Aedicule
An aedicule is a small architectural frame or niche, often used to house statues or ornaments. Conservation involves preserving these delicate features.
Adaptive Reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of repurposing old or historic buildings for a use other than what they were originally designed for. This practice is a cornerstone of sustainable conservation, as it allows the preservation of architectural heritage while meeting modern needs.
Archival Research
Archival research involves examining historical documents, maps, photographs, and records to gather information about a heritage site or building. This process helps inform restoration and conservation decisions.
Architectural Salvage
Architectural salvage refers to the practice of rescuing and reusing architectural elements, such as doors, windows, and ironwork, from demolished buildings.
Artisan Techniques
These are traditional craftsmanship methods, such as joinery or plasterwork, used in the construction and decoration of historic buildings. Maintaining these techniques ensures authenticity.
Authenticity
Authenticity refers to the genuine characteristics and historical integrity of a building or artifact. It is a key consideration in heritage conservation, ensuring that interventions respect the original materials and craftsmanship.
Baluster
A baluster is a small pillar or column, often used in railings or staircases. Restoring balusters helps maintain the original character of period properties.
Bargeboards
Bargeboards are decorative boards fixed to the gables of a building. They are common in period properties and often require specialized restoration.
Biodeterioration
Biodeterioration is the decay of materials caused by biological agents, such as fungi, bacteria, or insects. This process poses a significant challenge in the preservation of historic buildings.
Building Preservation Trust (BPT)
A BPT is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and reuse of historic buildings at risk of decay or demolition. These trusts often work in collaboration with local authorities and community groups.
Buttress
A buttress is an external support built against a wall to reinforce it. In historic buildings, they are both structural and decorative features that require careful restoration.
Cataloging
Cataloging is the systematic recording of artifacts, architectural features, or historical elements. This process creates a detailed inventory that supports research, management, and preservation.
Charter of Venice
The Charter of Venice, adopted in 1964, is an international framework outlining principles for the restoration and conservation of historic monuments. It emphasizes minimal intervention and respect for original materials.
Conservation
Conservation encompasses all activities aimed at safeguarding heritage assets for future generations. It includes restoration, preservation, and adaptive reuse, balancing the need for change with the importance of maintaining historic value.
Conservation Area
A conservation area is a designated geographical zone that is recognized for its special architectural or historical significance. In such areas, stricter planning controls are applied to maintain the character of the environment.
Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
A CMP is a strategic document that outlines the management, maintenance, and development of a heritage asset. It ensures that conservation efforts align with historical, cultural, and community values.
Consolidation
Consolidation is a conservation technique aimed at stabilizing and strengthening deteriorating materials, such as stone or plaster, to prevent further decay.
Contextual Analysis
This process evaluates the historical, cultural, and environmental context of a building or site. It helps in understanding the asset's significance and informing appropriate conservation strategies.
Cornice
A cornice is an ornamental molding that crowns a building or wall. Its restoration often requires skilled craftsmanship to match original details.
Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage encompasses tangible and intangible assets inherited from past generations, including buildings, artifacts, traditions, and knowledge. It reflects a society's values, history, and identity.
Curtilage
Curtilage refers to the land immediately surrounding a heritage property, which is often included in its legal protection.
Decay Mapping
Decay mapping is the documentation of areas within a building or structure that show signs of deterioration. This process helps prioritize and plan restoration efforts.
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating wood by analyzing growth rings. It is used to determine the age of timber in historic structures.
Demolition by Neglect
This term describes the gradual loss of a historic building due to lack of maintenance or intentional neglect. It is often addressed through legal protections and conservation advocacy.
Dry Rot
Dry rot is a type of fungal decay that affects timber in damp conditions. Managing dry rot is a significant challenge in preserving historic wooden structures.
Engaged Columns
Engaged columns are decorative columns that are partially embedded into a wall. They are a common feature in classical architecture and require careful conservation.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
An EIA evaluates the potential environmental consequences of a proposed development or conservation project. It is often required for projects involving heritage sites.
