Some of the world’s leading violin-makers are backing a campaign to save their former lodgings.
Antoni Ruschil McRoberts is campaigning to ensure violin-making students can stay at 28 Parliament Street, Newark.
They were all students of the Newark School of Violin Making and lived at 28 Parliament Street.
The end-terrace house boasts a downstairs workshop where the world’s best have toiled over their craft.
It has been home to violin school students since 1978, but Nottingham Community Housing Association, which owns the building, says future letting to students is threatened because of the risk of fire.
Antoni Ruschil McRoberts, one of two current residents, is campaigning to keep the house as a home for violin-makers.
Antoni, in the second year of a four-year course, has sought the support of former students.
Many, including Hans Johannsson, Roger Hargrave, John Dilworth and Anne Houssay, the curator at the Cite de la Musique museum in Paris, which holds one of the greatest collections of musical instruments in the world, have autographed the property’s kitchen table.
Hans Johannsson, of Reykjavik, Iceland, one of the world’s foremost violin-makers, said: “May I point out that this building has been the venue for something extremely important in not only the cultural worth of Newark-on-Trent or Nottinghamshire, but worldwide.
“It is not per se the physical presence of the building which has significance, although the students have designed and installed specialised workshops, but rather the accumulation of over 30 years of a school of thought and an unprecedented artistic endeavour which has flourished and bloomed, giving the art of violin-making a long awaited burst of creative energy and resurrected its former glory.
“The boiling pot of the new renaissance in violin-making for the past decades is to be found in a few places like 28 Parliament Street, and not in the historical centres of classical antiquity.”
Another former resident and renowned violin-maker Neil Ertz said: “I would say the house is almost as much an institution as the violin-making school itself.”
The campaign has the backing of the Newark School of Violin Making.
Lecturer Mr Robert Cain said: “I am very concerned that 28 Parliament Street is no longer to be let to students.
“The house has been the residence of many, now famous, violin-makers and has thus been developed into the perfect violin-maker’s house.”
The Mayor of Newark, Mr Tony Roberts, has written to say he sympathises with the tenants, and the MP for Newark, Mr Patrick Mercer, is seeking clarification on the situation.
Antoni Ruschil McRoberts said: “I and my fellow tenants fought hard to be able to move here in the first place.
“This house has been home to some of the greatest violin-makers in the world and it is an inspirational place.
“I won’t move out. This house cannot be lost to the craft. As much as anything I want the housing association to realise exactly what they have here.”
The association will meet tenants on Tuesday to discuss what it describes as health and safety issues relating to the storage of chemicals and the risk of fire.
Antoni, whose tenancy on the property has, says the association, expired, said chemicals had been stored there since 1978 and were locked away.
He said students were taught about safe storage and use of chemicals and had passed a health and safety in the workplace exam.
Mr Hamish Adams, regional housing manager for the association, said: “Our concerns relate to the workshop. As a housing association we have to be mindful of the legislation on fire safety which is much more recent than 1978.
“Nothing is decided. We will have a thorough look at the property and look to find a way forward.”
