Church in line for 'property Oscar'
Three West Suffolk buildings spanning 800 years of architecture are among the 33 nominated for an East of England "property Oscar".
Judging is now under way for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' 2010 East of England Awards, from which the category winners go on to a nationwide competition.
The oldest of the trio is St Mary's Church, Troston, dating from the 13th century. The church is one of 10 East Anglian projects nominated in the Building Conservation category because of work centering on its early medieval wall paintings, which received a 50,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2008.
The paintings, featuring St Christopher, St George and the Dragon, and St Edmund's martyrdom, were rediscovered in the 19th century after being limewashed during the Reformation.
Hengrave Hall, near Bury St Edmunds, is also nominated in the Building Conservation category. The 500-year-old Tudor manorhouse has had extensive work since it was bought by a private buyer in 2006 and restored as a wedding and conference venue
Bringing things up to date is West Suffolk House, which opened about a year ago to house St Edmundsbury Borough and Suffolk County Councils. It is the only building nominated for two award categories, Community Benefit and Sustainability. Only four buildings in Eastern England made it into the latter class.
The RICS describes West Suffolk House as: "A creative new concept built to house all public sector services on one site in the Bury St Edmunds public service village."
Eastern winners will be named at a dinner in Cambridge on May 13 and will go on to the national awards which are made in October.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: East
