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Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
CORNWALL COUNCIL
HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP
DATE July 2011
REPORT OF THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
For the period April to June 2011
1. INTRODUCTION
This report covers the first quarter of the 2011-12 financial year.
1.1 Update on targets set down in the Historic Environment Service Plan
Please find a progress report on the outcomes and targets set down in the
Historic Environment Service Plan (appendix 1).
1.2 Historic Environment Manager
This report covers the activities of the recently reorganised Historic Environment
Teams function over the period concerned.
1.3 Outreach
The Service has given 5 walks and 3 talks in the last quarter to a total audience
of 154 in the following locations: Reading, West Penwith (televised – BBC
Countryfile), Hayle, Bodmin Moor, Chysauster and Lanyon Quoit, Isles of Scilly,
Lowland Point, Minions and South Caradon Mine.
Much of this could not have happened without the goodwill and enthusiasm of
staff giving up their evenings and weekends. This is much appreciated.
2. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT POLICY AND INFORMATION TEAM
(Bryn Tapper - Historic Environment Information, Senior Archaeologist (GIS),
Ann Reynolds – Senior Archaeologist, Countryside Advice and Simon Thorpe –
Heritage Officer)
2.1 Staff matters
Steve Hartgroves and Tony Bayfield retired at the end of April. John R Smith
retired at the end of May.
Emma Trevarthen (ET) joined the HE Information team at the beginning of July in
the post of Historic Environment Record Information Officer. She has worked for
the Historic Environment service since 2001 as an archaeologist, specialising in
aerial survey and air photo interpretation. Since 2004 Emma has been involved
with aerial reconnaissance in Cornwall and will continue with this work as part of
her new role.
2.2 HER Strategy and Development
Bryn Tapper (BT) attended the South West Historic Environment Record Forum
hosted at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton (April 6th). This forum allows
HER across the South West to discuss current programmes of work, strategy and
policy being undertaken in the region and feed into the national picture via the
HER Forum. This meeting was especially concerned with the effects on HERs due
to widespread budget cuts.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
2.3 HBSMR and GIS Hardware and Software updates and developments
The Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record (HBSMR) Annual Service Visit
by Exegesis SDM Ltd took place on 18-19th May. These visits provide the
opportunity to upgrade the HER database software and improve links to the GIS
as well as resolve ongoing technical issues. This two-day visit involved an
upgrade of the HBSMR database to v3.72 and allowed BT to undertake a number
of improvements to the structure of the information in the database with
guidance from the Exegesis consultant.
The first comments on the 1st draft of the HER Audit were received from English
Heritage. The changes and recommendations have been made to the document
and the 2nd draft is due for submission in late August. EH’s final comments are
due in October (later than originally anticipated due to staff changes at EH). The
objective of the Audit is to provide Cornwall Council and English Heritage with an
accurate picture of the HER, an overview of its management and the
resources/actions needed to assist in meeting the requirements of national
benchmarks and the requirements of PPS5 and draft National Planning Policy
Framework. The audit will produce a detailed action plan, priorities and timetable
for future development.
2.4 HBSMR Enhancements, Verification and Validation
Ongoing enhancement of the Historic Building, Sites & Monuments Record
(HBSMR) has involved the HER team adding, correcting and validating new and
existing records. The table below shows the number of HER records that have
been added and amended during the period April-June 2011.
Record Type New Enhanced Total Verified
Events Records 103 283 3, 351 31 (OASIS)
complete
Monument Records 37 666 55, 660 31, 208
Source Records 99 139 23, 922 n/a
Finds Records 16 5 7717 n/a
Work continues on archiving ‘old’ projects, 103 have been added and there are
now 3351 records of archaeological ‘actions’ recorded in the Cornwall & Scilly
Events module. Ongoing work enhancing these records has resulted in 283 having
their content improved eg. full descriptions, cross references to archives etc. BT
continues to verify and validate OASIS (http://www.oasis.ac.uk/) records
submitted to the HER by contractors as part of their WSI archive commitments.
There are 184 OASIS records currently for Cornwall & Scilly, of which 119 have
been signed off by the HER and 65 are waiting for the contractor to complete. 70
HES reports are now available on the Archaeology Data Service’s Unpublished
Fieldwork Reports (Grey Literature Library)
(http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/greylit/index.cfm).
A member of the Archaeological Investigations Project, undertaken by
Bournemouth University, visited the HER offices on 13-14th July.
2.5 Conservation and Planning
In the past three months English Heritage has Listed one structure. The Listing
information has been entered into the Historic Environment Record ‘Designations’
database and GIS mapping system, and this information has also been published
to the Council’s central electronic geographic information data store. This will
ensure that it is shared across the authority via the UNI-form e-planning system
and corporate mapping sites. The local councillor is also notified of the Listing and
its historic significance. 28 designation records have been checked and corrected
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
or enhanced and the information has been updated across the authority as
necessary.
‘Cornish Character’ is progressing, working in partnership with the Cornwall Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Communities and Highways as well as
parish councils and the Milestone Society. The emerging programme will work
with the community, including the volunteer sector, for a pilot project on the
Roseland peninsular to record and enhance street furniture including milestones,
guideposts etc. A meeting was held in June for Parish Councils all of whom are
supportive of the project.
Jane Powning (JP) has been working with Conservation Officers, AONB, Highways
and Communities for guidelines to enable community groups to undertake
recording and enhancing highway heritage assets (milestones, fingerposts,
guidestones, wells, shutes and waterpumps etc), the guidelines will support the
councils Localism agenda. Records of fingerposts are continuously being added to
the Historic Environment Record which results a ‘data-share’ with our Highways
colleagues. The records are used to assist in protecting the heritage assets as
part of the Highways Routine Maintenance System for cyclical works to hedge and
verges and is periodical updates.
BT has provided Emergency Planning with historic environment information and
maps for 25 beached across Carrick (Central 1) area. This information updates
that originally made available in 2006.
2.6 Outreach and enquiries
The HER team have continued to respond to numerous research, general public
and commercial enquiries. The numbers of email enquiries (only) are summarised
in the following table:
Enquiry Type No. of enquiries
Academic and Research 24
Planning related, including Commercial 54
Press/Media/TV 3
General Public 43
QuasiNGO 13
Utilities 19
156 (approx. 1.9 per day)
Konstanze Rahn has continued to attend meetings with CASPN (Cornish Ancient
Sites Protection Network) and LAN (Lizard Ancient sites Network), providing HER
information to both groups.
Bryn Tapper has liaised with Ann Preston-Jones, EH Field Monument Warden, and
CAS volunteers to investigate ways in which condition surveys undertaken by CAS
area representatives can be incorporated into the HER.
An HER Enquiry Tracker database is to be revived (last used in 2007) to better
record and reflect the numbers of enquiries the HER team field and will allow staff
to record phone calls and other ways in which people consult the HER.
Public use of the heritage mapping sites remain high. The figure below shows the
general trends for usage recorded by the World Heritage site website
(www.cornish-mining.org.uk) and the Historic Cornwall (www.historic-
cornwall.gov.uk) website.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
The HER records presented through the Heritage Gateway (www.heritage-
gateway.org.uk) have been updated for the first time this year. A second update
is due at the end of the calendar year.
Historic internet mapping websites
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Ja
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Mar-0
7
May-0
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Sep
-07
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8
May-0
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-08
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May-0
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Sep
-09
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2.7 Countryside Advice Statistics April to June 2011 inclusive
(CC04515 to CCO4594 inclusive)
Summary of new consultations by Area over this period
The decline in the number of Higher Level Stewardship Farm Environment Plan
consultations has continued from last quarter, as Natural England (NE) budgets
and priorities are being reassessed. This is due to real terms diminishing budgets
as part of the Government Spending Review, and the need for more targeted,
high value applications in the light of this.
Our involvement in post-application consultations with Natural England continues
to take up most of our time, including significant involvement on a parkland plan
for Boconnoc, parkland enhancement works for Trelowarren, and on-going works
at Pentillie.
We are keen to highlight the amount of consultation work that takes place with
Natural England and to this end we are looking at setting up a Memorandum of
Agreement on the help that Historic Environment can provide to the Cornwall
Forestry HLS
FEPs
Hedgerows Biomass PROW Total
for
Area
East 2 4 0 0 0 6
Mid 0 2 0 0 0 2
West 1 1 0 0 0 2
IOS 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total
applications
3 7 0 0 0 10
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
advisors. This will give the Countryside Advice Service a more formal footing for
working with the Cornwall NE advisors and will strengthen the already excellent
links between the two organisations. Since June the Countryside Advice officer
has been ‘hot desking’ at the NE Pydar House office once or twice a month, and
so far this has worked very well. The Pydar House office is scheduled for closure
in March 2012, and it is hoped that HES will be able to reciprocate with the
availability of hot desk provision for NE advisors at the Kennall Building to keep
these strong links active.
