The Restoration Project

As the restoration project is at the point of fruition it is timely to look at how we have got this far.

Below we have published an article "New Angle on Famous Crescent Vista" first produced in March 1957 in the Bath Weekly Chronicle, which covers another restoration project to change the "cabbage plot" to lawn.

Also there is an extract from the CLC Secretary's report on the current restoration which was given to the Society's AGM in April 2006.

NEW ANGLE ON FAMOUS CRESCENT VISTA

Royal Crescent is now back in the setting which it is loved by Bathonians and visitors to the city in fact, the setting has been improved to provide an entirely new vista.

Almost a year has passed since the Parks Committee began "Operation Face-lift" the beauty treatment which saw the cabbage patch" - as it was often described during the years since the war disappear.

.In its place has sprung up the rolling greensward which now provides the Crescent's "front place".

The five acres of grassland which during the war and up to last year provided valuable food producing land, now merges into the Royal Victoria Park.

The ha-ha, (boundary ditch) which separates the parkland from the Crescent front lawn has been retained.

To open up the vista - it is indeed a magnificent view, both from the Crescent and the park ends- the hedge which ran parallel with the park pathway has been removed, the land in its immediate vicinity flattened out and grass seeded.

The concrete stanchions and wire fencing on the other side of the pathway are also disappearing. Bathonians will recall that before the war cattle and sheep grazed on this parkland. This feature is not being re-introduced. The idea is that visitors to the park can enjoy this five-acre area.

PUBLIC PRESSURE

The Royal Crescent Field, to give it its full title, provided plots for 72 allotmenteers during the war.

At the end of the war the "temporary" allotments remained and there was pressure from the genral public and from sections of the City Council, for the restoration of the green field.

But it was not until 1956 when the Parks Committee assumed responsibility for the allotments in the city that it was possible to evolve the scheme which is now almost complete.

The Committee were able to do so because it was possible to transfer the allotment holders from Royal Crescent to the Lower Common site and others in the city.

ALL FOR £200

During the years there were many critical comments about the retention of the field as a "cabbage plot" but the former Small-holdings and Allotments Committee fought hard and successfully to retain the site until it was satisfied that satisfactory alternatives were available.

The total cost of the restoration of the front approaches of the Crescent to its former glory is in the region of £200.

Secretary's Update to RCS AGM 30th April 2006

FIRST, THE HISTORY

Exactly 15 years and 2 weeks ago I attended my first meeting of the Ha-ha Committee which was set up to restore the ha-ha. At some point a few years later the Railings and their footings were added to this project but when estimates were obtained came to approximately £100,000 we realised that finding the necessary finance would be a huge problem.

Then in 1997, Glenn Humphreys who works for B&NES in what was the Parks and Cemeteries department was showing the Heritage Lottery Fund officer round the Royal Victoria Park discussing the restoration work he hoped to carry out there, the Heritage Lottery Fund man saw what a parlous state the ha-ha and railings were in and suggested that they too should be added to Glenn’s schedule of improvements. The offer was that the Heritage Lottery Fund would pay 75% towards the costs of the ha-ha and railings restoration - an offer we could not refuse.

Two problems arose when it was discovered that the actual owner of the lawn and its boundaries was not known, and HLF could not proceed with their offer until an owner was found. This problem was solved by applying to the Land Registry for Title on the Lawn and its Boundaries that the Society and its predecessors had always acted as if they were the owners. The second problem was that HLF would not allow monies to go to clubs and societies. This was solved by creating the Crescent Lawn Company Limited which was to hold the Title on behalf of the residents of the Royal Crescent.

Things proceeded slowly but by February of last year all the legalities between the CLC, B&NES and Heritage Lottery Fund had been completed.

Another aspect of the restoration was to replace the tarmac of the path around the railings with pennant stone. This was another project that the Royal Crescent Society had been wanting to carry out for many years and it was obvious that a good time to do it would be whilst the railings and footings were to be disturbed.

In August of last year both a Design Consultant and a Project Lead Monitor were appointed. The Design Consultant is Rhys Brookes of Harrison Brookes, Architects and the Project Lead Monitor is Cliff Barnes of Nisbet, Chartered Quantity Surveyors, who will be working to Heritage Lottery Fund rules and standard.

Although the CLC thought that our project was the first on Glenn Humphry’s list of 33 projects being carried out using Heritage Lottery Funds; we were in fact the 3rd. The first project was the replacing of the gates in the Royal Victoria Park at the east end near the War Memorial, and also those gates at the west end. The second was an education centre. But since February of this year Rhys Brookes has been working exclusively on our project and has carried out an impressive amount of work, so much so that he has already been able to apply for Listed Building Consent for both the ha-ha and the railings and pavement. Unfortunately Permissions can take 3-4 months to be granted and the meantime Rhys will be completing the specification and tendering for the work. This being so, we hope physical work will start in or about August, which still leaves adequate time to complete the work by the end of December.

The Present and Future
 

Ha-ha. English Heritage wanted the ha-ha and ditch to be left in accordance with their “as found” policy. No one was happy with this and the consent application contains the decision to dig out only the late 19th and 20th century levels of the ditch, restore the top course of the wall and to replace the bricks and breezeblocks with stone. I heard yesterday that English Heritage will agree to this.

Railings. These will be dealt with treating the worst first. This means that replacing the double gates and restoring both ends of the railings and footings will be the first, working towards the centre until the money runs out. Lisa Oestreicher who is one of the leading paint historians in the country, has completed her examination of the paint work and is currently working on a board on which to display them. She has found grey, racing green and chocolate brown. However any change from the present black may well lead to delay and it would have to have Consent.

 
Pavement. The tarmac will have to be removed before the railings and footings can be worked on, and will be re-laid with re-cycled stone only after the railings and footings have been completed. The stone pavement will extend from the present position at the east end up to the point where there is a change of design of railings at the west end. I should remind you that financing the pavement does not come under the Heritage Lottery Funds umbrella, and fund raising will have to take place.