CORNWALL COUNCIL HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP … · by Exegesis SDM Ltd took place on 18-19 th May. These visits provide the opportunity to upgrade the HER database software

Historic Environment Report, HCAG July 2011

CORNWALL COUNCIL

HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP

DATE July 2011

REPORT OF THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT

For the period April to June 2011

1. INTRODUCTION

This report covers the first quarter of the 2011-12 financial year.

1.1 Update on targets set down in the Historic Environment Service Plan

Please find a progress report on the outcomes and targets set down in the

Historic Environment Service Plan (appendix 1).

1.2 Historic Environment Manager

This report covers the activities of the recently reorganised Historic Environment

Teams function over the period concerned.

1.3 Outreach

The Service has given 5 walks and 3 talks in the last quarter to a total audience

of 154 in the following locations: Reading, West Penwith (televised – BBC

Countryfile), Hayle, Bodmin Moor, Chysauster and Lanyon Quoit, Isles of Scilly,

Lowland Point, Minions and South Caradon Mine.

Much of this could not have happened without the goodwill and enthusiasm of

staff giving up their evenings and weekends. This is much appreciated.

2. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT POLICY AND INFORMATION TEAM

(Bryn Tapper - Historic Environment Information, Senior Archaeologist (GIS),

Ann Reynolds – Senior Archaeologist, Countryside Advice and Simon Thorpe –

Heritage Officer)

2.1 Staff matters

Steve Hartgroves and Tony Bayfield retired at the end of April. John R Smith

retired at the end of May.

Emma Trevarthen (ET) joined the HE Information team at the beginning of July in

the post of Historic Environment Record Information Officer. She has worked for

the Historic Environment service since 2001 as an archaeologist, specialising in

aerial survey and air photo interpretation. Since 2004 Emma has been involved

with aerial reconnaissance in Cornwall and will continue with this work as part of

her new role.

2.2 HER Strategy and Development

Bryn Tapper (BT) attended the South West Historic Environment Record Forum

hosted at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton (April 6th). This forum allows

HER across the South West to discuss current programmes of work, strategy and

policy being undertaken in the region and feed into the national picture via the

HER Forum. This meeting was especially concerned with the effects on HERs due

to widespread budget cuts.


2.3 HBSMR and GIS Hardware and Software updates and developments

The Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record (HBSMR) Annual Service Visit

by Exegesis SDM Ltd took place on 18-19th May. These visits provide the

opportunity to upgrade the HER database software and improve links to the GIS

as well as resolve ongoing technical issues. This two-day visit involved an

upgrade of the HBSMR database to v3.72 and allowed BT to undertake a number

of improvements to the structure of the information in the database with

guidance from the Exegesis consultant.

The first comments on the 1st draft of the HER Audit were received from English

Heritage. The changes and recommendations have been made to the document

and the 2nd draft is due for submission in late August. EH’s final comments are

due in October (later than originally anticipated due to staff changes at EH). The

objective of the Audit is to provide Cornwall Council and English Heritage with an

accurate picture of the HER, an overview of its management and the

resources/actions needed to assist in meeting the requirements of national

benchmarks and the requirements of PPS5 and draft National Planning Policy

Framework. The audit will produce a detailed action plan, priorities and timetable

for future development.

2.4 HBSMR Enhancements, Verification and Validation

Ongoing enhancement of the Historic Building, Sites & Monuments Record

(HBSMR) has involved the HER team adding, correcting and validating new and

existing records. The table below shows the number of HER records that have

been added and amended during the period April-June 2011.

Record Type New Enhanced Total Verified

Events Records 103 283 3, 351 31 (OASIS)

complete

Monument Records 37 666 55, 660 31, 208

Source Records 99 139 23, 922 n/a

Finds Records 16 5 7717 n/a

Work continues on archiving ‘old’ projects, 103 have been added and there are

now 3351 records of archaeological ‘actions’ recorded in the Cornwall & Scilly

Events module. Ongoing work enhancing these records has resulted in 283 having

their content improved eg. full descriptions, cross references to archives etc. BT

continues to verify and validate OASIS (http://www.oasis.ac.uk/) records

submitted to the HER by contractors as part of their WSI archive commitments.

There are 184 OASIS records currently for Cornwall & Scilly, of which 119 have

been signed off by the HER and 65 are waiting for the contractor to complete. 70

HES reports are now available on the Archaeology Data Service’s Unpublished

Fieldwork Reports (Grey Literature Library)

(http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/greylit/index.cfm).

A member of the Archaeological Investigations Project, undertaken by

Bournemouth University, visited the HER offices on 13-14th July.

2.5 Conservation and Planning

In the past three months English Heritage has Listed one structure. The Listing

information has been entered into the Historic Environment Record ‘Designations’

database and GIS mapping system, and this information has also been published

to the Council’s central electronic geographic information data store. This will

ensure that it is shared across the authority via the UNI-form e-planning system

and corporate mapping sites. The local councillor is also notified of the Listing and

its historic significance. 28 designation records have been checked and corrected


or enhanced and the information has been updated across the authority as

necessary.

‘Cornish Character’ is progressing, working in partnership with the Cornwall Area

of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Communities and Highways as well as

parish councils and the Milestone Society. The emerging programme will work

with the community, including the volunteer sector, for a pilot project on the

Roseland peninsular to record and enhance street furniture including milestones,

guideposts etc. A meeting was held in June for Parish Councils all of whom are

supportive of the project.

Jane Powning (JP) has been working with Conservation Officers, AONB, Highways

and Communities for guidelines to enable community groups to undertake

recording and enhancing highway heritage assets (milestones, fingerposts,

guidestones, wells, shutes and waterpumps etc), the guidelines will support the

councils Localism agenda. Records of fingerposts are continuously being added to

the Historic Environment Record which results a ‘data-share’ with our Highways

colleagues. The records are used to assist in protecting the heritage assets as

part of the Highways Routine Maintenance System for cyclical works to hedge and

verges and is periodical updates.

BT has provided Emergency Planning with historic environment information and

maps for 25 beached across Carrick (Central 1) area. This information updates

that originally made available in 2006.

2.6 Outreach and enquiries

The HER team have continued to respond to numerous research, general public

and commercial enquiries. The numbers of email enquiries (only) are summarised

in the following table:

Enquiry Type No. of enquiries

Academic and Research 24

Planning related, including Commercial 54

Press/Media/TV 3

General Public 43

QuasiNGO 13

Utilities 19

156 (approx. 1.9 per day)

Konstanze Rahn has continued to attend meetings with CASPN (Cornish Ancient

Sites Protection Network) and LAN (Lizard Ancient sites Network), providing HER

information to both groups.

Bryn Tapper has liaised with Ann Preston-Jones, EH Field Monument Warden, and

CAS volunteers to investigate ways in which condition surveys undertaken by CAS

area representatives can be incorporated into the HER.

An HER Enquiry Tracker database is to be revived (last used in 2007) to better

record and reflect the numbers of enquiries the HER team field and will allow staff

to record phone calls and other ways in which people consult the HER.

Public use of the heritage mapping sites remain high. The figure below shows the

general trends for usage recorded by the World Heritage site website

(www.cornish-mining.org.uk) and the Historic Cornwall (www.historic-

cornwall.gov.uk) website.


The HER records presented through the Heritage Gateway (www.heritage-

gateway.org.uk) have been updated for the first time this year. A second update

is due at the end of the calendar year.

Historic internet mapping websites

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

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May-0

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whs A2M

2.7 Countryside Advice Statistics April to June 2011 inclusive

(CC04515 to CCO4594 inclusive)

Summary of new consultations by Area over this period

The decline in the number of Higher Level Stewardship Farm Environment Plan

consultations has continued from last quarter, as Natural England (NE) budgets

and priorities are being reassessed. This is due to real terms diminishing budgets

as part of the Government Spending Review, and the need for more targeted,

high value applications in the light of this.

Our involvement in post-application consultations with Natural England continues

to take up most of our time, including significant involvement on a parkland plan

for Boconnoc, parkland enhancement works for Trelowarren, and on-going works

at Pentillie.

We are keen to highlight the amount of consultation work that takes place with

Natural England and to this end we are looking at setting up a Memorandum of

Agreement on the help that Historic Environment can provide to the Cornwall

Forestry HLS

FEPs

Hedgerows Biomass PROW Total

for

Area

East 2 4 0 0 0 6

Mid 0 2 0 0 0 2

West 1 1 0 0 0 2

IOS 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total

applications

3 7 0 0 0 10


advisors. This will give the Countryside Advice Service a more formal footing for

working with the Cornwall NE advisors and will strengthen the already excellent

links between the two organisations. Since June the Countryside Advice officer

has been ‘hot desking’ at the NE Pydar House office once or twice a month, and

so far this has worked very well. The Pydar House office is scheduled for closure

in March 2012, and it is hoped that HES will be able to reciprocate with the

availability of hot desk provision for NE advisors at the Kennall Building to keep

these strong links active.

