Latest news with #Greyfriars
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
West Northamptonshire Council and ECF sign deal for Greyfriars regeneration
West Northamptonshire Council and English Cities Fund (ECF), a joint venture between Legal & General, Homes England, and Muse, have formalised an agreement to initiate the Greyfriars regeneration project in Northampton, England. The scheme aims to revive a part of the town centre into an inclusive community space with over 1,000 new homes, as well as employment opportunities, green spaces, and cultural destinations. The 25-acre regeneration area encompasses several key sites, including the former Greyfriars Bus Station and the Corn Exchange. The development plans promise a diverse residential offering, with affordable housing, build-to-rent options, and student accommodation. The project will also introduce new retail, café, and restaurant spaces, alongside leisure facilities. A significant aspect of the Greyfriars scheme is the creation of a public realm, featuring an outdoor amphitheatre and revitalised green spaces. The development will also focus on improving pedestrian and cycling routes, fostering sustainable travel and better connecting Greyfriars with the wider town centre and adjacent communities. During the construction phase, up to 7,000 full-time equivalent jobs are expected to be created. The scheme is also anticipated to unlock over £1bn ($1.35bn) in economic value. Upon completion, the development could increase local spending by approximately £21m annually, offering a boost to businesses throughout Northampton and the broader West Northamptonshire region. ECF chair Sir Michael Lyons said: 'West Northamptonshire Council has set out a bold vision for Greyfriars and we are looking forward to our collaborative and positive partnership. 'Entering a development agreement will enable us to take the next important step in the delivery of this important opportunity. It's a chance to enhance Northampton town centre with new homes, workspaces, retail, culture, and public spaces. 'Together, we will move at pace to deliver a master plan proposal which delivers against this opportunity.' Community engagement with locals during the development process is stated to be integral to shaping the redevelopment of the Greyfriars area. This development agreement follows a development management services agreement signed this January. "West Northamptonshire Council and ECF sign deal for Greyfriars regeneration" was originally created and published by World Construction Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Contract signed to transform old Northampton bus station site
An agreement has been signed to transform the site of an old bus station that was demolished a decade Greyfriars development in Northampton will include 1,000 homes, an amphitheatre, shops and 25-acre (10.1ha) site also includes two existing car parks, a disused corn exchange, and a derelict office Northamptonshire Council said the deal would "revitalise a long-neglected area of the heart of the town centre". Ever since Northampton's Greyfriars bus station, labelled "the mouth of hell", disappeared in a huge cloud of dust in 2015, the site has been vacant and agreement that has now been signed means work could be starting soon on a project that will, according to the council, "unlock the true potential of Northampton".The signatures on the document are those of the council and ECF which is a joint venture between the government's Homes England agency and private firms Legal & General and "placemakers" Muse. As well as the bus station site, the regeneration area includes the Mayorhold and Victoria Street Car Parks and the traffic islands either side of the bus is also the Corn Exchange, built in 1851, and Belgrave House - a giant 1970s brutalist office the plans, Belgrave House is set to become a "flexible space for established and emergent businesses". The Corn Exchange is likely to be turned into art and performance space, alongside a new amphitheatre on what is now the West Island.A park is included in the plan, occupying the area which is now Lady's plans include affordable, built-to-rent and student accommodation alongside shops, restaurants and leisure council claims 7,000 full-time equivalent jobs will be created during the construction phase and "over £1bn in economic value" will be "unlocked". James Petter, cabinet member for local economy at the Reform UK-controlled council, said: "The regeneration of Greyfriars will not only revitalise a key part of our town centre but also strengthen our local economy, improve connectivity, and create a more inclusive and vibrant place to live, work, and visit."Sir Michael Lyons, who chairs ECF, said: "Entering a development agreement will enable us to take the next important step in the delivery of this important opportunity."He added that both parties would now "move at pace" to deliver a masterplan for the project. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The National
03-06-2025
- Business
- The National
How Edinburgh became Scottish capital truly fit for a king