We have been active in supporting the proposal for a possible HLF landscape
partnership bid in West Penwith. This is in the very early stages of discussion but
is seen as a potential way of supporting the distinctive character of the
Environmentally Sensitive Area in the short term future, hopefully with long term
outcomes. By being an active partner, we will seek to fully integrate the
management, enhancement and promotion of the historic environment in the
area.
In a similar vein, we have represented the Historic Environment on the capital
works panel of the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project, ensuring that works take
into account and benefit the HE of the area.
Through liaison with County Farms, we took the opportunity to look for possible
fragments of the medieval chapel at Predannack Manor farm, near Mullion.
Predannack Manor farm architectural fragments
Renovation works within the old farmhouse allowed us to look for fragments
which were reportedly walled up in an old fireplace. With the much valued help of
the Glasson family, the former County Farm tenants, we were able to locate some
medieval stonework that was concreted into the back of the hearth place. They
may have been two parts of an ornamental alcove that held a stoup or two
separate pieces of decorative window. They are likely to be 14th-15th century in
date from their form. The former tenants were able to inform us that their
original location was embedded into the external wall of the farmhouse. It is clear
that they were originally removed from the medieval chapel when it was
dismantled and reutilised when the farmhouse was being built. They were then
put in their current place in the 1980’s. The fireplace has since been re-boarded
up and advice on the long term treatment of the stones given to County Farms.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
In April we hosted the National Historic Environment Countryside Archaeologists
meeting, which saw representatives of local authority historic environment
services from all over the country gather at Liskeard. This gave us the
opportunity to showcase the work that we have been carrying out on Bodmin
Moor and the strong working relationship that we have with Natural England in
Cornwall.
HECAS National meeting field visit, Rillaton Barrow near Minions
During this quarter we represented the Historic Environment at the following
meetings - the Cornwall AONB Partnership, Atlantic Coasts and Valleys project,
Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Coastal Agencies Group.
We took part in Member briefings at Minions, Bodmin Moor and at Dannonchapel
as part of the Atlantic Coasts and Valleys Project.
We took a group of Duchy College students around the Minions area of Bodmin
Moor to look at HE land management issues and gave a seminar on Scheduled
Monuments At Risk to Natural England Advisors in Truro. The first of the Bodmin
Moor Volunteers vegetation clearance days took place, guided by the Countryside
Advice Officer, where the entranceway to Notter Tor Neolithic Enclosure was
successfully cleared.
2.8 Heritage Assets
The Heritage Officer is involved in a number of projects and initiatives to address
heritage assets at risk.
Harvey’s Foundry, Hayle: This project involves Cornwall Council gifting the grade
II listed at-risk Plantation Stores to Harvey’s Foundry Trust. 93% of the
£2.5million capital cost is already lined up and available in principle. An
application to English Heritage for the remaining 7% of £180,000 towards
external eligible repairs has been submitted and it is hoped that a visit by
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
Baroness Andrews in July 2011 has helped promote the importance of this project
to Hayle.
Cornwall Council’s Economic Development capital budget has been approached
for £108,000 towards the RIBA Stage C-D development costs but at present this
money is not available and hinges on a Cabinet report in the autumn to extend
the capital budget.
The design brief is being developed in preparation for going to tender in August to
appoint a lead architect. A brief has been drafted for the appointment of a Project
Manager from RIBA stage E in anticipation of success.
The Heritage Lottery Fund turned down the application for £50,000 towards the
heritage centre in John Harvey House which is intended to tell the story of
Harvey’s. This is extremely disappointing, and in part reflects the huge demand
on HLF budgets even for the sub-£50,000 grants. The Trust is exploring
alternative ways of delivering the heritage centre.
Sara’s Foundry, Redruth: a meeting has been held chaired by Cllr Julian German
with Members and officer, and English Heritage, to discuss the issues and way
forward with this grade II* listed building at-risk. Having exhausted voluntary
discussion with the owner, the meeting concluded that more formal enforcement
action is required to unlock the situation. The next step is for lead officers in
Historic Environment and Planning to prepare a Project Initiation Document for
Cllr German and Kaczmarek which identifies the resources and risks involved in
moving ahead.
Old Duchy Palace, Lostwithiel: planning and Listed Building Consents were
granted in April 2011, and the ERDF Convergence bid was submitted on time.
Subsequently, in July 2011, the EAG endorsed the project and a grant offer has
been made. The funding package is now complete.
The main contract has gone out to tender in August 2011 and appointment of a
contractor is due to be made by the end of September, with an anticipated start
on site of 1st November. Site meetings have been held with officers from Cornwall
Council’s highways team to discuss the practical arrangements for scaffolding
licence, temporary footpath diversion, and reinstatement of the footpath and
tidying of public realm. Discussion has been started with the Town Council about
managing the short term disturbances to this busy part of the centre of
Lostwithiel.
Discussions continue with Lostwithiel Town Museum (with the assistance of the
Museums Development Officer), to develop and fit out a heritage exhibition zone
in the undercroft of the Duchy Palace which links to the Museum. However, recent
decisions by Heritage Lottery Fund on other projects do not inspire confidence
that a grant application will be successful.
Redruth Brewery, Redruth: the Redruth Action Plan Framework was submitted to
the Council by CPR Regeneration in June 2011 and a 6 week formal public
consultation was organised and held. This includes outline design principles for
redevelopment of the historic Brewery and adjacent former Plumbase sites. We
utilised the help of intern Claire Martin at CPR Regeneration to organise the
consultation including a Facebook page, face-painting and Indian head massage,
balloons, bumper stickers, and handed out 300 consultation postcards. A very
positive response was received and the Planning Delivery Team, with the support
of the Heritage Officer, will be analysing the responses and taking the document
through further steps to adoption as a Council document. A number of meetings
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
have been held with the Town Council, Member of Parliament, site owners,
Cornwall Council officers and Members, to press for support to implement the
Framework.
Loggans Mill, Hayle: there has been steady progress on this project to unlock the
disposal of this Council owned grade II listed at-risk building. The Convergence
team has indicated in principle support for a proposal to convert to employment
use. Meetings have been held with developers of adjacent land over possible
enabling development. A meeting has taken place with Highways officers to look
at access issues and the proximity of the busy A30 Loggans Mill roundabout.
Further work is to take place on identifying the maintenance bond which amounts
to around £200,000 which the Council is obliged to find. We are slowly unlocking
this important landmark building and hope to reach the point where it can be
presented as a viable conversion and conservation project to a developer,
possibly a local trust.
3. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS TEAM
(Peter Rose – Historic Environment Projects Manager)
Historic Environment has a project team of 20 staff covering a broad range of
expertise, able to draw in funding to deliver a range of projects related to the
understanding, care, promotion and appreciation of the historic environment.
3.1 Landscape surveys
Tehidy Parkland: Fieldwork has been completed and a draft report produced, to
feed into management proposals in a project with Cornwall Environmental
Consultants, for Cornwall Council. This has included identification of prehistoric
enclosures and historic parkland and ornamental features, including complex
arrangements for water management in the valley bottom.
Isles of Scilly field boundaries: Fieldwork has been undertaken for the Isles of
Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to record a sample of historic field
boundaries and make recommendations for appropriate management.
‘Fields of stone’: Working with the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Royal
Cornwall Museum, a team of volunteers is now busy on this community-based
project, funded by English Heritage, cataloguing a major flint collection from West
Penwith. Significant results so far include a concentration of late Neolithic pottery
and a possible workshop site for Neolithic axes.
West Penwith, historic landscape characterisation: The complex historic character
of the Penwith landscape is being analysed and reviewed to update and improve
the 1994 Cornwall-wide characterisation exercise.
3.2 Maritime projects
Lyonesse Project: Following two seasons of fieldwork on Scilly to sample intertidal
and marine deposits, work continues on the detailed analyses and preparation of
a final report.
3.3 Industrial heritage
Caradon Hill: Conservation to industrial sites as part of the Caradon Hill Area
Heritage Project is due to start with work at Kittows, Holmans and Rules.
Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project: At Devon Great Consols conservation work
has been undertaken on the arsenic complex, and continues on the remainder of
the site.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
Trewavas engine houses: Work on an updated Conservation Management Plan is
underway for the National Trust.
