This article was written for the website in 2012 when Unique Publications' office was in 'The Old Clinic'.
The Old Clinic yard before and after renovations in 2011
THE OLD CLINIC
The building immediately behind 5 and 5a High Street in Glastonbury is known as ‘The Old Clinic’, since it was the town’s clinic around the time of the second world war.
These properties have a long history. The basic ground plan is medieval, from a time when (like the Glastonbury Tribunal and other nearby buildings) it would have been a family home, integrated with a shop on the ground floor and craft workshops behind. ‘The Old Clinic’ itself dates from the early 19th century, when it appears to have been built as a hotel. 5 High Street is the oldest of the three existing buildings, and 5a was originally similar; the structure now known as the Old Clinic was built onto the rear of 5a, which in turn appears to have been rebuilt since - it is now larger than No 5.
The Glastonbury Clinic moved out of the building in the early 1970s when new premises - recently rebuilt again - were constructed on the corner of the High Street and Wells Road. It was taken over by Frisby’s shoes – when all three properties (including 5 and 5a High Street) were one, with a large shop on the High Street and offices and store rooms behind.
In the mid-1980s Frisby's closed down and the High Street properties became ‘Unique Publications’ and ‘Isis’ (now ‘The Speaking Tree’ and ‘Café Galatea’), with flats above. The building behind was bought by Children’s World, the charity run by Arabella Churchill. It was she who insisted that the car park should be known as ‘St John’s Square’ rather than its former designation ‘Northload Street Car Park East’. We have Arabella to thank for the official address now being '10 St John’s Square’ rather than something virtually unpronounceable in bureaucrat-speak.
After Children’s World had down-sized and moved its office to Arabella’s home, the building was bought jointly by the proprietors of three local businesses – ‘Shades & Characters’ who do typesetting and design work, principally for Glastonbury Festival; GAS (the ‘Gong Appreciation Society’) who maintain a website and a mail order business/fan club for the musician and poet Daevid Allen, and his band ‘Gong’; and Unique Publications, who moved out of the High Street shop at No 5.
Financed with the help of Triodos Bank (an ethical bank based in Bristol), the building now provides workshops, office space and treatment rooms for small local businesses and practitioners. [Though we are neither an Estate Agent nor a Residential Care Home, both of which we are somehow listed as on the internet.]
The building is nearly 200 years old and needs a fair amount of maintenance and renovation work. Ten years ago the exterior was repointed using traditional lime mortar. Last year there were substantial renovations carried out, including structural work, roof repairs, and installation of mains gas and a new heating system. In addition there were solar pv cells installed on the roof; we are now successfully generating a significant proportion of our electricity, and getting paid for it. [See article ‘Solar Power and the Feed In Tariff’]
Currently (July 2012) there is still substantial damp-proofing work to be done, as well as re-decoration of the public areas of the building – all of which should be got up-to-date over the next couple of years.
Meanwhile the building continues to quietly contribute to the overall life of the community.
If you have any information that could be added to this short account, particularly concerning the building’s use during and before the second world war, please email us.
The building immediately behind 5 and 5a High Street in Glastonbury is known as ‘The Old Clinic’, since it was the town’s clinic around the time of the second world war.
These properties have a long history. The basic ground plan is medieval, from a time when (like the Glastonbury Tribunal and other nearby buildings) it would have been a family home, integrated with a shop on the ground floor and craft workshops behind. ‘The Old Clinic’ itself dates from the early 19th century, when it appears to have been built as a hotel. 5 High Street is the oldest of the three existing buildings, and 5a was originally similar; the structure now known as the Old Clinic was built onto the rear of 5a, which in turn appears to have been rebuilt since - it is now larger than No 5.
The Glastonbury Clinic moved out of the building in the early 1970s when new premises - recently rebuilt again - were constructed on the corner of the High Street and Wells Road. It was taken over by Frisby’s shoes – when all three properties (including 5 and 5a High Street) were one, with a large shop on the High Street and offices and store rooms behind.
In the mid-1980s Frisby's closed down and the High Street properties became ‘Unique Publications’ and ‘Isis’ (now ‘The Speaking Tree’ and ‘Café Galatea’), with flats above. The building behind was bought by Children’s World, the charity run by Arabella Churchill. It was she who insisted that the car park should be known as ‘St John’s Square’ rather than its former designation ‘Northload Street Car Park East’. We have Arabella to thank for the official address now being '10 St John’s Square’ rather than something virtually unpronounceable in bureaucrat-speak.
After Children’s World had down-sized and moved its office to Arabella’s home, the building was bought jointly by the proprietors of three local businesses – ‘Shades & Characters’ who do typesetting and design work, principally for Glastonbury Festival; GAS (the ‘Gong Appreciation Society’) who maintain a website and a mail order business/fan club for the musician and poet Daevid Allen, and his band ‘Gong’; and Unique Publications, who moved out of the High Street shop at No 5.
Financed with the help of Triodos Bank (an ethical bank based in Bristol), the building now provides workshops, office space and treatment rooms for small local businesses and practitioners. [Though we are neither an Estate Agent nor a Residential Care Home, both of which we are somehow listed as on the internet.]
The building is nearly 200 years old and needs a fair amount of maintenance and renovation work. Ten years ago the exterior was repointed using traditional lime mortar. Last year there were substantial renovations carried out, including structural work, roof repairs, and installation of mains gas and a new heating system. In addition there were solar pv cells installed on the roof; we are now successfully generating a significant proportion of our electricity, and getting paid for it. [See article ‘Solar Power and the Feed In Tariff’]
Currently (July 2012) there is still substantial damp-proofing work to be done, as well as re-decoration of the public areas of the building – all of which should be got up-to-date over the next couple of years.
Meanwhile the building continues to quietly contribute to the overall life of the community.
If you have any information that could be added to this short account, particularly concerning the building’s use during and before the second world war, please email us.
