BATH HERITAGE WATCHDOG

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Historic England is the current name adopted by the body set up under the identity "Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England" by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to maintain the catalogue of listed buildings. Originally it was a Government Quango called English Heritage but although that website still exists, the organisation changed its name to Historic England when it converted from Quango to a Charity.  It recommends which buildings should be listed, and has a legal right to be consulted for any planning application affecting a Grade I or Grade II* listed building.

The Victorian Society has actively argued to save the Newark Works. Their website includes advice for fighting planning applications that put heritage buildings under threat.

From cinemas to chapels, leisure centres to libraries, and phone boxes to factories, The Twentieth Century Society campaigns for the preservation of Britain's architectural heritage from 1914 onwards.

SAVE is a charity set up by a group of architects, journalists and planners that is concerned about the historic built environment, and campaigns to save buildings at risk.  Watchdog has enrolled as a Friend of SAVE.

This section of The Communities and Local Government website contains links to all the Government legislation that covers planning. Not for the faint-hearted, but the website includes many grounds for objecting to planning applications in conservation areas.

The Bath Preservation Trust was set up in 1934 to protect the character of Bath, and it now operates a number of specialist museums in Bath, including Number 1 Royal Crescent.

Click on their logo or the text link above for the Trust's website.

Newbridge Matters is an information website by a group who cover far more than Newbridge.  In their own words "We are a group of local residents fighting to save the beautiful World Heritage City of Bath from our local Council's ill-considered transport plans."

Click on their logo or the text link above to keep up-to-date.  They update often.

The Museum of Bath at Work displays a range of permanent exhibits dealing with Bath's industrial heritage, and has a large archive of documents from Stothert & Pitt that can be studied by special arrangement with the curator, Stuart Burroughs.

Click on their logo or the text link above for more information about the museum.

The Bath Record Office in the Guildhall, holds archive material from the 12^th Century to the present day. The archives contain many past Council records and the Archivist will assist researchers.

The Bath Newseum was originally launched as "The Virtual Museum of Bath" but has since been renamed by its founder, Richard Wyatt.  It is an on-line Blog with a heritage relevance.  The website is updated as often as is necessary, even daily if appropriate, so it is best examined often.

The Bath Chronicle is Bath's local newspaper, published weekly. Some of its articles can be read on-line, which is updated daily.

The Western Daily Press is local daily newspaper. It has combined its on-line presence with the Bath Chronicle.

Radstock Action Group is a group seeking to preserve the unique character of Radstock, in the same way that Watchdog seeks to preserve the unique character of Bath. If you have the time and the inclination, give them your support. At the very least, take a look at their website and see what they are trying to achieve.

It is always good to hear of other groups taking an interest in the history and heritage of their corner of Bath.  The Sydney Buildings History is a website dedicated to one particular street. Its residents also have a Sydney Buildings website for their own community.
That street is a component of a larger community with its own website covering Bathwick Hill.
We are happy to feature all three here.

Cleveland Pools is the country’s only surviving Georgian lido, and the Cleveland Pools Trust has been set up with the aim of restoring the Grade II* baths and reopening them for outdoor swimming.

Their website describes their plans and their ongoing activities, and they will appreciate any help that can be given.

Canongate Community Forum is a group in Edinburgh, fighting what Watchdog is fighting in Bath, inappropriate developments in a World Heritage Site (postcoded EH8). Their comprehensive website is worth reading, and they will appreciate any help that can be given.

The Congress for the New Urbanism is a growing movement in America. New Urbanism recognizes walkable, human-scaled neighbourhoods as the building blocks of sustainable communities and regions. The Charter of the New Urbanism articulates the movement’s principles and defines the essential qualities of urban places from the scale of the region to the individual building.

The Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society seeks to record and, if possible, preserve Bristol's industrial heritage.

Like Bristol, Bath has a long and important industrial history, but very little still survives.

Bath in Time is a private initiative working in partnership with Bath Library, that was created to help promote the public and private collections containing historic images of Bath and the surrounding villages.  Such pictures can be very useful for our historical research.
High quality copies of Bath In Time's images are now available to order online in multiple sizes and formats.

Maintain Our Heritage is an organisation set up to encourage routine maintenance of historic buildings.  Their mission statement promotes the idea that "Systematic care based on good maintenance and housekeeping is both cost effective and fundamental to good conservation".  Examples are given of large repair bills consequent on failing to conduct cheap and easy maintenance activities such as keeping gutters clear.

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Save Churchill House was our first campaign. Our petition collected 11,000 signatures and it has renewed public interest in heritage.

The original website has now expired, but we have rescued most of the photographic content, in memory of a fine building.  Click on the picture or here to view them.

Bath Aquaglass is a Bath-based independent business with an international following. They make a beautiful selection of glass jewellery and glassware, and at their Walcot Street premises you can watch the products being handmade.

This business actively supported the Save Churchill House campaign, and continues to support the Bath Heritage Watchdog.

The Mayor's Guides provide a series of guided walks around Bath, exploring its heritage. All walks are free and no advanced booking is required. Occasionally, special themed walks also take place, usually in conjunction with an exhibition that is running.

Click on their logo or the text link above for more information about the Mayor's Guides and the walks available.

The Bath Blitz Memorial Project provides an in-depth description of wartime Bath. Amazing as it might seem, more of Bath's heritage was destroyed by the council's post-war developments than by all the bombs in WW II. Their website has a link to this website.

Click on their logo or the text link above for more information about what happened to Bath before, during and immediately after the war.

The Bath Recital Artists' Trust is a charitable organisation, founded in 1978, which arranges musical recitals in the magnificent concert venue of the Pump Room in Bath, giving performing opportunities to talented young professional musicians from all over the world, and making these performances available at a modest price to a wide range of people.  (I can say from personal experience that these recitals are a treat, and it is wonderful to see the Pump Room used for the type of musical event that it was built for.)
Click on their logo or here for their programme of events.

Having lost its Arts Grant in the Council's budget cuts, this charity is now seeking sponsors.  Each concert costs a substantial sum in hall fees and musician expenses, so every little helps.  Contact details are on their website, if you wish to help.

Ironart is a local business specialising in hand crafted metalwork.  Their company motto is Anything is possible.  If you want to see them at work, they have a Youtube clip.
Watchdog has used their website for guidance when commenting on restoration or replacement of historic ironwork, so we have no hesitation in listing the company among our friends and supporters.

The Crab and Winkle Line Trust is a charity seeking to reclaim the route of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway as a quiet haven for walkers, cyclists and wheelchair users.
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway was, according to the Guinness Book Of Records, the first passenger railway in the world, and it included a tunnel through which passenger trains ran, which Brunel inspected to understand the issues before designing his tunnels for the GWR.

The Nemesis Republic is a blog site which focuses on heritage issues.  It also links to other blog sites with similar interests.  Whilst not particularly relevant to Bath, it covers similar issues elsewhere to those that Bath is facing.

Douglas Clark, a Bath based poet (with his own Wikipedia entry) has promoted our website on his Links page.  I am returning the favour.

Click on his picture or the text link above for his biography and on-line poetry.

Notre Dame University in Indiana held an architecture summer school in Bath, and Watchdog supported their study of the Western Riverside.

The university has remained in contact, and in 2011 their students created designs for the Kingsmead area.

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America normally shortened to the ICA&CA, is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the classical tradition in architecture, urbanism and their allied arts.

Although US based at present, with 14 local groups (or Chapters, as they call them), interest in classical architecture is growing, both in America and internationally.  Hence this link to their website so that those who have such an interest can learn more.