AGM 2007

Salisbury Cathedral Close Preservation Society

AGM 2007

Held in the Salisbury Museum Lecture Theatre on 14 May 2007

Chairman’s Welcome

Good evening! I am delighted to welcome you all.

The continued interest of our members – especially those who come to our AGM – is the life-blood of the Society. You provide the encouragement that keeps the members of the Committee actively engaged in the work of the Society. Our purpose is to preserve and enhance The Close. Every year, we appreciate its exceptional character and atmosphere.

As always, we thank the Chapter, the Chapter Clerk and the staff who are the key people who determine what happens in The Close. We make our contribution through persuasion.

Chairman’s Report

On several occasions, my report has centred on the Conservation Plan being developed for the Chapter, by the consultants Alan Baxter & Partners. Once again, this is the case. As a result, what I have to say may, in part, be repetitious.

You may recall that the Plan is in three stages:

First, a comprehensive record of every item or feature in the Cathedral and Close judged worthy of conservation. This stage is complete.
Second, the Master Plan will set out the objectives the Chapter wish to achieve in the light of the study so far, and the vision Faith in the Future which provides the framework.
Third, the Strategic Plan, which will turn the objectives in the Master Plan into a series of defined projects, with timings and costings.

^ ^top of text^^ down¬
On several occasions, I have reported that we await the Master Plan. We still do. However, since our AGM last year, the Cathedral has published Faith in the Future – Our Vision, which many of you will have read. It provides an indication of things to come.

In particular, it tells us that the Master Plan will address the physical changes that need to be made, covering aspects such as:

upgrading the facilities for education and visitors;
reordering ways in which the Cathedral buildings are used;
continuing to improve The Close environment, particularly through better traffic management.

In Faith in the Future, the reference to The Close is as follows:

‘The Close, immortalised in paintings by Constable and Turner, is outstanding in its own right. We seek to conserve this historic environment, to work in partnership with other visitor attractions and schools in The Close, and the District Council to minimise traffic. A key aim is to improve public access to the area to the south of the Cathedral currently occupied by the Works Department.’

The Master Plan is expected in July. It is easy to see that propositions in it may have significant effects on The Close. That is why we have eagerly awaited its publication. When it is published, there will be presentations and we look forward to being at one of these.

In the meantime, we have been urging the importance of ensuring that the outcome of the current major planning study should include a clear statement that the overall affect of the majestic Cathedral standing in the spacious and beautiful Close is unique, world-class and quite exceptional. ‘Exceptional’ is the word that denotes the highest grade in conservation terminology.

The purpose of having that statement is to make it possible to demonstrate, in decades and centuries ahead (when tastes, fashions and political pressures may have changed) that this very high assessment of overall quality was arrived at as part of the outcome of a major professional review of conservation merit. A future generation will be able to point to it, if there is argument about what should be preserved. We believe that our view on the importance of this has been accepted.

^ ^top of text^^ ^up^ down¬

The same line of thought prompted us to suggest that World Heritage status should be sought, not necessarily for any immediate benefit but to give lasting evidence of exceptional quality. Not having this recognition could look strange and be a handicap in the long term. Achieving such status may take time. A number of other ecclesiastical buildings in the United Kingdom already have that status, with the result that priority is currently being given to non-ecclesiastical applicants. But we believe that, taking a long view, it is worth persevering. The Chapter Clerk has been asked by the Chapter to explore further the World Heritage issue.

Turning to tasks of a more routine nature, I can report that we continue to keep an eye on planning applications that may affect The Close. Currently, an interesting one is an application to replace the external lighting system of the Cathedral.

An important influence on the appearance of The Close is the Cathedral Landscape Committee, on which the Society is represented. A report from our representative has drawn attention to the following points:

There is concern about the horse chestnuts west of the Cathedral which are affected by a phythora disease. This is not necessarily fatal for horse chestnuts and can be managed by the removal of dead branches. The chestnuts will be monitored to ensure that they are safe. As mature trees, the chestnuts are an important part of The Close landscape, framing the West Front of the Cathedral.
The new trees on Choristers’ Green have suffered die-back, despite the use of a trickle watering system. Dead wood will be removed to restore their appearance. If there is another dry summer, it will be important to ensure there is adequate watering.
Help has been sought from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Forestry Commission to try to resolve the problems affecting the young cedar in the North Churchyard. No obvious causes have been found. A cedar tree at Winchester is similarly affected.

Members of our own committee, like the Landscape Committee, have seen that, very regrettably, replacement lights along the east side of the Broad Walk have again been destroyed by vandals. In line with our policy of, from time to time, giving financial support to modest projects that can improve The Close, we have offered to make a contribution to the cost of installing some taller, more robust, lights.

^ ^top of text^^ ^up^ down¬

Another current issue is the proposal by the District Council that domestic rubbish should in future be dealt with through the use of wheelie bins. This proposal is probably of more concern to the Residents’ Association than to the Preservation Society. But we are certainly interested, in that the appearance of The Close could be damaged if, because of their size, weight and awkwardness, wheelie bins cannot be kept out of sight. This is a matter we shall be pursuing further.

The Annual Lecture is an established feature of our year and has been much appreciated by our members and others who attend. Last year, Pamela Neville-Sington spoke on ‘Anthony Trollope and The Cathedral Close’. This year, our speaker will be Julian Richards, whom many of you may be familiar with as a popular writer and archaeologist presenting television and radio programmes. His talk will be about how towns and cities develop over the centuries, taking Salisbury as a specific example, and the major affect that the Cathedral and Close have had.

As in previous years, the lecture will be in the Museum Lecture Theatre at 6.30 pm. Since our April bulletin, the date has had to be changed from Monday, 15^th October to Monday, 8^th October. I do hope many members may be able to come and bring their friends.

^ top of page^ <<previous page< >next page>>

AGM 2007