3.4 Building surveys
As part of the development management process, historic buildings have been
recorded at Burmsdon Farm, Creed Barn (Grampound), Lower Cory Barn
(Morwenstow) and Lambessow Barn (St Clement).
3.5 Excavations and watching briefs
Trewoon, St Mewan: A report has been completed on fieldwork during
development which affected the site of a 19th century poorhouse. Some remains
of the poorhouse were recorded, and research provided historical background. A
possible prehistoric field system was also found in the area.
3.6 Conservation works
Scheduled Monument Management 2011-12: Funding for this has been agreed by
English Heritage, Cornwall Heritage Trust and Cornwall Council. The programme
will include an excavation in September in partnership with the Cornwall
Archaeological Society, looking at the impact of bracken on a prehistoric hut circle
in West Penwith. There will be a programme of scrub clearance on sites on
Bodmin Moor with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, conservation of
Kerris Cross, and repair to one of the Kenidjack holed stones.
3.7 Assessments
As part of the development management process, assessments have been
undertaken for areas proposed for development at Pool, Scorrier and Porthtowan.
3.8 Air photo plotting
National Mapping Programme: Air photo mapping is largely completed for a Rapid
Coastal Zone Assessment (for EH) in south-east England and is in progress for
the Hampshire Downlands. The Cornwall air photo mapping team represents part
of a limited pool of expertise available nationally to undertake archaeological air
photo mapping projects, and is able to share best practice and contribute to
regional and national issues.
3.9 Publication and post-excavation programme
Publication of the report on C K Croft Andrew’s 1939 excavations at Trevelgue
Iron Age cliff castle was marked by a launch in May at the Whipsidderry Hotel,
Newquay, attended by the excavator’s daughter and grandchildren.
Archiving is underway for recently completed excavations at Tremough, and for
fieldwork on the North Cornwall SWW pipeline.
Programmes of analysis are in progress for excavations at Camelford School (Iron
Age settlement) and Avon SWW pipeline (medieval blowing house). A major
programme of analysis for excavations on the A30 Fraddon-Indian Queens bypass
is close to completion.
Final reports are near completion for excavations at Penryn College (Romano-
British settlement) and Restormel Castle.
3.10 Other outreach
Five presentations by project staff in April to June included talks to the Institute
for Archaeologists’ conference, and for the Isles of Scilly Research Agenda. A visit
to Chysauster and Lanyon Quoit was arranged for the Restormel Twinning
Association, and staff led walks at Coverack (for Space 2010) and Minions (For
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
MarJohn Teaching University). Media involvement included BBC radio’s Countryfile
(mining and West Penwith), and newspaper reports on the Tehidy parkland
survey and publications – Trevelgue excavations and West Cornwall’s rough
ground.
4. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT ADVICE TEAM 2011
(Dan Ratcliffe, Historic Environment Advice Team Leader – Central Cornwall)
4.1 Office re-location and re-organisation
During this period we have worked hard to minimise disruption from service
reorganisation as part of the wider restructuring of the Transport Waste and
Environment (TWE) service. A new structure for the advice service has been
designed which will continue the unification of the regional district teams under
three team leaders for West, Central and East Cornwall. As a result of this
process all members of the team were required to complete application forms for
new and existing posts within the service in open competition, whilst two
members of the team have opted for voluntary redundancy which will take effect
in the next quarter.
The centralisation of the West team in the new Council ‘modern working
environment’ at Dolcoath, Camborne offices has now taken place with Karen
Pritchard, Andrew Richards, Phil Markham and the THI officers now based from
there. There have been problems with telecommunications and IT systems and it
is hoped these will be resolved soon.
4.2 Statistics
Conservation
Listed Building
Consent
applications-
received
Conservation
Area Consent
applications-
received
Applications
affecting a
listed
buildings or
Conservation
Area- received
Total number of applications-
determined
118 10 700
(estimated)
1794
Planning Advisors (archaeology)
68 new Cases have been logged by the advice team archaeologists during this
period with 67 previously reported cases ‘live’ during this period (i.e. requiring
ongoing work).
Note on Photo Voltaic farm applications
These have continued to be a major area of work as applicants and planning
officers chased a deadline of August 1st for schemes qualifying for ‘feed in tariff’
benefits to be connected to grid. Our archaeological advisors in particular were
heavily engaged in facilitating the adequate provision of information to inform this
process, and once permissions had been granted, in the speedy provision of
briefs for work and the approval of resultant projects designs for archaeological
monitoring. As a direct result of our early engagement with these schemes, which
has aimed to ensure preservation in situ of archaeological remains identified by
geophysical surveys undertaken by developers, archaeological monitoring has
confirmed little if any damage to archaeological deposits has taken place as a
result of these schemes.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
4.3 Development Management – conservation and archaeology
Comparison of planning data from this period and the same quarter of 2010
shows an overall decline of 1-5% in both general applications and designated
heritage asset casework. There has however been a fivefold increase in the
number of major applications determined (from 5 - 25) between the same period,
probably reflecting the impact of the solar farm applications. The effect on
archaeological remains is nearly always a factor in the determination of ‘large
major’ applications and this increase reflects a substantial increase in the demand
for the services of our archaeological advisors, met through streamlining of
processes and front loading of assessment to pre-application stage. The decrease
in designated casework is far less significant than the forthcoming decrease in the
resources we have available for building conservation advice – an issue which will
require very careful management over the coming quarters.
In addition to the usual variety of caseload, several major schemes occupied a
significant element of work. A selection is set down below:
In the west area, at Hayle, the Conservation Officer has continued working with
engineers on site to agree a detailed methodology for repairs to harbour walls; a
series of sample panels were created in the process of finding a suitable mortar
finish for this challenging marine context. Materials for the public realm have
been discussed and approved. Further investigations into the buried archaeology
of the harbour area, undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology, has helped to
inform development options. A series of workshop-type sessions has been held to
progress options for South Quay. Discussions continue on other important sites
being considered for supermarket development. Matters of principle, design, and
consideration of potential impact on the World Heritage Site are still under
discussion with applicants and other stakeholders.
The Conservation Officer has worked with the Harbour Master and the Council’s
surveyor to agree a programme of repairs and refurbishments to the grade II*
Colonnade Building on South Pier, Penzance. Further repairs to the pier are
planned.
The Historic Environment Service, together with other services of the Council,
continues to work with Network Rail towards the creation of a key new site in
West Cornwall, the proposed transport hub at St Erth Station. The Conservation
Officer is working with a wide project team to resolve difficulties of
accommodating higher volumes of use without harming the heritage character of
St Erth Station platform and buildings. The provision of disabled access to the
station from the proposed new car park on the far (St Erth) side of the station is
currently under negotiation.
A Powerpoint presentation: ‘Proposals for sympathetically upgrading local historic
buildings and developing traditional skills’ was prepared by Andrew Richards for
presentation at Green Build Cornwall, a 2 day event at the Eden Project on 8th
and 9th April. Unfortunately Andrew broke his arm the day before and Karen
Pritchard had to step forward. The presentation highlighted previous and
proposed energy saving measures and traditional skills initiatives progressed
through Townscape Heritage Initiative Schemes (THIs).
Cross Street News, Cross Street, Camborne was refurbished following a grant
from Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI. Works included a new wet laid scantle
slate roof, rebuilt chimneys, reinstated cast iron rainwater goods, replacement
shop front, bay window and dentil course and a new clock. The quality of the
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
scheme was recognised through a Cornish Buildings Group Award presented to
the owners at an annual awards evening at Stuart House, Liskeard on 17th June.
Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI continues to progress well with works at
Holmans No 3 works, Camborne (ongoing) and 27 Basset Road and 3 Penlu,
Tuckingmill recently completed. These schemes all have energy saving measures
built into the works. Holman’s includes a variety of window treatments to enable
traditional single glazed windows to be upgraded sympathetically. 27 Bassett
Road includes 2 variations of slim double glazed units while 3 Penlu has
reinstated shutters and new draft proofed shutters. The performance of the
measures are being monitored by students from Cornwall College’s ‘Planning for
Energy’ courses.
A THI exhibition was displayed at Camborne Town Council Offices during
Trevithick Day.
Conservation Officers have been heavily involved with works to the new
Wetherspoons in the listed former Market House, Camborne. The building has
been vacant for some time and the refurbishment has made a significant
difference to the streetscene. Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI funded
restoration of the clock to the clock tower.
Karen Pritchard attended a meeting at Goonhilly Earth Station on 15th June to
discuss local educational connections and future developments in intergalactical
communications.
