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Peterborough

Buildings in Need September 2011 – June 2012

Heritage Lottery Fund Project Reference: YH-11-00479 Project Update: June 2012 Report Author: Alice Kershaw, Heritage Regeneration Officer, Opportunity Peterborough

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Contents This report booklet comprises of the report on the project outcomes and achievements, including a summary of results verified by a local architect, and the toolkit for doing a Buildings in Need Survey Section Title Page number Executive Summary 5 Overview of Project 5 Project Aims 8 Overview of Project Outcomes 10 1) Online 11 2) Steering Group 13 3) Training for volunteers and the general public 13

Quarry Visit 16 Lectures 20 Masterclasses 22

4) Building Surveys 26 Civic Society City Centre Survey Results 31 Verification and summary of results by David Turnock, Architect 33

5) Promotion and Celebration 37 Press coverage 37 Support in Kind 40 Costs 40 Buildings in Need Toolkit 42

1. Introduction 43 2. How to use the Toolkit 46 3. Sources of Information 54 4. Appendix A: Letter for Volunteers 55 5. Appendix B: Survey Form 56 6. Appendix C: Excel Spreadsheet of results and Google Maps 60

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Executive Summary The Peterborough Buildings in Need project has been running since September 2011, and will finish on June 28th 2012 with a celebration event. Between September and November 2011 over 1100 people have attended a lecture or workshop on the project, in total 12 lectures at St Johns Church and 17 workshops at various historic locations have been run, as well as a series of visits. Three groups of volunteers from the Civic Society, University Centre Peterborough and Peterborough Regional College have surveyed over 250 buildings and given over 40 days of volunteer time to the project. The project has been promoted at over 6 events, with hundreds of flyers, posters and using a variety of social media tools. The project website is up and running, with 40 pages, 10 posts and 5 modules available on it. An embedded map helps share the gathered information.

Overview of Project Peterborough Buildings in Need ran from September 2011 until the end of June 2012, nine months in total. The total Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the project was £24,200. The project officer is Alice Kershaw.

Photos showing aspects of buildings that can put them ‘in need’. From top left, missing architectural features in the Park Area, Graffiti on Broadway (Park Area) and growth in gutters in the City Centre Conservation Area.

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Through understanding and awareness raising of the historic environment of Peterborough's city centre, members of the local community have learnt what puts the historic environment 'in need' of becoming officially 'at risk', the challenges faced by the historic environment and how these can be managed. This training was provided in the form of daytime, evening, half and full day courses for both dedicated volunteers and for the general public, as a way of sharing information and to encourage participation in the project.

This project trained users of the space to understand aspects such as 'significance' 'setting' and levels of need. It created the most complete building by building snapshot survey of the degree of 'need' present within the city centre conservation area. This survey was carried out by volunteers from the general public, local groups members and volunteers, who was trained up and supported by the Heritage Regeneration Officer and Built Environment team.

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It created an on-line toolkit of resources, including a 'traffic light' style system for flagging levels of need, to enable people to engage on a local level with the management of the built heritage of Peterborough, as a lasting legacy of the project. People were engaged as on the ground heritage champions, aware of the built environment and the vulnerabilities found there.

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Project Aims The overall project aims are as follows:

Raise public awareness of the heritage value of Peterborough with a focus on the City Centre

Promote the good management of heritage assets Deliver a programme of targeted training, activities and events Provide support, feedback and development opportunities for

volunteers Provide comprehensive, accessible information on the condition of our

heritage

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In order to achieve this the following approved purposes of grant were agreed upon:

Create an interactive project website for participants using Wordpress, to allow access to downloadable resources, training modules and survey results

Produce five online modules containing training material and project resources

Establish a community steering group Deliver four walking tours and at least 12 master classes as part of the

training for participants. Carry out a survey of at least 50 buildings 'in need' in Peterborough by

volunteer participants. Validate the results and obtain feedback from professional architects and surveyors.

Deliver a historic environment workshop for at least 20 attendees, plus a lunchtime and an evening lecture series with 350 attendees over ten sessions

Promote the project and engage with interested local groups at a minimum of six meetings/events e.g. amenity society meetings, Heritage Open Days etc

Celebrate the project's achievements with a launch event for the public, including walking tours led by volunteers, hands on workshops and the publication of the survey results.

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Overview of Project Outcomes The project outcomes split into 5 key interlocking areas, the online presence of the project through a website, the steering group, training for volunteers and the general public (for the purposes of this grant the general public count as volunteers once they have undergone any training, as they have

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given up their time for the project), building surveys and the promotion and celebration of the project as a whole. 1) Online Outcomes

Create an interactive project website for participants using Wordpress, to allow access to downloadable resources, training modules and survey results

Produce five online modules containing training material and project resources

Update The Wordpress website www.peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com has been created, maintained and updated by the project officer. It is a free open source Wordpress blog converted to a website. As such it has no current or forward costs for hosting and will continue to run beyond the length of the project. The straightforward content management system allows for quick and flexible updates and editing through the ‘dashboard’, also at no cost. So far it has had over 4000 individual hits, and the daily visitation rate is rising. It has over 40 individual pages and 10 front page posts. The front page also links to the social media aspects of the promotion, the Twitter (@buildingsinneed) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/buildingsinneed) page which allow communication to and from the project on different free platforms. A ‘Box net’ widget on the main page also allows downloads of key documents, flyers for events and fact sheets.