We have been active in supporting the proposal for a possible HLF landscape

partnership bid in West Penwith. This is in the very early stages of discussion but

is seen as a potential way of supporting the distinctive character of the

Environmentally Sensitive Area in the short term future, hopefully with long term

outcomes. By being an active partner, we will seek to fully integrate the

management, enhancement and promotion of the historic environment in the

area.

In a similar vein, we have represented the Historic Environment on the capital

works panel of the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project, ensuring that works take

into account and benefit the HE of the area.

Through liaison with County Farms, we took the opportunity to look for possible

fragments of the medieval chapel at Predannack Manor farm, near Mullion.

Predannack Manor farm architectural fragments

Renovation works within the old farmhouse allowed us to look for fragments

which were reportedly walled up in an old fireplace. With the much valued help of

the Glasson family, the former County Farm tenants, we were able to locate some

medieval stonework that was concreted into the back of the hearth place. They

may have been two parts of an ornamental alcove that held a stoup or two

separate pieces of decorative window. They are likely to be 14th-15th century in

date from their form. The former tenants were able to inform us that their

original location was embedded into the external wall of the farmhouse. It is clear

that they were originally removed from the medieval chapel when it was

dismantled and reutilised when the farmhouse was being built. They were then

put in their current place in the 1980’s. The fireplace has since been re-boarded

up and advice on the long term treatment of the stones given to County Farms.


In April we hosted the National Historic Environment Countryside Archaeologists

meeting, which saw representatives of local authority historic environment

services from all over the country gather at Liskeard. This gave us the

opportunity to showcase the work that we have been carrying out on Bodmin

Moor and the strong working relationship that we have with Natural England in

Cornwall.

HECAS National meeting field visit, Rillaton Barrow near Minions

During this quarter we represented the Historic Environment at the following

meetings - the Cornwall AONB Partnership, Atlantic Coasts and Valleys project,

Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Coastal Agencies Group.

We took part in Member briefings at Minions, Bodmin Moor and at Dannonchapel

as part of the Atlantic Coasts and Valleys Project.

We took a group of Duchy College students around the Minions area of Bodmin

Moor to look at HE land management issues and gave a seminar on Scheduled

Monuments At Risk to Natural England Advisors in Truro. The first of the Bodmin

Moor Volunteers vegetation clearance days took place, guided by the Countryside

Advice Officer, where the entranceway to Notter Tor Neolithic Enclosure was

successfully cleared.

2.8 Heritage Assets

The Heritage Officer is involved in a number of projects and initiatives to address

heritage assets at risk.

Harvey’s Foundry, Hayle: This project involves Cornwall Council gifting the grade

II listed at-risk Plantation Stores to Harvey’s Foundry Trust. 93% of the

£2.5million capital cost is already lined up and available in principle. An

application to English Heritage for the remaining 7% of £180,000 towards

external eligible repairs has been submitted and it is hoped that a visit by


Baroness Andrews in July 2011 has helped promote the importance of this project

to Hayle.

Cornwall Council’s Economic Development capital budget has been approached

for £108,000 towards the RIBA Stage C-D development costs but at present this

money is not available and hinges on a Cabinet report in the autumn to extend

the capital budget.

The design brief is being developed in preparation for going to tender in August to

appoint a lead architect. A brief has been drafted for the appointment of a Project

Manager from RIBA stage E in anticipation of success.

The Heritage Lottery Fund turned down the application for £50,000 towards the

heritage centre in John Harvey House which is intended to tell the story of

Harvey’s. This is extremely disappointing, and in part reflects the huge demand

on HLF budgets even for the sub-£50,000 grants. The Trust is exploring

alternative ways of delivering the heritage centre.

Sara’s Foundry, Redruth: a meeting has been held chaired by Cllr Julian German

with Members and officer, and English Heritage, to discuss the issues and way

forward with this grade II* listed building at-risk. Having exhausted voluntary

discussion with the owner, the meeting concluded that more formal enforcement

action is required to unlock the situation. The next step is for lead officers in

Historic Environment and Planning to prepare a Project Initiation Document for

Cllr German and Kaczmarek which identifies the resources and risks involved in

moving ahead.

Old Duchy Palace, Lostwithiel: planning and Listed Building Consents were

granted in April 2011, and the ERDF Convergence bid was submitted on time.

Subsequently, in July 2011, the EAG endorsed the project and a grant offer has

been made. The funding package is now complete.

The main contract has gone out to tender in August 2011 and appointment of a

contractor is due to be made by the end of September, with an anticipated start

on site of 1st November. Site meetings have been held with officers from Cornwall

Council’s highways team to discuss the practical arrangements for scaffolding

licence, temporary footpath diversion, and reinstatement of the footpath and

tidying of public realm. Discussion has been started with the Town Council about

managing the short term disturbances to this busy part of the centre of

Lostwithiel.

Discussions continue with Lostwithiel Town Museum (with the assistance of the

Museums Development Officer), to develop and fit out a heritage exhibition zone

in the undercroft of the Duchy Palace which links to the Museum. However, recent

decisions by Heritage Lottery Fund on other projects do not inspire confidence

that a grant application will be successful.

Redruth Brewery, Redruth: the Redruth Action Plan Framework was submitted to

the Council by CPR Regeneration in June 2011 and a 6 week formal public

consultation was organised and held. This includes outline design principles for

redevelopment of the historic Brewery and adjacent former Plumbase sites. We

utilised the help of intern Claire Martin at CPR Regeneration to organise the

consultation including a Facebook page, face-painting and Indian head massage,

balloons, bumper stickers, and handed out 300 consultation postcards. A very

positive response was received and the Planning Delivery Team, with the support

of the Heritage Officer, will be analysing the responses and taking the document

through further steps to adoption as a Council document. A number of meetings


have been held with the Town Council, Member of Parliament, site owners,

Cornwall Council officers and Members, to press for support to implement the

Framework.

Loggans Mill, Hayle: there has been steady progress on this project to unlock the

disposal of this Council owned grade II listed at-risk building. The Convergence

team has indicated in principle support for a proposal to convert to employment

use. Meetings have been held with developers of adjacent land over possible

enabling development. A meeting has taken place with Highways officers to look

at access issues and the proximity of the busy A30 Loggans Mill roundabout.

Further work is to take place on identifying the maintenance bond which amounts

to around £200,000 which the Council is obliged to find. We are slowly unlocking

this important landmark building and hope to reach the point where it can be

presented as a viable conversion and conservation project to a developer,

possibly a local trust.

3. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS TEAM

(Peter Rose – Historic Environment Projects Manager)

Historic Environment has a project team of 20 staff covering a broad range of

expertise, able to draw in funding to deliver a range of projects related to the

understanding, care, promotion and appreciation of the historic environment.

3.1 Landscape surveys

Tehidy Parkland: Fieldwork has been completed and a draft report produced, to

feed into management proposals in a project with Cornwall Environmental

Consultants, for Cornwall Council. This has included identification of prehistoric

enclosures and historic parkland and ornamental features, including complex

arrangements for water management in the valley bottom.

Isles of Scilly field boundaries: Fieldwork has been undertaken for the Isles of

Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to record a sample of historic field

boundaries and make recommendations for appropriate management.

‘Fields of stone’: Working with the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Royal

Cornwall Museum, a team of volunteers is now busy on this community-based

project, funded by English Heritage, cataloguing a major flint collection from West

Penwith. Significant results so far include a concentration of late Neolithic pottery

and a possible workshop site for Neolithic axes.

West Penwith, historic landscape characterisation: The complex historic character

of the Penwith landscape is being analysed and reviewed to update and improve

the 1994 Cornwall-wide characterisation exercise.

3.2 Maritime projects

Lyonesse Project: Following two seasons of fieldwork on Scilly to sample intertidal

and marine deposits, work continues on the detailed analyses and preparation of

a final report.

3.3 Industrial heritage

Caradon Hill: Conservation to industrial sites as part of the Caradon Hill Area

Heritage Project is due to start with work at Kittows, Holmans and Rules.

Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project: At Devon Great Consols conservation work

has been undertaken on the arsenic complex, and continues on the remainder of

the site.


Trewavas engine houses: Work on an updated Conservation Management Plan is

underway for the National Trust.