Façade Retention
This conservation technique preserves the external face of a historic building while allowing new construction behind it. It maintains the visual integrity of the streetscape.
Fenestration
Fenestration refers to the arrangement, design, and placement of windows and doors in a building. In heritage conservation, preserving the original fenestration pattern is important for maintaining architectural authenticity.
Flushwork
Flushwork is a decorative masonry technique, often using contrasting stone materials. It is common in medieval architecture and requires careful restoration.
Geospatial Analysis
This method uses mapping technologies like GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to analyze and document the spatial aspects of heritage sites.
Gargoyle
A gargoyle is a carved stone figure used as a water spout to direct rainwater away from a building. Preserving these features is important for their functional and artistic value.
Grants for Historic Buildings
These are financial awards provided by governments, trusts, or other organizations to support the repair and restoration of historic structures.
Ha-Ha
A ha-ha is a recessed landscape feature used as a boundary without obstructing views. It is often found in historic estates and requires careful maintenance.
Heritage Asset
A heritage asset is any building, monument, site, or landscape of historic, architectural, or cultural significance. This term is used to encompass both designated (e.g., listed buildings) and non-designated heritage elements.
Heritage at Risk Register
This register identifies historic sites and buildings at risk of decay or neglect, prioritizing them for conservation efforts.
Heritage Crime
Heritage crime refers to offenses that harm cultural heritage, such as theft, vandalism, or unauthorized alterations to historic buildings.
Heritage Gateway
A heritage gateway is an online or physical resource providing access to records, resources, and information about historic sites and buildings.
Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA)
An HIA evaluates the effects of proposed changes or developments on a heritage asset, helping to mitigate negative impacts.
Historic England
Historic England is a public body that champions and protects England’s historic environment. It provides guidance, research, and funding for conservation projects.
Hipped Roof
A hipped roof has slopes on all sides, creating a pyramid-like shape. Restoring original roofing structures is vital for maintaining architectural integrity.
Integrity
In the context of heritage conservation, integrity refers to the extent to which a building or site retains its original form, materials, and character.
Interpretation
Interpretation involves presenting the history, significance, and context of a heritage site to the public. It includes signage, guided tours, and multimedia presentations.
Keystone
A keystone is the central stone at the apex of an arch. It is often a focal point in architectural design and requires careful attention in restoration.
Lime Mortar
Lime mortar is a traditional building material made from lime and sand. It is widely used in heritage conservation for its flexibility and compatibility with historic masonry.
Lintel
A lintel is a horizontal structural element that spans an opening, such as a doorway or window, in a building. In heritage conservation, preserving original lintels, often made of stone or wood, is essential for maintaining architectural integrity.
Listed Building
A listed building is a structure that has been officially designated as having special architectural or historical interest. In the UK, this status provides legal protection against unauthorized alteration or demolition.
Material Assets
Material assets refer to the physical resources used in a conservation project, such as traditional materials or salvaged components. These assets are essential in ensuring authenticity and sustainability in restoration work.
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that divides windows or other openings. In historic buildings, preserving original mullions is important for aesthetic and structural reasons.
Ornamental Plasterwork
This term refers to decorative features made from plaster, such as cornices, moldings, and ceiling roses. Conserving or replicating such features requires skilled craftsmanship.
Patina
Patina is the surface layer that develops on materials, such as metal or stone, over time due to aging and environmental exposure. In conservation, maintaining patina is often desirable to retain historical authenticity.
Pediment
A pediment is a triangular architectural element above a doorway or window. Restoring pediments ensures the preservation of classical architectural features.
Pilaster
A pilaster is a shallow, rectangular column projecting from a wall, often used for decorative purposes. Restoring pilasters is common in classical architecture.
Plinth
A plinth is the base of a column or pedestal. In heritage buildings, preserving or repairing plinths is important to maintain architectural stability.
