Help Local Heritage Buildings

Overview

Assessing the condition of local historic buildings:
York pilot project

The City of York Council and the Department of Archaeology's Centre for Conservation Studies are working with local people on a pilot project to assess the condition of locally important historic buildings in York.  This is part of a wider national project to Help Historic Buildings being coordinated and funded by English Heritage.

York's heritage buildings are irreplaceable and contribute enormously to the character and quality of our fine local neighbourhoods and the sense of pride we have in living here. They are also an important part of what attracts visitors and businesses to come here and keep York a vibrant, living place.

York has over 2000 historic buildings which are protected by 'listing', either on the National Heritage List or the City of York's local list of buildings of merit.  For the most important buildings - Grade I and II* - English Heritage maintains a Register of Buildings at Risk.
But for Grade II and locally listed buildings, which make up over 90% of those protected, there is no record of their current condition or the need for help to keep them in good repair and use.

The pilot project  to survey the condition of local buildings is happening now through to April 2015. We will be trialling an app and online recording for collecting information from condition surveys and photographs. After this we hope to continue with the project and complete the picture for all York's heritage buildings.

To take part or find out more about the project,  contact Claire MacRae at the City of York Council (Claire.MacRae@york.gov.uk) or Gill Chitty in the Department of Archaeology.

Partners

City of York Council

Centre for Conservation Studies, Department of Archaeology

English Heritage

York Past & Present Community

Information

Watch English Heritage's introductory video about the national project here on their website.

English Heritage has provided guidance for the survey of listed buildings which you can download below.

English Heritage Methodology and Guidance for Surveying Listed Buildings (PDF , 535kb)‌

Project diary

Following our first project meeting on December 1, we are currently trialling different versions of the recording form and project members are giving feedback this month on their initial impressions of the survey method.

12 January - a meeting for feedback and set-up for starting with the Grade 2 building survey - King's Manor, G/33 at 5pm.

The app for recording using a handheld device and uploading on line should be available from English Heritage in a few weeks and in the meantime we will be recording condition with paper versions of the form while we familiarise ourselves with the project.

Here is a link to Kat Foxton's presentation on Tips for photography (PDF , 733kb).

A useful Glossary of architectural terms, kindly made available by the SPAB's Maintenance Co-operatives Project, can be downloaded using this link.

27 January - Now we have our start up instructions and are able to go onto the beta test site to trial online recording.

The maps and recording forms are simple to use and we have started to input data.  There are four volunteer groups working on the survey, sharing experience of the system and going out to do the condition surveys. 

‌