Both West 2 Conservation Officers have been involved in ongoing works including
restoration of North and East Ranges of Godolphin House, restoration of
gatehouse at Trenethick Barton, Helston and restoration works at King Edward
Mine, Troon.
The West area archaeological advisor has covered historic environment issues for
Isles of Scilly at the request of their Chief Planning Officer while their heritage
officer was off sick
In the central area, we have continued to be involved in plans for the
reconstruction of the Pandora Inn, Restronguet following the widely reported fire.
An Historic Building Report has been received from Eric Berry revealing that much
of the historically significant fabric of the building has survived the fire and
identifying the principles of a reconstruction that can ensure reinstatement
ensures no loss of character. At Perran Foundry, works to the office building are
progressing well with excellent attention to detail by the contractors securing a
true ‘conservation led’ approach. Elsewhere on site archaeological building
recording is nearing completion and will greatly inform further works. Following
ground tests, the structural engineers are now designing piled foundations which
will secure much greater preservation of archaeological deposits than the existing
approved designs.
At Lower Ninestones, a disused clay works near Carthew to the north of St
Austell, we have negotiated the consolidation of a clay dry chimney, funded by
EcoBos following the identification of its potential for place-making in the Eco
Town Historic Characterisation reported previously.
Work has started on the St Austell Conservation Area Character Appraisal; this
work is being carried out by La Page Architects and is jointly funded through the
Eco Towns and St Austell Town Council. Conservation Officer, Victoria Robinson
has been overseeing the project. A successful stakeholder workshop has been
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
held at the start of the process and a further community event is planned for
early September. Part of the work involves a much needed review of the
Conservation Area boundary.
Luxulyan Valley Conservation Management Plan is in the final draft stage with the
structural assessment of the scheduled viaduct, condition survey of the viaduct
and leats and the hydrology survey completed and finalised. A report will be
taken to the September Environment And Economy Overview and Scrutiny
Committee to formally endorse the Management Plan.
Some success has been achieved in bringing forward the appropriate restoration
of Grade II buildings at risk in St Columb Major with works near completion on
the former Barley Sheaf. The Conservation officer has been involved throughout
the process in providing advice on these alterations.
We have had 2 successful appeal decisions relating to the historic environment,
one for 9 Tanhouse Road in Lostwithiel where the inspector upheld the Council’s
view on the importance of historic stone boundary walls in relation to the
character of the Conservation Area and the other in the Gorran Haven
Conservation Area where an appeal was dismissed relating to a proposed car
parking area which would have resulted in the loss of a historic frontage to a
terrace of 19th century Coastguard Cottages.
Archaeological works monitored by the archaeological officer pursuant to our
recommendations have identified: the location of the north transept of Glasney
college church; a significant late Neolithic – early Bronze Age settlement site at
Mylor Yacht Harbour; and a number of prehistoric sites within the Newquay
Growth Area.
In the east area, the Liskeard Conservation Area Appraisal and Management
Plan has now been drafted and is currently being assembled into a document for
public consultation in the Autumn. Work on the Kingsand /Cawsand Conservation
Area Appraisal and Management Plan has started and should be completed by the
end of the year.
Works have commenced on Codda, a grade ll* farmhouse on Bodmin Moor. This
rare and essentially untouched seventeenth Century longhouse is on English
Heritage’s Buildings at Risk and is now being carefully repaired in phases. The
close working relationship between the owners, Architect, English Heritage and
Conservation Officer has allowed a building, which was in an extremely precarious
state, to be secured.
The out standing application for the conversion of Wenford Dries has now
concluded by being presented to committee and has now received approval. This
extremely large building which is a legacy to the industrial archaeology of the
china clay industry will now be converted to residential properties including some
work home units.
Applications have been received in recent months for the conversion of several
former Methodist chapels. Such buildings are always sensitive to alteration.
However by working with owners and agents at an early pre-application stage,
innovative solutions have been secured. These have respected the special
character and allowed the buildings to enter a new stage in their history.
Consultations have been taking place with the owner of the Pentillie to secure
Higher Level Stewardship scheme for the estate. English Heritage and the Advice
Team have been involved in negotiations to agree which of the many historic
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
features on the estate should benefit from the limited grant available. Here it has
been decided that the restoration of the Grade II Walled garden should benefit
over the Grade II* Mausoleum for which alternative funding may be available.
The walled garden will also generate added value in terms of the overall
commercial viability of the estate.
Negotiations are also ongoing with the Port Eliot Estate to assist in the restoration
of several estate buildings that are in a poor condition. The estate has recently
secured funding to repair the Grade II thatched boat house which has had a
temporary roof covering for several years. This should be completed before the
winter. The Grade II* Lithiack calf barn attributed to John Soane and on the
Buildings at Risk register has finally undergone remedial repairs and is being used
a store by a local scaffolding company.
The Archaeological Advice officer in the east team recently responded to a
telephone call from Devon & Cornwall Constabulary to say that human bones had
been found at Hayle Bay, Polzeath. A child had discovered a leg bone and was
using it as a bat for beach cricket. His parents duly reported it to the police who
observed that more bones were eroding from the cliff face. The bones were
protruding from subsoil below the top of the cliff and were definitely human. As
well as a femur, a pelvis was also visible in the side of the cliff. Further parts of
the body were probably still within the deposit. The condition of the bones was
poor, but not fragile. We concluded that the bones were the remains of a
shipwreck burial, probably of a male of medium height, and aged between 20 and
45 years dating to the 18th or early 19th century. Burial of bodies near to the site
of discovery was common practice prior to an 1808 Act of Parliament, which
decreed that bodies washed ashore from shipwrecks should be interred in
consecrated ground. So, this was unlikely to be a recent murder! The remains will
eventually be reburied locally. This discovery is a valuable contribution to our
growing knowledge of maritime Cornwall and the information will be added to the
Historic Environment Record for future public examination. This is also a good
example of how Cornwall Council’s professional archaeologists and Devon &
Cornwall Constabulary can successfully co-operate for the benefit of the public of
Cornwall.
Archaeological recording of Insworke Tide Mill, the last remaining unconverted
tide mill in the Southwest, is now complete, as is the recording of below-ground
remains of internal water-wheel pits now that the concrete floor has been
removed, and external buried archaeology observed whilst service trenching was
dug around the structure. Once the recording work was complete by the
archaeological contractor, the developer removed the remaining timber floor
joists (rotten) and timber and corrugated iron roof (later replacement).
Unfortunately, sever structural problems were encountered with the remaining
walls. However, after discussion with HE and English Heritage these issues have
been overcome, resulting in much of the original structure being saved in situ.
On the advice and monitoring of HE, work is now progressing rapidly to
consolidate the upstanding walls, to insert new green oak floor and roof timbers,
and make the building watertight once more. The restored building will retain
many of its original features and will remain a locally distinctive landmark (as it
has been for several hundred years) and should look forward to a new economic
future, partly as offices on the ground floor and as an apartment on the first floor
for use by the owner. This should secure the structure for many years to come,
as a result of guidance and advice from HE, and we have also ensured that a
proper investigative archaeological record has been made. This record will be
made available in a publicly-accessible archive through Cornwall Council’s Record
Office and Historic Environment Record.
Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011
Enforcement cases include 19 Castle Street, an untidy vacant Grade II listed
building in the Liskeard Conservation Area which is now going forward for
prosecution. A Section 215 Untidy Site Notice was served on the owner who has
failed to comply with the schedule of works. A similar position exists with the Ship
Inn in Cawsand which will also go forward for prosecution within the next two
weeks.
5. RECOMMENDATION
The report of the Historic Environment team is noted
6. REPORT AUTHORS
The staff of Historic Environment
APPENDIXE 1- Update on targets set down in the Historic Environment
Service Plan
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
HE1 St Austell
Churchtown
Conservation
Area
HE1
Commission
Conservation
Area
Appraisal
and
Management
Plan
HE1 Market House
plan; Shop Front
guidance; Community
consultation
HE1 A
Cooper (V
Robinson)
Planning;
Economy
Working with St Austell Town Council
and CC Planning Service who have
agreed to jointly fund the
commissioning of a Conservation
Area Appraisal and Management
Plan. The consultants have been
appointed and the first stakeholder
workshop has been held.
HE2 Cornwall
Heritage
Strategy
HE2
Publication
June 2010
HE2 Consultation Jan-
April 2010 completed
HE2 A
Cooper (S
Thorpe)
Culture Draft completed and comments are
being analysed
HE3 LAWHF
“World
Heritage for
2012”
HE3
Participate in
Cultural
Olympiad
HE3 Plan and develop
proposal for
community focussed
cultural event for
2011-12
HE3 D
Boden
Communities &
Culture; CYPF
Cornish Mining WHS Cultural events
identified and fundraising underway.
