Sir – The Vale of White Horse is conducting a consultation process, and one of the topics for discussion is the redevelopment of Abingdon precinct area.
I found myself agreeing with a man who was passionately regretting the wanton destruction of fine buildings in the seventies. Most readers of The Oxford Times may know me from my features on antiques and will be aware that I am in favour of preserving what is good from the past.
However, not everything old is good, any more that everything new is bad. The danger is that the uninspiring boxes of the seventies will be replaced by equally uninspiring pastiche.
Last week, my feature on Abingdon was illustrated by a picture of Kempster’s fine County Hall, the pride of the town. Imagine how that would have appeared to 17th-century eyes, used to medieval Gothic! In the new Ashmolean, we have an example of great contemporary architecture that does not detract from the fine buildings in the heart of Oxford. That is what Abingdon needs — some vision! We have a school of architecture in Oxford — why not have a competition and see if there are any budding Kempsters? Otherwise the commercial option is likely to be as sad as what it replaces.
Sylvia Vetta, Kennington
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