Help track down the ten most at risk buildings in the country

Courtesy of Sam Hirst

The Society is calling on historians, enthusiasts and local campaigners across the country to nominate Victorian or Edwardian buildings that are at risk in their local area.

The endangered buildings campaign, now in its fourth year, aims to highlight the problems facing many of our historic buildings.

'People expect us to be obsessed with the past, but the reality is we are obsessed with the future. We want to ensure that the best examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture are still there for future generations to enjoy', said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. 'To do this we need to know what is most at risk; so if you know of a vulnerable Victorian school building, or an empty pub, a disused swimming pool or a crumbling chapel, we want to hear about it.'

Buildings that have been nominated in the past also include mills and factories, public baths, churches, town halls and stately homes.

'We have been left an extraordinary legacy of beautiful buildings but sadly even the finest architecture is no match for sustained neglect or poor planning.'

The nominations will be considered by the Society's experts on architecture and conservation, and a Top Ten will be published in the autumn.

 

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The Top Ten Endangered Buildings of 2009 were:

Oldham Town Hall, Oldham(1841, Joseph Butterworth, Grade II-listed); The Chapels at Pudsey Cemetery, Pudsey, Leeds (1875, William Gay, unlisted); St Ignatius of Antioch Church, Ordsall, Salford; (1903, Alfred Darbyshire, unlisted); The Waterloo Hotel and Grill, Smethwick, West Midlands (1907, Wood and Kendrick, Grade II*-listed); Moseley Road Baths, Balsall Health, Birmingham (1907, William Hale & Son, Grade II*-listed); St Edmund's Church, Rochdale, Manchester; (1873, Medland and Taylor, Grade II*-listed); Trimley Station building, Trimley, Suffolk; (1891, architect unknown, unlisted); Nocton Hall, Nocton, Lincolnshire; (1841, William Shearburn, Grade II-listed); Defensible Barracks, Pembroke Dock, Wales; (c1844, architect unknown, Grade II*-listed)

Wednesday 19 May