Nos. 18-19 The Square, Winchester - Trust Annual Report 1972
Better known as Gilbert's Bookshop, an application was made in the summer to demolish and rebuild by the owners, St. John's Trust. This is an area in which every citizen and tourist delights, and is a manifestation of the best which Winchester has to offer. It is on one of the most frequented approaches to the west door of the Cathedral.
The application posed such a serious threat that the Preservation Trust immediately got in touch with the Royal Institute of British Architects asking them to nominate an architect who could make an independent survey and give an opinion. The owners most courteously agreed that this should be done.
The Report showed that "there was evidence of movement and settlement from the brick vaulted basement to the roof. No specific cause is apparent, simply an accumulation of destructive forces emanating from various forms of structural failure in brickwork and main timber framing, precipitated by death watch beetle and other beetles in timber framing, damp from defective guttering and rain water disposal systems, aggravated by leaking plumbing installations." The Report goes on to point out that the limit of first aid repairs has been reached and that complete renewal or extensive repair is now imperative.
However the Report ends on a hopeful note that it is possible to carry out extensive repairs in order to preserve the building though considerable renewal may be inevitable and possibly some internal replanning. It may be that such preservation will be more expensive than re-building, but there was surely never a more important case for grant aid.
If a listed building has been allowed to fall onto a serious condition through neglect which goes back maybe for generations, the local authority may be entitled to buy it compulsorily (with the Minister's consent). The intention of the recent planning Acts is to put responsibility for the preservation of listed buildings squarely on the owners, with the assistance of grants from central funds and local authorities.
The Council have put a preservation order on the building and we hope that a successful restoration will result.