Fittingly I am concluding with our capital city, telling the story of Edinburgh in ancient times, ie before 1800, ending with the Jacobite Rising of 1745-46 and the greatest missed opportunity in Scottish history. Last week I showed how Edinburgh began to develop from a small settlement through the trinity of a fortification, religious institutions and royal patronage, as happened with all our eight cities. READ MORE: This is how the grandeur of Edinburgh began with a rock Despite the fact that much of Scotland's ancient records were stolen and destroyed by various English invaders from Edward I to Oliver Cromwell, archaeologists and historians have been able to put together a record of Edinburgh's history from the earliest times. There are gaps in our knowledge, for sure, but we do have a fairly coherent history of Edinburgh, especially as the second millennium wore on and the city became the nation's capital. Before that status was achieved, however, in the 12th and 13th centuries the castle and Holyrood Abbey were the principal drivers of the growing economic prowess of Edinburgh, but it was other foundations under the royal patronage of King David I, King William I the Lion (or Lyon), and their successors which really boosted Edinburgh. As I wrote last week, in 1143 David had given the Augustinian monks at Holyrood the right to found a burgh, the Canongate, between their church and 'my burgh', ie Edinburgh, and it is thought that he also began the long process of developing Edinburgh as a centre of mercantile trade, particularly through the establishment of 'tofts' – strips of land to either side of the High Street and Canongate allocated to merchants as long as they built a house and conducted their business in the burgh. King David is also said to have founded the parish church of Edinburgh dedicated to St Giles, but no trace of that original church remains today. The current St Giles Cathedral building was started in the 14th century. King Alexander II also favoured Edinburgh and often stayed in the castle and Holyrood Abbey. In 1230 he handed over a manor which he owned to the Dominican order, the Blackfriars. They erected a large monastery in the area south of the High Street and as with all such institutions, it added greatly to the local economy. So, too, did the monastery of the Franciscans, the Greyfriars, which was established two centuries afterwards on the site of Greyfriars Kirk. By the final years of the 13th century, Edinburgh had grown in importance, but was still not the capital, though it had been made the seat of the sheriffdom of the Lothians more than a century before. When Edward I ('Longshanks') carried out his devastating invasion of Scotland in 1296 in response to the Scots signing the Auld Alliance treaty with France, the castle was an obvious target and just days after vanquishing the Scottish army at Dunbar, his forces marched on Edinburgh and besieged the burgh and castle for five days, using mighty siege engines and 'Greek fire' – a deadly incendiary substance – to break Scottish resistance. It was the first of 26 sieges, a European record for any castle. Longshanks became the first English monarch to capture Edinburgh Castle and he promptly stole one of Scotland's greatest treasures, the Black Rood of St Margaret, from either the castle or Holyrood. Supposedly a relic of the true cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, it was ranked alongside the crown of Scotland in importance and its capture was a devastating blow to Edinburgh and Scotland. It was taken south – Longshanks is said to have kept it in his own private chapel – but was repatriated in 1328 as a consequence of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton which recognised Scottish nationhood. The Rood was captured again by the English at the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. It was then lost in Durham during the Reformation in the 16th century. Always one for documenting his misdeeds, The official English Court record stated that Edward took, 'Unum scrinium argenteum deauratum in quo reponitur crux que vocatur le blake rode', which translates as 'A silver-gilt casket in which lies the cross called the Black Rood'. The English also took other items of regalia and a huge cache of royal records which were never recovered. READ MORE: Becoming a royal burgh was a huge development in Glasgow's history As he did with several other castles, Edward installed a garrison in Edinburgh Castle. With an average garrison size of 300 soldiers, the English occupied the castle until 1313 when Robert the Bruce's great ally and general Sir Thomas Randolph captured the castle in a daring night raid. He led just 30 men up the cliffs and over the walls to take the castle from within. Today there is a plaque on the castle to record the deed. It states: 'To commemorate Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray. A distinguished soldier and diplomatist who recovered this castle in 1313 after it had been for 20 years in the hands of the English.' As I have shown previously, King Robert the Bruce always demolished recaptured castles in order to deny any future use to the English and Edinburgh Castle suffered the same fate. He did, however, make a huge contribution to Edinburgh – However, shortly before his death in 1329, he confirmed Edinburgh's status as a royal burgh and gave its leaders major trading advantages, including supervision of the port of Leith. The next English king to capture the castle was Longshanks's grandson, Edward III, who backed the attempted coup d'etat by Edward Balliol in 1334. Another English garrison was installed and Edward III paid for new castle walls, but that great warrior knight, Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale, recaptured it in 1341. The city's relationship with the garrison was shown by the fact that after Douglas disguised his men as merchants, they opened the castle to allow the Edinburgh citizenry inside, where they slaughtered the English, decapitating most of them and flinging their bodies over the walls. On his return after 11 years' imprisonment in England, King David II rebuilt the castle entirely, with David's Tower later being named after him. He died there in the royal apartments in 