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The pages allow the user to drill down to reports on previous events, all of which have a page on the site. Some of the event pages, under ‘resources’, have embedded Slideshare slideshows if these have been made available by the speaker. These allow the viewer to download or run on screen the lecture slides. It is also free open source software. Alongside slide shows there are photos of the events taking place and in many cases short summaries of key points written by the project officer and uploaded very soon after the event. Bibliographies and links to relevant sites are also embedded where available. Results are added to a Google Map embedded into the site, and can be viewed by the public, so far it has had several hundred hits. The 5 module pages are all populated to a certain degree, with the exception of the final module, which can only be populated once the project final results have been returned. These link to the resource pages and also to slides, PDF documents and e-books where relevant. Starting with the use of social media for promotion, including a Twitter dictionary, downloads of slides on social media and quick guides to using Wordpress and Google maps, as well as Twitter and Facebook, the first module helps to break down the boundaries of online usage for those volunteers not so familiar with the medium. As a result of the workshop on social media, an additional 5 participants are now on Twitter and using it to highlight the built environment.

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2) Steering Group Outcomes

Establish a community steering group Update Steering Group established, the initial meeting was held in September 2011, the second in November 2011, and another three meetings held before the completion of the project. The community steering group consists of local representatives from Opportunity Peterborough, Peterborough Regional College and University Centre Peterborough, Peterborough Civic Society, Peterborough City Council, Natural England and English Heritage, St John the Baptist Community Interest Company, Peterborough Environment City Trust, Vivacity Culture and Leisure Trust and Peterborough Cathedral. All of these members are key stakeholders within the City Centre area of Peterborough and within the heritage sector of the Unitary Authority area and beyond. This will allow dissemination of results of the project and legacy. The feedback from this steering group has been valuable in driving the direction of the project, developing contacts, finding volunteers and event suggestions and speakers.

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3) Training for volunteers and the general public Outcomes

Deliver four walking tours and at least 12 master classes as part of the training for participants.

Deliver a historic environment workshop for at least 20 attendees, plus a lunchtime and an evening lecture series with 350 attendees over ten sessions

Update 12 lectures in St Johns Church and 17 Masterclasses have been delivered for this project, with over 1000 attendees across the two. The attendance numbers and information on the events are below. Walking tours have been undertaken with volunteer groups and are highlighted in the survey section below. So far four walking tours have been undertaken. Two more for the general public are taking place as part of the Peterborough Heritage Festival. Three of the Masterclasses were delivered by Shape East.

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About Shape East: SHAPE EAST is a Centre for Design Excellence and Sustainable Innovation based in the East of England. We are dedicated to providing a positive influence on the quality of urban design and the built environment through supporting the professional community, engaging the public and facilitating debate and understanding between the two. We do this by running a diverse and ever-changing range of events; from professional training seminars to public lectures, local walking tours to school model-making workshops. Our central objectives are to:

Inspire and excite people about the built environment and help them see it through fresh eyes.

Increase understanding of the importance of good planning, urban

design, architecture and construction.

Encourage people to participate in the planning and other processes which shape change in their communities.

Prepare the ground for the future by engaging children and young

people in built environment issues. http://www.shape-east.org.uk/

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Quarry and Geology Visit On April 30 and May 1 student volunteer groups from Peterborough Regional College and University Centre Peterborough, in association with this project and GeoPeterborough (representatives on the Buildings in Need steering group via Natural England) went on a visit to geological sites across the district to see processes relating to the geology of the built environment, and that geology in situ. The agenda was the same both days and 15 students and two tutors attended each day.

The morning began with two short lectures by Dr Jonathan Larwood and Dr Colin Prosser, both Geologists with Natural England, followed by a tour of Peterborough city centre, including Cathedral Precincts and the Cathedral itself. The afternoon was a visit to Ketton Quarry followed by a visit to nearby Stamford stone to see the stone being carved before shipping.

Colin pointing out red granite setts in the Cathedral Precincts

Jonathan giving a talk in the morning.

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Using hand lenses to identify oolithic and shelly Lincolnshire limestones.

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Photos from the GeoPeterborough days

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Lectures 12 arranged in total, up from 10 originally proposed Total attendees: 718 of 350 total required for whole project. Over 100% increase on original outcome. As a result of this lecture series St John’s Church have continued to run lectures as a way of bringing life to the building.

Photos from the lecture series

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Lecture Summary Table

Date Number of Attendees

11-Oct Victorian Peterborough, Brian White 43

18-Oct Heritage, History and Regeneration, Steve Bowyer 29

25-Oct Why is Peterborough City Centre a Conservation Area? Jo Burton 29

01-Nov Georgian Peterborough, Stuart Orme 68

08-Nov Peterborough Before and After the coming of the Railways, Brian White 58

16-Nov Peterborough Cathedral Archaeology 74 21-Feb-

12 Ghosts of Peterborough, Stuart Orme 92 28-Feb Boongate- A Hamlet to the East, Brian Jones 65 6-Mar A History of Broadway, Stephen Perry 73

13-Mar Vernacular Architecture, David Grech, English Heritage 63

20-Mar Peterborough in Architectural Detail, Toby Wood and David Jost 75

27-Mar Wildlife and Buildings, James Fisher 49 TOTAL 718

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Masterclasses The Masterclasses also have a feedback element to them. Every attendee is given a feedback form and asked to fill it out.

This has been overwhelmingly positive, with the content, pace and feedback on the tutors coming in at 100 % good or excellent for every class. Where feedback has been given on room layouts and lighting that is not up to standard this has been taken into account for future Masterclasses and has directly informed them. The attendance at Masterclasses has to be smaller than the lectures and has been nearly100% full so far in terms of capacity. Feedback has also been given through Twitter, as can be seen below from two Masterclass attendees and the Quarry visit.

