Conservation pioneer a leader in the protection of historic buildings since the 1950s
Donald Insall has died at the age of 100.
The death of the pioneering conservationist, architect, author and planning consultant was announced today by his practice, Donald Insall Associates.
A key figure in the development of modern conservation practices, Insall has been a fixture in the heritage sector for nearly seven decades and worked on some of the UK’s most influential restoration projects, including his first major commission, the conservation of Wotton House in 1957.
Insall was born in Bristol in 1926 to a family of leather, trunk and portmanteau manufacturers and witnessed the destruction of the city’s ancient churches and historic buildings during the Blitz.
He began his architectural studies in 1942 at the Royal West of England Academy School of Architecture, completing the course after being demobbed in 1948 following service with the Coldstream Guards.
He continued his studies in London, including at the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), at one point spending 18 months measuring Winchester College, before joining Phillimore and Jenkins, a London practice specialising in the restoration of country houses.
He founded Donald Insall Associates with fellow SPAB scholar Peter Locke in 1958 and later became a driving force in the growing post-war movement to save historic buildings from demolition.
“I love them all,” he said. “When society is changing, the buildings that society puts up will be changing; it’s all parts of a lively continuity.” Insall was also an early champion of historic streets and townscapes, believing that the work of conservation architects was to help make “every place to be truly more itself.”
His influential study of Chester in 1968, for which he visited more than 400 buildings, led to him becoming appointed the city’s first conservation consultant.
A friend of architectural historians John Summerson, Nikolaus Pevsner and John Betjeman, Insall was a founding commissioner for the creation of English Heritage in 1984.
Donald Insall Associates described Insall as “a man of great tact, charm and humour”, recalling how he was well known for turning up to his office in Mayfair on a BMW 750 motorbike.
Insall said of his practice: “I think that as a result of our experience over the years we have developed a method that we feel is a wise one. We always try to make friends with the building itself, but also with its current users, so that both their respective needs can be met.
”We prepare a life story of the building, and from there we assess the building’s positive aspects. We also take a look at its less successful features and see how these can be helped. However, the important thing is to take a positive approach to the project.”
Insall retired as chairman in 1998 but continued as a regular consultant until his death. He was awarded an OBE in 1981, a CBE in 1995 and was knighted in 2010. In 2024 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Architect of the Year Awards.
He is survived by his wife, Libby Insall, and his three children, Robert, Christopher and Hilary.
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