1371. He was succeeded by his uncle, Robert II, High Steward of Scotland and founder of the Stewart dynasty under which Edinburgh flourished and did become the capital. All this time the burghs of Edinburgh and Canongate were developing and North and South Leith also grew, with the former becoming an important port after the 1334 capture of Berwick by the English. Leith became famous for exporting wool and hides and importing Scotland's 'other national drink' of the period: claret wine from France. Edinburgh and almost all of Scotland suffered grievously when the Black Death arrived in 1349. Perhaps a third of the burgh's population died, and plague would recur on numerous occasions until the 17th century. In February 1356, the invasion of southern Scotland by Edward III of England saw much of Edinburgh razed to the ground in what became known as the Burnt Candlemas. A further invasion by the English under the teenage King Richard II in 1385 saw the town burned again. It would take many years for Edinburgh's population and economy to recover from both plague and fire, though the burgh expanded in area when the lands of Restalrig were bought from the Logan family. After the assassination of James I at Perth in 1437, the Stewart dynasty made Edinburgh Castle their principal fortress and residence. Just a year later the first meeting of the Estates of Parliament took place in the Old Tolbooth, administrative centre of the burgh. James II loved artillery and imported the giant cannon Mons Meg from the Continent – it stands in the castle to this day, despite having burst in 1681. Then James III formally decreed that Edinburgh was his capital, and during his reign the burgh's guilds, also known as crafts, began to form with the king giving them their famous banner, the Blue Blanket, in 1482. His successor James IV built Holyrood Palace as his main residence and also constructed the Great Hall at the castle that still stands much as it was. Edinburgh became a recognised European capital during his reign, which ended at Flodden Field in 1513. After that disaster, the people of Edinburgh hurriedly built the Flodden Wall in anticipation of an English invasion. READ MORE: Glasgow 850? It is one of the most ancient areas of Scotland In the meantime, the crafts and merchants were thriving – as were lawyers, the Court of Session being founded as the principal court of the land in 1532. In 1544, the forces of Henry VIII led by the Earl of Hertford burned down Holyrood Palace and Abbey and laid siege to the castle during the 'Rough Wooing' in which the English were trying to force a dynastic marriage on the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. She escaped to France, however, and married the Dauphin, the Crown Prince of France. While she was abroad, the Protestant Reformation took place. John Knox was appointed minister of St Giles in 1559, a major step towards the Reformation that was confirmed by the Scottish Parliament in 1560. After her first husband's death, Mary returned to Edinburgh in 1561 and the young Catholic queen frequently debated religious and political matters with Knox while living in the Palace of Holyroodhouse. After the murder of her secretary David Rizzio by nobles linked to her consort, Henry Darnley, the pregnant queen moved to the castle for safety Here she gave birth to her son James on June 19, 1566. Edinburgh was thus at the beginning of the Union, as James VI became James I of England in 1603, after which his royal court moved to London. While still in Edinburgh, James VI approved the town council's request to establish a university, Scotland's fourth, in 1582, and even after his move to London he still considered Edinburgh as his Scottish capital and had the palace restored for his sole visit home in 1617. Parliament House was constructed during the 1630s at a time when Edinburgh was truly prosperous, with the university leading the study of medicine which became a world-leading facet of Edinburgh. Merchants became responsible for the building of stone tenements on either side of the High Street, creating the Old Town we can still see today. Brewing, printing, and the manufacture of clothing goods were strengths of Edinburgh. The New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell occupied the town and castle following his invasion of Scotland in 1650, and again Holyrood Abbey and Palace were the objects of English ire. The Parliament barely survived Scottish anger over the Act of Union in 1701, and in common with other cities, the townspeople rioted in a vain bid to preserve Scotland's independence. After the astonishing victory of the Jacobites at Prestonpans in 1745, Prince Charles Edward Stuart based himself at Holyrood and 'cancelled' the Union. If only he had taken the advice to stay in Scotland and consolidate his rule here – but he didn't, a huge opportunity was missed, and the result was Culloden. Still to come was the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, even the sport of golf – it was in Edinburgh, not St Andrews, that its rules were first promulgated. That will be a story for a different time and different place, however, for today I am retiring from journalism for the foreseeable future, largely on health grounds as I will be undergoing heart surgery soon. It's the end of 10 years working for The National and Sunday National, and as Hamish MacPherson I have been given the fantastic privilege of telling the history of Scotland – a unique achievement by The National which no other Scottish newspaper can rival. If you've enjoyed my work and found it informative then I've been Martin Hannan, and if not then I've been the other fella… Saor Alba, farewell.
