introducing lifts at a 'new' station would be stupid, because they are more costly to maintain and more hastle when they fail and there would need to be extra staff and somehow they will need to add ticket barriers. It is not so difficult to cross the road you know
from Heritage UK:
This brief description of the process and reasons for listing a building as being of special architectural or historic interest is adapted from English Heritage’s March 1997 leaflet on the subject. Pavilions of Splendour has contributed some additional information and commentary in this colour. The same situation obtains in Wales, where the statutory body is Cadw (which means ‘Keep’ in Welsh) and in Scotland, where it is Historic Scotland, while the Ulster architectural Society looks after Northern Ireland’s built heritage. In Scotland and Northern Ireland Grades I, II* and II are replaced by the more logical Grades A, B and C.
Listing began in Britain on January 1st 1950, under the austere post-war Labour government; a surprise to many who believed that conservation and conservatism went hand-in-hand. Sadly we were not pioneers in the field; the French had been classifying historic buildings for the previous hundred years, while we in Britain had to rely on pressure groups such as the Georgian Group, formed in the 1930s to prevent the wholesale destruction of our Georgian architecture, perceived at that time as dull and lacking in merit. How opinions change. Over to English Heritage:
Historic buildings are a precious and finite asset, and powerful reminders to us of the work and way of life of earlier generations. The richness of this country’s architectural heritage plays an influential part in our sense of national and regional identity. Your favourite views of England - street, village, town or city - almost certainly contain buildings protected by the process called ‘listing’.
English Heritage has the task of identifying and protecting this inheritance in England. Our main means of doing this is by listing - recommending buildings for inclusion on statutory lists of buildings of 'special architectural or historic interest' compiled by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Why is a building listed?
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 interest of the building is carefully considered before any alterations, either outside or inside, are agreed.
How are buildings chosen?
Buildings can be listed because of age, rarity, architectural merit, and method of construction. Occasionally English Heritage selects a building because the building 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, the more likely it is to be listed. All buildings built before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition are listed, as are most built between 1700 and 1840. After that date, the criteria become tighter with time, so that post-1945 buildings have to be exceptionally important to be listed.
The grades (different in Scotland and Northern Ireland)
The buildings are graded to show their relative architectural or historic interest:
• Grade I buildings are of exceptional interest
• Grade II* are particularly important buildings of more than special interest
• Grade II are of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them
Listing currently protects 500,000 or so buildings, of which the majority - over 90% - are Grade II. Grade I and II* buildings may be eligible for English Heritage grants for urgent major repairs. You are extremely unlikely to get any sort of grant for a Grade II or C listed building.
What makes English Heritage list a building?
English Heritage lists in two main ways:
• English Heritage looks 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.
• English Heritage assesses 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.
How do I consult the lists?
With great difficulty. Although the listings have been digitized, the general public can 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 after a three day delay. 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. It is called the Greenbacks, because the scraps of paper are kept in about 300 greenbacked folders in a room in Swindon.
