It was discovered, 9pm on Thursday 2nd May, that the new owners of Community House, planned to demolish the lovely cupola that Saturday (4th May). We did as much as we could to spread the word, so people could email our council leader and other relevant parties to prevent this.
On Friday afternoon, the borough Conservation Officer, Simon Went, had “Preservation Notices” posted on the building and hoardings, and the Cupola was saved! These notices give six months to get the building listed, and full protection in that time.
We are very grateful to everybody who spent the time to email on this issue, and very glad it succeeded.
The new freehold owners – recently sold the property by our council, to save the council tax payers the cost of repairing the property – would also like to avoid the repair costs.
The cupola is an essential and iconic part of this historic building, built in 1939 by the architect C Cowles Voysey. The old Magistrates Court is one of an identifiable group of public buildings on Widmore Road and South Street.
The cupola on the former Magistrate’s court in 2019.
Browse our old photos, in 
from being dominated by tower blocks: Look here and email our ward councillors about:
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