Miracle Theatre engaged to produce
“Tin”, a musical drama that will open
at Heartlands in Feb 2012 and then
tour venues in Cornwall and west
Devon
Engaging
communities and
promoting
community pride
Creating
Better Places
to Live
HE4
“Conserving
Cornwall’s
Past” HLF
Project
HE4
Complete
project
March 2011
HE4 Project
development
HE4 P Rose Final HLF grant and EH grant
claimed. Summary report completed
and final reports for Jewish and
Congregationalist Cemeteries
Falmouth, Condolden Barrow,
Tregeseal Circle, Merry Maidens;
Trethevy Roman milestone; Paul
churchyard crosses; St Piran’s
Oratory evaluation; Tregargus
Valley; Kennall Vale. Some work
outstanding on web site.
Enabling
renaissance of
our towns and
regeneration of
Enabling
Sustainable
Economic
Prosperity
HE5 New
programme of
heritage led
regeneration
HE5
complete
Camborne
THI(1)
HE5 Complete final
reports for Launceston
and Penzance THIs;
Camborne THI(2)-
HE5 A
Cooper (V
Robinson,
A Richards,
Planning;
Economy
Report for Launceston completed
and is available on Council website
at
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
our communities schemes and
conservation
projects.
summer
2011;
Camborne
THI(2)
Energy
Regeneration
and Skills, -
2011-2015;
Sara’s
Foundry
conserved
stage 2 for HLF – all
completed
S Thorpe)
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/defa
ult.aspx?page=17388#Launcesto
nTHI .
Report for Penzance complete
and on web-
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/defa
ult.aspx?page=17388#Penzance
TownscapeHeritageInitiative
Camborne THI -Total capital fund
offered: £836,643 with £502,180
spent – 11 projects complete (7
Camborne, 1 Tuckingmill, 3
Roskear), 4 projects in progress,
3 further offers made. Some
applications incorporate more
than one building – anticipate
about 22+ properties being
improved through the THI grant
funding.
Camborne THI (2) Energy
Regeneration and Skills –
scheme has secured all funding
and been authorised by HLF to
commence. The posts of the new
project team will be externally
advertised in September.
Specific projects will also be able
to help draw down convergence
funding.
Work on Sara’s foundry has
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
stalled, Senior officers in
Planning and Historic
Environment have been
instructed to develop a strategy
to progress action. Maximising the
economic
potential of
Cornwall’s unique
environment and
culture
Enabling
Sustainable
Economic
Prosperity
HE6 Discover
the
Extraordinary
Project
HE6 Project
milestones
HE6 New website,
brand engagement,
capital worked
HE6 D
Boden (J
Williams)
Property;
Economy
Phase 1 and 2 physical works and
interpretation projects completed.
Website under construction.
Several tourism industry
familiarisation events delivered
Market research and PR events
programme commissioned, for
delivery 2011/12 onwards
Promoting
sustainable
development that
benefits both
people and the
environment
Enabling
Sustainable
Economic
Prosperity
HE7
Sustainable
energy guide
for traditional
buildings
HE7
Publication
HE7 Integration in the
Renewable Energy
SPD; Sustainable
Construction Guide;
Traditional skills
training for retro fitting
historic buildings
HE7 A
Cooper (A
Richards)
Planning Joint work with English Heritage,
Cornwall Sustainable Buildings Trust,
National Trust, Cornwall College, The
Green Cornwall and Sustainability
Teams, Eco Lead, Building Control,
Planning and Regeneration and
South West Training Skills to
investigate opportunities to improve
traditional skills and energy
efficiency in historic buildings in
Cornwall- joint meeting held in
Swindon with English Heritage in
February
Developing an
integrated
approach to
managing public
space
Creating a
Green
Cornwall
HE8
Conservation
Area
Appraisals and
Management
Plans
HE8
Falmouth CA
HE8 Completion of
public consultation and
adoption
HE8 A
Cooper
Planning On hold – insufficient staff resources
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
Making the most
of our historic,
natural and
maritime
environment
Creating a
Green
Cornwall
HE9 Review of
WHS
Management
Plan
HE9
Timetable
and action
plan – see
separate
document
HE9 WHS Partnership
Board in place
HE9 D
Boden
Planning;
Culture;
Highways;
Economy;
CYPF
WHS Management Plan Steering
group formed. Monitoring data
gathered and Site condition survey
completed. Drafting of new plan and
public consultation process agreed
with partner authorities. Target date
September 2012
HE10 Higher
Level
Stewardship
HE10 20
Schemes
completed
2010-2011
HE10 Secure Natural
England funding;
Consolidate/interpret/s
ecure public
access/draw up 10 yr
Management Plans
HE10 A
Cooper, D
Boden
(A
Reynolds,
A Cocks)
Property;
Economy
Two schemes are now up and
running, three are with Natural
England for their consideration, two
are nearing submission and one is at
the early stages of being worked up.
Northcott Round has been dropped
as Cornwall Council is now
considering selling this site. We will
encourage new owners to apply for
HLS. Tregonning Brick Kiln has also
been dropped for the present as
changes to the options available has
made an application unviable for the
farm business involved. We are
supporting two further sites -
Kennall Vale and Tregargus Valley -
in their applications.
Of the original ten WHS schemes,
one is in agreement, and two more
are still being worked up. Cuts to
the Natural England budget and
access options make it unlikely that
any of the other WHS sites will now
go forward. We are supporting
further applications for Council
Estate from the Countryside Service
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
HE11 Research
and
Conservation
project
programme
2010-11.
HE11
Projects
action plan-
April 2010
HE11 Programme
agreed with clients
HE11 P
Rose
Planning;
Highways;
Property
Projects Team action plan produced
May 2010 and reviewed in quarterly
reports.
Project development: Scilly Research
Framework, project design
submitted and agreed with English
Heritage; funding application agreed
for Isles of Scilly community
archaeology project; ‘Fields of
Stone’ project design commissioned
and submitted to EH – to catalogue
flint collection with volunteers;
project designs agreed for aerial
photo mapping of Hampshire
Downlands, and SE Rapid Coastal
Zone Assessment. Project bid
submitted for Scheduled Monument
Management Project 2011-12.
Programme delivery: reported in
detail in quarterly reports; projects
include Lowland Cornwall, West
Penwith Survey, Lyonesse Project,
A30 excavations publication,
publication of HEATH volumes and
Trevelgue excavations.
Promoting
development that
reinforces
sustainability,
good design and
local character
Creating a
Green
Cornwall
HE12 Cornish
Character
project
HE12 Project
brief April
2010
HE12 Key outputs
completed 2012
HE12 N
Johnson,
(P Rose)
Property;
Highways;
Communities &
Culture
There have been problems with
securing the funding for this project
and it is currently on hold. However
a pilot study has commenced with
Cornwall AONB to look at
enhancement to heritage assets on
the Roseland. working in partnership
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
with Highways, Parish Councils,
volunteers and the third sector.
Community involvement is
fundamental and will involve schools
where possible. The aim in the pilot
is to record heritage assets and
include a focus on fingerposts
(refurbishment, painting, repair).
Improvement in
the marine and
maritime
infrastructure,
services and
sector
development
Creating
Connectivity
and Strategic
Infrastructure
HE13 Cornwall
Maritime
Heritage
Assets
assessment
HE13 Phase
1 CC owned
assets
complete
March 2011;
Phase 2 Non
CC assets-
March 2012
HE13. Phase 1 project
brief; Phase 2 project
brief and bid for
funding
HE13 A
Cooper (P
Rose)
Planning;
Property
In discussion with English Heritage
Valuing our
people by
investing in
learning and
development
Delivering
Excellent
Services
HE14 Skills
training on
Historic
Environment
HE14
Training
Programme
HE14 Establish courses
with National Trust,
Cornwall College
HE14 A
Cooper (A
Richards)
Planning Working with English Heritage and
the National Trust- 5 days of training
sessions on historic windows were
held at Goldolphin and Lanhydrock in
March (funded through Camborne
Townscape Heritage Initiative);
Morning sessions were attended by
local joiners and contractors and
afternoon sessions were attended by
150 agents, architects, planning,
building control officers and
conservation officers.