3.4 Building surveys

As part of the development management process, historic buildings have been

recorded at Burmsdon Farm, Creed Barn (Grampound), Lower Cory Barn

(Morwenstow) and Lambessow Barn (St Clement).

3.5 Excavations and watching briefs

Trewoon, St Mewan: A report has been completed on fieldwork during

development which affected the site of a 19th century poorhouse. Some remains

of the poorhouse were recorded, and research provided historical background. A

possible prehistoric field system was also found in the area.

3.6 Conservation works

Scheduled Monument Management 2011-12: Funding for this has been agreed by

English Heritage, Cornwall Heritage Trust and Cornwall Council. The programme

will include an excavation in September in partnership with the Cornwall

Archaeological Society, looking at the impact of bracken on a prehistoric hut circle

in West Penwith. There will be a programme of scrub clearance on sites on

Bodmin Moor with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, conservation of

Kerris Cross, and repair to one of the Kenidjack holed stones.

3.7 Assessments

As part of the development management process, assessments have been

undertaken for areas proposed for development at Pool, Scorrier and Porthtowan.

3.8 Air photo plotting

National Mapping Programme: Air photo mapping is largely completed for a Rapid

Coastal Zone Assessment (for EH) in south-east England and is in progress for

the Hampshire Downlands. The Cornwall air photo mapping team represents part

of a limited pool of expertise available nationally to undertake archaeological air

photo mapping projects, and is able to share best practice and contribute to

regional and national issues.

3.9 Publication and post-excavation programme

Publication of the report on C K Croft Andrew’s 1939 excavations at Trevelgue

Iron Age cliff castle was marked by a launch in May at the Whipsidderry Hotel,

Newquay, attended by the excavator’s daughter and grandchildren.

Archiving is underway for recently completed excavations at Tremough, and for

fieldwork on the North Cornwall SWW pipeline.

Programmes of analysis are in progress for excavations at Camelford School (Iron

Age settlement) and Avon SWW pipeline (medieval blowing house). A major

programme of analysis for excavations on the A30 Fraddon-Indian Queens bypass

is close to completion.

Final reports are near completion for excavations at Penryn College (Romano-

British settlement) and Restormel Castle.

3.10 Other outreach

Five presentations by project staff in April to June included talks to the Institute

for Archaeologists’ conference, and for the Isles of Scilly Research Agenda. A visit

to Chysauster and Lanyon Quoit was arranged for the Restormel Twinning

Association, and staff led walks at Coverack (for Space 2010) and Minions (For


MarJohn Teaching University). Media involvement included BBC radio’s Countryfile

(mining and West Penwith), and newspaper reports on the Tehidy parkland

survey and publications – Trevelgue excavations and West Cornwall’s rough

ground.

4. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT ADVICE TEAM 2011

(Dan Ratcliffe, Historic Environment Advice Team Leader – Central Cornwall)

4.1 Office re-location and re-organisation

During this period we have worked hard to minimise disruption from service

reorganisation as part of the wider restructuring of the Transport Waste and

Environment (TWE) service. A new structure for the advice service has been

designed which will continue the unification of the regional district teams under

three team leaders for West, Central and East Cornwall. As a result of this

process all members of the team were required to complete application forms for

new and existing posts within the service in open competition, whilst two

members of the team have opted for voluntary redundancy which will take effect

in the next quarter.

The centralisation of the West team in the new Council ‘modern working

environment’ at Dolcoath, Camborne offices has now taken place with Karen

Pritchard, Andrew Richards, Phil Markham and the THI officers now based from

there. There have been problems with telecommunications and IT systems and it

is hoped these will be resolved soon.

4.2 Statistics

Conservation

Listed Building

Consent

applications-

received

Conservation

Area Consent

applications-

received

Applications

affecting a

listed

buildings or

Conservation

Area- received

Total number of applications-

determined

118 10 700

(estimated)

1794

Planning Advisors (archaeology)

68 new Cases have been logged by the advice team archaeologists during this

period with 67 previously reported cases ‘live’ during this period (i.e. requiring

ongoing work).

Note on Photo Voltaic farm applications

These have continued to be a major area of work as applicants and planning

officers chased a deadline of August 1st for schemes qualifying for ‘feed in tariff’

benefits to be connected to grid. Our archaeological advisors in particular were

heavily engaged in facilitating the adequate provision of information to inform this

process, and once permissions had been granted, in the speedy provision of

briefs for work and the approval of resultant projects designs for archaeological

monitoring. As a direct result of our early engagement with these schemes, which

has aimed to ensure preservation in situ of archaeological remains identified by

geophysical surveys undertaken by developers, archaeological monitoring has

confirmed little if any damage to archaeological deposits has taken place as a

result of these schemes.


4.3 Development Management – conservation and archaeology

Comparison of planning data from this period and the same quarter of 2010

shows an overall decline of 1-5% in both general applications and designated

heritage asset casework. There has however been a fivefold increase in the

number of major applications determined (from 5 - 25) between the same period,

probably reflecting the impact of the solar farm applications. The effect on

archaeological remains is nearly always a factor in the determination of ‘large

major’ applications and this increase reflects a substantial increase in the demand

for the services of our archaeological advisors, met through streamlining of

processes and front loading of assessment to pre-application stage. The decrease

in designated casework is far less significant than the forthcoming decrease in the

resources we have available for building conservation advice – an issue which will

require very careful management over the coming quarters.

In addition to the usual variety of caseload, several major schemes occupied a

significant element of work. A selection is set down below:

In the west area, at Hayle, the Conservation Officer has continued working with

engineers on site to agree a detailed methodology for repairs to harbour walls; a

series of sample panels were created in the process of finding a suitable mortar

finish for this challenging marine context. Materials for the public realm have

been discussed and approved. Further investigations into the buried archaeology

of the harbour area, undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology, has helped to

inform development options. A series of workshop-type sessions has been held to

progress options for South Quay. Discussions continue on other important sites

being considered for supermarket development. Matters of principle, design, and

consideration of potential impact on the World Heritage Site are still under

discussion with applicants and other stakeholders.

The Conservation Officer has worked with the Harbour Master and the Council’s

surveyor to agree a programme of repairs and refurbishments to the grade II*

Colonnade Building on South Pier, Penzance. Further repairs to the pier are

planned.

The Historic Environment Service, together with other services of the Council,

continues to work with Network Rail towards the creation of a key new site in

West Cornwall, the proposed transport hub at St Erth Station. The Conservation

Officer is working with a wide project team to resolve difficulties of

accommodating higher volumes of use without harming the heritage character of

St Erth Station platform and buildings. The provision of disabled access to the

station from the proposed new car park on the far (St Erth) side of the station is

currently under negotiation.

A Powerpoint presentation: ‘Proposals for sympathetically upgrading local historic

buildings and developing traditional skills’ was prepared by Andrew Richards for

presentation at Green Build Cornwall, a 2 day event at the Eden Project on 8th

and 9th April. Unfortunately Andrew broke his arm the day before and Karen

Pritchard had to step forward. The presentation highlighted previous and

proposed energy saving measures and traditional skills initiatives progressed

through Townscape Heritage Initiative Schemes (THIs).

Cross Street News, Cross Street, Camborne was refurbished following a grant

from Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI. Works included a new wet laid scantle

slate roof, rebuilt chimneys, reinstated cast iron rainwater goods, replacement

shop front, bay window and dentil course and a new clock. The quality of the


scheme was recognised through a Cornish Buildings Group Award presented to

the owners at an annual awards evening at Stuart House, Liskeard on 17th June.

Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI continues to progress well with works at

Holmans No 3 works, Camborne (ongoing) and 27 Basset Road and 3 Penlu,

Tuckingmill recently completed. These schemes all have energy saving measures

built into the works. Holman’s includes a variety of window treatments to enable

traditional single glazed windows to be upgraded sympathetically. 27 Bassett

Road includes 2 variations of slim double glazed units while 3 Penlu has

reinstated shutters and new draft proofed shutters. The performance of the

measures are being monitored by students from Cornwall College’s ‘Planning for

Energy’ courses.

A THI exhibition was displayed at Camborne Town Council Offices during

Trevithick Day.

Conservation Officers have been heavily involved with works to the new

Wetherspoons in the listed former Market House, Camborne. The building has

been vacant for some time and the refurbishment has made a significant

difference to the streetscene. Camborne, Roskear, Tuckingmill THI funded

restoration of the clock to the clock tower.

Karen Pritchard attended a meeting at Goonhilly Earth Station on 15th June to

discuss local educational connections and future developments in intergalactical

communications.

