April 29, 2023 / By rachel
We had the pleasure of attending Constructing Excellence’s ‘Walkabout’, which provided a fascinating insight into some of Gloucestershire’s historical buildings on Westgate Street.
Cathedral Quarter Programme Manager, Claire Dovey-Evans, led the tour and talked about the regeneration and protection works for the improvement of 15 historic properties. Thanks to a Government funding programme called High Street Heritage Action Zones, the initiative also intends to deliver a public realm improvement scheme to transform Westgate Street.
Meeting at The Folk Museum, The Civic Trust gave an overview of the recent improvements that have been done to the museum. We then had the opportunity to visit some of the ongoing projects on the High Street to understand the history behind the walls and the complexities involved with conserving both the Medieval and part Georgian structures.
It was especially satisfying to see one of RRA’s completed projects, no.88 Westgate Street, which was able to benefit from a grant provided by Historic England. This former Indian restaurant in a single storey building was vacant for some time, but has now been transformed into a beauty salon on the ground floor, with an additional storey added above to accommodate a 2-bed, first floor apartment.
Special thanks to Claire Dovey-Evans from the Cathedral Quarter, Gloucester for leading the tour and giving such an interesting presentation.