Fireplace saga moves on significantly

English Heritage is facing scrutiny from Britain’s new coalition government over claims of a conflict of interest which allegedly saw it “abuse” its planning powers in favour of a commercial partner. English Heritage are currently selling self branded fireplaces, It is argued that its organisational structure is designed to protect against conflicts of interest between its commercial activities and its advisory role.

Liberal Democrat MP and secretary for Scotland, Michael Moore, is investigating a complaint that the quango discriminated against specialist fireplace manufacturer Thistle & Rose – a firm based in his constituency – in favour of a rival firm licensed to sell a range of “English Heritage”-branded fireplaces.

In a letter before claim sent to English Heritage’s lawyers, Thistle & Rose’s solicitor warned that it was seeking damages as a result of its losses. “EH enjoys a dominant position by playing a regulatory role as the body selected by the UK government to secure the preservation of historic buildings in England,” the letter stated. “Simultaneously, EH has the ability to compete for commercial gain for the sale of traditional fireplaces for such listed buildings. It is our client’s position that, from 2008 onwards, EH abused that dominant position by seeking to exclude the commercial rivals of its chosen commercial partner, Acquisitions.”

bd

Baron yields castle after 500 years

Craighall Castle, Scotland UK
After 500 years the Rattray clan have sold Craighall Castle to Sassenach, a London investment banker for an undisclosed sum. He plans to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on the dilapidated pile and turn it into his own family home.

Craighall of Rattray on the outskirts of Blairgowrie, has been home to 20 generations of clan chiefs but the current laird, a descendant of William the Conqueror, has been forced to sell his title and the fortified mansion of Craighall of Rattray Castle, which has been occupied by his family since 1533. Lachlan said, "It needs a lot of work. I hope the new owners will be able to restore it to its former glory and retain some of its atmosphere. I am happy that it has gone to someone who can afford to look after it."

Scotsman

Nick Knowles on Original Features

Nick Knowles presenter of Original Features on the Home Channel was helped by Kate Jerrold from Robert Mills in Bristol, Source Antiques, Rose Green Tiles & Reclamation and Bens Floors, among others. He explores a different home in each episode, from a Tudor cottage in Warwickshire and a Georgian townhouse in Bath to a 1970s duplex in Surrey, revealing that each has a story to tell.

Lovehome.co.uk

Paul Saunders selling a dismantled chapel on ebay

Devizes, United Kingdom
Paul Saunders has dismantled a 1868 church into 10,000 piece and is now selling the flat-pack on eBay for £15,000. The chapel of rest which was 6.5m tall by 4.6m wide and 6.6m long, has stood in the cemetery since it was built. The new owner will have to rebuild the church from scratch but all the pieces are there including pews, 8,000 bricks, lectern, floor tiles, nine bath stone archways and 2,000 roof tiles.





eBay

The Hawkins Zoomorphic Collection at Harris Lindsay

Above: Rare diorama of a squirrel boxing match. English circa 1870

London, UK
Harris Lindsay of 67 Jermyn Street, London will be hosting the Hawkins Zoomorphic Collection, an 'Exhibition of the Rare and Exotic'. The collection as formed over a period of more than forty years by two generations of one family. John Hawkins began to collect zoomorphic objects on his arrival in Australia in 1968 and his daughter, Emma continued with the opening of her iconic shop in Westbourne Grove in 1990. Nearly every zoomorphic object of importance that has appeared on the market over this period has been purchased by the family and is now to be displayed for sale from 2 June - 26 June 2010, 10am - 6pm.


Above: Rare pair of hippopotamus teeth. Silver mounted in the form of candelsticks, Sheffield, 1911.

Harris Linsay

Landmark Liverpool church is flattened

Liverpool UK
The St John and St James Edwardian church in Liverpool was demolished at the end of April. Allegedly a victim of a deal struck between the Diocese of Liverpool and a property developer. Prior to demolition the the furnishings and fittings of the church were stripped out and sold at auction. The site is to be developed in to 16 dwellings. The leader of the local council said that the recent clearance of Liverpool's landmarks for the Pathfinder scheme had 'ripped the heart out of local communities'.

Save Britain's Heritage

Save Bootle's Heritage

Chair belonging to assassinated Prime Minister

London, UK
A chair in which Britain's only assassinated Prime Minister lay dying is to be sold at a London antiques fair next month. Spenser Perceval collapsed into the carved mahogany Winsor armchair situated in the House of Commons after being shot on 11 May 1812 by John Bellingham, a failed merchant. It followed a dreadful 221 days in power amidst severe economic depression.

