User:Miller793c/Cornerstone architecture magazine

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Cornerstone architecture magazine

Cornerstone was published in Britain by one of the world's senior architectural heritage campaign groups, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).

The SPAB was founded in 1877 by the artist, writer, craftsman and socialist thinker William Morris, and his associate, the architect Philip Webb, along with other key figures linked to the late 19th century Arts and Crafts movement in Britain. The SPAB is a charity and statutory consultee on work affecting listed buildings in England and Wales. It is renowned for the quality of its advice and the breadth of its knowledge of traditional construction methods and materials.

Cornerstone magazine, produced for the SPAB membership from 2004 and succeeded by The SPAB Magazine in 2012, has become influential beyond the core readership. It is a prime source of news and information in its field, cited and followed up by newspapers and broadcasters in the UK and internationally.

SPAB members and volunteer workers have included many leading figures from British cultural and political life, among them Thomas Hardy, Sir John Betjeman, Vita Sackville-West, Octavia Hill, Beatrix Potter, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Sir Kenneth Clark, John Ruskin, MR James, William Holman Hunt, Edward Burne-Jones, GK Chesterton, John Everett Millais, JB Priestley, Augustus John, GF Watts and Millicent Fawcett. Present membership includes broadcasters, writers and politicians.

Cornerstone and The SPAB Magazine cover a wide range of subjects related to architectural conservation. These include regular SPAB Casework on particular buildings and sites facing alteration, practical repair and maintenance advice, reporting on changes in conservation law, focusing on individual buildings undergoing repair or refurbishment, and general features on historic buildings, their past and future. The editorial tone reflects the philosophy of the SPAB, which advocates the sensitive, sustainable care and repair of old architecture of all kinds while also promoting good modern design. Also featured have been broader conservation campaigns, such as opposition to the expansion of UK airports, primarily at Stansted and Heathrow, and other large-scale developments which threaten historic landscapes and architecture. Increasing pressure on the traditional landscape and built environment in Britain, especially in the south-east of England, has placed historic towns and villages in the front line of the conservation battles of the 21st century.

Among well-known figures who have written for Cornerstone magazine are the broadcaster and arts administrator, Sir John Tusa; columnist and writer Julie Burchill; academic Germaine Greer; novelist Jeanette Winterson; Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk; film director Ken Russell; artist David Inshaw; journalists John Sweeney, Jonathan Glancey and Rod Liddle; foreign correspondent and independent MP, Martin Bell; former envoy Terry Waite; architect Eva Jiricna; writer and journalist Sir Peregrine Worsthorne and former government Secretary of State, Chris Smith. Among those interviewed for the magazine have been Dr Simon Thurley, English Heritage Chief Executive; journalist Dame Liz Forgan, the new Chair of Arts Council England, and Jane Clark, widow of Conservative Party politician and diarist, Alan Clark.

Foreign coverage by Cornerstone included stories from Russia, India, Central Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, France, Austria, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria and Italy.

From 2004-2012 the Editor of Cornerstone was the journalist Robin Stummer.