Both West 2 Conservation Officers have been involved in ongoing works including

restoration of North and East Ranges of Godolphin House, restoration of

gatehouse at Trenethick Barton, Helston and restoration works at King Edward

Mine, Troon.

The West area archaeological advisor has covered historic environment issues for

Isles of Scilly at the request of their Chief Planning Officer while their heritage

officer was off sick

In the central area, we have continued to be involved in plans for the

reconstruction of the Pandora Inn, Restronguet following the widely reported fire.

An Historic Building Report has been received from Eric Berry revealing that much

of the historically significant fabric of the building has survived the fire and

identifying the principles of a reconstruction that can ensure reinstatement

ensures no loss of character. At Perran Foundry, works to the office building are

progressing well with excellent attention to detail by the contractors securing a

true ‘conservation led’ approach. Elsewhere on site archaeological building

recording is nearing completion and will greatly inform further works. Following

ground tests, the structural engineers are now designing piled foundations which

will secure much greater preservation of archaeological deposits than the existing

approved designs.

At Lower Ninestones, a disused clay works near Carthew to the north of St

Austell, we have negotiated the consolidation of a clay dry chimney, funded by

EcoBos following the identification of its potential for place-making in the Eco

Town Historic Characterisation reported previously.

Work has started on the St Austell Conservation Area Character Appraisal; this

work is being carried out by La Page Architects and is jointly funded through the

Eco Towns and St Austell Town Council. Conservation Officer, Victoria Robinson

has been overseeing the project. A successful stakeholder workshop has been


held at the start of the process and a further community event is planned for

early September. Part of the work involves a much needed review of the

Conservation Area boundary.

Luxulyan Valley Conservation Management Plan is in the final draft stage with the

structural assessment of the scheduled viaduct, condition survey of the viaduct

and leats and the hydrology survey completed and finalised. A report will be

taken to the September Environment And Economy Overview and Scrutiny

Committee to formally endorse the Management Plan.

Some success has been achieved in bringing forward the appropriate restoration

of Grade II buildings at risk in St Columb Major with works near completion on

the former Barley Sheaf. The Conservation officer has been involved throughout

the process in providing advice on these alterations.

We have had 2 successful appeal decisions relating to the historic environment,

one for 9 Tanhouse Road in Lostwithiel where the inspector upheld the Council’s

view on the importance of historic stone boundary walls in relation to the

character of the Conservation Area and the other in the Gorran Haven

Conservation Area where an appeal was dismissed relating to a proposed car

parking area which would have resulted in the loss of a historic frontage to a

terrace of 19th century Coastguard Cottages.

Archaeological works monitored by the archaeological officer pursuant to our

recommendations have identified: the location of the north transept of Glasney

college church; a significant late Neolithic – early Bronze Age settlement site at

Mylor Yacht Harbour; and a number of prehistoric sites within the Newquay

Growth Area.

In the east area, the Liskeard Conservation Area Appraisal and Management

Plan has now been drafted and is currently being assembled into a document for

public consultation in the Autumn. Work on the Kingsand /Cawsand Conservation

Area Appraisal and Management Plan has started and should be completed by the

end of the year.

Works have commenced on Codda, a grade ll* farmhouse on Bodmin Moor. This

rare and essentially untouched seventeenth Century longhouse is on English

Heritage’s Buildings at Risk and is now being carefully repaired in phases. The

close working relationship between the owners, Architect, English Heritage and

Conservation Officer has allowed a building, which was in an extremely precarious

state, to be secured.

The out standing application for the conversion of Wenford Dries has now

concluded by being presented to committee and has now received approval. This

extremely large building which is a legacy to the industrial archaeology of the

china clay industry will now be converted to residential properties including some

work home units.

Applications have been received in recent months for the conversion of several

former Methodist chapels. Such buildings are always sensitive to alteration.

However by working with owners and agents at an early pre-application stage,

innovative solutions have been secured. These have respected the special

character and allowed the buildings to enter a new stage in their history.

Consultations have been taking place with the owner of the Pentillie to secure

Higher Level Stewardship scheme for the estate. English Heritage and the Advice

Team have been involved in negotiations to agree which of the many historic


features on the estate should benefit from the limited grant available. Here it has

been decided that the restoration of the Grade II Walled garden should benefit

over the Grade II* Mausoleum for which alternative funding may be available.

The walled garden will also generate added value in terms of the overall

commercial viability of the estate.

Negotiations are also ongoing with the Port Eliot Estate to assist in the restoration

of several estate buildings that are in a poor condition. The estate has recently

secured funding to repair the Grade II thatched boat house which has had a

temporary roof covering for several years. This should be completed before the

winter. The Grade II* Lithiack calf barn attributed to John Soane and on the

Buildings at Risk register has finally undergone remedial repairs and is being used

a store by a local scaffolding company.

The Archaeological Advice officer in the east team recently responded to a

telephone call from Devon & Cornwall Constabulary to say that human bones had

been found at Hayle Bay, Polzeath. A child had discovered a leg bone and was

using it as a bat for beach cricket. His parents duly reported it to the police who

observed that more bones were eroding from the cliff face. The bones were

protruding from subsoil below the top of the cliff and were definitely human. As

well as a femur, a pelvis was also visible in the side of the cliff. Further parts of

the body were probably still within the deposit. The condition of the bones was

poor, but not fragile. We concluded that the bones were the remains of a

shipwreck burial, probably of a male of medium height, and aged between 20 and

45 years dating to the 18th or early 19th century. Burial of bodies near to the site

of discovery was common practice prior to an 1808 Act of Parliament, which

decreed that bodies washed ashore from shipwrecks should be interred in

consecrated ground. So, this was unlikely to be a recent murder! The remains will

eventually be reburied locally. This discovery is a valuable contribution to our

growing knowledge of maritime Cornwall and the information will be added to the

Historic Environment Record for future public examination. This is also a good

example of how Cornwall Council’s professional archaeologists and Devon &

Cornwall Constabulary can successfully co-operate for the benefit of the public of

Cornwall.

Archaeological recording of Insworke Tide Mill, the last remaining unconverted

tide mill in the Southwest, is now complete, as is the recording of below-ground

remains of internal water-wheel pits now that the concrete floor has been

removed, and external buried archaeology observed whilst service trenching was

dug around the structure. Once the recording work was complete by the

archaeological contractor, the developer removed the remaining timber floor

joists (rotten) and timber and corrugated iron roof (later replacement).

Unfortunately, sever structural problems were encountered with the remaining

walls. However, after discussion with HE and English Heritage these issues have

been overcome, resulting in much of the original structure being saved in situ.

On the advice and monitoring of HE, work is now progressing rapidly to

consolidate the upstanding walls, to insert new green oak floor and roof timbers,

and make the building watertight once more. The restored building will retain

many of its original features and will remain a locally distinctive landmark (as it

has been for several hundred years) and should look forward to a new economic

future, partly as offices on the ground floor and as an apartment on the first floor

for use by the owner. This should secure the structure for many years to come,

as a result of guidance and advice from HE, and we have also ensured that a

proper investigative archaeological record has been made. This record will be

made available in a publicly-accessible archive through Cornwall Council’s Record

Office and Historic Environment Record.


Enforcement cases include 19 Castle Street, an untidy vacant Grade II listed

building in the Liskeard Conservation Area which is now going forward for

prosecution. A Section 215 Untidy Site Notice was served on the owner who has

failed to comply with the schedule of works. A similar position exists with the Ship

Inn in Cawsand which will also go forward for prosecution within the next two

weeks.

5. RECOMMENDATION

The report of the Historic Environment team is noted

6. REPORT AUTHORS

The staff of Historic Environment

APPENDIXE 1- Update on targets set down in the Historic Environment

Service Plan

Historic Environment Service Plan objectives 2010-2011

Progress to 1 July 2011- appendix 1

v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority

Measure(s) Target(s) Projects/

Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

HE1 St Austell

Churchtown

Conservation

Area

HE1

Commission

Conservation

Area

Appraisal

and

Management

Plan

HE1 Market House

plan; Shop Front

guidance; Community

consultation

HE1 A

Cooper (V

Robinson)

Planning;

Economy

Working with St Austell Town Council

and CC Planning Service who have

agreed to jointly fund the

commissioning of a Conservation

Area Appraisal and Management

Plan. The consultants have been

appointed and the first stakeholder

workshop has been held.

