By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: The government has refused to make Bath’s “classically beautiful” fire station a listed building.
The art deco fire station next to Cleveland Bridge is a rare example of a building by a female architect in the 1930s.
But Avon Fire and Rescue Service has warned its bay doors are “too narrow” for modern fire engines and wants to demolish it and build a modern “state-of-the-art facility” in its place.
The Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to protect “outstanding” architecture from after 1914, had called for the building to be listed instead of demolished.
Historic England agreed, proposing to make it Grade II listed, but has now been overruled by culture minister Baroness Twycross.
In a letter issued in September, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport said: “The minister has noted that the building is not particularly innovative, and has alterations and replacements […] While she acknowledges that there is some historical interest particularly in relation to the female architect of the fire station, this is not sufficiently special to meet the high bar for listing.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Twentieth Century Society said: “The decision arrives just days after the similar rejection of Shoreditch Fire Station (1963-64), calling into question why the Minister is opting to reject the recommendations of their appointed experts, Historic England, and the National Amenity Societies.
“C20 Society has written to DCMS requesting a review of both cases. The sole criteria on which listing decisions should be made are architectural and historic interest. Wider questions on social benefit and operations issues should be covered in subsequent listed building consent, and we’re concerned the latter may have unduly influenced the listing decisions in these cases.”
When the campaign appealed for the station to be listed in January, head of casework Coco Whittaker said: “In a city that’s not short of architectural heritage, the Bath Fire Station is a classically beautiful 1930s building with a rich history of its own.
“We simply cannot allow a building of this quality to be demolished: it should either be sympathetically modernised to meet the needs of the fire service, or adapted for some other use.”
Alfred J Taylor began designing the fire station in 1937 but after his death in 1938, his daughter Molly Gerrard — the architect behind Kilowatt House — took over the project. The Twentieth Century Society said that Ms Gerrard was practicing at a time when there were very few women architects and her involvement adds “considerable historic interest” to the fire station.
But the fire station remains a working fire station to this day. In addition to the narrow appliance bay doors meaning vehicles frequently strike the building, the fire station lacks the decontamination facilities needed for modern firefighting and proper welfare spaces for people doing one of society’s most demanding jobs.
The fire service has warned that it would “not be achievable” to refurbish the current building to modern standards due to its age and issues with structural instability. The requirement for its on-call firefighters to live within a five minute drive of the station means that moving to a new location would be a hugely disruptive operation, meaning relocating or re-recruiting 14 individuals.
Under the plan to demolish and rebuild the fire station, some aspects of the historic building will be preserved.
The original fireman’s pole will be reclaimed and incorporated into the final design of the new fire station. The crest on the facade of the current building would also be carefully salvaged and “prominently re-set at the public entrance,” the planning application said.
The planning application is yet to be decided by Bath and North East Somerset Council. You can view and comment on the application here: https://app.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=25%2F02735%2FFUL#details_Section
Bath Voice and Local Democracy Reporters
The journalists are funded by the BBC as part of its latest Charter commitment, but are employed by regional news organisations. A total of 165 reporters are allocated to news organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including Bath Voice. These organisations range from television and radio stations to online media companies and established regional newspaper groups. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities, second-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
Bath Voice Monthly Newspaper is distributed free to thousands of homes and some supermarkets – distributed from the first of the month. Harry Mottram is the News Editor
Email him at news@bathvoice.co.uk Bath website: https://bathvoice.co.uk/news/
Bath Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/bdtf2kep Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bath_voice And Bluesky @bathvoicenews.bsky.social And also on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/harrymottram6/
Read the newspaper online at :https://issuu.com/bathvoice
To advertise to thousands of Bathonians call Shaun on 07540 383870 or email him on sales@bathvoice.co.uk