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Total number of Masterclasses run is 17 from the original 12 suggested including one Heritage workshop run by SPAB out at Sacrewell Farm. Total attendees of Masterclasses: 402

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Masterclass Summary Table

Date Title Attendees

1 Oct-

26 Social Media and the Built Environment, James Mott, Projectbook 24

2 Nov-

05 Archives Masterclass, Richard Hillier, Vivacity 23

3 Nov-

10 Conservation Area Appraisal Masterclass, Jo Burton, Beacon Planning 17

4 Nov-

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Architectural Drawing Masterclass, John Biggadike, Peterborough City Council and self employed 16

5 Dec-

10 Architectural Drawing Masterclass 2, John Biggadike 12

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Feb

Historic Environment and Sustainable Futures Masterclass, Shape East with Chris Baines, Peter Rawlings and Dr Andrew Turton 48

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March House History Masterclass with Dr Nick Barratt 47

8 20-

April

Legislation and ‘At Risk’ Masterclass with Shape East, with Nicholas Ray, Lucie Carayon and Bobby Open 28

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Heritage Interpretation Masterclass, Stuart Orme, Vivacity 17

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19-May 2011

Researching People and Places with Local Studies Centre, Richard Hillier, Archivist 20

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24 May

Maintaining Historic Buildings: Rot, Re-Use and Calling in the Professionals! Peter Rawlings and Tony Ingram 33

12 25 May

Bats and Historic Buildings Masterclass, Antony Mould 43

13 8 June

An A-Z Introduction to Fundraising and Projects, Alice Kershaw 8

14 9 June SPAB Masterclass workshop at Sacrewell Farm 20

15 18 June

Dry Stone Walling Masterclass, Peterborough Regional College 16

16 19 June

Heritage Photography Masterclass Day 1 with University Centre Peterborough 15

17 20 June

Heritage Photography Masterclass Day 2 with University Centre Peterborough 15

TOTAL 402

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4) Building Surveys Outcomes

Carry out a survey of at least 50 buildings 'in need' in Peterborough by volunteer participants. Validate the results and obtain feedback from professional architects and surveyors.

Update Three main groups of volunteer surveyors have undertaken surveys. These are the Peterborough Civic Society under the direction of Peter Sargeant, ex Huntingdon Conservation Officer who undertook the entire original Buildings at Risk survey for Huntingdon. Alongside the Civic Society are students from University Centre Peterborough, who covered Broadway within the adjoining Park Conservation Area, and Peterborough Regional College Construction Students (Level 3) who covered the Park Road side of the Park Conservation Area.

The Civic Society had the City Centre Conservation Area covered, splitting it into 17 separate sections and dividing amongst themselves. The high levels of

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expertise found within the society meant they could really hit the ground running on this and results were returned by the end of October. A group of 10 University Centre Peterborough Students undertook training and a tour of Broadway Cemetery and Central Park with the project officer and their tutor Abi Hunt, on October 2nd. They spent the afternoon surveying in pairs and in total surveyed 62 buildings on Broadway.

The Peterborough Regional College Construction students undertook training and surveying in early November. They completed 17 surveys and are going

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to be visiting the city centre with the project officer to examine some of the buildings considered at greater need by the Civic Society in depth.

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Total buildings surveyed is 247 (239 different buildings) Number of volunteers: 40 Total amount of volunteer time for surveys and project support (excluding time training in Masterclasses): 44 days. Taking into account the differing skill levels required each day this works out as a contribution of £4900 to the project. A toolkit of the results has been created and circulated. This will remain on the project website following the end of the project.

Jim Daley, Conservation Officer, speaks to a local agent in the City Centre. Some of the volunteers had never taken part in such a project before, and ‘learning to look up’ and observe was as much of a project outcome as the survey results. One of the surveyors in the City Centre said ‘it has changed my whole attitude to Peterborough’ as it made her more aware of the built environment. Stuart Hobley, Development Manager at HLF East of England, said ”This project has been an exciting and engaging way of giving people from across the community the chance to explore and appreciate their local built heritage. By providing volunteers with opportunities to learn new skills and raising awareness of these buildings at need, local people have taken an important role in championing their historic environment."

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Some of the buildings have been surveyed more than once, with the college students comparing earlier results to their own. Once completed the forms were added to an online map and discussed with the Steering Group for the project, including the Conservation Officer. Below, before (above) and after (below) of Greggs on Cathedral Square. Because the survey had been done and an issue identified the gutters were cleaned during the removal of the Christmas lights. The other actions identified are listed on the Civic Society tables below.

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Civic Society City Centre Survey Results

Map of survey area showing results

Results Total city centre surveys: 133 Total buildings surveyed 168 ‘In Need’ or ‘On way to in Need’ 90 properties (54%) Currently fine 78 properties. (46%) ‘In Need’ High Priority Properties (listed) Action Poor/ Bad 8 surveys (11 properties) Priestgate opposite Museum Pre application advice given to

developers 50 Cowgate (target PSICA phase 3) Laurel Court EH already aware 32 -33 Long Causeway (all issues seem to stem from some

blocked gutters!) to get a letter from JD also.

