Please login or click here to join.
Forgot Password? Click Here to reset pasword
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Jason T Posts: 7421 Joined: 14th Apr 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 15:24 on 14th May 2009 I got thinking, they are restoring the old (15th Century) hall up the road at the moment, turning it into apartments!! i suppose its better than letting it collapse, but i love seeing it as it is! I wonder what people on here think, would you rarther see a building restored, maybe to its former glory, and opened to the public, or just left in a state of decay, but prevented from falling?? I know i love looking round old buildings close to collape, there seems something magical, you can see the scars time has left on them, and they pose for photos so well!!
|
Krissy Posts: 15430 Joined: 8th Jul 2008 Location: USA | quotePosted at 15:30 on 14th May 2009 I say restore!!!! Especially if it is very old or if it's historical!! But something that grand and that old should not be made into apartments!!!! The falling down derelict state...not safe...sure it's interesting but it will only fall donw more...and what if you are in the building when it happens?? hmmm??? |
| Jason T Posts: 7421 Joined: 14th Apr 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 15:39 on 14th May 2009 No, buildings can usually be made safe, but still kept more or less as they are, so they retain the character that time has given them!! |
| Krissy Posts: 15430 Joined: 8th Jul 2008 Location: USA | quotePosted at 15:42 on 14th May 2009 ok..but how many people would want to visit them? I would, but is it worth it? |
Diana Sinclair Posts: 10119 Joined: 3rd Apr 2008 Location: USA | quotePosted at 15:52 on 14th May 2009 I do see the charm as you say Jason, but I have to say that if the building has real historical value it would be nice to restore it and save it for future generations to enjoy. Having said that, I do have a problem with these buildings being turned into apartment dwellings. I think of homes like C.S. Lewis's "The Kilns" in Oxford, England, or the home of Ship Captain and Mathmatician, Nathaniel Bowditch (His book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried onboard every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.) here is Salem, Massachusetts both in virtual states of disrepair and being used as apartments by people who could care less about the history surrounding them, and it makes me sick. |
| Jason T Posts: 7421 Joined: 14th Apr 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 15:53 on 14th May 2009  Picture by Ben Higgins This is Alton towers, this building has been kind of left as it was, and is so cool to walk round!! feels like you stumbled on it in the woods!! Alton towers is a bit of an extreme example, its within a theme park!!  but i love the idea of doing this! maybe a lot wouldn't want to visit, instead want it to look as it was in its prime, your probably right, but i think thats a shame!! theres a whole lot more to see!! time can do fantastic things, and with a little imagination i find it much better than walking around a fully restored house, with all the furniture in etc.... |
| Jason T Posts: 7421 Joined: 14th Apr 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 15:55 on 14th May 2009 I like them to be preserved for the future, but preserved by virtually rebuilding i don't think is always the best way, important sometimes i know!, but it seems to destroy a lot of what makes the building, destroys the soul, for want of a better word!! Edited by: Jason T at:14th May 2009 18:04 |
| Krissy Posts: 15430 Joined: 8th Jul 2008 Location: USA | quotePosted at 16:28 on 14th May 2009 I would be interested in an old building if it was kept as is...perfectly...nothing changed but maintained so that it's safe. I would love to see the original floors, beams, windows, furniture, gardens...everything...I think you could learn so much from that! And it give you the feeling of being there as if it were the 15th century!! does that make sense? |
lancashirelove Posts: 1986 Joined: 18th Feb 2009 Location: UK | quotePosted at 18:01 on 14th May 2009 Houghton Towers in Lancashire is an old family hall set in its own grounds its mentioned in many old documents. The seat of the de Houghton family (my Great grans name), one of the Houghtons also married one of the Gerrards of Brynn from which I am a decendant. The tower itself was indeed the place that Sir Loin was knighted when the King stayed their (possibly drunk lol). Being a large wealthy catholic family it was also the scene of many conflict between medieval kings and queens and fighting the scots (Battle of Preston) William Sheakspear stayed there in his late teens under the name of Shakeshaft, as did charles dickens. The building was half blown to pieces when the gunpowder store ignited during the English civil wars and the Wars of the Roses. It fell into desrepair after the king left, he and his camp followers litrally ate the hosts out of house and home. It as been restored and is opened to the public at certain times of the year and well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.  Picture by Rod Burkey |
| Jason T Posts: 7421 Joined: 14th Apr 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 18:05 on 14th May 2009 Wow!! it sounds it!! i'll certainly visit when i'm up that way!! |
Follow PicturesOfEngland.com on social media and help share the beauty of England....
