{"id":325,"date":"2012-06-03T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/?p=325"},"modified":"2023-08-24T16:05:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T15:05:44","slug":"bedlam-theatre-and-abbey-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/bedlam-theatre-and-abbey-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedlam Theatre and Abbey Church Dunbar"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does the Bedlam Theatre in Edinburgh have in common with the Abbey Church in Dunbar? Not much you’d think. Bedlam\u00a0is home to a thriving theatre company and is the oldest fully student-run theatre in Britain. It has a\u00a090 seat theatre and the Fat Cat Caf\u00e9 are open for performances at least two nights a week during the University term. During the fringe Venue 47 <\/del> 49 is open 24\/7. Bedlam is getting major roof repairs, not cheap.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Abbey Church has remained unoccupied and unloved for around 40 years, used transiently as a reception centre when Torness power station was being built. Apart from occasional use, the last was in the mid 1990s, it has lain empty and progressively fallen\u00a0into disrepair. The\u00a0Buildings at Risk Register<\/a>\u00a0considers it to be at high risk and in poor condition, owing among other things to extensive wet and dry rot in the roof timbers and damaged rhones. Some attempts were made to bring the building back into use in the 1990s including a feasibility study for an arts facility under public ownership, as the site was and remains still in private hands. [1. The Buildings at Risk website has a useful potted history.]<\/p>\n

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So what is in common? If you are familiar with both buildings you’ll probably spot stylistic resemblances as they were both built in the mid 1800s by the architect Thomas Hamilton for the Free Church. The Bedlam was built on the site of the old Bedlam Hospital and Abbey Church erected for \u00a31660 on a site sold by the Earl of Lauderdale for \u00a3200.<\/p>\n

There is a pattern of old buildings falling into disrepair and Dunbar has a good share in this category, and a good number in the Buildings at Risk register. Larger public buildings, commercial\/industrial and ones previously in ecclesiastical use are perhaps among the more challenging to convert for modern uses. So when in January 2011 planning permission was granted to convert the annexe \/ hall at the back of Abbey Church into a dwelling, it looked entirely possible that a private individual was also going to undertake the renovation or more likely a conversion of the Abbey Church itself. Long overdue.<\/p>\n

The planning application to convert the Abbey Church was first registered in August 2011 by Richard Murphy Architects. \u00a0The dwelling proposal was certainly interesting, in fact quite audacious.\u00a0 But as it turns out a bit too radical because before too long the Abbey Church Dunbar was back on the market. The whisperings on the High Street were that the planners were not in favour and that Listed Building Consent was unlikely to be granted.<\/p>\n

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Dunbar Abbey Church Box Within Box Concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fast forward to the 23rd March 2012, and Listed Building Consent was indeed refused, on the grounds that the development would have had a deleterious impact on the character of Dunbar Conversation Area and the proposals were inharmonious with and an imposition on the structure of the original building.<\/p>\n

Refusal was not about the house being created in the church per se, but the that Listed Building Consent could not be given due to the impact on the building and the area. In fairness to the planners they go out of their way to point out that there were no fundamental objections to a change of use. I quote from the original assessment letter:<\/p>\n

The conclusion of that assessment [Listed Building Consent] is that as a consequence of the proposed downtakings and alterations, the wholeness of this listed building would be lost. It would be robbed of its architectural integrity, character and appearance to an extent that would be a degree of ruination harmful to its special or historic interest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The drawings that follow illustrate how the proposal would have appeared from the East and West aspects, both poorly visible.<\/p>\n

Dunbar was not a designed High Street and contains a hotch potch of buildings, some more attractive than others, that reflect an organic evolution over a fairly long time period. Herein lies its charm and character. \u00a0There are very many modern visual intrusions on the character of the townscape and streetscape. Mostly they are poorly conceived – indeed designed – and are inharmonious, but somehow these changes seem to have been accommodated. \u00a0The backlands of Dunbar have faired worse. Here the array of juxtapositions and visual intrusions abound, with the ruination of their unique and special features.<\/p>\n