Our reference:
476140
PLANNING (LISTED BUILDINGS AND CONSERVATION AREAS) ACT 1990
BUILDINGS OF
SPECIAL ARCHITECTURAL OR HISTORIC INTEREST
Tumbledown Dick
Public House, Farnborough Road, Farnborough, Hampshire
Further to your
application in which you asked for a review of the decision not to list the
Tumbledown Dick Public House (the “Pub”). I am the Department’s officer
responsible for the review of listing decisions and had no involvement in the
original decision not to list.
Decision
After considering
your grounds for review and evidence submitted they are not sufficient to
consider overturning the original decision. The reasons for this decision are
given below.
Circumstances
under which the overturning of a previous decision will be considered
Overturning an
original decision will only be considered if there is evidence that the
original decision has been wrongly made. Examples of a wrongly made
decision would be:
-
where
there has been a significant factual error, e.g. the wrong building was listed;
or
-
where
there has been some irregularity in the process that has affected
the outcome, e.g. significant relevant considerations have not been taken
into account/significant irrelevant considerations have been taken into
account.
Reviews of
decisions are also undertaken if there is significant new evidence, not
previously considered, relating to the special architectural or
historic interest of the building in a national context as defined
by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. For
example:
-
where
new evidence relating to the date of a building has been discovered; or
-
where
there has been a material change of circumstances affecting the assessment of a
building’s architectural or historic interest.
In all the above
cases evidence can only be considered which relates to the special
architectural or historic interest of the building. The Principles of
Selection for Listing Buildings, March 2010, (copy attached) sets out
general principles, as well as the statutory criteria, for measuring
architectural and historic interest in the national context. Other factors,
such as planning considerations and local importance, cannot be taken into
account. Disagreement with the advice of English Heritage without persuasive
new evidence will also not be considered grounds for review.
The grounds you
have submitted are not sufficient to consider overturning the original decision
for the following reasons.
The Principles
of Selection for Listing Buildings – Identifying and Recording the Historic
Environment
This section of the
Principles, from which you quote part of paragraph 3, is a generic commentary
on identifying and recording the historic environment. It is a preamble to the
main purpose of the document – listing buildings of architectural and historic
interest – and sets the national context for listing. It doesn’t form part of
the general principles or statutory criteria for listing.
The content of English Heritage’s advice report
It is important to note that the EH advice report is not
intended to be a comprehensive account of the architecture and history of a
building. Its purpose is to provide a summary sufficient to allow a decision to
be made on whether or not a building meets the statutory criteria for listing.
All information submitted as part of a listing application is critically
assessed by EH during the drafting of their report. Opinions and facts
submitted by any party are not accepted uncritically.
The General
Principles applied during a listing assessment
The date of the
rear extension is discussed later in this decision letter. The General
Principles are general principles only and any building is subject to the more
specific Statutory Criteria. Consequently the date of a building does not
automatically result in its listing. It is also subject to the test of special
architectural and/or historic interest.
The English
Heritage Selection Guides
These are produced
by EH to cover various broad building types. They are intended as a guide to
what may be of importance when assessing a particular building type.
They are non-statutory guidance only and are not listing criteria. The
Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings take precedence over the
Selection Guides.
Individual
features of special interest
Very few buildings
display special interest throughout and this would not be expected when
assessing a building for listing. The purpose of section 1(3)(b) of the
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 is to allow the
Secretary of State to protect a specific feature of a building that is of
special interest e.g. a particularly fine fireplace or plaster ceiling. Nothing
with that level of special interest has been identified at the Tumbledown Dick PH.
The speculation
on early fabric
The dating of the
rear extension to the Pub to the C16-C18 is speculative. Although similar in
form there is no clear evidence that this part of the Pub relates to the
building in the 1780s watercolour by Thomas Rowlandson. Even if we accept that
it is the same building it has been very heavily altered to the degree that,
without any information on its construction, it is only the double roof
configuration that tentatively identifies it. It has lost significant amounts of
its original fabric, principally its façade, and doesn’t survive in anything
like its original form.
The design of
the ‘1817’ building
EH commented in
their original advice on the form of the part of the building constructed
around 1817 but with later alterations. Pubs are not rare building types
nationally and selectivity when assessing them for statutory listing is
important. In this case the Pub has been altered and extended. The southern
part of the main building, for instance, being rebuilt or at least heavily
remodelled between 1880 and 1896. As far as is known the building retains
nothing of its C19 pub interior.
Historic
interest
The Annersley
family - The association of
the Annesley family with the manorial estate is acknowledged. However, the Pub
is only a minor feature of the estate and was constructed after the Annesley’s
ownership. There is no direct and close historical association between the
family and the Pub. There is also no direct association between the present Pub
and ‘Kidnapped’ and similar stories.
The Wilmot
family - The association
with the Wilmot family, under whose ownership the present Pub was built, is
closer than that of the Annesleys. However, the reasons for the Wilmot’s
national importance, as expressed in the review request, has no demonstrable
connection with the Pub.
The Rowlandson
watercolour – The figures
in the Rowlandson painting may be representative of local people in the street
at the time but the images are too generalised to be associated with any
particular prominent figures. Any attribution of names to a figure would be
speculation and their appearance in the painting does not signify any direct
association with the Pub.
Group Value
The group value
between the Pub, Farnborough House and St Peter’s Church is not strong. The
three building types, pub, manor and church, are very common functional
features of very many English towns and villages and weren’t planned or
designed as a group. This, along with the very limited architectural interest
of the Pub, significantly limits the group value and doesn’t add materially to
a case for listing.
National
Interest
The EH advice
report acknowledges that the Pub is locally important for its civilian and
military role in the historic village of Farnborough. In a national context,
however, it does not have the resonance either as a building of national
importance or as a local building that adds significantly to the national
building stock to merit listing. There are no quotas for listing buildings
either by type or location. Buildings are listed solely on their ability to
meet the statutory criteria for listing in a national context.
The development
of the Tumbledown Dick PH over time
The C19 was a time
of strong population growth and transport and trading development. The extension
and development of buildings is a common factor in this period and the Pub does
not demonstrate any development out of the ordinary.
The association
with the local pottery industry
As a very important
industry for the local economy many buildings in the area will have a direct or
indirect association with pottery manufacture. There is no particular and
direct association between the Pub and the pottery industry that could add
materially to a case for listing.
The construction
materials for the Pub
Historically
transporting heavy building materials long distances would have been a slow and
often difficult undertaking. It is not surprising, therefore, if the bricks
used to build the Pub came from the local area. This would have been the case
for most modest buildings and isn’t of any great significance. If the frontage
did have some surface decoration, as suggested, it does not survive in any
recognisable form and would represent a detrimental alteration to the original
building.
Conclusion
The information you
have submitted is not sufficient to provide grounds for overturning the
original decision. The original decision, and the reasons for it, should
therefore stand and the Tumbledown Dick Public House, Farnborough Road,
Farnborough, Hampshire should not be added to the statutory list.
Further
opportunity to make a listing application
The Secretary of
State has a continuing duty under the Planning (Listed Buildings and
Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to maintain an up-to-date statutory list of
buildings of architectural or historic interest. If significant new
information should come to light in the future then a new listing application
may be made to English Heritage through their on-line application process.