Building on best
practice and
continually
improving
Delivering
Excellent
Services
HE15 English
Heritage/Corn
wall Council
Consultation
Protocol
HE15 Agreed
May 2010
HE15 Consultation
Completed March- May
2010; agreed July
2010
HE15 A
Cooper
Property,
Planning,
Highways
Work with Planning now complete
and protocol is being used to advise
new e-planning system. Further
discussions have been held on
procedures for pre-application advice
Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011
Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1
v.July 2011
Objective
Link to
Council/
Directorate
Priority
Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/
Actions
Responsi
ble
Officer
Impact on
other
Services
Progress to date
and for validation of heritage
applications
HE16 HE
integration
with e planning
system
HE16
completed
May 2010
HE16 Agreed internal
protocol for
consultation
HE16 A
Cooper (J
Gale, V
Robinson,
D Ratcliffe)
Planning New e planning system went live in
last area at end of September and
the process for consultation is
gradually being refined
CORNWALL COUNCIL
HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP
DATE 17 August 2011
REPORT OF THE ARCHIVE SERVICES MANAGER AND CULTURE PROGRAMME
MANAGER
for the period Apr to Aug 2011
1. INTRODUCTION
This report covers the activities of the Archive Service and Council’s Museum function
over the period concerned.
2. MUSEUMS
The small grant programme was launched in April. It has attracted a good range of
applications from museums, archives and heritage centres and projects will be
assessed in early September. The applicants notified by 12th September so they can
get their projects underway over the Autumn and Winter.
Several meetings have been held with the wider museum sector to discuss how the
Council can support museums in the context of reducing national and local budgets. A
full report on the outcome of these meetings will be provided for the next HCAG
report.
3. ARCHIVES AND CORNISH STUDIES
3.1 On-site services
The services have continued to attract local, national and international visitors. The
trend of lower visit numbers to the Record Office but consistent document production
figures continues. The withdrawal of the Tourist Information Centre assistant by
Redruth Town Council from the Cornwall Centre has placed the Cornish Studies Library
team under additional pressure as they are coping with the transition from providing a
full tourist information service to a more limited service. The expectation from the
public is high from their experiences in previous years and there is a need for the staff
to find a balance between helping visitors without impacting on their ability to support
Library users and undertake collection duties.
As reported in March, Cornwall Record Office participated in the bi-annual Public
Service Quality Group survey, which asked 80+ on site visitors about the quality of
the service they received. The full analysis has now been received and the results
were very positive. 98% of visitors rated the overall service as good or very good
with key areas for improvement the visitor facilities, catalogues and opening hours.
36% of visitors were new users and the reasons why people were visiting were varied:
- 52% of visitors were using the service for leisure,
- 17% in connection with work or business
- 15% non-leisure personal or family business
- 14% as part of formal education
The % for personal leisure is c.10% lower than other services in the south west which
perhaps reflects the significance of the collections for legal or business purposes.
As a result of budget savings the service needs to make we are proposing changes to
opening hours on both sites. Please see section 3.8 for further details.
3.2 Online access
The small number of remaining paper catalogues at Cornwall Record Office – the ‘X’
miscellaneous collections, Arundell family of Lanherne and Coode and French - are
finally being added to the system and the retro-conversion project is coming to a
close. The total number of entries in the CALM cataloguing system is now over
400,000 and it is proving an invaluable tool for researchers preparing for their visits.
As members of HCAG and other users have indicated the data quality is variable,
reflecting the differences in the paper catalogues used as the information base.
Searching some collections can be difficult and we will be looking at how to improve
these areas in the next phase of the system’s development.
Two students volunteering at the Cornish Studies Library during the summer period
have begun digitising collections of images with the view to these being made
available online through our photographic database -
http://www.cornwallphotoimagebank.org.uk.
As reported in the April report, the archives and Cornish Studies sources are
catalogued and indexed in several different paper and electronic systems. A priority
for the service over the next two years is to review the effectiveness of these systems
as finding-aids for the public and investigate the options for creating an integrated on-
line search facility for the Cornish Studies collections.
3.3 Learning and outreach
Participation in projects and events through the learning programme remains high
despite the reduction in staff time to plans and deliver the activities and projects.
1194 people (309 children) have been involved in activities for the first half of
2011/12. Activities during Apr-Aug include:
• Eleven group talks and visits
• Three six week on-line family history courses in libraries
• Exhibitions of material at St Just in Roseland Parish Church and St Austell and
St Ives libraries
• Family learning events in the school holidays
• A trade stand in the Conservation and Heritage tent at the Royal Cornwall
Show where we spoke to over 400 people
• Horrible Histories and The Victorians day workshops for schools in conjunction
with Truro Cathedral
• Visits from St Columb Major School, Pencoys School and an event for Young
Carers in Cornwall
• Exhibition on the history of aviation in Cornwall highlighting images from the
Ted Chapman Collection which is held at the Cornish Studies Library ( ends 3rd
Sept)
Evaluation of the events continues to be high and there is a good series of events and
projects planned for the autumn and winter. The Record Office will be taking part in
the ‘National Heritage Open Days’ on the 10th September when members of the public
will be able to go on a behind the scenes tour, learn about conservation techniques
and see some of our treasures on display.
The Cornwall Centre will be celebrating its 10th birthday with an exhibition and
children’s activities during October and November.
3.4 Collections
The collections on both sites continue to grow. A range of new publications and
donations of photographs have been added to the Cornish Studies Library. One recent
addition of images and documents relates to Redruth Players Club and covers
productions from 1930-1996.
There have been 83 accessions to the collections at Cornwall Record Office. 26 were
additions to existing Parish and Methodist collections. Highlights include:
• X1356, the records of the Love and Honour Lodge, Falmouth, the oldest
Masonic Lodge in Cornwall. The records date from when it received its warrant
of constitution in 20 May 1751 right up until 2002. It contains fascinating
insights into the Lodge and also the development of Falmouth over the past
two and a half centuries.
• AD2136, records of Captain William Jolly of Fowey, 1888-1916, including ship’s
logs, accounts and his day book, which lists individual crew member’s accounts
for cash, tobacco, soap, stamps, washing, matches, medicine and days off.
• X1359, Correspondence, Owen William Salusbury Trelawny while at
Westminster school, 1820-1825
• X1362, Photographs, West Cornwall Motor Club, 1930s, showing vehicles, trips
out and races.
The cataloguing backlog for the Record Office and Studies Library remain a challenge.
The Record Office has been successful in passing the first round of bid applications to
a national cataloguing fund for help to list the Wildred Bede Picard (1914-2007)
collection. The collection consists of the personal papers of Wilfred 'Bill' Bede Picard,
artist and potter, philosopher, Buddhist, teacher and lifelong diarist. If successful at
round two, the funding will appoint a qualified archivist for six months to catalogue
and index the records.
3.5 Enys Project
The Enys Project Officer, Fiona Young, left the team in June and Ben Beckwith has
been appointed to complete the remaining activities.
The volunteer teams working in Penryn and St Agnes are making significant progress
with their research into areas of the collection and their output will be added to the
new project website, currently under development. Their work will also contribute to a
new display being installed in Penryn museum and paid for by the project.
The ‘Digital Landscape’ elements, which has worked with St Agnes Explorers, has been
a great success. The group have worked with a digital film maker on a film inspired
by the story of Thomas Tonkin and Samuel Enys, which led to the Enys family owning
the valuable Manor of Trevaunance. The participants spent time at the Record Office
and in St Agnes gathering ideas for the film. The filming took place over one weekend
and the project can be followed on their Facebook site.
Activities for the autumn and winter include mining heritage workshops, the
development of Cornish language resources for secondary school pupils and a play
based on the life of Valentine Enys.
3.6 Historic mapping
By the end of September the digitised tithe maps will be geo-referenced in the
Council’s GIS system. This programme of work will form a platform to add other
historic maps to and link to place-based records held in the collections.
We are exploring options to make this information and the accompanying tithe
apportionments available on-line, as well as a more ambitious project to link the
mapping to information held in the archive and library catalogues. Although there has
been work undertaken elsewhere in the country to link Historic Environment
information with historic mapping (see – Bristol City Know Your Place project) and also
historical statistical data (see – A Vision of Britain through time by the British Library),
no projects have linked archive catalogue data with geographical sources. There are
significant challenges in establishing how to search and present text-based information
in this way and it is hoped to submit a funding application to the NESTA innovation
fund for resources to work with Portsmouth University Great Britain Historical
Geographic Information Systems team to take the work forward.
3.7 Accommodation project
Further to the recent HCAG meeting, the plans for a permanent solution to Cornwall’s
archive accommodation problems are moving through the Council’s approval process.
