The latest listings

DISPELLING THE MISCONCEPTIONS

Despite the challenges that coronavirus has brought to the world in 2020, Wales’s collection of remarkable listed buildings, memorials and monuments has continued to grow. Listed Building Officer Chris Stiefvater-Thomas explores the variety of buildings recently listed by Cadw…

There is a long-standing misconception that the listing process ‘freezes’ a building in time and history. In truth, it is all about managing the building to maintain the special value it holds for the wider community because of its history, architecture and age.

Another misconception is that listed buildings are always very old. In fact, many of our most recent listings are from the twentieth century; they are buildings that represent their age, a specific architectural style perhaps, or important trends, events, developments and social changes.

Capel Celyn in Gwynedd, the memorial chapel for a community drowned by a reservoir, marks one of the most controversial political events of the last century, while the Theatr Clwyd building at Mold, Flintshire — built in the 1970s — is an important example of the civic architecture of the time.

As time passes, it becomes easier to appreciate the significance of buildings and place them in context; so, a century after the end of the First World War, this year’s listings include memorials to the fallen, such as Hay & Cusop War Memorial in Powys.

One building that defies the misconception that listed buildings are old is AA Telephone Box 161, on the A40 between Crickhowell and Tretower in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was brought to our attention by a member of the public and listed in May 2020. This 60-year-old telephone box is one of only three surviving in their original locations in Wales. Built by disabled war veterans at Enham Industries in Hampshire, England, they are all now protected by Cadw as grade II listed buildings.

Once a common sight at the roadside, the numbered boxes contained useful items such as fire extinguishers and maps, as well as a telephone to summon help in the event of a breakdown. However, they were only accessible by a master key given to members of the Automobile Association, which saw a huge uptake in memberships from the beginning of the 1950s. This surge was partly due to the end of petrol rationing, but also to the increase in car ownership among Welsh factory workers, steel makers and coal miners — marking a mobility revolution in post-war Wales.

The Old Post Office in the centre of Talgarth, Powys, was recommended for listing by the local community. The building in which it is located was probably constructed around 1880 and originally housed three shops with domestic accommodation above. The other properties in the block have been altered, but this polychrome brick corner unit has

Capel Celyn — a memorial chapel in Gwynedd. Theatr Clwyd, Flintshire. © Theatr Clwyd

scarcely changed since it was built. Inside it retains original shelves, drawers and cupboards used during its heyday.

A post office service was first established in Talgarth in 1858 and The Old Post Office building, constructed a few decades later, was built for this purpose — no doubt reflecting a growing demand for postal services. In June 2020 it was listed grade II as a well-preserved example of a commercial building in nineteenth-century Wales. It is currently in the care of the community who, last summer, transformed it into a mini museum.

Another community group — Friends of Wrexham Cemetery — recently discovered a long-forgotten wartime mortuary in the grounds of Wrexham cemetery. Built in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War as an overflow mortuary to the former War Memorial Hospital, the inside remains completely untouched, featuring a mortuary slab, sink and even a transfer casket all still in their original condition.

The bodies of many Allied and German plane-crash victims passed through the mortuary, as well as civilians killed by bombs in and around 1940. The mortuary has now been listed by Cadw and the community group hopes to reopen it as a museum in memory of those who passed through it.

War memorials are an expression of loss shared by entire communities, with the most familiar being those erected to commemorate the fallen from individual towns and villages. There are also, across Wales, memorials marking the grievous losses suffered by close communities in and around workplaces, schools, places of worship and clubs. One such example is Llangefni County School Memorial on Anglesey, listed in July 2020. Arguably one of Wales’s most beautiful memorials, it remembers past pupils who lost their lives during the First World War.

The memorial gates at Rodney Parade, the sports ground of Newport Rugby Club, were similarly erected to honour club members who served and were killed in the First World War. The gates are designed in an austere neo-classical style, providing a dignified memorial and an elegant formal entrance to the ground. They serve as a reminder not only of the losses of the Great War — 86 names are listed on the two brass plaques mounted on the gate piers — but also of the history behind a wellknown sports club. They were listed grade II in August 2020 for their special architectural and historic interest.

The Old Post Office, Powys.

A wartime mortuary in Wrexham Cemetery.

Llangefni County School Memorial, Anglesey.

Rodney Parade memorial gates, Newport. Although many buildings across Wales have already been listed by Cadw, we are keen to protect more for the benefit of future generations. So, if you would like to recommend a building to be considered for listing, from any period, the process is simple. All we need are details of what building you have in mind, where it is located and some photos of the building itself. For further information, please refer to our guidance document, Understanding Listing in Wales, available on the Cadw website: bit.ly/UnderstandingListings.

Additional buildings listed or upgraded since we last heard from Chris in issue 68: » St David’s Church, Pembrokeshire » The Friends Meeting House, Conwy » Y Dolydd Llanfyllin Workhouse, Powys » Court Road Industrial Estate Sign, Torfaen » Pearl Assurance House, Torfaen » Milepost north of Five Locks, Torfaen » Milepost east of Lower Wyndham Terrace, Caerphilly

Visit Cof Cymru, Cadw’s free interactive map, to discover more of Wales’s listed buildings — bit.ly/CofCymru

Y Dolydd Llanfyllin Workhouse, Powys. © Iscope UAV Services