We were delighted to read that St Michael’s, Upton Cressett’s fine early Norman church has been included in Matthew Byrne’s new book: ‘Beautiful Churches Saved by the Churches Conservation Trust’. The book is published by Frances Lincoln, one of the country’s leading publishers of architectural books.
We will be upgrading our gift shop for next year (it is currently a side-table in the Dining Room selling postcards at 50p, house brochures for £1 and a book called Murder in the Tower, on the last days of the Princes in the Tower) and we look forward to offering copies of the book for sale. I also enjoyed the book’s foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales, and the chapter by Sarah Robinson on the history and conservation values and philosophy of the CCT, aligned to those of the SPAB.
I have recently became a member of the Churches Conservation Trust Director’s Club – which is a great way to support one of the UK’s leading heritage and conservation groups for around the price of an annual subscription to Country Life. See more at: http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/joinus/JoinourDirectorsClub/#sthash.L8pAI99g.dpuf.
One of the benefits of membership is that one gets invited to the CCT annual lecture which this year looks like being unmissable, being given by British architect, Ptolemy Dean. Ptolemy Dean – who helped Leon Max with some planning issues relating to the restoration of Easton Neston – is currently the 19th Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey (a post previously held by Sir Christopher Wren), and is well known for appearances in the BBC television series Restoration.
As one of the most respected historic conservation architects in the country, Dean has previously worked the CCT on such projects as the conservation of The Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Knotting, Bedfordshire. He is also – like HRH the Prince of Wales – an accomplished artist in his own right and the CCT’s website now includes a drawing by Dean of the interior of St Margaret’s church, Westminster – where Churchill was married – pictured below.
The annual lecture will take place in the Battlebridge Room, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG on 16 October 2013 – doors open at 6.30pm.