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Can You Help
Us?
Memoirs are like photographs; through them a world we
never knew comes to life. And like pictures, memoirs too
frame certain subjects and fix them in time, thus shaping
and configuring our memories about the past.
But heritage dates and places and even pictures are only
the skeleton of the family history — the
stories are what give it its character.
Preserving local stories means honouring
individual lives, our experiences and our relationships.
We actually record history for those who follow — the kind
of homes people lived in, how streets were planned, how
doctors treated illnesses, how people travelled, what they
wore, how food was prepared (especially before electric
stoves and microwaves!), the games people played, family
and religious customs, jobs... The heirs of our community
deserve to know how we responded to our local these events
or how they changed your life. And even if you can't
really recall how you felt or reacted at the time, by
noting some of these events, it helps to provide a
historical reference to your stories.
Click Here to Read More
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SAVING TIME
"Instead of a gradual process of change, many of the
younger generation, and the survivors, tended to
reject all that had led up to the war in favour of a
brave new world"
A REVIEW OF THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT IN BRITAIN IN
THE 20TH CENTURY by Michael Pearce
Click Here to Read More...
A Question of Ethics
Historic
authenticity and the design of alterations and repairs
to historic buildings fuelled intense debate in the
mid 19th Century, much as they do today. PETER BURMAN
traces the development of a modern conservation
philosophy.
Click Here To Read More... |
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 This
'How To' guide is just an overview of what you need to know to
help understand and explore buildings. It will
stimulate your senses and promote architectural awareness. So
when you are travel through Taunton or your own
neighbourhood you will notice more than you did
before.
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Understanding Buildings - Building Types
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“The architect…is called upon to
erect buildings for every conceivable purpose…railway
buildings;…churches; hotels; public libraries, office and
mercantile structures, school-houses and college buildings;
theatres, exhibition buildings, casinos, jails, prisons,
municipal buildings, apartment houses ,
and all other structures which must be accommodated to the
complicated conditions of modern society” H. van Brunt, "On
the Present Condition and Prospects of Architecture"
(1886)
Click Here to view a Menu of Architectural Types & Styles
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Introduction to Production
Buildings materials relate to
our senses. We see them with our eyes, structures can be
touched and materials are felt. And they can be heard if you
touch them... if you knock on them or ring their bells.
- Materials give the building
structural soundness
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Materials provide shelter from the elements
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Materials should be pleasing to view
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Materials must be within the budget for the building
Click Here for an introduction to materials and diffrenet
methods of construction.
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Based on the
work of architectural master Sir Banister Fletcher another way
of analyzing buildings is to use the Comparative Method, or
READING A BUILDING. This method analyzes the parts of a
building and how they go together. This approach will allow
you to look at any building, anywhere and be able to analyze
it. By looking at the building parts and comparing them, you
can enjoy and appreciate the diverse combinations of
architectural detail which are part of the mystery and charm
of vernacular buildings. (The term vernacular means a common
building style of a particular
place and period.)
Click here to read more
Why not try your observations skills now by looking at the
picture of the cow. Is there anything noticeably different?
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Learning to read your locality - With
When
you have lived or worked in a place for a long time you may
cease to notice it unless something happens to jolt you. It
might be sun glinting on a stone wall revealing the fossils
in it, discovering that the street name cheap indicates a
market place which explains the wide pavements, the felling of
an ancient and much loved tree which makes you look more
closely at the remaining mature trees in the place.
Understanding what makes our
place different from the next, what accumulations of story
upon history upon natural history give it its uniqueness may
help us to maintain a relationship which ensures a future for
local distinctiveness. Attachment to place is a prerequisite
to endeavour on its behalf.
Creating an ABC liberates us
from classifying things as rare or beautiful to demonstrate
what we care about in the everyday. It is useful in that it
levels everything, it reshuffles things and juxtaposes them in
ways that surprise and make you think. This can change what we
see, disperse our complacency, make things we take for granted
seem new to us and encourage us to action.
Taunton & District Society may
be in the process of creating one for Taunton so watch this
space. In the meantime, if you wish to
read more Click Here
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