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Search forPlea to save unusual Barnstaple architecture
Sunday, August 31, 2008, 07:00
Len Shaddick wants the ten iron "stars of David" on the top of the front wall of the mostly-demolished listed building next to Barclays Bank in Boutport Street to be preserved for future generations.
Mr Shaddick did not know the origin of the stars, which are a widely-used symbol of the Jewish faith, but he said they were too striking and unusual to be dumped or forgotten.
He said: "I just want to know what is going to happen with the old ironwork when they demolish it.
"I would like to see the ironwork preserved; they have kept it for so many years after they demolished the back of the building.
"I would like to see these stars incorporated in the new development."
The building, which was abandoned in the 1980s and which has been demolished behind the existing front wall, was opened in its last incarnation in 1899.
It has since become festooned with rubbish, and is due to be demolished during the planned redevelopment of Queen Street and Bear Street.
Some local people have complained the building has been left to become an embarrassing eyesore.
Historian Peter Christie said the building was paid for by a baker called Frank Raymond, who was based in Boutport Street. It was built onto an existing early-mid nineteenth century structure and the architect was FW Petter.
Mr Christie said Mr Raymond might have built the grand and imposing structure — which was then the largest building in the immediate area — as a speculative project; when it first opened it was an auction house and furniture showroom.
And Mr Christie added: "When it was built, the iron girders were part of balcony which held four huge statues which were 12ft high."
The building had a number of uses during the 20th century, and many Journal readers will remember when it was a "hippy" shop in the 1970s and 1980s, run by Mike Tanner. It also, at one time, housed an Indian restaurant.
Mr Christie said the stars of David were something of a mystery; they could have been installed for their Jewish meaning, but they could be purely decorative. The star has been used in various types of design, not least because it fits nicely into a circle.
SEEING STARS: Len Shaddick is concerned about the fate of the cast iron stars (inset) on the front of the derelict building in Boutport Street that is shown as demolished in the pictures of the new Queen Street development. Picture: Mike Southon 0808-167_04; 0808-167_02(inset)
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