Tuesday 20 October 2015

Crystal Palace - The stone dinosaurs and other treasures in danger

From windswept lighthouses to crumbling mausoleums - with some fierce-looking stone dinosaurs in the mix too - Historic England has published its 2015 list of structures it considers in need of a helping hand. The Heritage at Risk Register is an annual snapshot - and since 2010, a third of all sites on the list have been rescued.
Dinosaurs
Take a look at some of the sites which have been added to the register this year - and some of the others which have been saved and taken off the list.

Stone dinosaur in Crystal Palace Park - south London
Image captionSITES CONSIDERED TO BE IN DANGER

These stone dinosaurs are enjoying a paddle at Crystal Palace Park in south London.

Crystal Palace Park, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionCrystal Palace Park, London

They were the whimsical creations of 19th Century sculptor and natural history artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.
They are considered "at risk", but there are plans for them to be restored to their former glory.

Crystal Palace Park, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionCrystal Palace Park, London

Staying in Crystal Palace Park, these sphinxes are also considered in need of help. They are cracking badly and bits have fallen off.
They have stood alone for decades next to the empty space where the Crystal Palace once stood - before it was destroyed by fire in 1936.

Crystal Palace Park, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionCrystal Palace Park, London

There are plans to improve the whole the park's Grade II*-registered landscape with £2.4m of funding from the local council and the Mayor of London - including these granite steps.

Crystal Palace Park, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionCrystal Palace Park, London

Across the Thames in north London - the mortuary chapel in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, is also in need of help - both inside and out.

Mortuary chapel in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionMortuary chapel in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London
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Mortuary chapel in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionMortuary chapel in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London

In East Anglia, the Naze Tower - near Walton on the Naze in Essex - is close to 300 years old and Grade II*-listed.
The 86ft high lookout post was used during both the Napoleonic Wars and World War One - and as a radar station during World War Two.
It was re-pointed in sand and cement in the 1970s - but that has led to severe damp and cracking.
Historic England has given a grant to the tower's owners towards building repairs.

Naze Tower, near Walton on the Naze, EssexImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionNaze Tower, near Walton on the Naze, Essex

West Norwood Cemetery is one of the "magnificent seven" Victorian cemeteries in London. The list also includes Highgate, Brompton and Kensal Green cemeteries.
The West Norwood site was severely damaged in World War Two.

West Norwood Cemetery, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionWest Norwood Cemetery, London

Historic England says there are 20 monuments "at risk" in the cemetery - including the mausoleum of George Dodd, who was an MP in the mid-1800s.

West Norwood Cemetery, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionWest Norwood Cemetery, London

This next mausoleum of Joseph Hudson can be found in Kensal Green Cemetery. It is Grade II-listed - but in need of help.
Hudson fought in the Napoleonic Wars, and later became a successful tobacconist with a shop in London's Oxford Street.
Made of Portland stone and dating from 1850, it is one of the cemetery's most ornate tombs.
But plants and saplings are damaging the roof and water is getting inside.

Kensal Green Cemetery, LondonImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionKensal Green Cemetery, London

Out of London, hidden in bushes on the side of the M40 near Banbury in Oxfordshire, this is the site of the "at risk" National Filling Factory,
It was one of several sites built in World War One to fill shells with high explosives. Towards the end of the war it was converted to produce poison gas.
It is protected as a scheduled monument.

Site of National Filling Factory, Banbury, OxfordshireImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionSite of National Filling Factory, Banbury, Oxfordshire

The Old Pier Lighthouse, at Roker in Sunderland, was built in 1856 on the old South Pier - and used until the start of the 20th Century. It is grade II* listed.
In 1983 it was moved to nearby Roker Cliff Park, but 30 years of salty wind and rain has not been kind.
Water is getting into the lighthouse and some of the metal structure is starting to corrode. Sunderland City Council is planning to start repair works soon.

Old Pier Lighthouse, SunderlandImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionOld Pier Lighthouse, Sunderland

Staying in the North East, Westgate Hill Cemetery in Newcastle upon Tyne was one of the earliest garden cemeteries in England.
The cemetery chapel has been lost, and much of the original layout is covered by weeds and scrub growth.
Many of the surviving monuments have been damaged by weathering, vandalism and invasive plants.

Westgate Hill Cemetery, Newcastle upon TyneImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionWestgate Hill Cemetery, Newcastle upon Tyne

The next "at risk" building is not yet 50 years old - the Catholic church of St Thomas Moore, at Sheldon in Birmingham.
It is Grade II-listed, and was built in the late 1960s entirely from concrete, by architect Richard Gilbert Scott.
The roof is leaking, condensation builds up on the windows, and some of the concrete is starting to break up and flake.

St Thomas Moore Church, BirminghamImage copyrightHistoric England
Image captionSt Thomas Moore Church, Birmingham

The last item on the "at risk" list is the White Lion pub on the south side of Putney Bridge in London.
Currently empty, the Grade II-listed building was a live music venue in late 1970s and 80s - with punk bands playing there regularly.





White Lion pub, Putney, London
Image copyrightHistoric England
Image captionWhite Lion pub, Putney, London
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