Lower priority (non listed) Action North St Letter sent (x2) contact with tenants Met Lounge and Sketchley (Bridge To be reviewed

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St), Back entrance to JJB sports through wheel yard

6/6a Cathedral Square NB we arranged to clean gutters whilst removing Christmas decorations

On way to ‘In Need’’ Need Number Fair/ in some need 51 Surveys (69 properties) Fair/ Good 10 surveys (10 properties) Action: used as monitoring baseline, some listed properties picked out: Minster Precincts properties have been highlighted to Cathedral. Listed buildings outside of the precincts total 13 properties, all Grade II and predominantly on Cowgate, Priestgate or Westgate. Exception is the Grapevine pub which is II*. Several local list buildings are on the list as well. Currently Fine Need Number Good condition 63 surveys (78 properties) Action; celebration of good maintenance nearer the time.

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David Turnock Architects: Summary Report For Buildings in Need

BUILDINGS IN NEED SUMMARY REPORT Over the period from October 2011 until February 2012 volunteers from Peterborough Civic Society, Peterborough Regional College and University Centre Peterborough undertook visual surveys of the external fabric of a total of 239 buildings in Peterborough City Centre and the Park Conservation Area. Of this total 168 were within the City Centre Conservation Area, including The Cathedral Precincts, and 71 are located in the Park Conservation Area. Buildings inspected included those on the Statutory List of Listed Buildings. The spreadsheets within this report identify the condition of the external fabric of each building and include a summary designation of the state of general repair at the time of the survey. These are broken down into the following categories: Good/Fine condition Fair/Good Fair Poor This broad categorisation serves to provide a picture of the current state of these 239 buildings, the summary for each area being as follows: City Centre/Cathedral Precincts: Poor 11 Properties 6.5% Fair 69 Properties 41% Fair/Good 10 Properties 6% Good 78 Properties 46.5% Total 168 100% Park Conservation Area:

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Poor 10 Properties 15% Fair 30 Properties 42% Fair/Good 1 Property 1% Good 30 Properties 42% Total 71 Properties 100% City Centre Conservation Area If we look firstly at the City Centre area the analysis of these results gives these main observations:

1. There are a relatively small number of buildings currently regarded as poor but these, by the very nature of the issues identified in the survey, are likely to deteriorate at a faster rate. Where water ingress or structural faults are present then the consequent damage to the fabric of the building will take longer to repair and will cost more to remedy..

2. The number of properties described as “Fair” forms 41% of the total.

These are the buildings on the way to being “in need” and form the body of those properties where a regime of regular maintenance by owners would avoid their condition worsening in future.

3. “Fair/Good” and “Good” form the majority of the stock surveyed.

Generally it is 1 or 2 items on each building where action is required in order to maintain them in the current category or improve a greater number to be designated as “good”. The conclusion is that regular maintenance of minor problems on these buildings is the best way to ensure that they are at least maintained in their current state and do not deteriorate any further.

4. In some areas it is the rear of buildings that gives greater cause for

concern that the front elevations and this is very much the case for Wheel Yard which leads into the Cathedral Precincts. This road is used as the service access to shops fronting Long Causeway and given its nature as a service road, there seems to be little care given to elevation of these buildings. There are occurrences of boundary walls deteriorating, graffiti on doors and seemingly little maintenance given to the building fabric itself. Even where a rear elevation of a building has been designed with some degree of thought such as the rear of the Sports Direct Shop, there is little consideration given to storage of bins and waste which makes the elevation unattractive.

Park Conservation Area With respect to the properties within the Park Conservation Area the majority of those surveyed are either Victorian houses converted to commercial use

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(lower Broadway and Park Road areas) or private houses. The main exception to this is the Kings School on Park Road where the designation is generally good. It is generally those commercial premises which are either unoccupied or only occupied at ground floor where deterioration is occurring at roof or first floor level. Of the ten properties identified as “poor” the common items across all buildings is some missing brickwork/stonework to walls, plant growth in rainwater goods and decoration to the original timber windows. Buildings such as the Kings School (which is in continuing occupation and where a programme of refurbishment works is ongoing) are of a lesser immediate concern. General outcomes and recommendations

a) Building owners who are keeping their properties in a good state of repair should be contacted and praised accordingly and encouraged to maintain a regular maintenance regime in the future.

b) Where buildings are categorised as being in a “Poor” state action

needs to be taken in bringing this to the attention of the building owner. (This has already been done with respect to properties that have visible defects that need remedying in the immediate future to avoid future deterioration e.g. missing roof slates).

c) Encourage members of the public to notice the upper levels of

buildings within the Conservation Areas. If people can be encouraged to look at the City Centre and Park Conservation Area buildings as they are as a shared heritage then there is a greater likelihood that essential repairs required to a building will be spotted sooner. There is also the opportunity to “name and shame” those owners who do not keep the fabric of their buildings in good repair.

d) Identify those building details/ features which can be targeted for

improvement e.g. inappropriate or poorly detailed shopfronts and fascias where a replacement or repair might not cost a great deal to carry out but the overall effect on the character of the Conservation Area would be hugely beneficial. A current example of this might be the Leeds Building Society fascia located in Queen Street Chambers which now stands out since the demolition of the building on the Corn Exchange site adjacent.

e) Realise the impact of a poorly maintained building on its neighbours; a

building that is allowed to deteriorate can “drag down” the visual quality of a street.

