Heritage is intrinsically linked to culture. Our perception of its value is, therefore, difficult to define. In recent years, the architecture and infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution have been re-evaluated. There has been a shift in heritage values reflected in international charters such as the 2003 Nizhny Tagil Charter of the Industrial Heritage. The Industrial Revolution in Britain saw rurality and industry unite as the landscape moved away from being a source of agricultural production to a source of energy. Archaeology from the Industrial Age provides the contemporary world with a backstory allowing the viewer to trace a timeline through the landscape. This dissertation will argue that, at a time when the production and consumption of energy have never been more contested, a timeline of our industrial evolution is profoundly relevant.

 

The dissertation will focus on the most prominent architectural legacy of the twentieth-century industry: Cooling towers. These are significant examples of structural engineering and the use of reinforced concrete and, perhaps counterintuitively, as central features of innovative landscape architecture. The twentieth century was shaped by technological advances and industrial power, which became embedded in the landscape. Though their contribution to British industrial development is significant, they are not perceived with the same heritage or aesthetic values as architectural legacies of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Indeed, it might be argued that cooling towers carry a stigma that associates them negatively with the landscape as the contemporary need for sustainable outputs drives industrial infrastructure towards obsolescence. This is perhaps more marked than ever before as a result of the current energy crisis.

 

Before today’s energy crisis, it was announced that by 2024, coal-fired power stations without carbon capture technology should be closed, hastening the demise of the last remaining cooling towers. However, the UK government has since announced the controversial approval of the first new coal mine in thirty years. The coal mine will be situated in Cumbria as part of the government’s response to the Levelling Up programme with ambitions to create new jobs. With only two coal-fired power stations remaining active. It is thought 80% of the coal will be exported elsewhere in the world. The approval goes ahead whilst steel industries are moving towards hydrogen.

 

This dissertation will consider the remaining redundant cooling towers and ask what should be done with them. The ambition of Historic England is to preserve and safeguard the physical and cultural legacies of British history through the retention and protection of landmark architecture. However, post-war infrastructure is often overlooked and undervalued, unlike the monuments of the first and second Industrial Revolutions. In examining approaches to conservation, this dissertation asks: When does something become history? And when does history become heritage? Are cooling towers ready to be represented as part of our history, and should their value now be recognised?

 

Nowhere are these questions more pertinent than in Ironbridge. This small town, arguably the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, sits alongside the banks of the River Severn in Shropshire. Ironbridge is designated a World Heritage Site to recognise its contribution to the first Industrial Revolution. Ironbridge’s power station did not receive similar recognition for its contribution to the electric era. Though there is ample knowledge of what electricity generation technologies provide to our society, there has not been sufficient exploration or recognition regarding their heritage and value in the landscape.