Open House London, that great opportunity for architecture enthusiasts and the simply curious to have a look inside buildings that are not normally open to the public, is on again the weekend after next – 21st & 22nd September. And it’s all free. If you want to enter the ballot for tickets to visit some of the really desirable buildings – the Shard, the London Eye, 10 Downing Street and Grays Inn – then there are just a couple of days left to enter.
At Severndroog Castle there will be talks about its history and the Trust’s plans for its restoration every hour from 10.00am to 3.00pm on Sunday, and some of the Trustees and the Heritage Manager will be there to answer questions. There will also be an information stall and refreshments, but the castle won’t be open.
I picked up a brochure giving details of what buildings are open and when from the library earlier in the week, and there are some 840 entries this year. Details are also available on the Open House web site. It’s a little disappointing that fewer of our local architectural gems are open: for example the listing doesn’t include the Royal Artillery Barracks, St George’s Garrison Church or Woolwich Town Hall – all of which have been open in previous years. Nor does it include the Crossness Engine House this year.
Earlier in the year Open House asked for suggestions about what buildings we thought should be included in the event. I sent them the following list of amazing buildings which I think are significant locally, and which I’d love to see inside:
The Royal Military Academy Woolwich
The Water Tower at the top of Shooters Hill, and the Brooke Hospital Water Tower at the bottom of Shooters Hill
Herbert Pavilions, Shooters Hill Road – formerly the Royal Herbert Hospital
The former Woolwich Polytechnic buildings around Polytechnic Street in Woolwich
The art deco cinemas in Woolwich – The Granada Cinema, Powis Street and The Odeon Theatre, now the New Wine Church
One of Berthold Lubetkin‘s modernist terrace at 85-91 Genesta Road
But none of them are in the brochure – wouldn’t it be great if they were open for visitors?
Don’t misunderstand me, there’s still a huge number of interesting buildings to see, all round London, and some new ones close to home. The Woolwich Arsenal Clock Tower restoration sounds fascinating, and there’s also an intriguing sounding tour round Woolwich’s squares with a landscape architect.
I’m just greedy to see even more of our local historic buildings.
It was with great reget that the Officers Mess at the Royal Artillery Barracks was not able to be open to the public this year. A major build ing project to replace the roof from the South Arch to the East Gete is underway. Due to the building being listed other remedial work ( pointing all of the brickwork, repairing windows etc) is being carried out. The whole project will take 2 years. The garrison church was not planned to be opened . This was due to the fact that a roof structure will be placed over the alter area. This work has been delayed due to some slight changes to the design but it was too late to get an entry in the booklet so a decision was taken not to open. The good news is that once the roof is in place it will be open to the public on a regular basis and not just during the Open House weekend. I hope this answers your questions.
Thanks for the update Gerry. I was wondering when the work would start on the Garrison Church.