Harrington House, Badsey, must not be demolished by its owners, three businessmen from the village. The Minister of Housing has ruled that it is of special architectural or historic interest. Accordingly, the Minister has confirmed a preservation order made by Worcestershire County Council in respect of the property.
At a planning inquiry on November 13th at Evesham the owners, Mr H W King of The Sheilings, Mr H Robinson of the Manor House and Mr E L Mustoe of the Round of Gras, objected to the preservation order before a ministry inspector, Mr A J Harris. They said they wanted to demolish the house and redevelop the site. After hearing the evidence and looking over the building, Mr Harris concluded that Harrington House was of little architectural merit and what merit there was had been destroyed by clumsy and unsympathetic repair work externally and unsympathetic remodelling internally. He also felt that the only architectural interest remaining was from the elevation, which was not original 17th century work nor of any exceptional merit in itself. The house had also lost its group value and it now screened both the east and south elevations of the very much more interesting Manor House. He considered the preservation order should not be confirmed in view of the building’s general condition, its awkward size related to present-day needs and uses, its lack of architectural or historical interest, and its position screening the Manor House.
The Minister, however, felt that the inspector had taken too narrow a view by considering only the buildings in the immediate vicinity. Along each side of High Street were listed buildings intermittently spaced and dated from the 16th century onwards, and he felt it was in this context that Harrington House should be considered. “In spite of the alterations which have been made to it, the building remains a characteristic vernacular example which makes an important contribution to the street scene as a whole,” the Minister said. “Furthermore, the position of Harrington House in relation to Manor House does not detract from the claim of the building to be of special architectural or historic interest.”