The Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has announced the Grade II listing of 13 car-related buildings following advice from English National Heritage.
These structures have been chosen because they chart the rise of motoring in England from an aspirational pastime for the few to a necessity for the many.
They include everything from a ‘motor stable’ (above) that was purpose-built for an automotive pioneer, to the 1909 Morris Motors building in Oxford, rural 1920s petrol stations plus the ’60s Tower Garage in Alderley Edge (below) and the airport-inspired Forton Tower near Lancaster on the M6 (main pic).
Listed-building consent would now be needed from the local authority before any of these buildings could be either demolished or drastically altered from their current form.