About David Turnock Architects David Turnock formed the company in 2001 to serve clients in Peterborough and the surrounding Cambridgeshire area, having previously been a Director

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at Ruddle Wilkinson Architects. David succeeded in developing his Client base and moved into new offices designed by the Company at Lynch Wood in 2004. The Company has since grown to a total of 12 staff with two Associates to assist David with the day to day management and now offers a fully independent design consultancy to deliver a high quality, creative and professional, service in both architecture and interior design. A key current interest is in low energy buildings where schemes are being designed to either Very Good or Excellent standard. Staff knowledge base is split approximately 50/50 between Architects and Building Technologists. We feel that this gives us a good balance between design and construction detailing for our projects where design proposals follow good and efficient detailing practice. Our current projects generally range from £250,000 to £10m in value. With respect to the skills and experience of staff members, this is extremely varied including everything from airports, hospitals, railway installations and large retail environments to residential, student accommodation, medical and laboratory developments, historic buildings and churches. Our approach as a Practice is to provide a very thorough service to our Clients throughout the British Isles and beyond.

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5) Promotion and Celebration Outcomes

Promote the project and engage with interested local groups at a minimum of six meetings/events e.g. amenity society meetings, Heritage Open Days etc

Celebrate the project's achievements with a launch event for the public, including walking tours led by volunteers, hands on workshops and the publication of the survey results.

Update This project has been promoted at the following 6 events (as well as many more!). This promotion has allowed information on the project to reach a wide audience of over 1100 people. Promotion of project at six events e.g. Heritage Open Day, Civic Soc

Event 1 Heritage Open Days September 10 and 11

Event 2 Civic Society Meeting 5th September

Event 3 Environment Network Meeting and Allotment Workshop Sept 22nd

Event 4 Heritage Attractions Group Meeting Sep-13 Event 5 Local History Forum Sep-19 Event 6 University Centre Peterborough Induction Sep-15

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Due to insurance issues it has not been possible to have volunteer walking tours on the night, but a volunteer who is also a guide for the city will be paid to do this aspect of the project.

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Below, a selection of the flyers and posters used to promote the project.

The final event took place on June 28th at 6pm in St John’s Church. This is the week after the Peterborough Heritage Festival, and on the evening for late night shopping in the city, and has been decided upon for maximum impact and visibility. Press coverage For this project the project officer and the tutors have been on BBC Radio Peterborough twice, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire three times and community Radio Station ‘Radio Peterborough’ once.

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Antony Mould from the Cambridge Bat Group on Radio Peterborough. Regular press releases have been sent to the local newspaper (Peterborough Evening Telegraph), and eleven small articles and one larger article about the project have been published. Local free magazine Scene has been supportive. Promotion has been done through PECT’s Greeniversity, RSA Citizen Power’s online ‘Ning’ space, through the Civic Society, Local History Forum, Environmental Network and the Destination Centre, as well as the Heritage Regeneration Officer Bulletin, which reaches over 750 individuals in the area. Local Libraries, coffee shops, Churches, the Town Hall and other public buildings have had flyers left in them. Several different flyers have been produced to target different audiences or for individual events. As well as this a professional flyer and poster has been produced to cover the whole project. These have been printed off ‘in house’ and distributed by hand, post and email. Online the project workshops have featured on Projectbook, Heritage HUB, CBA, the Caravan Club website, Greeniversity, RIBA ‘Love Architecture’ page. Support in Kind. This project has been lucky to receive support in kind from a number of local organisations including Railworld, Peterborough Cathedral, Paper Rhino Design and local experts. This support has totalled over £2000. Costs The total Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the project was £24,200.

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Contents 03. Introduction 04. How to use the Toolkit 12. Sources of Information 13. Appendix A: Letter for Volunteers 14. Appendix B: Survey Form 15. Appendix C: Excel Spreadsheet of results and Google Maps With thanks to English Heritage, Natural England, Peterborough City Council, Peterborough Civic Society, Peterborough Regional College, University Centre Peterborough Front cover images (top) Cowgate, Peterborough, (bottom left) Volunteer in Peterborough, (bottom right) City Centre Building.

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Part I: Introduction

This toolkit is designed to help create a baseline of the condition of historic buildings in a discrete area in order to assess and monitor the scale of neglect with a view to finding a solution, with the overarching idea that prevention is better than cure. This toolkit assists with the identification of interlinked issues, such as vacancy, and low maintenance levels, across larger areas as the first step in resolving such problems.

Fig. 1 Cathedral Square, Peterborough

This toolkit is an outcome of the Heritage Lottery Funded project ‘Peterborough Buildings in Need’, which ran from October 2010 to June 2012. This project focused upon the standing built heritage, both designated and undesignated, of Peterborough City Centre Conservation area. The Buildings in Need project had two strands, the first a survey of the City Centre and comparison with a neighbouring area. The second is a series of training and capacity building workshops, masterclasses and lectures for volunteers and the general public,

details of which were turned into online training modules on the project website: http://peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com/. Why Peterborough?

Predominantly the built environment of central Peterborough is of solidly Edwardian and Victorian stock however some buildings date back to the Medieval period, and the street patterns remain unchanged in the majority for the last 900 years. The main project work was undertaken by groups of volunteers in the City Centre Conservation Area and its setting with a small comparison area surveyed in the adjoining Park Conservation Area.

Peterborough Unitary Authority contains within it over 1000 listed buildings, which when surveyed in 2009 contained 9 ‘at risk’ structures as designated by the Local Authority and English Heritage, and 1 ‘at risk’ Conservation Area out of 29, the City Centre.