HE2 Cornwall

Heritage

Strategy

HE2

Publication

June 2010

HE2 Consultation Jan-

April 2010 completed

HE2 A

Cooper (S

Thorpe)

Culture Draft completed and comments are

being analysed

HE3 LAWHF

“World

Heritage for

2012”

HE3

Participate in

Cultural

Olympiad

HE3 Plan and develop

proposal for

community focussed

cultural event for

2011-12

HE3 D

Boden

Communities &

Culture; CYPF

Cornish Mining WHS Cultural events

identified and fundraising underway.

Miracle Theatre engaged to produce

“Tin”, a musical drama that will open

at Heartlands in Feb 2012 and then

tour venues in Cornwall and west

Devon

Engaging

communities and

promoting

community pride

Creating

Better Places

to Live

HE4

“Conserving

Cornwall’s

Past” HLF

Project

HE4

Complete

project

March 2011

HE4 Project

development

HE4 P Rose Final HLF grant and EH grant

claimed. Summary report completed

and final reports for Jewish and

Congregationalist Cemeteries

Falmouth, Condolden Barrow,

Tregeseal Circle, Merry Maidens;

Trethevy Roman milestone; Paul

churchyard crosses; St Piran’s

Oratory evaluation; Tregargus

Valley; Kennall Vale. Some work

outstanding on web site.

Enabling

renaissance of

our towns and

regeneration of

Enabling

Sustainable

Economic

Prosperity

HE5 New

programme of

heritage led

regeneration

HE5

complete

Camborne

THI(1)

HE5 Complete final

reports for Launceston

and Penzance THIs;

Camborne THI(2)-

HE5 A

Cooper (V

Robinson,

A Richards,

Planning;

Economy

Report for Launceston completed

and is available on Council website

at



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

our communities schemes and

conservation

projects.

summer

2011;

Camborne

THI(2)

Energy

Regeneration

and Skills, -

2011-2015;

Sara’s

Foundry

conserved

stage 2 for HLF – all

completed

S Thorpe)

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/defa

ult.aspx?page=17388#Launcesto

nTHI .

Report for Penzance complete

and on web-

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/defa

ult.aspx?page=17388#Penzance

TownscapeHeritageInitiative

Camborne THI -Total capital fund

offered: £836,643 with £502,180

spent – 11 projects complete (7

Camborne, 1 Tuckingmill, 3

Roskear), 4 projects in progress,

3 further offers made. Some

applications incorporate more

than one building – anticipate

about 22+ properties being

improved through the THI grant

funding.

Camborne THI (2) Energy

Regeneration and Skills –

scheme has secured all funding

and been authorised by HLF to

commence. The posts of the new

project team will be externally

advertised in September.

Specific projects will also be able

to help draw down convergence

funding.

Work on Sara’s foundry has



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

stalled, Senior officers in

Planning and Historic

Environment have been

instructed to develop a strategy

to progress action. Maximising the

economic

potential of

Cornwall’s unique

environment and

culture

Enabling

Sustainable

Economic

Prosperity

HE6 Discover

the

Extraordinary

Project

HE6 Project

milestones

HE6 New website,

brand engagement,

capital worked

HE6 D

Boden (J

Williams)

Property;

Economy

Phase 1 and 2 physical works and

interpretation projects completed.

Website under construction.

Several tourism industry

familiarisation events delivered

Market research and PR events

programme commissioned, for

delivery 2011/12 onwards

Promoting

sustainable

development that

benefits both

people and the

environment

Enabling

Sustainable

Economic

Prosperity

HE7

Sustainable

energy guide

for traditional

buildings

HE7

Publication

HE7 Integration in the

Renewable Energy

SPD; Sustainable

Construction Guide;

Traditional skills

training for retro fitting

historic buildings

HE7 A

Cooper (A

Richards)

Planning Joint work with English Heritage,

Cornwall Sustainable Buildings Trust,

National Trust, Cornwall College, The

Green Cornwall and Sustainability

Teams, Eco Lead, Building Control,

Planning and Regeneration and

South West Training Skills to

investigate opportunities to improve

traditional skills and energy

efficiency in historic buildings in

Cornwall- joint meeting held in

Swindon with English Heritage in

February

Developing an

integrated

approach to

managing public

space

Creating a

Green

Cornwall

HE8

Conservation

Area

Appraisals and

Management

Plans

HE8

Falmouth CA

HE8 Completion of

public consultation and

adoption

HE8 A

Cooper

Planning On hold – insufficient staff resources



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

Making the most

of our historic,

natural and

maritime

environment

Creating a

Green

Cornwall

HE9 Review of

WHS

Management

Plan

HE9

Timetable

and action

plan – see

separate

document

HE9 WHS Partnership

Board in place

HE9 D

Boden

Planning;

Culture;

Highways;

Economy;

CYPF

WHS Management Plan Steering

group formed. Monitoring data

gathered and Site condition survey

completed. Drafting of new plan and

public consultation process agreed

with partner authorities. Target date

September 2012

HE10 Higher

Level

Stewardship

HE10 20

Schemes

completed

2010-2011

HE10 Secure Natural

England funding;

Consolidate/interpret/s

ecure public

access/draw up 10 yr

Management Plans

HE10 A

Cooper, D

Boden

(A

Reynolds,

A Cocks)

Property;

Economy

Two schemes are now up and

running, three are with Natural

England for their consideration, two

are nearing submission and one is at

the early stages of being worked up.

Northcott Round has been dropped

as Cornwall Council is now

considering selling this site. We will

encourage new owners to apply for

HLS. Tregonning Brick Kiln has also

been dropped for the present as

changes to the options available has

made an application unviable for the

farm business involved. We are

supporting two further sites -

Kennall Vale and Tregargus Valley -

in their applications.

Of the original ten WHS schemes,

one is in agreement, and two more

are still being worked up. Cuts to

the Natural England budget and

access options make it unlikely that

any of the other WHS sites will now

go forward. We are supporting

further applications for Council

Estate from the Countryside Service



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

HE11 Research

and

Conservation

project

programme

2010-11.

HE11

Projects

action plan-

April 2010

HE11 Programme

agreed with clients

HE11 P

Rose

Planning;

Highways;

Property

Projects Team action plan produced

May 2010 and reviewed in quarterly

reports.

Project development: Scilly Research

Framework, project design

submitted and agreed with English

Heritage; funding application agreed

for Isles of Scilly community

archaeology project; ‘Fields of

Stone’ project design commissioned

and submitted to EH – to catalogue

flint collection with volunteers;

project designs agreed for aerial

photo mapping of Hampshire

Downlands, and SE Rapid Coastal

Zone Assessment. Project bid

submitted for Scheduled Monument

Management Project 2011-12.

Programme delivery: reported in

detail in quarterly reports; projects

include Lowland Cornwall, West

Penwith Survey, Lyonesse Project,

A30 excavations publication,

publication of HEATH volumes and

Trevelgue excavations.

Promoting

development that

reinforces

sustainability,

good design and

local character

Creating a

Green

Cornwall

HE12 Cornish

Character

project

HE12 Project

brief April

2010

HE12 Key outputs

completed 2012

HE12 N

Johnson,

(P Rose)

Property;

Highways;

Communities &

Culture

There have been problems with

securing the funding for this project

and it is currently on hold. However

a pilot study has commenced with

Cornwall AONB to look at

enhancement to heritage assets on

the Roseland. working in partnership



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

with Highways, Parish Councils,

volunteers and the third sector.

Community involvement is

fundamental and will involve schools

where possible. The aim in the pilot

is to record heritage assets and

include a focus on fingerposts

(refurbishment, painting, repair).

Improvement in

the marine and

maritime

infrastructure,

services and

sector

development

Creating

Connectivity

and Strategic

Infrastructure

HE13 Cornwall

Maritime

Heritage

Assets

assessment

HE13 Phase

1 CC owned

assets

complete

March 2011;

Phase 2 Non

CC assets-

March 2012

HE13. Phase 1 project

brief; Phase 2 project

brief and bid for

funding

HE13 A

Cooper (P

Rose)

Planning;

Property

In discussion with English Heritage

Valuing our

people by

investing in

learning and

development

Delivering

Excellent

Services

HE14 Skills

training on

Historic

Environment

HE14

Training

Programme

HE14 Establish courses

with National Trust,

Cornwall College

HE14 A

Cooper (A

Richards)

Planning Working with English Heritage and

the National Trust- 5 days of training

sessions on historic windows were

held at Goldolphin and Lanhydrock in

March (funded through Camborne

Townscape Heritage Initiative);

Morning sessions were attended by

local joiners and contractors and

afternoon sessions were attended by

150 agents, architects, planning,

building control officers and

conservation officers.