A paper outlining the next steps and funding required will go to the Communities
Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 25th August and to Cabinet in early
September. The feedback from the HCAG session (see Appendix 1) has been
incorporated into the report and the detailed meeting notes provided in full.
The paper formally seeks supports for the following actions to deliver the project:
- Formation of a officer / member working group
- Site options appraisal
- Feasibility study to determine detailed building requirements and costs
- Consultation plan
- Review of options regarding the Cornwall Centre
In the meantime, a solution to the interim challenges the service faces is being sought
with property services in partnership with the Registration Service.
3.8 Proposed changes to opening hours
As part of the £5.5 million savings for Shared Services, a savings target of £80,000
was agreed in the Emergency Budget for Cornwall Record Office and the Cornish
Studies Library, which are now part of the Operational Support arm of Shared
Services.
Some savings have been made by reallocating staff resources which resulted in less
cataloguing and preservation management activities and a reduction in the learning
programme and management capacity. However, as reported last April, this approach
was only sustainable in the short-term and the reductions needed to reach the total
£80,000 savings cannot be made without some changes to how we deliver services to
the public.
Our primary consideration is balancing on-site access to unique sources with ensuring
staff have sufficient capacity to care for the collections and meet public demand for
improved information through cataloguing and digitisation. A decision report on the
new opening hours has been prepared for the Corporate Director of Communities who
has to make the decision about what changes to put in place and there will be the
opportunity for organisations and the public to comment on the proposals during
August and September.
Information on the changes and how to respond will be available on the service’s
website www.cornwall.gov.uk/cro from the 22nd August and in the searchrooms.
In summary, the recommendation for the Cornish Studies Library is to close on a
Wednesday and open half a day on Saturday. The new opening hours would be
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.00am-5.00pm and Saturday 10.00am-
1.00pm
There are two options for the Cornwall Record Office opening hours:
Option A: Closed for the first full week of every calendar month. For the rest
of the month, open four days a week from 9.00am-4.30pm Tuesday to Friday.
The closed week would be used for collection cataloguing and preservation
work so that we can make inroads into the cataloguing backlog and more
collections available to the public and online. This system is already used
successfully by Warwickshire County Record Office and Bath Record Office. An
overall reduction of 23%.
Option B: Open three days a week with one late night opening. Wednesday
9.00am-7.00pm, Thursday 9.00am-4.30pm, Friday 9.00am-4.30pm. The
additional closed day would be used work with volunteers and cataloguing.
There would be an overall reduction in opening hours of 16%
The proposals also include the option to open one Saturday a month.
The longer term accommodation project could mitigate the impact of these reductions
by uniting staff and users on to one site which would create shared efficiencies in the
delivery of the public services and enable an increase in opening hours.
If members of HCAG would like the opportunity to discuss the options and the
background to the recommendations in more detail please contact Deborah Tritton
([email protected] / 01872 323125) or Kim Cooper ([email protected]
/ 01209 216760) .
7. RECOMMENDATION
The report of the Archive Service and Museum function is noted
8. REPORT AUTHORS
Kim Cooper, Principal Library Officer, Cornish Studies
Julie Seyler, Culture Programme Manager
Deborah Tritton, Archive Services Manager
APPENDIX
Feedback from the HCAG meeting, June 2011
Appendix 2_Feedback from HCAG discussion session_ June 2011.doc
Historic Cornwall Advisory Group, 29th June 2011 – discussion summary
The group had a presentation about the project and then split into smaller groups to discuss particular issues relating to access, collections use, learning and participation
and wider partnership links. The feedback from the individual groups is in Appendix 1. The discussions were positive and useful with a good range of views and ideas. In
addition to the responses to specific topics, the following themes emerged:
• What is Cornwall Council’s vision for service? There was strong support for the proposal to solve the archive accommodation
issues but the wider vision for the project is still unclear. It was felt that the collections are sufficiently significant in themselves to be a priority for investment
and this should not be lost sight of in the wider discussions. Other members raised concerns about the need to ensure the vision matched the revenue streams which would be needed to deliver the service and the need to avoid creating a
another piece of cultural infrastructure which is unsustainable at a time when the existing institutions already need support.
• The role of outreach, inclusion and engagement in the proposals.
The group cited evidence that the most effective learning and interpretation programmes in Cornwall are often not single-site based. Projects which work with
local communities and target audiences in-situ rather than requiring people to visit a location are very successful and work with the distributed population
pattern. It was felt any activity programme associated with the project should be weighted towards this model rather than heavy investment in on-site facilities. Projects to work across sectors and institutions should also be a priority.
• There needs to be an associated digital access strand.
All the discussions included reference to on-line access both as a user expectation and as a way to improve access. Linked to this, members also highlighted the
need for greater integration of information, improved signposting and addressing the cataloguing backlog.
• Next steps.
- Undertake a wider consultation to establish needs and priorities
- Identify and invest in those programmes of work which will underpin the long-term vision, including:-
Digitisation Integration of key sources
Co-ordinated learning offer
- Develop a clear vision and timetable for the project
Appendix 2_Feedback from HCAG discussion session_ June 2011.doc
Appendix 1: Group discussion feedback
A. Collections and their use.
Q1: Which organisations’ collections and services do you or your organisations’ members use regularly? e.g. CSL, CRO, RIC, Cornwall Family History Society, Morrab Library etc.
It was felt that CRO and CSL were the central points of contact, with other organisations for more specialist materials or a geographic focus, e.g., town
museums, Morrab, HER. The need for effective signposting to different organisations is very important.
Digitisation will enable a central point of contact while original materials can
remain in-situ. Q2: Do you use online catalogues or information from websites as part of your
research or prior to a visit or making an enquiry?
Yes and it makes visits far more profitable. However their needs to be improved search facilities on individual catalogues and a move towards integrated searching.
Q3: What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of having Cornwall Record
Office and the Cornish Studies Library on two different sites?
Better on one site, physical access easier and a wider pool of knowledge and
expertise. Integration important but the use of distinct research areas for different types of visitors.
There would be no loss to the services by having one site but there may be an economic impact to the area where the facility is lost. This was not felt to be
sufficient reason for not doing it.
B. Access Q1 The new building has to operate as a home for the collections, users and staff for the
next 40+ years.
(a) How might user expectations change in that time?
The main trend will be the increased demand for online access to records and
information and users may have much more sophisticated expectations. It was also felt that users would expect ‘integrated access experience, accessing all
aspects of the site in one visit.
(b) What other medium/long-term factors do we need to take into account?
- sufficient capacity for growth is vital – the building must be large enough not to be outgrown.
- climate change will place increased pressure on controlling the temperature and
environmental conditions.
Appendix 2_Feedback from HCAG discussion session_ June 2011.doc
- The volunteer demographic needs to be considered as groups are struggling to attract new members
- Programme to update media and equipment, especially digital media.
Q2: Access to records and books relies on staff and volunteers having sufficient time and space to catalogue collections. Do you think that cataloguing collections that have not been catalogued to date should be a priority for the service?
Cataloguing, especially in an on-line environment, should be a priority.
Q3: What opportunities could the project create for caring for or linking with other non- Cornwall Council organizations to improve access to or awareness of their collections?
- Links with the Diaspora communities
- Showcase opportunities for local/specialist groups and collections. - Links with the heritage gateway - Building links with private collections.
C. Learning and Outreach
Q1a. The project has the potential to build facilities for groups, learning activities and community use. Is this a priority for the building?
Need for a clear vision for the ‘facilities’ and the organisation needed to run it. It
was felt that the emphasis on the building as a focus for learning/interpretation activities might not be the most effective strategy for engaging targeted audiences or the wider community.
Distributed models have been much more successful in Cornwall, e.g., WHS
learning strategy. CRO learning programme Q1b: Which organisations should the project be working with to develop these facilities
at the planning stage so they are successful and usable?
- Younger people, existing users, peer group members, e.g., CAN, CMG and HCAG, funders, Economic Development/Tourism, Cultural groups.
Q2. One suggestion is that in addition to facilities for groups and the local community, there should be a public space with displays and temporary exhibitions. This could
enable manuscripts related to Cornwall but held elsewhere to be displayed and objects from museums to be linked with documents in collection. Do you feel this would enhance the ‘cultural offer’ of the building, raise its profile and attract visitors?
No,
- Keep facilities minimal - Offer an outreach service, build on existing model.
- Enhance key partner sites - Key is digitisation and IT to deliver access and sources remotely.
Q 3:What needs to be taken in account regarding the location and accessibility of the facility for these wider opportunities to be realised?
