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I have recently come across a methodological issue in the compilation of the HLC which I'd be interested in others' views on.  It probably is a question which particularly arises during the characterisation of 'built' landscapes, and so perhaps faces our project more than others (few characterisations deal with a more intensively urbanised landscape than the Black Country).

Essentially, the question is how to record the reuse of buildings in the HLC.  The example which was put to us was the case of an c18 warehouse which is now a c20 shop using the same building. At the moment, if the shop simply stood on the site of the former warehouse it would have a HLC record as a 'shop'.  But if the shop reused the warehouse building, and the building retained its former character, the site would have an HLC record of 'warehouse' and its modern use as a shop would be noted in the free text description.  This approach is intended to emphasise character over land use.

However, there might be another way of recording the reuse of the building which might allow more consistent recording (and therefore querying).  That is to record the site as a 'shop', and create a previous type associated with it of 'warehouse'. This emphasises land use as the defining characterisic and leaves 'character' as a more open idea.

Does anyone have any views on the advantages or disadvantages of these approaches?  We esimate that 85% of our HLC polygons are defined by the buildings they contain, and at least one in every five of these are small enough to be affected by the change of use of a single building or group of associated buildings (e.g. a school).  We don't always know about buildings being reused, but it would be good to apply a consistent and agreed approach when we do.

Thanks,
Paul

Paul Quigley
Landscape Archaeologist
Black Country Archaeology Service
Regeneration and Environment
Wolverhampton City Council
Civic Centre, St Peter's Square
Wolverhampton
WV1 1RP

 

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