BaR News Round up: August 2024

 

Walmer Lodge is a substantial and stately mid to late Victorian villa built no doubt like many of the other large, handsome houses on Abbey Road to provide accommodation to visitors to Malvern at a time when it was a flourishing spa town.  Many came for the hydrotherapy cures and required a hotel or lodging house.  The house has variously served as a lodging house, hotel and restaurant but has been standing empty for a considerable number of years.   

 

Standing in generous grounds on this elevated road from which there are views back over the valley, this must have been a desirable location to stay.  The house has two gables, a nod to the gothic style of many of the villas and is clad in light coloured stucco or plaster.  Unlisted it stands at the heart of the Great Malvern Conservation Area.

 

Permission was granted in 2006 for conversion to 11 serviced apartments and this was extended in 2010.  Subsequently there have been various applications relating to the number of apartments to be contained in both it and an annex building, the latest of which was refused in 2013 for want of satisfaction of the required contribution to local infrastructure for buildings of a certain size. 

 

Now the house is in deteriorating condition and has caused concerns locally about safety.  Boards were erected to try to prevent easy entry to the property some years ago but are themselves looking shabby and in need of maintenance.  We understand that Councillors are aware that there is great local concern about the condition of the house and why it has been allowed to deteriorate to this extent.  At the very least, the outside of the property should be brought back into good condition but a more comprehensive solution is what is really needed.   

 

18 and 20 Market Place, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7QH

These two handsome Georgian grade II listed houses became part of the former Hamonds Grammar School in the 19^th century and were still serving an educational purpose at the beginning of the 21^st. However, when that use ceased, they have struggled to find a new use and are now suffering the effects of prolonged neglect and lack of active maintenance that often goes along with redundancy.

Standing on the expansive and impressive market place in the centre of Swaffham, an attractive town not far from the North Norfolk coast, these houses were originally built as private residences. 

Number 20 is the earlier, built in 1740-1750 according to the listing entry and incorporating remains of an earlier mid to late 17^th century cross wing to the rear.  Care was taken with its external decoration as it has classical brick pilasters and rustication in brick at ground floor level.  The house became a bank and, later, part of the school providing suitably smart accommodation for the headmaster.  Number 18 was built in 1780-1800 according to the listing entry and has a restrained, symmetrical façade, again in brick with separately listed gate piers and wall standing next to it.  In 1896 it was taken over for Hamond’s Grammar School and remained in that use for over 100 years.

The site has been disused since 2009 but it has taken a long time for an appropriate proposal to be put together.  A scheme to restore the historic buildings on site to residential use and for six further houses to be built on the grounds which stretch behind was granted in early 2023 (see Listed Building application ref: 3PL/2020/1028/LB).  Following the grant of that application, the site was sold on but the new owners have not started work on site.  In the meantime the condition of the buildings deteriorates further and, prominently located, they remain a blight on the centre of the town.  We understand that the Council continues to work to find a way forward that respects the beautiful historic buildings as part of a viable scheme.