Millburngate House is one of the most controversial landmarks in Durham City.

More commonly known as the National Savings Office, almost anyone in the city, with even the slightest interest in its architectural skyline has an opinion on this concrete structure next to the River Wear. For many it is the biggest blot on Durham's landscape.

In the late 1980s architectural historian Alec Clifton Taylor reflected many people's views, describing Millburngate House as "an assertive lump of hideous concrete that could only have been put up by a Government department exempt, as it should certainly not be, from obtaining planning permission; and it is a disgrace."

In the late 1960s the construction of the office was anticipated with great excitement because of the jobs it would bring.

The relocation of the Post Office Savings Certificate Division from an Edwardian office block in Manor Gardens, London, to a new office in Durham was announced in 1962.

Durham MP Charles Grey welcomed the announcement. He had campaigned to bring much-needed jobs to County Durham and wanted to see a major government department located in the region.

In London 2,000 employees were given the choice of moving to Durham or finding work elsewhere. By March 1963 only about 350 of the London staff had volunteered to relocate to Durham, and the number who eventually made the move was probably much smaller.

Not all the London workers were strangers to the North. Some had worked at a government office in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

They included HR West a former Harrogate Rugby League player described by The Northern Echo in 1963 as the "youthful controller of the Savings Certificate Division", and his assistant, RH Dryden, who had been brought up in Leeds.

West was responsible for planning and co-ordinating the move from London to Durham, and as early as 1963 some of the key workers arrived in the city, settling in places such as Belmont, West Rainton and Framwellgate Moor.

The first local people to join the workforce were Jean Pigg, 16, of Esh Winning, and Carole George, 18, of Belmont. Local people would eventually outnumber the newcomers in the temporary offices at Aykley Heads and Church Street, Elvet.

Workers moved into the first section of the building on Millburngate waterside in January 1967. By the time of its opening by Princess Alexandra in March 1970, about 1,300 people worked there.

Neither the public nor members of the City of Durham Trust had been allowed to see the plans for the building.

Although two rather ugly gasometers were removed to make way for the building, there were criticisms about its appearance as it took shape.

In 1968 trust member Roger Norris described the building as a "sore thumb" and a "thorough disappointment".

The trust was not entirely opposed to modern concrete structures and cited Dunelm House, which houses Durham University's Students' Union, as a good example of a modern building.

Published: 21/02/2003

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