The George II chair, made in the 1740s, is being sold for £95,000 by 18th century English furniture specialists Apter-Fredericks. It will be shown at the Masterpiece Fair at the former Chelsea Barracks site in London from 24 to 29 June.

Telegraph

Henry VIII's 12ft-tall wine fountain is re-created

Hampton Court Palace was used by King Henry VIII as his pleasure palace [photo. BBC]

The working replica was created after the remains of a 16th Century fountain used by King Henry VIII were found during an archaeological dig at Hampton Court Palace. The 13ft (4m) fountain, made of timber, lead, bronze and gold leaf, stands on the site of the excavated fountain. The replica's design was based on the Field of the Cloth of Gold painting displayed at the palace. It shows Henry's meeting with Francis I at Guines near Calais in June 1520, when Henry also erected a a temporary 'palace' made from canvas.

According to historical documents, one French guest observed that the fountains 'continually spouted white wine and claret. The replica can be found in the palace's large courtyard and will run with red and white wine at weekends and on bank holidays, costing £3.50 a glass, carrying on the tradition started by Henry VIII.


The fully working recreation of Henry VIII's Tudor Wine Fountain was carefully constructed from authentic materials including timber, bronze and gold leaf. [photo. Daily Mail]

Times Online

Miniature architectural surfaces

Berlin, Germany

EVOL is a berlin based street artist that transforms banal urban surfaces, into miniature architectural surfaces through pasting. using pasted paper, EVOL transforms electric boxes, small planters and other geometric city forms, into miniature apartment buildings and other structures. each piece of paper is printed with a repetitive pattern of flat gray walls dotted with plain window frames. once applied to a surface, the paper transforms the form into small building that EVOL often adorns with small characters. EVOL performs this process within different cities and has even been commissioned to do installations in galleries, where he was created entire blocks of miniature buildings.







Evol

'Missing' Moses statue is found

Burnley, UK
Onlookers had questioned the disappearance of a 10-foot tall statue of Moses, which stood outside a former Burnley Baptist chapel. The site is currently under construction to be turned into a dental super-center. Lancashire Telegraph managed to track down the 'missing' statue of Moses to Ribble Reclamation.

The question of its disappearance was Unbeknown to anyone at Ribble Reclamation who received a call from the developers of the Baptist chapel site asking if they wanted to have a look at it. Under planning conditions, the health trust was not required to keep the statue in situ. Ribble Reclamation are now offering the Moses statue for sale.

Ribble Reclamation

Passionate about antiques/salvage, want to be on TV?

We recently received an email from Ife Okwudili the Co Executive Producer at Cineflix Productions (see below), if you are interested in participating please respond directly to Ife Okwudili, whose details are given below;

My name is Ife, and I work for a TV production company called Cineflix Productions. We make a huge range of shows for major networks across the world. You can see more about our company and shows by visiting www.cineflixproductions.com_shows

Why am I emailing you?
One of our most recent successes has been American Pickers for the History Channel. Because of that, we've been asked to look further into the world of antiques, estate clearance and architectural salvage etc here in the UK. If you want to have a peek at that show, you can do so here: http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers.

What do we want?
I am looking to find people spend their lives immersed in the world of antiques and collectibles. Maybe you have a shop; perhaps you're a runner for lots of different traders; ideally you'll have more than one string to your bow, perhaps you'll do valuations, architectural salvage or estate sales as well. We are interested in people who come across and trade in a wide range of items rather than solely specialist markets. We're looking for interesting and outgoing characters, who are passionate about the subject and can communicate that to others. Ideally you'll work with a colleague or a spouse - or have a regular cast of characters you interact with as part of your business.

What do you need to do next?
Just drop me an email to iokwudili@cineflix.com with a few lines about yourself. It would also be great if you could send a photo or any video footage you may have (just a short clip - no more than 2 mins). NB attaching these files can cause the email to fail - so if you're able, the best thing to do is upload it to a Facebook page or free You Tube account and send me a link.

Alternatively, you can call 07947 042626 / 0207 193 8669 and we can have a quick chat.

Rosslyn Chapel an ancient haven for bees

Roslin, Midlothian Scotland

Builders renovating the 600-year-old Rosslyn Chapel, which was made famous in The Da Vinci Code, the Holy Grail and the Knights Templar, has thrown up another unfathomable puzzle: what lies behind the secret of the bees?

