WHAT DO WE DO WITH OLD BUILDINGS?



St Paul's, Glasshoughton

To celebrate Heritage Open Days, we look at five old buildings in Castleford to seek an answer to: What should happen to a building we value when it’s no longer needed for its original purpose? 

1. Queen’s Mill on Aire Street.

The building by the river is an excellent example of finding new uses for a well-loved old building.

It was a working flour mill and has a water wheel, which (sadly) isn’t working just yet. When the mill itself ceased working, it could easily have become vacant, deteriorated, then demolished.

Luckily for the town, that didn’t happen. Thanks to the Castleford Heritage Trust, it has found a new life as a community and heritage hub. It has events, organisations and businesses, such as the popular tea room, while still milling some flour.

2. Castleford Library and Museum, Carlton Street.

The old Carnegie Library frontage, dating from 1905, is still there on Carlton Street. But behind it is a new library and museum building. A compromise of balancing the old we remember and the new we find better. The Friends group that campaigned for the new building supports this council building.

3. Castleford Civic Centre. Ferrybridge Road.

The Civic Centre is a product of its period. The Brutalist style, built for function and in concrete, doesn’t appeal to everyone, but it is an iconic building that needed upkeep. It was of a time when new municipal buildings were deliberately different and modern; when authorities like Castleford Borough Council wanted architecture to showcase what the future would bring.

Its present owners, Wakefield Council, ceased using it and approved its demolition as part of plans for new educational, SEND and community facilities associated with Castleford Academy next door.

If we demolish a distinctive building, how good should its replacement be? Should new buildings be ones that future generations will be proud of?

4. St. Michael’s Church, St. Michael’s Close.

The closure of churches these days is common as congregations lessen and upkeep costs for old churches grow. This is a concern because churches are well-loved buildings that were built for a particular purpose. St Michael’s at Smawthorne and St Paul’s at Glasshoughton have both closed.

New uses for them are possible. St Michael’s has a church hall and is next to Smawthorne Welfare. However, it’s on a quiet cue de sac.

As well as paying to save a building; we also have to cost its upkeep. As with Queen’s Mill, joint community and commercial enterprises might be the answer.

5. The Picture House, Station Road.

This interesting building, opened as a cinema in 1921, has survived to recent times by changing its use, but in the last few years it’s been vacant.

Current plans would give it residential and commercial uses while keeping significant elements of the old building.

If that development happens, Castleford hasn’t lost the building as it finds another use.

We can’t save everything; we don’t need to.

We cannot save all familiar buildings that are no longer in use. Some buildings are beyond reasonable repair and have little merit. Replacing them would be an improvement.

Our society is constantly changing; the built environment needs to change with it.

Building for Tomorrow.

What are we building today that people will want to save in the next century??

A superb new building can survive the disappearance of its original purpose by being designed to change when needed.

The challenge is making sure that change doesn’t take away Castleford’s character by building only standard buildings found in every town.

We need to look after the best buildings we have, and make sure that new builds are worthy for future generations to be proud of.

Which buildings in the town, regardless of age, do you admire or would like to get rid of?

The author is a director of Castleford Heritage Trust; a former councillor who served 25 years on the planning committee; and a founder member of the Friends of Castleford Library.  

Location: Castleford, UK

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