Conservation Area Appraisal 2009

GLINTON CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL
REPORT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
Prepared by: Planning and Delivery, Peterborough City Council
Date: March 2009
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GLINTON CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL
REPORT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 SCOPE OF APPRAISAL
3.0 GLINTON CONSERVATION AREA
4.0 BRIEF HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT
5.0 ARCHAEOLOGY
6.0 LANDSCAPE SETTING
7.0 THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
8.0 TREES, HEDGES AND WALLS
9.0 TOWNSCAPE
10.0 MANAGEMENT PLAN
11.0 CONTACTS AND REFERENCES
Appendix 1 The Evidence Base
1.1 Building Periods
1.2 Protected Buildings
1.3 Wall Materials
1.4 Roof Materials
1.5 Trees, Walls & Hedges
Appendix 2 Conservation Area Boundary and Proposals Map
Appendix 3 Summary of Listed Buildings
Appendix 4 Statutory Planning Policies
Appendix 5 Effect of Conservation Area Status
Appendix 6 Village layout
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Conservation Areas are “…areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance”. Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
The purpose of conservation area designation is to retain the special character and appearance of an area and to bring forward measures to enhance its appearance and historic interest. Designation demonstrates a commitment to positive action.
The local planning authority is required to periodically review its conservation areas. A character appraisal is a way of identifying the key features that define the special interest of an area and proposals for enhancement. It is important that all those who have an interest in the conservation area are aware of those elements that must be preserved or enhanced.
This report assesses the historic and architectural qualities of Glinton, sets a measurable 2007 benchmark for future monitoring and makes recommendations for the management of the area over the next 5-10 years to ensure its special character, historic fabric and appearance are retained and enhanced. It is expected that further periodic reviews will take place with residents during this period. This report will be a useful source of information for residents, applicants and others who live in Glinton.
The report can be viewed or downloaded at www.peterborough.gov.uk Copies are available on request from Planning Services, Stuart House East Wing, St Johns Road, Peterborough. A summary on public consultation is available.
The Glinton Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan was adopted on 17th March 2009 as City Council approved planning guidance and will be a material consideration when making planning decisions and considering other changes affecting the area to ensure that its special character and appearance is not harmed.
The character appraisal will:
• identify the areas special character
• review existing conservation area boundaries
• provide a basis for considering planning proposals that affect the area
• make recommendations to ensure its special qualities are retained and enhanced.
2.0 SCOPE OF APPRAISAL
The appraisal area covers the existing conservation area and adjoining areas of historic and architectural significance where these have influence on the conservation area. The conclusions and recommendations reflect the wider appraisal investigations.
The appraisal records each facet of the conservation area’s built and natural fabric in a series of databases. This is the foundation for the Draft Management Plan comprising of proposals for future policy and for practical management initiatives. The appraisal reflects the advice given by English Heritage on Conservation Area Appraisals & Management Plans.
www.english-heritage.org.uk
The appraisal draws on the Glinton Village Design Statement, adopted by Peterborough City Council in 2001as planning guidance www.peterborough.gov.uk
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3.0 GLINTON CONSERVATION AREA
Glinton is an attractive rural village some 6 miles to the north of Peterborough. The Glinton Conservation Area is set round the historic core of the village and St Benedict’s Church. The conservation area was designated by Peterborough City Council in 1975.
The boundary of the conservation area is shown in Appendix 2 and by the aerial map below.
The character of Glinton has probably altered more in the last 70 years then in the previous 700 and is under continuing pressure for change. A programme of strategy and practical actions are necessary to preserve the essential historic fabric and significance of buildings and the landscape in which they are set.
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3. BRIEF HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT
The present village of Glinton lies some 10 metres above the floodplains of the River Welland in an area historically known as the Nassaburgh Hundred: a medieval sub-division of Northamptonshire between Stamford and Peterborough bounded by the rivers Welland and Nene.
Archaeological evidence shows that Bronze and Iron Age people settled in the Welland Valley exploiting the natural resources of woodlands, fens and grazing meadows and cultivating the fertile upper river terraces for crops. So well did these people do that they left behind a series of nationally important earthworks. However, no evidence has been uncovered of ancient settlement within Glinton parish.
The Roman occupation left its mark on the landscape. The B1443 (west of the current line of the A15) lies on the line of a Roman road running from Barnack drift, across Ermine Street and King Street to Crowland. Car Dyke, (which is interpreted as a Roman canal or drainage channel running between the Nene navigation and Lincoln via the River Welland and Witham), runs immediately to the east and north of Glinton and Peakirk. Whilst the Roman period has undoubtedly shaped the present landscape, the current village does not appear to have been influenced by the Roman period.
