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Life as a heritage consultant: jack of all trades

Continuing our series looking back at 10 years of Heritage & Townscape at Turley, Director, Jenni Mason describes the varied nature of working within the sector and how, like other disciplines, heritage can’t be addressed in isolation. It requires teamwork and close collaboration with other technical consultants.

‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ is how my profession was once described to me, and I’m sure many fellow heritage professionals have also heard that phrase applied to their jobs. Although it’s not perhaps the most flattering description, there is definitely an element of truth to it. Whilst heritage professionals are experts in the field of built conservation, our roles often also require an understanding of a very wide variety of other constraints affecting a project.

On a day to day basis, despite not being ‘a planner’, my work as Heritage & Townscape Director requires me to have an in depth understanding of the planning system, as the framework within which heritage legislation sits. To name just some of the strings heritage professionals also have to their bows, we must be:

• Part building surveyor – providing advice about the likely causes of problems a building may be displaying;
• part builder – providing advice on appropriate repairs; and
• part architect – providing advice on the appropriate design and details of proposals.

In addition to these regular elements of our jobs, we frequently also need to be:

• Part valuation expert – providing advice, or interpreting advice, on the optimum viable use of a building;
• part archaeologist – providing advice on likely archaeological potential; and
• part ecologist – particularly when it comes to bats who like old buildings!

Sometimes, however, the requirements of our role are even more wide ranging.

One of the most enjoyable projects I’ve had the pleasure to be involved with recently was the design of a new children’s play area in a Registered Park and Garden. Discussing how play equipment could be in the spirit of a place and reflect the special interest of the protected gardens was more than just a novelty; it allowed me to put my mother’s hat on and input into the design with practical experience of the place, alongside my professional view working with timber play specialists and landscape architects.

At perhaps the other end of the spectrum, a large village extension with bypass scheme involved me getting to grips with decibel levels and what was considered acceptable for different uses. Acoustic consultants and their technical design guides were another aspect of the built environment I had not had to deal with before. The impact of noise on the setting and significance of heritage assets was something I had never had to articulate or quantify in any great depth previously, and gave me a better appreciation of how difficult it was to mitigate noise effectively without causing further harm.

As another phrase goes, ‘every day is a school day’, and it is the breadth of projects and issues that makes the heritage field so interesting and rewarding. You never know what new experience lies around the corner. So, I may not be a master of all trades, but I am quite happy being a ‘jack of many’ – variety is the spice of life after all.

For more information on the work of our Heritage and Townscape service, please contact a member of the team.

8 February 2021