Marrable House
Good news for the residents of Great Baddow, Essex. The building that was once voted the ugliest in the country, is to be demolished and replaced with a new stylish building to create new homes for the elderly and frail.
The building, called Marrable House, has been standing empty and derelict for many years. It is 5 stories high and a real blot on the Great Baddow landscape.
“For as long as I remember it has stood empty. When I was at school I remember seeing “To Let” signs on the windows all the time. That was in the late 1980′s. Apart from the outlets below I certainly do not remember seeing anything in the building. It always seemed such a waste of space in the centre of the village.” Jon Wade, Great Baddow resident.
Once Marrable House has been demolished it will be replaced with a new block of flats that will house 60 care apartments. There will be two buildings in the new development, the new smaller facing Maldon Road and taking some of the parking area. The new name for the building is to be Gibbs House, named after Essex’s composer Armstrong Gibbs.
Who Was Armstrong Gibbs?
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs was born on the 10th August 1889 in Great Baddow. He went to Trinity College in Cambridge and then on to the Royal College of Music. After learning music he then taught composition and music theory from 1921 up until the start of the Second World War. From 1937 he served as the Vice President of the British Federation of Music Festivals, a position which he held until 1952.
Amrstrong Gibbs composed one opera, one operetta, incidental music for several plays, several cantatas, three symphonies, a concertino for piano and string orchestra, five string quartets, one violin sonata, pieces for piano, works for choir, and many songs, a great number of which were settings of texts penned by his friend Walter de la Mare.
He died on 12th May 1960 in Chelmsford.
The Fields are Full by Armstrong Gibbs
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Almost 2 years later it is still a derelict mess. Why oh why is the largest building in Great Baddow, which is in the heart of the village, left to decay in such a bad way?
Knock it down and make a nice village green. Give Great Baddow the central point it needs and remove this monstrosity!