Building on best

practice and

continually

improving

Delivering

Excellent

Services

HE15 English

Heritage/Corn

wall Council

Consultation

Protocol

HE15 Agreed

May 2010

HE15 Consultation

Completed March- May

2010; agreed July

2010

HE15 A

Cooper

Property,

Planning,

Highways

Work with Planning now complete

and protocol is being used to advise

new e-planning system. Further

discussions have been held on

procedures for pre-application advice



v.July 2011

Objective

Link to

Council/

Directorate

Priority


Actions

Responsi

ble

Officer

Impact on

other

Services

Progress to date

and for validation of heritage

applications

HE16 HE

integration

with e planning

system

HE16

completed

May 2010

HE16 Agreed internal

protocol for

consultation

HE16 A

Cooper (J

Gale, V

Robinson,

D Ratcliffe)

Planning New e planning system went live in

last area at end of September and

the process for consultation is

gradually being refined

CORNWALL COUNCIL

HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP

DATE 17 August 2011

REPORT OF THE ARCHIVE SERVICES MANAGER AND CULTURE PROGRAMME

MANAGER

for the period Apr to Aug 2011

1. INTRODUCTION

This report covers the activities of the Archive Service and Council’s Museum function

over the period concerned.

2. MUSEUMS

The small grant programme was launched in April. It has attracted a good range of

applications from museums, archives and heritage centres and projects will be

assessed in early September. The applicants notified by 12th September so they can

get their projects underway over the Autumn and Winter.

Several meetings have been held with the wider museum sector to discuss how the

Council can support museums in the context of reducing national and local budgets. A

full report on the outcome of these meetings will be provided for the next HCAG

report.

3. ARCHIVES AND CORNISH STUDIES

3.1 On-site services

The services have continued to attract local, national and international visitors. The

trend of lower visit numbers to the Record Office but consistent document production

figures continues. The withdrawal of the Tourist Information Centre assistant by

Redruth Town Council from the Cornwall Centre has placed the Cornish Studies Library

team under additional pressure as they are coping with the transition from providing a

full tourist information service to a more limited service. The expectation from the

public is high from their experiences in previous years and there is a need for the staff

to find a balance between helping visitors without impacting on their ability to support

Library users and undertake collection duties.

As reported in March, Cornwall Record Office participated in the bi-annual Public

Service Quality Group survey, which asked 80+ on site visitors about the quality of

the service they received. The full analysis has now been received and the results

were very positive. 98% of visitors rated the overall service as good or very good

with key areas for improvement the visitor facilities, catalogues and opening hours.

36% of visitors were new users and the reasons why people were visiting were varied:

- 52% of visitors were using the service for leisure,

- 17% in connection with work or business

- 15% non-leisure personal or family business

- 14% as part of formal education

The % for personal leisure is c.10% lower than other services in the south west which

perhaps reflects the significance of the collections for legal or business purposes.

As a result of budget savings the service needs to make we are proposing changes to

opening hours on both sites. Please see section 3.8 for further details.

3.2 Online access

The small number of remaining paper catalogues at Cornwall Record Office – the ‘X’

miscellaneous collections, Arundell family of Lanherne and Coode and French - are

finally being added to the system and the retro-conversion project is coming to a

close. The total number of entries in the CALM cataloguing system is now over

400,000 and it is proving an invaluable tool for researchers preparing for their visits.

As members of HCAG and other users have indicated the data quality is variable,

reflecting the differences in the paper catalogues used as the information base.

Searching some collections can be difficult and we will be looking at how to improve

these areas in the next phase of the system’s development.

Two students volunteering at the Cornish Studies Library during the summer period

have begun digitising collections of images with the view to these being made

available online through our photographic database -

http://www.cornwallphotoimagebank.org.uk.

As reported in the April report, the archives and Cornish Studies sources are

catalogued and indexed in several different paper and electronic systems. A priority

for the service over the next two years is to review the effectiveness of these systems

as finding-aids for the public and investigate the options for creating an integrated on-

line search facility for the Cornish Studies collections.

3.3 Learning and outreach

Participation in projects and events through the learning programme remains high

despite the reduction in staff time to plans and deliver the activities and projects.

1194 people (309 children) have been involved in activities for the first half of

2011/12. Activities during Apr-Aug include:

• Eleven group talks and visits

• Three six week on-line family history courses in libraries

• Exhibitions of material at St Just in Roseland Parish Church and St Austell and

St Ives libraries

• Family learning events in the school holidays

• A trade stand in the Conservation and Heritage tent at the Royal Cornwall

Show where we spoke to over 400 people

• Horrible Histories and The Victorians day workshops for schools in conjunction

with Truro Cathedral

• Visits from St Columb Major School, Pencoys School and an event for Young

Carers in Cornwall

• Exhibition on the history of aviation in Cornwall highlighting images from the

Ted Chapman Collection which is held at the Cornish Studies Library ( ends 3rd

Sept)

Evaluation of the events continues to be high and there is a good series of events and

projects planned for the autumn and winter. The Record Office will be taking part in

the ‘National Heritage Open Days’ on the 10th September when members of the public

will be able to go on a behind the scenes tour, learn about conservation techniques

and see some of our treasures on display.

The Cornwall Centre will be celebrating its 10th birthday with an exhibition and

children’s activities during October and November.

3.4 Collections

The collections on both sites continue to grow. A range of new publications and

donations of photographs have been added to the Cornish Studies Library. One recent

addition of images and documents relates to Redruth Players Club and covers

productions from 1930-1996.

There have been 83 accessions to the collections at Cornwall Record Office. 26 were

additions to existing Parish and Methodist collections. Highlights include:

• X1356, the records of the Love and Honour Lodge, Falmouth, the oldest

Masonic Lodge in Cornwall. The records date from when it received its warrant

of constitution in 20 May 1751 right up until 2002. It contains fascinating

insights into the Lodge and also the development of Falmouth over the past

two and a half centuries.

• AD2136, records of Captain William Jolly of Fowey, 1888-1916, including ship’s

logs, accounts and his day book, which lists individual crew member’s accounts

for cash, tobacco, soap, stamps, washing, matches, medicine and days off.

• X1359, Correspondence, Owen William Salusbury Trelawny while at

Westminster school, 1820-1825

• X1362, Photographs, West Cornwall Motor Club, 1930s, showing vehicles, trips

out and races.

The cataloguing backlog for the Record Office and Studies Library remain a challenge.

The Record Office has been successful in passing the first round of bid applications to

a national cataloguing fund for help to list the Wildred Bede Picard (1914-2007)

collection. The collection consists of the personal papers of Wilfred 'Bill' Bede Picard,

artist and potter, philosopher, Buddhist, teacher and lifelong diarist. If successful at

round two, the funding will appoint a qualified archivist for six months to catalogue

and index the records.

3.5 Enys Project

The Enys Project Officer, Fiona Young, left the team in June and Ben Beckwith has

been appointed to complete the remaining activities.

The volunteer teams working in Penryn and St Agnes are making significant progress

with their research into areas of the collection and their output will be added to the

new project website, currently under development. Their work will also contribute to a

new display being installed in Penryn museum and paid for by the project.

The ‘Digital Landscape’ elements, which has worked with St Agnes Explorers, has been

a great success. The group have worked with a digital film maker on a film inspired

by the story of Thomas Tonkin and Samuel Enys, which led to the Enys family owning

the valuable Manor of Trevaunance. The participants spent time at the Record Office

and in St Agnes gathering ideas for the film. The filming took place over one weekend

and the project can be followed on their Facebook site.

Activities for the autumn and winter include mining heritage workshops, the

development of Cornish language resources for secondary school pupils and a play

based on the life of Valentine Enys.

3.6 Historic mapping

By the end of September the digitised tithe maps will be geo-referenced in the

Council’s GIS system. This programme of work will form a platform to add other

historic maps to and link to place-based records held in the collections.

We are exploring options to make this information and the accompanying tithe

apportionments available on-line, as well as a more ambitious project to link the

mapping to information held in the archive and library catalogues. Although there has

been work undertaken elsewhere in the country to link Historic Environment

information with historic mapping (see – Bristol City Know Your Place project) and also

historical statistical data (see – A Vision of Britain through time by the British Library),

no projects have linked archive catalogue data with geographical sources. There are

significant challenges in establishing how to search and present text-based information

in this way and it is hoped to submit a funding application to the NESTA innovation

fund for resources to work with Portsmouth University Great Britain Historical

Geographic Information Systems team to take the work forward.

3.7 Accommodation project

Further to the recent HCAG meeting, the plans for a permanent solution to Cornwall’s

archive accommodation problems are moving through the Council’s approval process.

