from you about our work and where we can help make a real difference to our historic built environment.