Pointing
Pointing is the process of applying or repairing mortar joints between bricks or stones. In heritage work, traditional pointing techniques and materials are often used to match the original appearance.
Preservation
Preservation aims to maintain and protect historic buildings in their current state to prevent further decay. Unlike restoration, it does not involve altering or replicating any lost features.
Provenance
Provenance refers to the documented history or origin of a building, artifact, or material. It is critical in assessing historical significance and authenticity.
Quoin
Quoins are the external corner stones of a building, often larger or more decorative than other masonry. Preserving them is important for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction involves rebuilding a historic structure or feature that has been destroyed, often using original materials and methods wherever possible.
Repointing
Repointing refers to the renewal of mortar in masonry joints to prevent water ingress and structural damage. Care must be taken to use compatible materials in historic buildings.
Restoration
Restoration involves returning a building or structure to a known earlier state, often by using techniques and materials that match the original construction. This practice focuses on preserving the historical integrity of the property.
Roof Truss
A roof truss is a framework of beams designed to support a roof. In heritage buildings, preserving original trusses is critical for structural integrity and historical authenticity.
Salvaged Materials
Salvaged materials are components recovered from demolished or disused buildings and reused in restoration projects. This practice aligns with sustainable conservation principles.
Scheduled Monument
A scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building protected by law. These sites are often managed under stringent regulations to ensure their long-term preservation.
Scheduled Monument Consent (SMC)
SMC is the formal permission required for any work on a scheduled monument in the UK. It ensures that interventions do not harm the site's historical value.
Spalling
Spalling refers to the flaking or breaking off of a material's surface, often caused by water penetration or freeze-thaw cycles. It is a common issue in stone conservation.
Standing Building Archaeology
This branch of archaeology involves the study and recording of historic structures that are still standing. It provides insights into construction techniques and historical changes.
Stabilization
Stabilization is the process of securing a structure or element to prevent further deterioration or collapse. It is often a preliminary step in larger conservation projects.
Sustainability in Conservation
This concept emphasizes environmentally responsible practices in preserving heritage sites, such as using renewable materials and minimizing waste.
Thatching
Thatching is a traditional roofing technique using materials like straw or reeds. Maintaining thatched roofs requires specialist skills and knowledge of historic methods.
Timber Frame
Timber frames are structural frameworks of wood, common in historic buildings. Preserving and repairing these features involve understanding traditional joinery techniques.
Timber Treatment
Timber treatment involves processes to protect wood from pests, rot, and environmental damage. Traditional methods are often preferred for heritage properties to maintain authenticity.
Tracery
Tracery is the ornamental stonework in the upper part of a Gothic window. Preserving tracery requires skilled craftsmanship to match intricate patterns.
Trust Funding
Trust funding refers to financial support provided by charitable trusts for heritage conservation projects. Successful applications require clear articulation of goals and alignment with the trust's priorities.
Tympanum
A tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative panel over a door or window, often adorned with carvings. It is a key feature in many historic buildings.
Urban Fabric
Urban fabric refers to the physical and spatial characteristics of a built environment, including buildings, streets, and open spaces. Conservation aims to preserve the historic urban fabric.
Vaulting
Vaulting refers to the arched structures used to support ceilings or roofs. Restoring historic vaulting involves stabilizing and preserving these architectural features.
Vernacular Architecture
Vernacular architecture refers to buildings constructed using locally available materials and traditional methods. It reflects regional cultural and environmental influences.
Weathering
Weathering is the natural erosion of materials caused by environmental factors such as wind, rain, and temperature fluctuations. Managing weathering is essential in preserving historic structures.
Weatherproofing
Weatherproofing involves techniques and materials used to protect buildings from water ingress, wind, and extreme temperatures. It is vital for maintaining the longevity of heritage structures.
Zone of Visual Influence (ZVI)
ZVI is the area within which a development or change to a heritage site can be visually perceived. This concept is critical in assessing the impact of nearby developments.