A paper outlining the next steps and funding required will go to the Communities

Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 25th August and to Cabinet in early

September. The feedback from the HCAG session (see Appendix 1) has been

incorporated into the report and the detailed meeting notes provided in full.

The paper formally seeks supports for the following actions to deliver the project:

- Formation of a officer / member working group

- Site options appraisal

- Feasibility study to determine detailed building requirements and costs

- Consultation plan

- Review of options regarding the Cornwall Centre

In the meantime, a solution to the interim challenges the service faces is being sought

with property services in partnership with the Registration Service.

3.8 Proposed changes to opening hours

As part of the £5.5 million savings for Shared Services, a savings target of £80,000

was agreed in the Emergency Budget for Cornwall Record Office and the Cornish

Studies Library, which are now part of the Operational Support arm of Shared

Services.

Some savings have been made by reallocating staff resources which resulted in less

cataloguing and preservation management activities and a reduction in the learning

programme and management capacity. However, as reported last April, this approach

was only sustainable in the short-term and the reductions needed to reach the total

£80,000 savings cannot be made without some changes to how we deliver services to

the public.

Our primary consideration is balancing on-site access to unique sources with ensuring

staff have sufficient capacity to care for the collections and meet public demand for

improved information through cataloguing and digitisation. A decision report on the

new opening hours has been prepared for the Corporate Director of Communities who

has to make the decision about what changes to put in place and there will be the

opportunity for organisations and the public to comment on the proposals during

August and September.

Information on the changes and how to respond will be available on the service’s

website www.cornwall.gov.uk/cro from the 22nd August and in the searchrooms.

In summary, the recommendation for the Cornish Studies Library is to close on a

Wednesday and open half a day on Saturday. The new opening hours would be

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10.00am-5.00pm and Saturday 10.00am-

1.00pm

There are two options for the Cornwall Record Office opening hours:

Option A: Closed for the first full week of every calendar month. For the rest

of the month, open four days a week from 9.00am-4.30pm Tuesday to Friday.

The closed week would be used for collection cataloguing and preservation

work so that we can make inroads into the cataloguing backlog and more

collections available to the public and online. This system is already used

successfully by Warwickshire County Record Office and Bath Record Office. An

overall reduction of 23%.

Option B: Open three days a week with one late night opening. Wednesday

9.00am-7.00pm, Thursday 9.00am-4.30pm, Friday 9.00am-4.30pm. The

additional closed day would be used work with volunteers and cataloguing.

There would be an overall reduction in opening hours of 16%

The proposals also include the option to open one Saturday a month.

The longer term accommodation project could mitigate the impact of these reductions

by uniting staff and users on to one site which would create shared efficiencies in the

delivery of the public services and enable an increase in opening hours.

If members of HCAG would like the opportunity to discuss the options and the

background to the recommendations in more detail please contact Deborah Tritton

([email protected] / 01872 323125) or Kim Cooper ([email protected]

/ 01209 216760) .

7. RECOMMENDATION

The report of the Archive Service and Museum function is noted

8. REPORT AUTHORS

Kim Cooper, Principal Library Officer, Cornish Studies

Julie Seyler, Culture Programme Manager

Deborah Tritton, Archive Services Manager

APPENDIX

Feedback from the HCAG meeting, June 2011

Appendix 2_Feedback from HCAG discussion session_ June 2011.doc

Historic Cornwall Advisory Group, 29th June 2011 – discussion summary

The group had a presentation about the project and then split into smaller groups to discuss particular issues relating to access, collections use, learning and participation

and wider partnership links. The feedback from the individual groups is in Appendix 1. The discussions were positive and useful with a good range of views and ideas. In

addition to the responses to specific topics, the following themes emerged:

• What is Cornwall Council’s vision for service? There was strong support for the proposal to solve the archive accommodation

issues but the wider vision for the project is still unclear. It was felt that the collections are sufficiently significant in themselves to be a priority for investment

and this should not be lost sight of in the wider discussions. Other members raised concerns about the need to ensure the vision matched the revenue streams which would be needed to deliver the service and the need to avoid creating a

another piece of cultural infrastructure which is unsustainable at a time when the existing institutions already need support.

• The role of outreach, inclusion and engagement in the proposals.

The group cited evidence that the most effective learning and interpretation programmes in Cornwall are often not single-site based. Projects which work with

local communities and target audiences in-situ rather than requiring people to visit a location are very successful and work with the distributed population

pattern. It was felt any activity programme associated with the project should be weighted towards this model rather than heavy investment in on-site facilities. Projects to work across sectors and institutions should also be a priority.

• There needs to be an associated digital access strand.

All the discussions included reference to on-line access both as a user expectation and as a way to improve access. Linked to this, members also highlighted the

need for greater integration of information, improved signposting and addressing the cataloguing backlog.

• Next steps.

- Undertake a wider consultation to establish needs and priorities

- Identify and invest in those programmes of work which will underpin the long-term vision, including:-

Digitisation Integration of key sources

Co-ordinated learning offer

- Develop a clear vision and timetable for the project


Appendix 1: Group discussion feedback

A. Collections and their use.

Q1: Which organisations’ collections and services do you or your organisations’ members use regularly? e.g. CSL, CRO, RIC, Cornwall Family History Society, Morrab Library etc.

It was felt that CRO and CSL were the central points of contact, with other organisations for more specialist materials or a geographic focus, e.g., town

museums, Morrab, HER. The need for effective signposting to different organisations is very important.

Digitisation will enable a central point of contact while original materials can

remain in-situ. Q2: Do you use online catalogues or information from websites as part of your

research or prior to a visit or making an enquiry?

Yes and it makes visits far more profitable. However their needs to be improved search facilities on individual catalogues and a move towards integrated searching.

Q3: What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of having Cornwall Record

Office and the Cornish Studies Library on two different sites?

Better on one site, physical access easier and a wider pool of knowledge and

expertise. Integration important but the use of distinct research areas for different types of visitors.

There would be no loss to the services by having one site but there may be an economic impact to the area where the facility is lost. This was not felt to be

sufficient reason for not doing it.

B. Access Q1 The new building has to operate as a home for the collections, users and staff for the

next 40+ years.

(a) How might user expectations change in that time?

The main trend will be the increased demand for online access to records and

information and users may have much more sophisticated expectations. It was also felt that users would expect ‘integrated access experience, accessing all

aspects of the site in one visit.

(b) What other medium/long-term factors do we need to take into account?

- sufficient capacity for growth is vital – the building must be large enough not to be outgrown.

- climate change will place increased pressure on controlling the temperature and

environmental conditions.


- The volunteer demographic needs to be considered as groups are struggling to attract new members

- Programme to update media and equipment, especially digital media.

Q2: Access to records and books relies on staff and volunteers having sufficient time and space to catalogue collections. Do you think that cataloguing collections that have not been catalogued to date should be a priority for the service?

Cataloguing, especially in an on-line environment, should be a priority.

Q3: What opportunities could the project create for caring for or linking with other non- Cornwall Council organizations to improve access to or awareness of their collections?

- Links with the Diaspora communities

- Showcase opportunities for local/specialist groups and collections. - Links with the heritage gateway - Building links with private collections.

C. Learning and Outreach

Q1a. The project has the potential to build facilities for groups, learning activities and community use. Is this a priority for the building?

Need for a clear vision for the ‘facilities’ and the organisation needed to run it. It

was felt that the emphasis on the building as a focus for learning/interpretation activities might not be the most effective strategy for engaging targeted audiences or the wider community.

Distributed models have been much more successful in Cornwall, e.g., WHS

learning strategy. CRO learning programme Q1b: Which organisations should the project be working with to develop these facilities

at the planning stage so they are successful and usable?

- Younger people, existing users, peer group members, e.g., CAN, CMG and HCAG, funders, Economic Development/Tourism, Cultural groups.

Q2. One suggestion is that in addition to facilities for groups and the local community, there should be a public space with displays and temporary exhibitions. This could

enable manuscripts related to Cornwall but held elsewhere to be displayed and objects from museums to be linked with documents in collection. Do you feel this would enhance the ‘cultural offer’ of the building, raise its profile and attract visitors?

No,

- Keep facilities minimal - Offer an outreach service, build on existing model.

- Enhance key partner sites - Key is digitisation and IT to deliver access and sources remotely.

Q 3:What needs to be taken in account regarding the location and accessibility of the facility for these wider opportunities to be realised?


- Cost and sustainability - public access

- planning gain/section 106 - different functions might not necessarily all be in one place.

