Bats and Historic Buildings

Those responsible for historic buildings and structures often have to manage a diverse range of demands and expectations placed on them by various stakeholders who may not be equally supportive of efforts to conserve the historic significance of the building. However, one very rare and important group of stakeholders, with the law behind them, like the building just the way it is. The seventeen species of bats resident in Britain and Ireland and their roost sites receive total protection under domestic and EU law. All have been recorded in historic built structures, and some rely on roost sites in historic buildings for breeding. This article outlines the importance of historic buildings as bat habitats and how crucial it is that we use the same sensitivity and rigour to reach informed decisions which impact on bats as we would for built heritage.

Figure 5. An entry point into a service tunnel on the National Trust Tyntesfield Estate, situated near Bristol. It is very important to know where bat roosts and the access points are when planning for building works but it is equally important to know this as part of the day-to-day management of a property. Routine servicing and/or repairs and maintenance or one off events have the potential for disturbing or harming bats as much as capital building works. In this case health and safety and the security of a significant Victorian house and collection necessitated that this access point was secured. The gate was designed with horizontal rails spaced apart to allow bats to fly unhindered into their roost beyond. Note the large durable Bat Roost notice which alerts anyone considering entering a bat roost that they should not enter without a bat licence and should contact the site manager. This and the padlock prevents unintentional disturbance of bats. (Ian Chadwick)

Jonathan Howard

Jonathan worked for the National Trust in the UK for five and half years, first as a House Steward at Snowshill Manor and as the Building Research Assistant at the Head Office. During the course of this work he co-authored Managing Bats in Traditional Buildings. Since February 2007 he has worked for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Heritage Advisor for building conservation for the Otago/Southland office.

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Donhead Publishing 2010