HOLYROOD HOUSE, SPALDING
Sts,—Writing in the Spectator of December 3 upon old buildings about_ to be destroyed, Mr. John Betjeman mentions Holyrood House, Spalding, and asks, ' Ought not [the Spalding Gentlemen's Society] to be defend- ing this building ? ' I would like to mention that this Society has been defending this house ever since 1936 when it secured the services of Mr. William Palmer, secretary to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, to lecture to a joint meeting of this Society and the Urban District Council on the subject. It followed this up with articles to the Press and various other lectures given at intervals by experts interested in preserving ancient buildings, particularly the Georgian buildings of Spalding. Although wo recognise that the building needs repair we feel that it contributes very largely to the charm of this town. Moreover, at the back of the house there is the only guildhall, out of ten once existing in this town—the guild of the Holyrood, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The house was refronted
in 1785, It has local historic interest, for Maurice Johnson the founder of this Society once lived there and previous to that the Hobson family who were great benefactors to the town and presented it with its first Town Hall. We have no funds to use for this purpose and can only rely on persuasion. —Yours faithfully, Spalding Gentlemen's Society,
O. W. BAILEY The Mmeom, Broad Street, Spalding.
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