Other points: There was a wider discussion about aspirations for the provision of joined-up learning provision to schools and colleges across archives, museums, historic

environment and other local providers. The current situation is fragmentary and competitive - look at best practice elsewhere, e.g. ‘Take One’ scheme.

D Wider links

Q1a: ‘Who cares?’ - Who is the project important to and why?

- Local communities - The collections have a direct link in terms of legacy and identity throughout Cornwall.

- Education, both the national curriculum and CUC’s programmes. They can

help ensure that the Cornish dimension is woven into the curriculum. - Family and local histories, including the Cornish Diaspora.

Q1b What are the implications for Cornwall’s heritage and communities if nothing is done to improve provision?

- dilution of Cornish identity

- compromise of the physical archives - loss of collections.

Q2: What can we do to involve the wider community in the project, from the first phases of development to its use?

- What do communities want? - Instil/encourage pride in local heritage – a ‘sense of place’.

- Heritage-led regeneration an important consideration. - CNAs.

- Promote Cornish identity, e.g., language. - Attract collections.

Q3: Are there other organisations with similar aims who could be part of the scheme and enhance the facilities and services e.g. book-binding companies, family history society,

artists studio etc The following organisations:

- OCS - Local History Groups - Family History Groups

- VCH - Kids Groups

- Local Museums (hub vs. distributed model) Need to use the media to raise the profile and encourage local interest, e.g.

Heritage Roadshows.

DISCOVER THE EXTRAORDINARY PROJECT 1 April – 30 June 2011 Summary Nearly all the initiatives in phases 1 and 2 of the Discover the Extraordinary Project (DtE) have now been completed, and on time and on budget. All the major capital works at the mining heritage attractions have been delivered, and the product enhancement stage of DtE is therefore now almost complete. The DtE Project will from now on be focusing on the next stage which is marketing and tourism business engagement based on the enhanced WHS product. Project Staff The new DtE Principal Officer (Project Manager), David Rutherford commenced work on 3 May. Marketing & Visitor Information Officer, Samantha Snow, has extended her maternity leave. Capital Works at WHS Key & Area Centres The DtE Project has now completed implementation of the WHS Key and Area Centre interpretation and visitor orientation at 11 WHS Key and Area Centres. These are the visitor gateway attractions to the 10 WHS areas. Interpretation Heartlands Outside Studios have been commissioned to design the World Heritage Site interactive map table which will provide the focal point of the World Heritage Site Key Centre (i.e. visitor gateway) visitor interpretation and orientation, and be cutting edge. The map table will be roughly 5 metres by 2 metres and will cover the entire area of Cornwall and west Devon. The map will be printed on electroluminescent paper, which can be programmed to light up in certain places producing a simple moving light animation. The intention is to use this animation creatively to present the story of the WHS - the 10 areas, the scope of the key lodes and mineral deposits, and the mineral tramways and mining ports in a 5 minute presentation. There will be approximately 100 simple models marking key mining heritage attractions and sites. Visitors will be able to use ipad touchscreens located on a rail around the interactive map table to find out more about what there is to see and do in the World Heritage Site, and about sustainable options such as using public transport. Audio Trails The five audio trails are currently being tested by focus groups. The next round of audio trails are being planned, and a scoping exercise is being undertaken by the Interpretation Officer into the use of different technologies and the benefit of presenting these within a WHS app. Minions Heritage Centre

The Centre was visited by Cornwall Councillors in June, and will be opened officially in July by the Vice Chairman of Linkinhorne Parish following a morning of school activities and a guided walk and talk of the area.

Poldark Mine Museum

The photographic exhibition introducing the theme of Cornish miners overseas was opened in May by the Mexican ambassador to the UK Eduardo Medina Mora Icaza, and the UK ambassador to Mexico Judith Macgregor.

Tavistock Museum A new timeline and welcome sign have been commissioned for the Museum, and Denham Productions have been appointed to produce a short film exploring the history of the Bedford Cottages, a key story for this World Heritage Site area. Denham Productions are experienced in producing quality heritage films, and have previously produced the successful short film on Tavistock Abbey for Tavistock Museum. Gwennap Pit A children’s guide has been commissioned for Gwennap Pit. The colour guide will be aimed at primary school children and accompanying adults, and will include games and puzzles to introduce the stories of mining and Methodism at the Pit. It will be available for schools and visitors to purchase at the Pit by early next year. Tamar Valley Centre Plans to enhance the interpretation at the Tamar Valley Centre are underway. This will include orientation panels for when the Centre is closed, a new short film to accompany the existing AV offer in the Centre, and enhanced interpretation on the CMWHS within the Centre using high impact images. St Agnes Museum A touchscreen brief is being worked up at St Agnes Museum. The interactive touchscreen will provide visitors and family history enthusiasts with information about the mining and social history collections, and also give disabled visitors access to the exhibits on the upper floor. The touchscreen will go live by March 2012. Also an external site sign is being produced which can be erected and displayed by Museum volunteers. St Agnes Museum Trust has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2011 Extract from press release:

“St Agnes Museum Trust is absolutely delighted and tremendously honoured to have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2011 and is very grateful to all our volunteers whose hard work in so many different ways has made this award possible. We have more than 60 volunteers helping to run the Museum, doing everything from stewarding seven days a week during a long season, to maintaining our working longcase clocks, providing hanging baskets, helping at coffee mornings (including baking cakes and growing plants), maintaining a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about St Agnes Parish, and painting and decorating. This winter many of our regular volunteers braved the freezing weather to help with the major refurbishment of the Museum, emptying and refilling cabinets, removing old carpets, painting internally and externally, and cleaning the listed building from top to toe after the building works had been completed”

Publications An audit of existing publications on the CMWHS is being undertaken, and plans drawn up for a suite of publications exploring the mining landscape, wildlife and industrial heritage aimed at our target audiences. Other Capital Works at WHS Key & Area Centres Gwennap Pit Permission has been secured from the Methodist Church via the online project register portal to install AV equipment in and around the Pit area in order to broadcast to the main buildings thus increasing access to live events from within the main buildings which provide wheelchair access. Further permission has also been secured to move the main entry point so that it is flush with the building itself, rather than the inset position it now operates from. King Edward Mine The works to the new AV room are complete, and provide a fully equipped AV room for 40 people. They have included new AV equipment including a ceiling mounted digital projector, new dias, seats, carpet, both vertical blinds and roller blinds to all 5 windows, replacement of 2 casement windows and replacement of all glass in remaining 3 casement windows with 6.4mm laminated glass to minimise vandalism, security bars on all windows, and 5 very large historic prints of people at King Edward Mine to enhance the walls. The Cornish Buildings Group Awards 2011 included a Commendation for the Winder and Compressor Houses building. There were 58 entries and there is only ever one ‘Award’ each year and several Commendations, so we were very pleased with the Commendation. Eight representatives of the building project team attended the awards ceremony, and there has been good media coverage. The exhibition of the Awards will be touring throughout Cornwall.

St Agnes Museum Tenders have been returned for the access improvements between the main road and the entrance to the museum. These will substantially improve the drainage of surface run-off, as this is eroding the access path and causing gullying. The works include resurfacing the access path, to enable improved access for all. Wheal Martyn The new introductory interpretation in the main entrance foyer area has been completed. Consultancy Services King Edward Mine There has been considerable progress on the options appraisal and business plan. The QS has completed costing the condition survey and the proposals for adaptive reuse of the relevant three building complexes. As they are all Grade II* a site meeting has been held with English Heritage and the Council’s buildings conservation officer. Initial discussions have also been held with the proposed funders, including with the Heritage Lottery Fund on site. The works will need to be phased over several years, and total over £2million for the three building complexes. Marketing Cornish Mining WHS Website The new website is nearing the final stages of completion and is due to be launched on the 4th August.

PR See attached activity spreadsheet from PR Agency – Excess Energy

“The work was funded by a European Union and Defra Grant funded through the Rural Development Fund”.

Advertising A one page advert has been booked in the Visit Cornwall holiday guide for 2012. We are currently actively working on a campaign strategy for 2012; and have been consulting with stakeholders on possible routes forward. A plan will be forwarded to James Glover before September and any activity commences. Visitor Surveys Arkenford Marketing has now completed the visitor survey, which will be disseminated and distributed to key stakeholders, over the next month. Marketing Steering Group No meeting was scheduled in this quarter. The next meeting is scheduled for 29 September 2011.

Documents

CORNWALL COUNCIL HISTORIC CORNWALL ADVISORY GROUP … · by Exegesis SDM Ltd took place on 18-19 th May. These visits provide the opportunity to upgrade the HER database software