The discovery was made when two pinnacles, which had been made unstable by nesting jackdaws, had to be taken down stone by stone and rebuilt. At this time builders discovered two beehives carved within the stonework of the roof, these are thought to be the first man-made stone hives ever found. Allan Gilmour, from Hunter & Clark stonemasons, the main contractors on the chapel, said: “I’ve never heard of man-made stone beehives. What I have seen is bees creating hives in stone. When we restored the Irvine Town House we found that bees had burrowed into the sandstone and created honeycombs. They had weakened the stone. Maybe at Rosslyn the monks had the same problem in the past and created the hive as a sanctuary.” It is hoped the bees will return once the renovation works are complete.

Several unusual findings have been made during the project, including two skeletons.

BBC News

How not to get reclaimed bricks off a 14 storey building!

A ditty sung by the duo The Corries one of which, Robin Williamson, composed the Scots national anthem - The Flower of Scotland. This song is known as The Sick Note and was written by Irish singer songwriter Pat Cooksey in Coventry in 1969 based on an earlier music hall yarn of the 1920s.

Leighton House reopens

London UK - THERE is no doubt that Frederick Leighton, or Lord Leighton as he became for just one day before he died, was a great artist with an eye for design and style. His Kensington house, minus the original furniture but with many of Leighton's paintings and drawings, has just reopened after a major clean-up and refurb. Leighton was a friend of the Gothicists, Preraphaelites, Aesthetics and the Arts & Crafts. His own house smacks of Mackintosh's cheerful individualism with a touch of Harold Peto's penchant for architectural salvage. It was supervised by George Aitchison

His life, written in 1900 by Ernest Rhys, puts his style succinctly:

We must remember the condition of things architectural in the sixties to do justice to the independence of employer and architect. It was a time when the Albert Memorial was possible, and when men tried to guide their steps by the light of "The Seven Lamps of Architecture." A sentimental fancy for Gothic based on irrational grounds was all but universal, and it needed courage to avow a preference for the classical. The compromise in favour of quaintness and capricious prettiness which began under the name of the "Queen Anne style," and has contributed so many picturesque and pleasing buildings to our modern London, had not yet budded. Nor would it ever at any time of his life have thoroughly responded to Leighton's taste. So long as he could detect a defect he was dissatisfied, and extreme nicety is not what the Dutch style pretends to. It depends upon a picturesque combination of forms of no great refinement in themselves, but which give a varied skyline and a pretty play of light and shade. It amuses at the first glance, and as it rarely demands a second, it is well suited to turbid atmospheres, which blur outlines, and a chilly climate in which people cannot loiter out of doors. Moreover, the old-world memories it evokes, although in a minor degree than was the case with the Gothic, contribute to its facile popularity. But the classical taste is a love for form and delicate beauty of line as such, quite irrespective of any associations which may accompany them, or lamps, be they seven or seventy times seven. And to build his house in this style was the natural thing for a sculptor and fastidious seeker after the ideal in form.

The most fanciful part of the house is the contemplative turquoise 'Arab Hall' built 1877-81 which is crammed with wall tiles, many Persian antiques bought in Cairo, Syria and Turkey, and the rest mostly supplied new by William de Morgan with the help of Walter Crane. The marble is a mixture of Serpentine from Levanto, Connemara Green, Cork Red and Kilkenny Black.

On the left, down a short passage, is the Arab Hall. It is so unlike anything else in Europe that its reputation has withdrawn all attention from the rest of the house. It certainly is a most sumptuous piece of work. Elsewhere Leighton satisfied his love of chastened form; in this room and its approach he gave full scope to his delight in rich colours. The general scheme is a peacock blue, known technically as Egyptian green, and gold, with plentiful black and white. Here and there tiny spots of red occur, but they are rare. The harmony begins in the staircase hall. The walls, except in the recessed part, where there are genuine oriental tiles, are lined to the level of the first floor with tiles of a fine blue, from the kilns of Mr. De Morgan, and the soffitt of the stairs is coloured buff, with gold spots. In the passage the tone increases in richness. The ceiling is silver and the cornice gold, while the walls, except for a fine panel of oriental tiles over the drawing-room door, are lined with the same tiles as the staircase. Then between two grand columns of red Caserta marble, with gilt capitals modelled by Randolph Caldecott, we pass into the Arab Hall itself, and we come upon the full magnificence of the effect. It is made up of polished marbles of many colours, gilt and sculptured capitals, alabaster, shining tiles, glistening mosaic of gold and colours, brass and copper in the hanging corona, and coloured glass in the little pierced windows, in fact, of every form of enrichment yet devised by Eastern or Western Art. From the floor, which is black and white, the tone rises through blue to lose itself in the gloom of a golden dome, sparsely lit by jewel-like coloured lights.

