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Construction companies
News Release from: Linford Group
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 December 2006
Inaugural Queen Mother Memorial Medal
John Baskerville, a craftsman who has helped transform the way Britain cares for its historic buildings has been honoured with a unique award at a ceremony in London.
A craftsman who has helped transform the way Britain cares for its historic buildings has been honoured with a unique award at a ceremony in London John Baskerville, a heritage craftsman and site manager with leading restoration and conservation specialists Linford-Bridgeman, was presented with the Queen Mother Memorial Medal by HRH The Duke of Gloucester at a special ceremony at the Museum of Garden History in London last night (Wednesday, 22nd November)
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 2 Jun 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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It was the first ever presentation of the Queen Mother Memorial Medal, an award created by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) to recognise outstanding and conspicuous contribution to the heritage crafts.
Mr Baskerville (59) has been a leading light in restoration crafts for several decades, and has worked on some of Britain's most important historic buildings including Warwick Castle, the Bodleian Library, Chastleton House and, most recently, the landmark repair of Staircase House in Stockport.
But it was while working on a project for the National Trust at Canons Ashby House in Northamptonshire in the mid 80s that he first suggested to a SPAB representative that as well as running their existing scholarship and training scheme for young architects and building professionals, they should be looking to ensure the next generation of craftsmen was being properly trained.
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These comments led directly to the establishment in 1986 of the William Morris Craft Fellowship, an advanced training scheme for qualified building craftsmen and craftswomen who work on historic buildings.
SPAB Secretary Philip Venning said: "Mr Baskerville has made a magnificent contribution to the conservation of our national heritage over many years.
"In his own right he has been responsible for the careful conservation of some of our most important historic buildings.
He has also made a major personal contribution to researching and recording many of the techniques and traditional building materials which are essential if we are to maintain these buildings in the best and most appropriate ways.
"In addition to all of this, his role in inspiring the William Morris Craft Fellowship has ensured that his passion, his enthusiasm and his love for the crafts has now been shared with a generation of young craftsmen and women.
That above all is a legacy which is being felt and appreciated every single day on heritage projects up and down the country".
Mr Venning explained that three or four talented craftsmen are selected each year for the William Morris Craft Fellowship.
The Fellows receive a unique training and learning experience on sites, brickyards, sawmills and workshops across the UK.
The scheme allows them to explore first-hand the different building materials that are in use around the country, understand their decay mechanisms and see the full range of repair techniques that are in use around the country.
The Fellowship is now seen as a gold standard throughout the historic buildings field, and on the same night as Mr Baskerville was presented with his medal, three stonemasons became the latest to receive the prestigious William Morris Craft Fellowship certificates - Andrew Allan (24), Charles Jones (25) and Ulrike Wahl (36).
Mr Venning added: "I am sure that each of our three latest Fellows will go on to become as valued and important as their predecessors have been in raising awareness of the central role of the craftsman.
"This is a unique hands-on scheme very much in line with the practical approach and philosophy of conservative repair which imbues all the work the Society does.
As a major inspiration behind the scheme, and for his own practical contribution to the repair of this country's heritage, there could be no more deserving recipient of this inaugural award than John Baskerville.".
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