Fig.2. Cowgate, Peterborough

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To avoid more heritage assets ending up ‘at risk’ and to reduce the many factors which put the City Centre Conservation Area into this category, this project was designed to establish which assets are most likely to be currently ‘in need’, to raise awareness of what leads to areas and buildings being ‘in need’, and to identify maintenance tasks can be done to prevent them becoming ‘at risk’. What is the Buildings in Need Toolkit For? This tool kit is designed to establish levels of ‘need’ within the built environment of a discrete area, using individual properties as the default unit to be surveyed with a picture becoming apparent on surveying a collection of buildings. This is aggregated to understand the pattern of need across an area, and can ultimately enhance the Conservation Area management plan. For this toolkit ‘need’ is defined as a requirement for maintenance or repair. It is defined in relation to the English Heritage ‘At Risk’ designations. Buildings that are suitable for the national ‘at risk’ list may be discovered through this process, however lesser degrees of need can also be identified. The toolkit results can then be used to create specifications for targeted maintenance and discrete interventions such as repair, gutter cleaning and re-painting that will address the identified issues, thus preventing further deterioration. The toolkit is for both listed and non listed properties of all ages and can be used in Conservation areas to establish common issues for properties.

Developed for use in Peterborough City Centre Conservation Area, which is primarily commercial in nature, the survey methodology can be used on just one property or using multiple streets it can be expanded to an entire conservation area. It is completed on a building by building basis, with one sheet per building. What is ‘need’? This toolkit defines ‘need’ in a traffic light system relating to the fabric of the building an issues that lead to lack of maintenance, such as vacancy of some or all floors: Very Poor

Signs of structural instability or structural failure

Poor Building with deteriorating masonry, leaking roofs, usually accompanied by general disrepair of most elements of the building fabric

Fair Structurally sound but in need of minor repairs or showing signs of lack of general maintenance (e.g. blocked gutter, vegetation growth)

Good Structurally sound and weather-tight and well maintained

Why establish levels of need? In the 2011 report ‘Reducing the risks’ English Heritage highlight the importance of good maintenance to the historic environment:

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‘Maintenance of heritage assets is essential if they are not to become at risk, and to prevent those that are already at risk from decaying further and thereby escalating the cost of their repair and consolidation. Buildings, for instance, decay rapidly when left empty.’

Buildings in a degree of degradation affect their setting, both aesthetically, economically and also socially. This ties into research done by Kelling and Wilson in 1982 which resulted in ‘The broken windows theory’ which is a criminological theory of the signalling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behaviour. The theory states that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime. This has been used effectively in New York amongst other places. A well presented urban environment is also a catalyst for business investment in an area.

A survey such as Buildings in Need could be used to highlight areas where changed policy, strategy or investment could benefit the built environment. The baseline could form part of a funding application as part of the ‘evidence of need’ or consultation if completed by a community group. Who is the Buildings in Need Toolkit for? This toolkit provides a standard process for establishing low level risk or ‘need’ in an area. It can be used by:

o Private owners and tenants, residential and business occupiers

o Public amenity groups, Civic Societies, interest groups

o Students o Local Planning Authorities

Fig.4. Staff from Peterborough City Council use the toolkit to survey buildings.

Fig.3. Student volunteer in the Park Area

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Part II: How to Use the Toolkit Before you start Speak to your local Conservation Officer about a project of this nature if it covers a larger area than one property. In Peterborough we supplied the volunteers with a letter on headed Council paper that explained what the project was (see Appendix A). Equipment

Clipboard Survey Forms (see Appendix

B) Map Pencil High Visibility Vest Camera Binoculars (for looking at roof

and chimneys etc) The survey is completed on a building by building basis and you will need a separate form for each property. Appendix B to this document includes examples of the forms used at Peterborough. Electronic versions can be downloaded from the Peterborough Buildings in Need project website and modified as for use elsewhere. http://peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com/

Completing the forms

The forms are designed to be completed whilst onsite so include several tick boxes, with some areas for building specific comments as necessary. You do not need to put an

answer in every section but do try to if possible. Use your judgement for this.

You will need to enter the 1) date of the survey and 2) your name and contact details.

Name and/ or number of Building

This should be evident from the building itself. If it is not obvious, write the shop name or the last known shop name here.

Is it listed?

At Peterborough use was made of Peterborough Hawkeye online map for volunteers to identify listed buildings within the survey area. However, each local planning authority will operate its own GIS system for recording listed buildings in a map format. If the local planning authority cannot provide access to their GIS system, then the English Heritage Listed Buildings On-line database should be used. Found online here: http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/ the list has a ‘Quick Search’ function that should enable the listing to be determined if the full name or part of the name of the property is known. If the location is known but the property name is not the ‘map search’ feature allows an area based search.

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Listed buildings make up about 2% of all buildings in England. There are three grades of listing:

Grade I A building of exceptional interest, only about 2.5% of all listed buildings are Grade I

Grade II* Very important and of more than special interest, approximately 5.5% of listed buildings are of Grade II*

Grade II Buildings of special interest - these make up around 92% of listed buildings

In addition to statutory listed buildings on the national list, some Local Planning Authorities will also have their own list of Locally Listed Buildings. The Local Planning Authority will be able to provide information on their Locally Listed Buildings.

Finally, there will be unlisted buildings that are still identified as making either a positive, neutral or negative contribution to the character and appearance of a Conservation Area. These will be identified on maps within the relevant Conservation Area Appraisal prepared by the Local Planning Authority. Some Conservation Areas do not have an adopted Appraisal, in which case volunteers undertaking a survey may

wish to suggest which of these three categories an unlisted building might be placed.

Fig.5. Examples of Conservation Area Appraisals and

Guidance notes.

Period of Building

At Peterborough most of the buildings in Peterborough City Centre Conservation Area date from the Georgian Period or later. Only a few early timber frame buildings survive along with some Medieval buildings in the Cathedral Precincts, being older. Again a Conservation Area Appraisal will be helpful in identifying the age of individual buildings. For listed buildings this information will be included in the list description (see EH listed buildings on line etc) If you know the date or approximate period of this building enter it here.