In the centre a jet of water springs up, to fall back into a basin of black marble. The form of the basin which deepens towards the centre in successive steps, is an adaptation of the pattern of a well-known oriental fountain. All is equally black in this pool, and the border unfortunately is barely distinguishable from the water. After a dinner party at which Sir E. Burne-Jones, Mr. Whistler, Mr. Albert Moore, and many others were present, I recollect how, when we were smoking and drinking coffee in this hall, somebody, excitedly discoursing,stepped unaware right into the fountain. Two large Japanese gold tench, whose somnolent existence was now for the first time made interesting, dashed about looking for an exit, and there was a general noise of splashing and laughter. The dark, apparently fathomless pool was rather a mistake. Mishaps like that just mentioned occurred, I believe, more than once. There had been at first a white marble basin, but it did not give satisfaction, because, being in several pieces, it leaked, whereas the black one is all cut out of one block, at great expense, of course. But the white had the advantage of lightness where light is none too plentiful. In our winter, when days are dark and cold, black pools, with marble columns and floors, tiled walls, and dim domes about them do not fall in with English notions of cosy woollen comfort. The season to do justice to this hall is when summer comes round. When the sun breaks through the lattice work of the musharabiyehs, and the light is thrown up on the storied tiles, and up the polished columns to the glinting mosaic, to die away in the golden cupola, the effect is indeed superb, and to sit on the divan, by the splash of the fountain, and look from the glories within to the green trees without, is to live not in London but in the veritable Arabian nights.

The hall is square. On one side is the entrance. In the centre of each of the other sides is a lofty arched recess. Those to the north and south are windows, shuttered with genuine musharabiyehs bought in Cairo and having deep cushioned divans. The recess to the west has only a small pierced window high up. It has a raised step, and in it used to stand certain bronze reproductions from Pompeii, with pots, vases, etc., now gone. Some of the tiles were bought in Damascus in 1873. The price paid was £200 for the complete tile surface of one room. What would they be worth now? Others, particularly the great inscription spoken of below, were bought later in Cairo, and the rest at odd times. Here and there are single tiles, but most of them are in sets forming fine panels. An interesting one, in the south- east corner, represents hawks clutching their prey, cheetahs and deer, a hunter, etc., and another has herons, fish, tortoises, deer, etc. Set into the woodwork in the western recess are four tiles with female figures. These are either Persian or come from the neighbourhood of Persia, for the Anatolian or Egyptian Mahommedan tolerated no representations of life. The rest repeat in pleasing variety the usual motives of oriental design, viz., vines, cypresses, pinks and vases, doorways (? the entrances of mosques), with hanging lamps, and conventional floral designs. Above the entrance runs the chief treasure, the grand series of tiles bearing the great inscription. It is about sixteen feet long. According to Mr. Harding Smith it may be translated thus:

"In the name of the merciful and long-suffering God. The Merciful hath taught the Koran. He hath created man and taught him speech. He hath set the sun and moon in a certain course. Both the trees and the grass are in subjection to him."
It cannot be said that there is anything very new in that. There rarely is in such inscriptions. There are three others, but so far as they have been deciphered they appear to be incomplete, and in two cases, at any rate, to much the same effect as the big one. Just pious reminders. The real interest of them lies in the decorative effect of the imposing procession of letters across the wall, and the splendour of their colours. For beauty and condition this great inscription is said to be without a rival in any collection in Europe.

Let into the woodwork panelling in the west bay there are two small lustred Persian tiles of the thirteenth century. They have been mutilated as to the faces of the figures by true believers. The rest belong to the sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries, a time when artistic production was stimulated by the commercial wealth brought by the trade of Venice and Genoa with the East through Anatolia, Damascus and Cairo.

Round three sides above the tiles runs a decorative mosaic frieze, by Walter Crane, of an arabesque design on a gold ground. It is a beautiful and fanciful piece of work in itself, and it serves moreover to blend the prevailing colour of the tiles with the gilding of the upper regions. But it does not continue round the fourth side, because over the entrance, above the great inscription, an oriel window of musharabiyeh work looks down into the hall from the first floor of the house.

The pierced windows, or at least eight of them, were brought from Cairo, and when bought had the original glass in them; but in the east the glass is stuck in with white of egg, and as they were, as usual, ill-packed, the glass all came out and was ground to fragments in the jolting of the journey. Only enough could be saved to fill the window in the upper part of the west recess opposite the entrance. The remainder had to be filled with English imitations.

It is a house worth seeing.

Arab Hall

English Heritage boss supports reclaimed

In the latest edition of Listed Heritage magazine Salvo posed the following question to Baroness Andrews OBE, the new chair of English Heritage:

Why does English Heritage not recommend that owners should reclaim and reuse old Victorian bricks when a historic building is altered or demolished, in line with current government policy? English Heritage's policy seems to be to encourage the bricks to be crushed.

