78 and 79 Kingsgate Street - Trust Annual Report 1963
These two houses, the subject of our second illustration last year, are to be demolished after all. Their fate and the decision to set back the building line was decided at a recent Council meeting by only one vote.
It may be objected that these are houses of no particular significance. In theory there is no reason why they should not be replaced by something better and a building worn out will be replaced by a new one.
Much of Winchester's attraction today has been produced by the same sequence a of events.
The case for preserving these houses lies not only in the houses themselves, but in their setting. This is the only remaining City Arch which is a real gateway and is a fitting entrance to the most important centre of unspoilt architecture outside the Cathedral Close. It cannot be emphasised too often that Preservation is concerned with groups of buildings and the visual qualities of a whole area, and not necessarily with individual restorations with no thought for their neighbours. In this case the Trust feels that a suitable way of dealing with this site would have been to re-plan behind a restored facade. We can only hope that the new buildings will pass our test of being better than the ones they replace.