Is the property occupied?

Answer either YES on all floors, NO if it is unoccupied, UNKNOWN if you cannot tell EMPTY UPSTAIRS if it seems to be unused on the upper floors. Tick FOR SALE if there is a sale board.

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Current Use

Is it a shop, cafe, estate agents? Please fill in the main use and function of the building here.

Fig.6 and Fig.7 Shop fascias in Peterborough City Centre

photographed by Buildings in Need Volunteer

Evidence of previous use?

Fig.8. The Draper’s Arms, Peterborough

Is there any evidence it was used as something else? For example at Peterborough the Drapers Arms was once a Drapers shop. If you do not know leave this answer blank.

Windows

Do they look sound? Are they boarded? There may be unpainted frames and signs of decaying or rotting

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woodwork, or signs of cracking to the glass. Do they look original or are they modern replacements?

Fig 9. 10 and 11: Protected and boarded windows, and a smashed one in Peterborough City Centre.

Roof Condition

Are there missing slates or tiles? Is there evidence of decay in a thatched

roof1? Is the roof line straight or bowing? Note this in the other section if this is the case. Also what are the condition of the chimneys (if visible). Tall chimneys will often bow towards the south (due to salts being deposited in the bed joints on the north side, while the sun and wind dry out the south side)

Fig 12, 13 and 14: A hole in a roof, bowing

roofline and bituminous covering on a roof,

potentially disguising issues.

What kind of condition are the walls visible from the public footpath in?

There may be evidence of damage through spalling stonework/ bricks, missing mortar, inappropriate repairs, cracks of all sizes, bowing or bulging in the wall (eye along the line of the wall), damp, staining, defective render,

1 The English Heritage Guidance note on thatch contains the following sentence ‘Bear in mind that the performance of thatch is not linked intimately to its appearance, and like a much-repaired wall a roof can present a motley appearance without being inferior to a much neater looking new job’. (English Heritage, Thatch and Thatching, 2000. Available online here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/publications/docs/thatchandthatching.pdf )

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rot in exposed timber framing or vandalism

Fig 15 and 16. Damaged paintwork and stone/brick work

Guttering and downpipes

Do they seem blocked, is there evidence for water running down the sides of buildings, such as patches of green or plaster damage? Is there evidence of plant growth in the tops of gutters or hopper heads?

Fig 17 and 18. Growth in gutter hopper heads.

Evidence of Missing Architectural Features?

If there is any evidence of missing architectural features which for this toolkit is defined as anything original to the building that has now disappeared, perhaps leaving a gap or differently coloured render or missing decorative ridge tiles, door knockers, boot scrapers etc, note this here.

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Fig 18 and 19:Missing features.

General Condition?

This section will create the traffic light coding when put onto a map. You will have to use the previous answers and your own judgement for this rating.

Select one of the following: Very Poor

Signs of structural instability or structural failure

Poor Building with deteriorating

masonry, leaking roofs, usually accompanied by general disrepair of most elements of the building fabric

Fair Structurally sound but in need of minor repairs or showing signs of lack of general maintenance

Good Structurally sound and weather-tight

Any other comments

Add in anything else here. For each property a digital photo will also be required. For each building take a picture of the front elevation (the section of the building facing the street) and any details you feel are of particular interest, or defects you wish to record. About 4 pictures per building at a maximum should be about right.

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Estimate of urgency of works? If works seem urgent make a note here, this is helpful for absentee landlords to have an idea of urgency for the maintenance required. The proviso is obviously that this is the opinion of one person. What to do with your results Once you have completed all the forms for an area it is a good idea to meet as a group to first moderate your results to ensure a degree of consistency, then to meet with your Conservation Officer to discuss your findings. For Peterborough Buildings in Need the findings were transferred into an Excel spreadsheet that was then colour coded and this data transferred onto a Google Map so that the individual blocks of colour established by the traffic light system could be seen in an aggregated overview. See Appendix C for examples of the spreadsheets and

Fig 20, 21, 22 and 23 Examples of photos of one

property taken by volunteers for the Buildings in Need

project:

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maps and the project website for the complete set of outputs http://peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com/. Local authorities have a primary role in protecting the historic environment. They often have a local heritage at risk register for buildings that are Grade II or Locally Listed and are considered to be ‘at risk’. If you believe you have identified a building that meets this criteria, in that in the traffic light system it is red and is also listed Grade II or locally listed, then you should raise this with your local Conservation Officer. English Heritage publish an annual list of Heritage at Risk, which includes Grade I and II* buildings. If you believe your survey had identified a Grade I or II* building that needs to be added to the English Heritage at risk register, then this should again be raised with the local Conservation Officer, who will pass it on to English Heritage for their consideration to add to the national ‘at risk’ register. Getting a building on one of these lists can be the first step in tackling neglect, and to assess and monitor the scale of the problem and prioritise resources and action. Local authorities can take action to secure the preservation and maintenance of historic buildings through the use of statutory notices. It is essential that local authorities make best use of their powers to secure buildings at risk, to ‘stop the rot’ and prevent the costs escalating beyond the point where it is economic to repair. To assist in the process English Heritage has recently published updated guidance (Stopping the Rot) for local planning authorities on taking action to save historic buildings.

The annual English Heritage register also includes Conservation Areas at Risk and the results of Buildings in Needs survey can help inform a Local Planning Authority in providing up-to-date information to English Heritage on the state of their conservation areas, including those which may need to be added to the ‘at risk’ register.

