Bridgnorth's New Market Hall is on the Victorian Society's list of endangered buildings

The Victorian Society has named its list of the Top Ten Endangered Buildings for 2026, reports Herald Wales. Perhaps the most striking structure included is the Tees Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough, but my eye was also struck by the presence of Bridgnorth's New Market Hall.

The revised Shropshire Pevsner is honest about it:

Of 1855-6, the magnum opus of a local man, Robert Griffiths of Quatford. In the grossest Italianate with an angle tower with typical Victorian-Italian roof. The material is yellow brick, blue brick and red brick. For Pevsner the whole seemed artless and tasteless, though not over decorated. Yet for all its bombast it fits well into the varied fabric of the town, and the tower tells in the town silhouette as a minor accent midway between the major ones of the two churches. (In practical terms the Market Hall was a failure. When it opened traders refused to move in, and still today the Saturday market takes place in the High Street.

Ludlow had a similarly uncompromising Victorian market hall - it was demolished in 1986, shortly after scenes from the BBC's adaptation of Tom Sharpe's Blott on the Landscape were filmed there. Its loss opened up a welcome space in front of the castle entrance, now used as a market space, but I wonder if the town would be quite so gung-ho about razing it now.

Anyway, Griff Rhys Jones in in no doubt the we should prevent the loss of Bridgnorth's hall:

"No, no, no. Come on. They are building huge enclosed shopping centres which threaten the high street, and here is a purpose made building on the high street standing by and perfect for small shops, cafes and a new life.

"This is the centre of town. This is the centre of urban life. Stand by and make something of it."

Great Tew: From dereliction to the Beckhams' illuminations

A derelict cottage in Great Tew, 1980. Photo by Kim Traynor

The Beckhams' plans to light the pond at their Cotswold home have upset their neighbours, reports BBC News:

One neighbour, James Worthington, said in a comment on the Beckhams' planning application the plans were "more akin to Miami or Florida not Great Tew".

Great Tew, it seems, is a honeypot for celebrity residents from Princess Beatrice up to Taylor Swift.

When I saw Great Tew in 1982 it was very different. So different, in fact, that the village lay largely derelict. I can remember seeing trees growing through the remains of thatched cottage roofs

Next to no photographic evidence of those days is to be found online, but fortunately Wikipedia proves I did not imagine this visit:

After M.E. Boulton's death in 1914 Great Tew estate was held in public trusteeship for nearly 50 years, during which time many of its historic cottages and houses were unoccupied and allowed to become derelict. In 1962 Major Eustace Robb, only son of Major-General Sir Frederick Spencer Robb, inherited the estate and declared he would restore its prosperity and buildings.

However, a decade later many cottages were continuing to decay and Jennifer Sherwood and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner condemned this as "one of the most depressing sights in the whole county. Terraces of cottages lie derelict (1972) and will soon be beyond hope of restoration. A scheme of gradual rehabilitation is said to be in progress, but nothing has been done meanwhile to prevent the decay of unused cottages, some of which are completely ruinous and will need to be entirely rebuilt."

In 1978 another authority described Major Robb's treatment of Great Tew as a "notorious example" that "demonstrated that a single-minded or neglectful owner can still cause both the community and the village fabric to die." Also in 1978, Great Tew village was declared a conservation area. 

In 1985 Major Robb died, leaving Great Tew estate to the Johnston family, who have worked on restoration. In 2000 they reopened Great Tew's quarry to supply ironstone for building.

Wikipedia records that the village has 87 Grade II Listed buildings and also provides the photo above.