Appendix 2_Feedback from HCAG discussion session_ June 2011.doc
- Cost and sustainability - public access
- planning gain/section 106 - different functions might not necessarily all be in one place.
Other points: There was a wider discussion about aspirations for the provision of joined-up learning provision to schools and colleges across archives, museums, historic
environment and other local providers. The current situation is fragmentary and competitive - look at best practice elsewhere, e.g. ‘Take One’ scheme.
D Wider links
Q1a: ‘Who cares?’ - Who is the project important to and why?
- Local communities - The collections have a direct link in terms of legacy and identity throughout Cornwall.
- Education, both the national curriculum and CUC’s programmes. They can
help ensure that the Cornish dimension is woven into the curriculum. - Family and local histories, including the Cornish Diaspora.
Q1b What are the implications for Cornwall’s heritage and communities if nothing is done to improve provision?
- dilution of Cornish identity
- compromise of the physical archives - loss of collections.
Q2: What can we do to involve the wider community in the project, from the first phases of development to its use?
- What do communities want? - Instil/encourage pride in local heritage – a ‘sense of place’.
- Heritage-led regeneration an important consideration. - CNAs.
- Promote Cornish identity, e.g., language. - Attract collections.
Q3: Are there other organisations with similar aims who could be part of the scheme and enhance the facilities and services e.g. book-binding companies, family history society,
artists studio etc The following organisations:
- OCS - Local History Groups - Family History Groups
- VCH - Kids Groups
- Local Museums (hub vs. distributed model) Need to use the media to raise the profile and encourage local interest, e.g.
Heritage Roadshows.
DISCOVER THE EXTRAORDINARY PROJECT 1 April – 30 June 2011 Summary Nearly all the initiatives in phases 1 and 2 of the Discover the Extraordinary Project (DtE) have now been completed, and on time and on budget. All the major capital works at the mining heritage attractions have been delivered, and the product enhancement stage of DtE is therefore now almost complete. The DtE Project will from now on be focusing on the next stage which is marketing and tourism business engagement based on the enhanced WHS product. Project Staff The new DtE Principal Officer (Project Manager), David Rutherford commenced work on 3 May. Marketing & Visitor Information Officer, Samantha Snow, has extended her maternity leave. Capital Works at WHS Key & Area Centres The DtE Project has now completed implementation of the WHS Key and Area Centre interpretation and visitor orientation at 11 WHS Key and Area Centres. These are the visitor gateway attractions to the 10 WHS areas. Interpretation Heartlands Outside Studios have been commissioned to design the World Heritage Site interactive map table which will provide the focal point of the World Heritage Site Key Centre (i.e. visitor gateway) visitor interpretation and orientation, and be cutting edge. The map table will be roughly 5 metres by 2 metres and will cover the entire area of Cornwall and west Devon. The map will be printed on electroluminescent paper, which can be programmed to light up in certain places producing a simple moving light animation. The intention is to use this animation creatively to present the story of the WHS - the 10 areas, the scope of the key lodes and mineral deposits, and the mineral tramways and mining ports in a 5 minute presentation. There will be approximately 100 simple models marking key mining heritage attractions and sites. Visitors will be able to use ipad touchscreens located on a rail around the interactive map table to find out more about what there is to see and do in the World Heritage Site, and about sustainable options such as using public transport. Audio Trails The five audio trails are currently being tested by focus groups. The next round of audio trails are being planned, and a scoping exercise is being undertaken by the Interpretation Officer into the use of different technologies and the benefit of presenting these within a WHS app. Minions Heritage Centre
The Centre was visited by Cornwall Councillors in June, and will be opened officially in July by the Vice Chairman of Linkinhorne Parish following a morning of school activities and a guided walk and talk of the area.
Poldark Mine Museum
The photographic exhibition introducing the theme of Cornish miners overseas was opened in May by the Mexican ambassador to the UK Eduardo Medina Mora Icaza, and the UK ambassador to Mexico Judith Macgregor.
Tavistock Museum A new timeline and welcome sign have been commissioned for the Museum, and Denham Productions have been appointed to produce a short film exploring the history of the Bedford Cottages, a key story for this World Heritage Site area. Denham Productions are experienced in producing quality heritage films, and have previously produced the successful short film on Tavistock Abbey for Tavistock Museum. Gwennap Pit A children’s guide has been commissioned for Gwennap Pit. The colour guide will be aimed at primary school children and accompanying adults, and will include games and puzzles to introduce the stories of mining and Methodism at the Pit. It will be available for schools and visitors to purchase at the Pit by early next year. Tamar Valley Centre Plans to enhance the interpretation at the Tamar Valley Centre are underway. This will include orientation panels for when the Centre is closed, a new short film to accompany the existing AV offer in the Centre, and enhanced interpretation on the CMWHS within the Centre using high impact images. St Agnes Museum A touchscreen brief is being worked up at St Agnes Museum. The interactive touchscreen will provide visitors and family history enthusiasts with information about the mining and social history collections, and also give disabled visitors access to the exhibits on the upper floor. The touchscreen will go live by March 2012. Also an external site sign is being produced which can be erected and displayed by Museum volunteers. St Agnes Museum Trust has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2011 Extract from press release:
“St Agnes Museum Trust is absolutely delighted and tremendously honoured to have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2011 and is very grateful to all our volunteers whose hard work in so many different ways has made this award possible. We have more than 60 volunteers helping to run the Museum, doing everything from stewarding seven days a week during a long season, to maintaining our working longcase clocks, providing hanging baskets, helping at coffee mornings (including baking cakes and growing plants), maintaining a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about St Agnes Parish, and painting and decorating. This winter many of our regular volunteers braved the freezing weather to help with the major refurbishment of the Museum, emptying and refilling cabinets, removing old carpets, painting internally and externally, and cleaning the listed building from top to toe after the building works had been completed”
Publications An audit of existing publications on the CMWHS is being undertaken, and plans drawn up for a suite of publications exploring the mining landscape, wildlife and industrial heritage aimed at our target audiences. Other Capital Works at WHS Key & Area Centres Gwennap Pit Permission has been secured from the Methodist Church via the online project register portal to install AV equipment in and around the Pit area in order to broadcast to the main buildings thus increasing access to live events from within the main buildings which provide wheelchair access. Further permission has also been secured to move the main entry point so that it is flush with the building itself, rather than the inset position it now operates from. King Edward Mine The works to the new AV room are complete, and provide a fully equipped AV room for 40 people. They have included new AV equipment including a ceiling mounted digital projector, new dias, seats, carpet, both vertical blinds and roller blinds to all 5 windows, replacement of 2 casement windows and replacement of all glass in remaining 3 casement windows with 6.4mm laminated glass to minimise vandalism, security bars on all windows, and 5 very large historic prints of people at King Edward Mine to enhance the walls. The Cornish Buildings Group Awards 2011 included a Commendation for the Winder and Compressor Houses building. There were 58 entries and there is only ever one ‘Award’ each year and several Commendations, so we were very pleased with the Commendation. Eight representatives of the building project team attended the awards ceremony, and there has been good media coverage. The exhibition of the Awards will be touring throughout Cornwall.
St Agnes Museum Tenders have been returned for the access improvements between the main road and the entrance to the museum. These will substantially improve the drainage of surface run-off, as this is eroding the access path and causing gullying. The works include resurfacing the access path, to enable improved access for all. Wheal Martyn The new introductory interpretation in the main entrance foyer area has been completed. Consultancy Services King Edward Mine There has been considerable progress on the options appraisal and business plan. The QS has completed costing the condition survey and the proposals for adaptive reuse of the relevant three building complexes. As they are all Grade II* a site meeting has been held with English Heritage and the Council’s buildings conservation officer. Initial discussions have also been held with the proposed funders, including with the Heritage Lottery Fund on site. The works will need to be phased over several years, and total over £2million for the three building complexes. Marketing Cornish Mining WHS Website The new website is nearing the final stages of completion and is due to be launched on the 4th August.
PR See attached activity spreadsheet from PR Agency – Excess Energy
“The work was funded by a European Union and Defra Grant funded through the Rural Development Fund”.
Advertising A one page advert has been booked in the Visit Cornwall holiday guide for 2012. We are currently actively working on a campaign strategy for 2012; and have been consulting with stakeholders on possible routes forward. A plan will be forwarded to James Glover before September and any activity commences. Visitor Surveys Arkenford Marketing has now completed the visitor survey, which will be disseminated and distributed to key stakeholders, over the next month. Marketing Steering Group No meeting was scheduled in this quarter. The next meeting is scheduled for 29 September 2011.