News across the Commonwealth

Ann Coats, Chair of the Naval Dockyards Society, reveals an eleventh-hour attempt to save the last workers' housing in Bermuda Dockyard from demolition...

All interested in the work of the Commonwealth Heritage Forum should be aware of the existence of The Watercolour World (TWW) project.

The Commonwealth Heritage Forum is interested in all aspects of the built heritage of the Commonwealth. In the late 1940s and 50s there was a resurgence of interest in ‘tropical architecture’ by some of the leading modernist architects of the day. Jessica Holland highlights the work of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, who left a fascinating heritage of important buildings in West Africa and India...

The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA), founded in 1977, was the first organisation to address the built heritage of the British Empire in the East.

The accomplished photographer, Anirban Mitra, shares some of his evocative photographs of the former government houses and palaces of Bengal.

The writer, historian and filmmaker, Bobby Singh Bansal describes some of the work he has carried out on Sikh heritage in the remote regions of Pakistan, and the restoration of several sites, such as the dilapidated Anglo-Sikh war memorial at Ramnagar, not far from the battlefield at Gujranwala...

Writer and Broadcaster, Hugo Vickers describes the founding of the Commonwealth Walkway Trust, and explains its ambitions and ways in which the public can get involved…

By Philip Davies - Our Chairman explains the progress we are making on our exciting new initiative to identify Heritage at Risk in Commonwealth countries...

In Port of Spain, Stollmeyer’s Castle has been restored by the Office of the Prime Minister for official functions. The elaborate Scottish baronial landmark is the embodiment of shared heritage with timber from Guyana and Canada, cast iron, stock bricks and ceramic floor tiles from England, slates from Wales and decorative stained glass. At the nearby Red House, a major restoration project is underway for the Senate and Parliament Chambers.

Conservation Architect Nilina Deb Lal talks about the Grade I listed Alipore and Presidency Jails in Kolkata in India, the risks and opportunities associated with their impending change of use, and the delicate balance between heritage significance and land value...

The recently established Caribbean Heritage Network, which the Commonwealth Heritage Forum has joined as an organisational member, hopes to develop a framework to promote the management of historic sites in the region, and promote cultural heritage.

Historic ruins can be adapted for new uses. Spanish Town High School sits on the Parade Ground of the Old Barracks built in 1791. Intact and roofed until the 1970s, now only the surrounding walls still stand.