The startling image at the top, of Cowes on the Isle of Wight, shows the extent of relatively recent demolition of (largely Victorian) waterfront houses. All the crossed-out houses have now gone. 'Obliteration' might indeed be a better word, and would be entirely accurate were it not for the fact that one villa, Hamlet Court, survives. But for how much longer? It has been turned down for national listing (and is not even on the local council list) in spite of a strong link to John Nash to which even the famously fastidious architectural historian Sir Howard Colvin gave credence shortly before his death in 2007. We are renewing our calls for listing, but meanwhile developers are circling. Their appetite for inappropriate development is shown by the aggressively ahistorical residential block (Vantage Point, shown in the lower picture) that is currently being built immediately alongside Hamlet Court, which can just be seen, dwarfed, on the far right. What price a similar block rising shortly where Hamlet Court now stands? If that happens, we shall have lost a building designed, quite possibly by Nash, for Lord Belfast, later 2nd Marquess of Donegal. At the time (1832), Lord Belfast was also commissioning Joseph White to design a new brig, of a type that would revolutionise the development of Admiralty ships. Hamlet Court features on all the nineteenth century Brannon engravings of Cowes waterfront, a vista we have now all but lost through successive planning consents. Its disappearance would diminish Cowes and echo another scandalous demolition of a late Georgian building on an island in the English Channel - that of Sir John Soane's Colomberie House on Jersey, torn down in the 1990s.
I very much hope that Hamlet Court can be saved from the obliteration that is clearly the intended by the owners of the property and the developers of adjoining 'Vantage Point' site. The picture shows just a few of the Regency villas and later houses that have ben demolished on the seafront at Cowes in recent years. Mornington House, further west down Queen's Road, was demolished in November 2004 despite the house being within a Conservation Area. It is now the site of an ugly block of flats. A combination of yet more inappropriate development schemes and an continuing lack of awareness of heritage conservation within the Local Authoirity will result in the Cowes seafront becoming devoid of any architectural quality and character in the very near future.
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Cllr George Brown:
ReplyDelete“I am the Isle of Wight Councillor for Cowes North, where Hamlet Court is situated. It is essential to protect this important building from destruction, or further encroachment. The character of the aspect of West Cowes from the Solent has already been undermined by new construction approved on appeal, having been turned down by the Isle of Wight Council Planning Committee. Hamlet Court is one of the few remaining bastions. It must be saved.
George Brown”
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/seafront-flats-plans-under-fire-32169.aspx
ReplyDeleteplease see the attached article, Hamlet Court is yet again under threat. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/developers-wont-force-me-to-quit-38810.aspx
ReplyDeleteSo glad attention is being paid to Hamlet Court - and I hope, other important buildings both in Cowes and elsewhere on the Isle of Wight. The Island is a treasure trove of fascinating buildings with history, which would provide a tourist industry with more that sea, sand and (not enough) sun in the lean years. It is imperative that proper steps are taken to ensure this!
ReplyDelete