Listing assessments

AHP has undertaken listing assessments of three Roman Catholic dioceses for Historic England, taking forward the recommendations in the Taking Stock reports for the Archdiocese of Southwark, the Diocese of Brentwood and the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton. In consultation with Historic England, our assessments of 24 buildings resulted in the listing of three and the upgrading of two buildings in Southwark, the listing of four buildings in Brentwood and the listing of three churches in Arundel & Brighton. Historic England have described our work as ‘an exemplar for future projects by drawing on external expert advice and speeding up designation assessments’. For further information, please see pages 77 and 78 of Historic England's Designation Yearbook 2014-15.

Following on from Taking Stock, AHP has applied successfully for the upgrading of a number of Catholic churches, which in some cases has been the key to unlocking access to repair grants. The photograph (by Alex Ramsay) shows a detail from a dalle de verre window by Dom Charles Norris at Our Lady of Fatima, Harlow. The church, opened in 1960, was designed by Gerard Goalen and is notable as one of the earliest in England to be designed in accordance with the principles of the Liturgical Movement. It is built to a T-plan, and is lit on all sides by coloured glass by Dom Charles and his studio at Buckfast Abbey. In 2023 AHP successfully applied on behalf of the parish to get the church upgraded to II*, better reflecting it architectural, historical, liturgical and artistic significance.