CHB, Author at Church & Heritage Building

Only remaining UK semaphore tower saved

Posted by CHB | Jul 13, 2019 | Heritage, Latest News |

The Semaphore Tower on Chatley Heath in Surrey is the only surviving semaphore tower in Britain. Complete with a working semaphore mast, it is a unique remnant from the Napoleonic era. The Grade II* tower was once a vital link in a signalling chain that transmitted messages in just a few minutes from Admiralty House in London to Portsmouth Docks. Now sadly it has fallen into disrepair, with water seeping into its fine brickwork. The water ingress has reached a critical point , threatening the mast’s stability and the tower’s structural integrity. Now, thanks to the generosity of over 1,000 Landmark Trust supporters,...

Feng shui and the art of avoiding catastrophes in urban planning

Posted by CHB | Jul 12, 2019 | Blog |

The bustling Hong Kong skyline evokes many responses. The city has the world’s greatest concentration of skyscrapers, and its spectacular nightly 8pm light show ensures that visiting tourists rank it as one of the greatest skylines in the world. In the cold light of day Hong Kong’s architecture is much like that of any modern, densely-populated city – vertical, compressed and, beneath the multitude of facades, predominantly utilitarian. Look at the buildings closest to the waterfront, and you’ll notice that they are full of holes, great gaping holes in their midriffs that make many of the structures look like...

Remembering D-Day – Second World War Sites Given Protection

Posted by CHB | Jun 27, 2019 | Heritage |

To mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, six Second World War concrete structures built as replica landing craft for training, nine sunken army tanks, two armoured bulldozers and components of Mulberry floating harbours in Dorset, Devon and West Sussex are being granted protection by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England. D-Day on 6th June 1944, codenamed Operation Overlord, was the greatest combined land air and naval operation in history. It was a massive assault by the allies to invade Nazi-occupied Western Europe during the Second World War. 156,000 soldiers from Britain,...

Quiet Simplicity of Quaker Meeting Houses Celebrated

Posted by CHB | Jun 16, 2019 | Christian, Heritage, Latest News |

There are thousands of practising Quakers in Britain, with around 500 meetings around the country. Now 17 Quaker meeting houses across England have been celebrated through listing. The oldest Quaker meeting house in the world still in continuous use is now Grade I listed in recognition of its exceptional historic significance, while 11 Quaker meeting houses have been granted listed status and five have been upgraded to Grade II*. Hertford is home to the earliest surviving purpose-built Quaker meeting house in the world, still in Quaker use. It was built in 1670 and has had its listed status upgraded to...

Frank Lloyd Wright House dismantled and moved

Posted by CHB | Jun 5, 2019 | Heritage, Latest News |

A 1950s dwelling that is one of the Usonian homes that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for middle-class residents has been moved from its original site in Minnesota to a private estate located near Fallingwater. The RW Lindholm House – often referred to as Mäntylä, which is Finnish for “house among the pines” – was built in 1952 in the small town of Cloquet in northeastern Minnesota. The residence was designed for businessman Ray Lindholm and his wife Emmy, and is an example of one of Wright’s late-period Usonian homes, which were created for middle-class families starting in the 1930s...