The Georgian dockyard on the Isle of Sheppey has been listed among 93 of the most endangered heritage sites around the world.
Sheerness Dockyard joins the 10,000 BC art in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, the World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu in Peru and a library dating from the 1970s in Atlanta, Georgia on the diverse World Monuments Watch 2010.
William Palin, the secretary of Save British Heritage and one of people that nominated the dockyard, said: “I was surprised but I think out of all the monuments and certainly the British monuments on the list it has captured the imagination because people do not know about it.
“It has really got people excited. I think people were surprised because Sheerness you would not necessarily think of as exotic or on the same list as Machu Picchu or some of the other amazing sites.
“That is what appeals it is a perfect site for the list because there is so much there.”
Dr Jonathan Foyle, chief executive of the World Monument Fund Britain (MFU), said the successfully nominated sites on the list, which includes temples, rice terraces, walled cities and historic centres around the globe, had been judged on their significance, how endangered they are and their potential.
Sheerness Dockyard is among six sites in the UK including historic graveyards in Edinburgh and the Tecton Buildings in Dudley Zoo, a crumbling example of modernist architecture.
Dr Foyle spoke of the Dockyard’s historic importance, he said: “It is a very diverse site and tells the story of Britain’s maritime history from Henry VIII’s time. Every century is represented since the 17th century onwards.”
He said the planned port dating from Nelson’s time at the site was of particular significance and showed how the Admiralty of the time lived from the Commissioner’s house down all the ranks.
“The decreasing size of the houses even the areas that were the back gardens are shown, the coach houses, sinks and kitchens, basements, it is like an untapped museum,” he said.
“We must make sure it does not follow the fate of the church which was burnt down by arsonists and is an integral part of the site.
“The church burning should be a awake up call to protect this resource for the whole of Britain and the Isle of Sheppey and what has been a forgotten corner of Kent.”
Mr Palin, son of the Monty Python actor Michael, said the dockyard had been on Save British Heritage’s list of sites in need of protection for a long time but the publicity of the MFU’s list would bring it to prominence both nationally and internationally.
He said he had bought and renovated one of the houses on the dockyard site.
The MFU said that nearly half the sites featured on the 2008 ‘watch list’ had received funds totally $50million (£31m).
Justin Webb, who was born on Sheppey and also lives in one of the former officers’ houses at the site, led the bid to get the dockyard nominated.
“Probably because we’ve been forgotten here people do not realise what is here,” he said.
Mr Webb, whose father used to work at the dockyard, said he wanted the site to be sympathetically restored.
The Sheerness Historic Dockyard Preservation Society will begin its work soon and is keen to start with the burnt out church on the site with aims to turn it into a museum and centre for the community, he said.
The entire complex of Georgian style docks, boathouse, and complementary structures were built in one major phase of construction in 1815.
It has one Grade-I and more than 30 Grade-II listed structures and has serviced as a point of defence against naval attacks since Roman times.
Since the 1960s it has been a commercial port. Its inclusion on the Watch list should help local campaigners stop any future inappropriate development.
Dr Foyle said: “One of the buildings there is a multi-storey iron frame building grandfather of the US sky scrapers is like an ancestral missing link something for the world’s highest buildings.
“This is an early way in which commercial power gave rise to some of these extraordinary and experimental buildings that paved the way for the modern age.”
POSTED: 11/10/2009 13:00:00
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