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Sources of Information: Peterborough Buildings in Need project website: http://peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com/ Heritage at Risk: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/heritage-at-risk/ Reducing Risk, 2011 available at http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/publications/docs/acc-reducing-risks-2011.pdf Stopping the Rot guidance to enforcement actions Local Authorities can take for historic buildings: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/stoppingtherot/ SPAB maintenance site: http://www.maintainyourbuilding.org.uk/pages/maintenance.html Stitch in Time Guidance available online here: http://www.dlrcoco.ie/conservation/IHBC.pdf

HELM website: http://www.helm.org.uk/

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Appendix A – Letter for volunteers

Telephone: 01733 317480

OPPORTUNITY PETERBOROUGH LOCAL BUILDINGS IN NEED To whom it may concern The person carrying out this Buildings in Need survey is a volunteer from the Peterborough Civic Society who is working on behalf of Opportunity Peterborough and the Conservation Team at Peterborough City Council. The aim of the project is to identify potential buildings ‘in need’ of maintenance in the city centre. The initial survey is being carried out throughout the City Centre Conservation Area during the autumn of 2011. Should you require any additional information or confirmation of the above work please call either Jim Daley (Principal Built Conservation Officer) on Peterborough 453522 or Alice Kershaw (Heritage Regeneration Officer) on Peterborough 317480. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Alice Kershaw Heritage Regeneration Officer

Facsimile: 01733 453505

E-Mail: alice.kershaw@peterborough.gov.uk

Please ask for: Ms A Kershaw

Our Ref: AK/BinN

Your Ref:

Opportunity PeterboroughStuart House East Wing

St John’s Street Peterborough

PE1 5DD

Peterborough Direct Minicom 01733 452421 DX 12310 Peterborough 1

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Appendix B – Survey Form

1. Date………………………………………… 2. Surveyors Details

3. Please enter the property details.

4. Is the property occupied?

Name of surveyor

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Please enter the property details. Address of Property

Address 2:

Listed? (if known) Yes/No

List Grade? (if known)

Yes No Unknown Empty upstairs For Sale Current Use and any evidence of Previous Use

Buildings in Need

Buildings in Need Survey Form

Www.PeterboroughBuildingsinNeed.Wordpress.com

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5. Condition of windows

6. Condition of roof if visible

7. Condition of visible walls? (Front or side walls visible from public footpath)

Other (please specify) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Please tick or underline Good - st ructurally sound, well maintained and painted Fair - showing some lack of maintenance, poor decoration Poor - in need of maintenance Very bad - broken or boarded, rot

Please tick or underline Good – well maintained, wind and weather t ight Fair – wind and weather t ight, no visible deteriorat ion Poor – slipped slates Very Bad – missing slates, holes Is there evidence of previous repair eg mortar on the roof, different colour patches? Describe: Other (please specify)

Many Some No evidence

Missing stonework/ bricks

Missing mortar

Inappropriate mortar repairs

Small cracks

Major cracks

Evidence of wall movement

Damp/ water staining

Graffiti

Peeling plaster or render

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8. Do the rainwater goods appear sound?

9. Is there evidence of missing or damaged architectural features? What? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10. General condition of visible parts of the building?

11. Any further comments ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12. Estimate of urgency of works? In the next: 3 Months 6-9 Months 12 Months Please include a shot of the building and any issues if possible. Please make a note of the time you spent recording this building………………………. Please return by post to Alice Kershaw, Opportunity Peterborough, Stuart House East, St Johns Street, Peterborough, PE1 5DD or email to alice.kershaw@peterborough.gov.uk

Gutters with plant growth visible Cracks No obvious problem

very bad (structural failure or signs of st ructural instability) poor (building with deteriorat ing masonry, leaking roofs, usually accomp

deterioration of most elements of the building fabric) fair (st ructurally sound but in need of minor repairs or showing signs of lac

maintenance good condit ion (st ructurally sound and weather-t ight)

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Notes There is more information on Buildings in Need at: www.PeterboroughBuildingsinNeed.Wordpress.com Is it listed?

To establish if the building is listed and the grade use Peterborough Hawk-eye.

http://hawkeye.peterborough.gov.uk/hawkeye/

To use Hawkeye simply zoom to the location required, if you do not know the address, or enter the address in the search box (top right, between 'layers' and 'nearest ').

Once you have a location in the central box you can either see it as a Street View, Ordnance Survey map, or an aerial view. This would be good to have as a print out to allow you to find the property on the ground.

To find out if the building is listed click on 'Built Environment' on the right hand side, and check the box for 'Listed Buildings' and 'Conservation Areas'.

Then click 'Display on Map'. This will show you if the property is in the city cen-tre conservat ion area or not, and if it is red and you hover the cursor over it it will show you the name and list ing grade. If the building is not listed it is st ill of interest in the city centre, it does not mater for this survey whether you survey a listed building or not!

Listed buildings make up about 2% of all buildings in England. There are three grades of list ing:

Grade I - a building of exceptional interest , only about 2.5% of all listed build-ings are Grade I

Grade II* - very important and of more than special interest, 5.5% of listed buildings are of this grade

Grade II - buildings of special interest - these make up around 92% of listed buildings

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Appendix C: Excel Spreadsheet of results and Google Maps

Alice Kershaw Heritage Regeneration Officer Email: alice.kershaw@peterborough.gov.uk Website: www.opportunitypeterborough.co.uk/heritage Project website: http://peterboroughbuildingsinneed.wordpress.com/