The George Phillips and Tony Traylen Awards
The George Phillips and Tony Traylen Awards are presented annually by Rutland Local History & Record Society in conjunction with Rutland County Council. The Awards are given in recognition of significant contributions towards conserving or enhancing the built environment of Rutland.
The George Phillips Award is for a recent new or refurbished domestic, commercial or industrial building or development in Rutland.
The Tony Traylen Award, formerly known as The Rutland Historic Building Award, is for a renovation or conservation project of an historic domestic, commercial or industrial building in Rutland. Nominations are normally for recent projects, but retrospective projects are also considered.
Following nomination, projects will be inspected, normally in September, by a panel of six judges, two from Rutland Local History & Record Society, two representing Rutland County Council Planning Department and two County Councillors. The awards are only made if the projects meet the judging criteria.
The awards are presented annually, usually in December at Oakham Castle. The recipient of each award will receive a certificate acknowledging the award and a cast plaque in the shape of the Rutland horseshoe for mounting on the winning property.
Making a Nomination
Nominations can be made at any time by anyone, including the property owner, architect, builder, developer, a parish council, or any member of the public. For both awards, the work must have been completed by the date of nomination, the closing date for which is 17 September 2012. Nominations may be made by email to: planning@rutland.gov.uk with ‘Built Environment Awards’ as the subject, or, by post to: Built Environment Awards, Planning Department, Rutland County Council, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP. Nominations should include as much of the following as is available, but the lack of full information should not deter nomination:
• The name, address, email address and telephone number of the person making the nomination.
• The name, location and brief details of the building or development, and the year in which work was completed.
• The name and contact details of the owner, architect, builder or developer.
• Photographs of the site before and during the project will be welcome.
For queries regarding the awards or requests for further information, please contact Customer Services at Rutland County Council on 01572 722577.
Who was George Phillips?
George Phillips arrived in Rutland 1891 at the age of 34 to take up the appointment of Inspector of Weights and Measures. His fondness for local history and archaeology led him to extensive research and he probably has recorded and published more details of Rutland's history than anyone to date.
He spent much time at the British Museum searching old records from the Domesday Book onwards. In 1903 he inaugurated the Rutland Magazine & County Historical Record and was responsible for many of the historical articles in Matkins’ Almanacks. Among other books he published was the Cambridge County Geography of Rutland in 1912. Perhaps the greatest achievement was his production of Rutland and the Great War, which was published in 1920. This comprehensive work is in itself a fitting memorial to his enthusiasm and regard for his adopted county.
George Phillips was a keen member of the local church and he is credited with organising at Oakham the first Parochial Church Council in the country. A plaque has been erected to his memory in Church Passage, Oakham, where he started a library, whilst living next door in what is now a solicitor's office.
There is a biographical article about George Phillips in Rutland Record 20 (2000), copies of which are available from the Rutland Local History & Record Society.
Who was Tony Traylen?
A R (Tony) Traylen was a great Rutland historian. He was born on 9th December 1927 in Hartley-Witney, Hampshire, and was educated at Wellington College. He was the only child of a professional soldier in the Lincolnshires – the family originated from Spalding – but showed no inclination to follow in his father's footsteps. Instead he seemed to favour his relative J C Traylen, one-time architect to the Diocese of Peterborough.
He attended the Brighton School of Architecture for three years before deciding that the profession was overcrowded. Rather than design houses, Tony felt he would be more satisfyingly employed in building and restoring them in the traditional manner. To this end he conducted a survey stretching from Cheshire down to Buckinghamshire, his eye eventually falling on Rutland. As a property developer he restored many cottages and shops both here and in Stamford.
However, Tony Traylen’s great and consuming interest was local history. Shortly after arriving in Rutland, he joined Rutland Local History Society, becoming chairman in 1971. It was a chance remark about the failure to record the stories of old Rutlanders that sparked his crusade and culminated in the original series of booklets recording the histories of Rutland villages. The booklets were later brought together to form the first volume in the In Rutland series. When he died in 2008, he had just published his eighteenth volume - Ancestral Houses of Rutland. All the royalties from his books were donated to The Rutland Trust, a charity giving grants to local individuals and organisations. To many, Tony was, and still is, ‘Mr Rutland’ and the Tony Traylen Award is the best way in which to remember him.
George Phillips Award Winners
Previous winners are listed as follows:
2005
A new house at Edith Weston clinched the 2005 award. With views over Rutland Water, the architect based his design for this house on some listed properties in Lyddington.
2006
The restoration and conversion of old buildings along with some new construction formed the new music centre at Uppingham School.
2007
The winner in 2007 was the new boarding house at Oakham School known as Little's Boarding House. This project involved a combination of new build, conversion and extension.
2008
2008 saw the award presented to the Old Rectory in Ayston. The scheme involved the creation of a two storey extension to the north elevation, a single storey extension to the south elevation and the construction of a conservatory to the rear
2009
The winner was a development of new affordable dwellings at Drift Close, off Back Road, Barrowden. The site was very sensitive, being on agricultural land outside the normal planned limits of development of the village. The land rises from the road frontage, and great care was taken to ensure that the dwellings were set into the slope of the land and in keeping with their surroundings. The scale and the choice of materials were designed to complement those of Barrowden’s historic buildings. The development not only met the criteria for the award but also provided families and first-time buyers with comfortable homes.
Historic Building and Tony Traylen Awards
2007
The first presentation of the Historic Building Award was made in 2007 to The Saddle Room in Caldecott.
This curtilage listed building was once used as a domestic wood store. It was almost demolished as it became an obstruction to the redevelopment of the farmyard. However it has been carefully dismantled and reconstructed about a metre away. It is now used as a tack room.
2008
The Historic Building Award was renamed the Tony Traylen Award in 2008.
Restoration of a 17th or early 18th century grade II listed dovecote, in Geeston, Ketton. It is constructed of coursed rubble stone with Collyweston slate roof and coped gables and is now used as ancillary residential accommodation.
2009
The Tony Traylen Award for 2009 was presented to The Manor House, Lyddington, for the extensive research and meticulous care employed in its restoration.
