Holding Fire on Hampshire's Heritage

One unintended casualty of the current local government reorganisation could be historic buildings conservation. In much of England, effective organisation for preserving the built heritage is held together by county teams. This is unsurprising – well into the present century regional differences, materials, craft tradition and local styles meant that each county's buildings had a strong and distinctive personality.

Many of the present county councils, established on the eve of European Architectural Heritage Year 1975, assembled strong conservation teams which provide expert knowledge and advice, not least to district councils whose own conservation staffing is often minimal. Hampshire has long been recognised as exemplary in its use of county conservation expertise. Its planning department includes the Hampshire Historic Buildings Bureau, a professional team of six led by conservation architect Deane Clark, whose combined expertise provides unrivalled historical and practical knowledge of the county's buildings.