Times
23-05-2025
- Times
Richard III and what may be a great miscarriage of justice
The twisted spectre of King Richard III, a monarch either villainous or horribly maligned, has materialised once more, beckoning Britain to weigh his contested past. His most recent appearance is due to Philippa Langley, a Ricardian researcher. She argues that her evidence strongly suggests that Richard did not in fact murder the 'princes in the tower', the young Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, in 1483: instead, the children survived and went on to lead a rebellion against Richard's successor, Henry VII. Ms Langley has form in this area, since she was the driving force in uncovering Richard III's remains in 2012 in a Leicester car park, on the ancient site of the Greyfriars church where the Yorkist king was entombed after his
The Herald Scotland
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Inside the legal battle for Poets' Neuk in St Andrews
It was first gifted to the town by Mary, Queen of Scots before her abdication in 1567, and was once the site of a medieval Greyfriars monastery chapel. For the best part of two decades a community group has been seeking to acquire the plot and transform it into a poetry garden, complete with a statue of the monarch. Plans for the poetry garden (Image: Poets' Neuk) Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2016, community bodies have the power to apply to the Scottish Government to exercise a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on land or a building for sustainable development. Poets' Neuk applied under the act to buy the land and turn it into a community garden. Ministers backed the application but landowner Forthtay Ltd, a trust controlled by Isle of Man based Optimus Fiduciaries, lodged an appeal alleging "apparent bias" toward the community group and accusing ministers of acting unlawfully. This week though, Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith concluded that ministers had acted lawfully in their decision, paving the way for the sale to go ahead. Graham Wynd, chair of Poets' Group, tells The Herald: "The garden's been an eyesore for a very long time. 'Originally the St Andrews Preservation Trust campaigned and exhorted the owner of the land to clear it up, the council tried to do the same. Read More: 'Then we decided that the thing to do would be to try and buy the land so we got in touch with the owner and offered well above market rate for the land - still he refused." In 2018 the group secured a pre-emptive right to buy, but that only forced Optimus Fiduciaries not to sell to any other groups - it was under no obligation to sell at all. Mr Wynd explains: "We put in a lot of effort, the owner claimed he was already selling the land to someone else, or was on the brink of a sale. "As soon as you put in an application, that puts a stop on any buying or selling of the land. The owner was claiming to be in a position where he was just about to sell it, and that by applying for a community right to buy we'd put a stop on the sale. 'The way the government deals with that is to go through an accelerated process, which is more stringent. We got to the end of that process and the government awarded us the right to buy. 'The owner, as we soon discovered he was entitled to do, simply refused to deal with us." With the owners refusing to sell, Poets' Neuk applied under section five of the act for a CPO. The plot of land in question (Image: Google) In May 2024 it was granted, the first time the power had been used, but Optimus Fiduciaries instantly lodged an appeal at Dundee Sheriff Court. The grounds for the appeal were based on ministers not having applied the test of there being a 'substantial benefit' to the community, rather than merely a 'benefit'; that they did not consider the benefits of not selling the land; that the CPO was in breach of article 1 protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights which states "every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions"; that the Scottish Government was 'unduly influenced' by the wider implications of a successful compulsory purchase order which it described as "a serious, fatal, failure of impartiality"; and that ministers had not taken regeneration adequately into account given the proposal by the owners to build a café. The appeals were all rejected. Mr Wynd said: "We were confident we could meet the requirements, certainly in our opinion, but there was so much scrutiny that you can never be confident. "I really cannot understand the accusation of bias. We have found the civil servants to be very helpful but scrupulously careful not to exercise bias toward us or the owner – sometimes we felt they were perhaps a little too cool with us! 'The government scrutinised our application and took a year over it, they produced a very long and comprehensive report. "The next steps are to actually acquire the land. The price has been set by the district valuer, so there's no debate about that. 'We need to get the deeds to the land as the first formal step, we tried a year ago but the owner said that since they'd lodged an appeal they weren't going to hand them over. 'I think they will have no choice now, indeed the terms of the acts say that if the owner does not our recourse is to go to the Scottish Lands Tribunal who would then enforce a handover." The CPO could pave the way for future takeovers, with land reform one of the thorniest issues in contemporary public life. Close to 60% of rural land in Scotland is believed to be in private hands, with some estimates stating that 432 families own half of private land in the country as a whole. Sheriff Niven-Smith was not asked to rule on the merits, or lack thereof, of the proposed poetry garden but whether ministers had acted within the law in granting the CPO. In rejecting the appeal by Optimus Fiduciaries, the sheriff concluded that they had. Mr Wynd said: "It's a very satisfying moment for us, because what it represents is that the people of St Andrews can actually have a say in that their town looks like, and that they can prevent someone like the owner from totally neglecting the land and turning it into an eyesore and a location for very unsocial activities. "I hope other communities can follow suit. It is, however, a lot of hard work - in a sense this is only the end of the beginning. "The next step is to acquire the land, then to implement the plan we've had for the garden for a very long time. "We are expecting to receive a substantial grant from the Scottish Land Fund, which as I understand it is really lottery money, we put in an application some time ago and that is still live. If we're successful with that we could get a very substantial proportion of the acquisition cost. 'If that does not come through then I'm glad to say we have generous benefactors who would be prepared to provide a bridging loan.'
