Examination of Witnesses (Questions 7820
- 7839)
7820. MR SCOTT: Yes. This is a Grade
I listed building.
7821. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: Although
it is Victorian?
7822. MR SCOTT: Yes. It is very particular,
and your Lordships will be very welcome to come and see. I am
conscious that pictures like this do not really give you a feel
for what it is like inside, and because of the rather strange
shape of the building illustrated in photograph 005 --
7823. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: I do
not wish to lure you into too much detail. All I want to know
is what is there of significant value on the floors, because that
would seem to be an area of first concern.
7824. MR SCOTT: You will see in the top
right some of the material but, as I say, I am not an expert on
the floor.
7825. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: Thank
you. That is helpful. Underneath the wooden floor, is there anything
remaining? Have you covered something up under the wooden floor?
7826. MR SCOTT: Not of which I am aware,
my Lord.
7827. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: Thank
you.
7828. CHAIRMAN: Is that all clear, Lord
James?
7829. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: Yes,
that is fine. I am satisfied.
7830. CHAIRMAN: In that case we invite
the Petitioners to go ahead.
7831. MR MONRO: My Lord Chairman, I am
David Monro, and Adam Scott and I together are the holding trustees
of the charity of the House of St Barnabas-in-Soho which is the
owner of 1 Greek Street. This is one of the very few Grade I listed
buildings on the Crossrail route and we feel that we are in rather
a special category, possibly alongside St Dunstan's, Stepney,
in being particularly sensitive to the construction process.
7832. I am going to call in a moment, if I may,
our first witness, Richard Garnier, to set this out. We have had
very useful discussions in the corridor for an hour and a half
outside so we have been able to eliminate a lot of what we would
otherwise have wanted to raise, and just for clarification, although
dust was mentioned in our Petition, that is not now an issue between
us.
7833. CHAIRMAN: Good.
7834. MR MONRO: So, if I may, I will
go straight to introduce our first witness, Richard Garnier, architectural
historian. You have a CV in your papers for him. In particular
he has for twenty years researched the life of Sir Robert Taylor,
who is believed to be the architect of the interior of 1 Greek
Street.
MR RICHARD
GARNIER, Sworn Examined
by MR MONRO
MR MONRO: Yes, Mr Garnier?
(Mr Garnier) First, my Lord Chairman, I have
copies of my full notes of evidence which I could distribute,
if it would be allowed and useful, because at the moment I think
you only have a brief summary.
7835. CHAIRMAN: I think we can see your
qualifications. Would you like to go on from 1.5?
(Mr Garnier) Certainly, yes. Shall we
start at No 2?
7836. Yes.
(Mr Garnier) My main point is the exceptional nature of this
building. As one will see in the table of tallies which I have
produced, it is an exceedingly rare example of what it is.[15]
7837. It may not be particularly in dispute
amongst the two parties but I think it is worth bringing it to
our attention to remind us exactly what we are dealing with.
7838. This is the only Grade I building in Soho.
It is the only Grade I building, therefore, in the Soho area affected
within the 30m corridor of the Crossrail tunnelling, and it is
one of only three Grade I domestic houses within the complete
run of the 30m corridor of the Crossrail route.
In terms of houses rather than the total number
of listed structures—and listed structures can be anything
from a telephone kiosk to a palace or railway station or whatever—but
purely within the context of houses you will see from the table
of tallies how it is extremely rare, not only in its immediate
area but also in Westminster, in London, and in the country as
a whole. So that places it in terms of its numerical rarity.
7839. The next question is the question of the
quality and rarity of its individual character, and by this I
mean its characteristic style, its Rococo interior decoration.
15 Committee Ref: A40, Listed Building Tallies: Appendix
A (Source: Images of England website) (SCN-20080403-008) Back
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