of flues. The lack of any certific-

ation by the building control

officer may well inhibit the sub-

sequent sale of such buildings.

4. Urgent repairs

It may come as a surprise to some

planning authorities that some of the

the most important buildings in their

areas may fall into disrepair with—

out the local authority being able

to take any formal steps to redress

the matter. The Wheat and Barley

Barns at Cressing Temple are a

typical example. A large site here

is a SAN (Essex No 211). The two

barns are listed Grade I. Recently

it became apparent that some urgent

repairs were required to the wall

of one of the barns, but the local

authority, because the site is

scheduled, are precluded from

serving a Section 101 or 114 Notice.

Apparently the only way in which such

repairs to a SAN can be enforced is

for the DoE to go in and carry them

out. As a consequence of this

position, the District Council are

left with a feeling of helplessness

when they see a major building in

their area in disrepair; and in this

particular case it is ironic that

that the council concerned is one

who give historic building conserv-

ation a high priority, and who

would readily have served a Section

101 Notice to ensure urgent repairs.

Summary

It would seem that there are a number of

problems arising in connection with

buildings which are listed and are

scheduled ancient monuments. These

problems are aggravated in situations

where the buildings may be put to a

use (or alternative use). In the

current climate, there is considerable

pressure, encouraged by local planning

authorities, for finding new or

alternative uses for redundant or dis—

used historic buildings. These pressures

are bound to raise similar issues to

those which have been discussed above,

and it would seem that there is a

growing need for reconsideration of the

status of buildings which are both

listed and scheduled.

There is, undoubtedly, a feeling of

frustration in local authorities where

owners of Grade II listed buildings are

being pressed to keep them in good

repair and effective use, while

scheduled ancient monuments in the same

area are faliling into disrepair.

It is possible that those scheduled

monuments which are Grade I or 11*, and

which are capable of conversion, repair

or modernisation to a new active use,

might be de—scheduled, allowing the

local authorities to use their repairs

notice or urgent works notice powers

to bring pressure to have the structures

repaired and used.

APPENDIX 1

There are a total of 184 scheduled

ancient monuments in Essex, of which

61 are also listed buildings. 28 of

these are Grade I, 11 are Grade II* and

22 are Grade II. 35 are roofed buildings,

15 are ruins and 10 are other structures.

Four sites (Audley End House, Hill Hall,

St Botoiph’s Priory and Widdington Barn)

are in the care of the Historic Buildings

and Monuments Commission, one (Bourne

Mill) belongs to the National Trust, eight

belong to local authorities and the rest

are in private ownership.

APPENDIX 2

Scheduled ancient monuments were

originally controlled by the Secretary

of state for the DoE under the Ancient

Monuments (Consolidation & Amendment)

Act 1913, the Historic Buildings &

Ancient Monuments Act 1953, and the

Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas

Act 1979. The powers under these Acts

include provision to purchase by

agreement or by gift, to undertake

guardianship arrangements, to carry out

repairs, to control development and

alterations, and to take legal action

following any damge caused to a

monument. This legislation takes pre-

cedence over the later Listed building

and conseravtion areas legislation.

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