Capturing the Spirit of Singular Places: A Biographical Approach to Historic Building Recording

SUMMARY I am fortunate enough to spend my working life exploring many different buildings, from medieval manor houses to 20th century football stadia, as part of a development-led brief to record them for posterity. This provides the opportunity to access places that few members of the public (other than squatters and urban explorers) ever see. It also involves many hours picking round derelict hulks with the rain coursing down the walls. This work feeds into the undeniable research value that arises from the study of individual buildings and how they inform our understanding of past societies and social practices. Conversely, there is also the less classifiable output of our attempting to capture the ‘spirit’ of a building prior to its demolition or conversion. Whilst the former is prioritised in guidance literature and methodologies, the latter arguably comprises the majority of what we do. What follows is an attempt to reconcile these two mindsets, with what can be termed a ‘biographical’ approach to historic building recording.