Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East

Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East. Clare Hartwell, Matthew Hyde and Nikolaus Pevsner. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]29.95. xx + 748 pages. ISBN 0-300-10583-5. This latest volume in the Buildings of England series is a revision of Pevsner's original 1969 edition. In that year Pevsner wrote two volumes on the buildings of Lancashire but the revision will be in three.

The new edition is 'completely revised and thoroughly expanded'. It also takes into consideration the 'waves of de-industrialization, demolition and new buildings' that have swept over the most densely populated area in the country since 1969. There is a larger format, entries are covered in greater depth and structures passed over by Pevsner are now included. There is also more information about architectural patronage and with it, a new Index of Patrons and Residents. As the authors point out, with the vanishing of Victorian industries, the soot and sulphur in the air have gone and the rivers, including the Irwell, are now clean as are so many historic buildings. This revision is a sizeable achievement of which Sir Nikolaus would surely have been proud. (G.F.B.)

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