[AJR]

A hand-coloured steel engraving by H. Adland from a drawing of Cooling Castle by W. Bartlett. It was published by Geo Virtue in 1829, and now forms part of my collection.

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[AJR]

A recent addition to my postcard collection.

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[Gordon]

Very appropriate given the weather

[AJR]

Another vintage postcard of Cooling Castle recently added to my collection. It is postmarked 1911..

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[AJR]

An engraving of Cooling Castle from Grose's Antiquities, 1784. One of my weekend purchases.

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[AJR]

An engraving of Cooling Castle from 1810. Another weekend addition.

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[AJR]

A further engraving of Cooling Castle, this time from around 1790. Recently added to my collection.

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[Gordon]

I like the second one, other two are interesting to show the change in style over a few years.

[AJR]

From The Times, 23rd June 2009

Jools Holland’s Cooling Castle joins band of at-risk monuments

A 14th-century castle owned by Jools Holland, the musician and broadcaster, is in "very bad" condition and in need of 'A' list priority attention, according to English Heritage. Cooling Castle, near Rochester, Kent, is one of almost 1,000 important listed buildings that appear in the latest "Heritage at Risk" register published today.

Conservation areas, parks, gardens, monuments, battlefields and shipwrecks are also singled out for urgent works and the heritage watchdog appeals to "people power" to keep these places special.

Many owners will be shamed by the exposure on the new at risk register but the architectural champion Holland is not offended, although a little surprised that his castle is on the list. Three years ago he bought the property with a specific aim to conserve the building. Work is already under way at the site and he is expected to pay out nearly £100,000 over the next seven years to safeguard the castle.

He told The Times: "I love the building but you could never restore it, not even if you were a Russian oligarch. So what we're doing is consolidation. We've already restored some collapsed walls. It's not open to the public and I'm surprised we're on the register but I have no quarrel with it. The register is a great thing and reminds us of the great heritage we have and must look after. I don't think it's meant to be malicious. I hope people don't take against English Heritage. "

He urged people to take an interest in their local environment and warned: "We have all got to be careful because it is easy to lose what we have got and cherish. Bridlington High Street is one of the greatest high streets in the land. Something doesn't have to be grand to be beautiful."

Simon Thurley, chief executive at English Heritage, said the purpose of the register was "to keep the encouragement up for people to make improvements. Our register is not about naming and shaming but about drawing attention to problems. We are not being vicious. We ourselves own 10 buildings at risk on the register and 73 scheduled monuments."

One policy U-turn that could resolve the problem would be for the Treasury, with Brussels approval, to lower the VAT on heritage repairs and maintenance from 15 per cent to 5 per cent and to match the VAT rate for new buildings.

[AJR]

Had a walk today which took me passed Cooling Castle. It's not easy to get photos nowadays because of all the trees and bushes, but I managed a few.

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