Don't Let Them Go!

Florin Court on Charterhouse Square (Image source)

The fight continues to save London's fire stations! This is the third post I've written about this matter (also here and here) but I just can't stand the thought of my dear Clerkenwell Fire Station closing. As an architectural historian, I'm also particularly perturbed to see that of the 10 which are now mooted for closure (two have escaped from the original hit list of 12), five are listed: four at Grade II and one at the higher Grade II*. It is not only the quality of the external architecture but the continuity of use and the level of surviving interiors which have generally marked these examples out as being of sufficiently high special historic and architectural interest to merit listing. Decommissioning the buildings as fire stations will immediately cut off that continuity of use and will almost certainly lead to the loss of any surviving interiors as they are redeveloped for new use. And let's not even start to talk about the public safety concerns.

The London Fire Authority have voted against the plan to close the 10 threatened fire stations but apparently Boris Johnson has the power to overturn their decision. And it won't be at all surprising that he does...

But we have to encourage him to think again! Please sign this petition to stop the closures! Save our stations and help to keep response times down. Imagine what could have happened if the boys from Clerkenwell Fire Station hadn't been there to respond so quickly to a fire at the Grade-II listed Moderne Florin Court on Charterhouse Square just this weekend? It was a sad enough sight as it was when I saw it on Monday... No-one was hurt, as it happens, but things could have been rather different. What if our Clerkenwell fire fighters hadn't been there to respond? Think about that, Boris Johnson.

... Saved by the Clerkenwell fire fighters (Image souce)