Researching buildings - Check out local planning applications
So I'm finally making a start on the buildings adjacent to the goods yard at Clare. We have a large maltings, still existing as an antiques centre, and a pair of buildings, one with a hipped roof and the other with a pitched roof. One of these is marked on one site plan as 'telephone exchange'.
The maltings has been heavily altered but the current 'Greek portico' is just an embellishment of the original loading area where lorries would reverse in to tip grain.
A search on West Suffolk's public access planning application site found a recent application for converting some of the space from an antiques centre into flats and this application included some useful drawings. If you are thinking of modeling any building which existed until fairly recently it is worth looking to see if there are any planning applications available online. While searching for this I also found drawings of Clare station building (application to make changes to make it suitable to be a cafe) and Clare goods shed (application to add a toilet block).
However I would point out that some architects may not be as diligent and those of my acquaintance because the drawing incorrectly shows the windows on the top storey as the same height as on the ground and first floor. I guess they just didn't count the brick coarse correctly! Memo to self - Cross-reference your sources!
I had a go at cutting a 'first attempt' yesterday and then found loads of mistakes in the my drawing. I've hopefully corrected those and I'll have another go at cutting it later in the week. Although it is quite a large building I don't think it unbalances the corner too much. Obviously I've had to shorted it a bit because I couldn't fit the full length in.
This then leave me thinking about the two little building opposite. What is currently there is a Scout hut which according the same West Suffolk planning site was granted permission to be converted from the old telephone exchange in 1983.
So I'm left wondering how this building relates to the two in the aerial photograph from 1949. It looks to me as if the building has been extended on the end nearest the camera as the brickwork has a distinct change. Could the remainder of the building be the pitched roof building? The resolution of the aerial photo is not enough to be sure but it doesn't look to me as if the buildings had any obvious windows which I guess fits with a telephone exchange. Could both buildings have been something to do with the GPO?
Any ideas welcome!
Thanks
David
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