This was a follow-up to Salvo's request for the trade to lobby MP's about English Heritage's proposed new PPS15, which neglects the need to reclaim old materials from demolition for reuse.

Here is Kay Andrews response which seems very positive:

We absolutely do advocate the reuse of authentic materials and like-for-like replacement as much as possible. If a building can't be saved then we would encourage as much as possible to be used again. The embedded energy in building materials is an important resource that should not be wasted. Re-using building materials not only retains local distinctiveness and authentication but reduces carbon emissions.

Sheffield Chimney House at Kelham Island is given new lease of life

Above: The meeting room of 93ft at Chimney House, Kelham Island, which can be rented out. [photo. www.thechimneyhouse.com]

Sheffield, UK
Tim Hubbard and his PR consultant partner Sally Clark have transformed the Sheffield landmark - the Chimney House at kelham into a business headquarters. Mr Hubbard said, "When we heard it was coming up for sale last year we weren't looking to move… until we walked in," and since then it has been a labour of love to transform the Grade II listed building.

"The chimney had been restored but the rest was just a shell when we took over: a dusty bomb-site covered in patchy plaster and crumbling brickwork. We've literally scoured the UK for crazy bits of architectural salvage that we've restored by hand," said Ms Clark. The couple salvaged everything they could from lighting to wallpaper and furniture. "The red and green staircase light is an old eye-test unit, while the main conference room is lit by mismatched white glass lamps and old theatre spotlights, each cleaned and rewired. The solid teak doors once hung in the toilets of a mental hospital, the grain hidden beneath layers of black sludge and green slime. An antique Mr Toad-style car horn offers a means for clients to summon assistance," said Ms Clark

The other focal point, naturally, is the 93-foot chimney itself. From outside it dominates the area. Inside the curved wall has become a mural by local artist Tom Newell.

Sheffield Telegraph

Chinese artists protest over demolition

Beijing, China
It has been reported that about twenty Chinese artists including outspoken activist Ai Weiwei have protested in central Beijing over the demolition of an art zone in the east of the capital. Chinese land seizes are widely acknowledged to involve corrupt officials keen to secure real estate profits.

An investigation has been launched into nine assaults when the artists tried to prevent dozens of masked men from destroying their studios. These assaults were allegedly carried out early Monday 'by thugs hired by local authorities' to force out the artists who believe that their land contracts are still valid.

AFP

Extreme demolition in Nottingham

Above: Man on wall watches nearby ball and chain during the demolition of Nottingham Victoria station during the 1960s (See video below for more men and extreme demolition footage)

US National Trust promotes salvage

Galveston, Texas USA
Galveston's many hurricanes proved too much for one couple house, as it fell into disrepair they donated it to Galveston Historical Foundation if they would agree to move it of their land. Rather than demolishing the house the foundation has transported it in its entirety to the back yard of its Sealy Garage. Thanks to funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The cottage will be restored before serving as an annex to the foundation’s architectural salvage warehouse, which sells historic architectural elements, including windows, doors and shutters, to the island community.


Above: The 108-year-old commissary cottage arrives at its new home — the Galveston Historical Foundation warehouse at 23rd Street. The house was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike. [photo. Galveston County Daily News]

Galveston County Daily News

Bath's wartime salvage scheme

Bath, Somerset UK
Evidence of early salvaging can be found in the book 'Bath at War 1939-1945' by David and Jonathan Falconer, printed in 1999 by Sutton Publishing Ltd. A brief chapter outlines Bath's salvage scheme, which was important during the war years and went hand in hand with the theme of thrift championed during the war campaign. The more self-sufficient Britain could become, the less foodstuffs and raw materials would need to be shipped in from overseas.

Answering the call for salvage, local salvage shops and street depots were set up for the collection of scrap iron, bones, waste paper aluminium pots and pans and countless other items that could be recycled for the war effort. By spring of 1941 some 12,000 Bath households were aiding the salvage scheme and the city took top place among the county boroughs for general salvage collection.


Above: A salvage collection point at the circus in Bath. [photo. Bath at War 1939-1945]


Above: Photo taken from the Chronicle, the caption reads 'It's pots and pans that will go a long way towards winning this war. Any quantity of aluminium articles will be welcomed at the depot of the Woman's Voluntary Service.' [photo. Bath at War 1939-1945]


Above: A salvage scheme leaflet which was issued to all Bath households in April 1941 by the City Engineer. [photo. Bath at War 1939-1945]