Glinton’s position would always have been of strategic significance. It is just on dry land, above the fens and astride an ancient north south route (now the A15) and the ’causeway’ routes into the fens to Crowland and Thorney and beyond. It is also close to the Welland navigation. It is said that villages centred around a green are typical of Saxon form of settlement. Associations with St Pega (d. 719) also make for an Old English connection. However, there is no hard evidence to connect the present village with the Anglo Saxon period.
The influence of the Norman’s on the Glinton we see today is illustrated in the Domesday Book. The land of Peterborough Abbey in Glinton is described as having 12 ploughs, 100 acres of meadow and woodland, 2 maid servants, 10 villeins, 6 borders and 8 sokemen. The knights of Peterborough Abbey held 10 hides and 1 virgate of land, with 15 and a half ploughs, 33-sokemen holding 9 and a half of these and two mills.
The Norman feudal open field system was easily imposed on the flat landscape. Glinton-cum-Peakirk is identifiable as a classic form of manor, as described in The English Heritage publication ‘England’s Landscape – The East Midlands’ (Stocker, 2006). The north boundary of the Parish was the River Welland. The damp southern river margins were used for rich seasonal grazing, harvesting reeds and sedges, wildfowling and fish trapping; the terraces, with alluvial soils overlying the Oxford clays were ideal for the great medieval open fields. It is likely that the mills were on Brook Drain (north of the village), which still retains its winding medieval course. The woodlands were probably on the higher ground at the southern hedge of the parish where vestiges of woodlands remain just north and south of Pellett Hall.
The only surviving medieval building is the Church of St Benedict, which dates from the 12th century, although it is reputed that the current 17th century Manor House is on the site of an earlier structure.
A glimpse of medieval Glinton can be gained from the 1819 Enclosure Map. (Map 1) Even by the 17th century, land immediately around the green had been enclosed to form small plots and in these stood the 17th century stone rubble and thatch cottages that we see today. These were the homes of freeman and the closes enabled them to grow herbs and vegetables, fruit and nut trees and keep small livestock close to their home. The average peasant family would have existed in little more than a shanty.
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In contrast, the Lord of the Manor had erected a grand house and a whole complex of barns, sheds, outhouses, a dovecote, fishponds, all built in better quality stone with collyweston slate roofs.
Just beyond the village streets were the great fields, Well Moor Field and Pasture Field to the south, Mill Field, Dovecote and Brookfield to the north with Low Meadow and beyond the communal grazing of the North Fen. There was water-meadow/fen grazing in the summer, drier pasture for the winter, 4 arable open fields with the rotation of 3 under cultivation and 1 lying fallow and access to woodland and the sedges and reeds of the fen. The landscape would have been open.
This communal farming system, originating in Saxon times and formalised by the Normans continued for 800 years, during which time the population of Glinton would have fluctuated between 100 and 200 people. However, by the 17th century the feudal system was becoming increasingly outdated and the application of more scientific approaches to husbandry heralded major changes on the farming landscape and the villages within it.
From the 1819 Enclosure Map, it is clear that people had been trading and rationalising their strips in the open fields, to form smaller more compact holdings that they individually farmed for profit. This map also shows evidence of the different system of administration with agriculture being organised around 5 farms, with workshops and cottages grouped around the farmyards. The 19th century philosophy of order and self-improvement brought other new buildings including The School, Congregational and Methodist Chapels and the Police Station.
A striking aspect of the 1886-1889 OS Map (Map 2) is the number of trees. Experience has shown that each relates to an actual tree that was growing at the time. It is also easy to distinguish between coniferous or deciduous trees. In conjunction with other evidence, including the trees still standing today, it is possible to interpret the symbols that signify orchards or groves of nut trees, parkland and 17/18th century ornamental planting or simply field trees incorporated into 19th century enclosure boundaries or planted to demark the new enclosure landscape. It can be seen that well into the 20th century, fruit orchards were important and occupied large areas of land in and immediately around in the village.
The majority of the buildings recorded 100 years ago would have dated from the 17th and 18th centuries. We can see today that these were all in local stone with thatched or collyweston roofs and they survive demonstrate that there was considerable wealth in the agricultural economy of this time. Most of the new 19th century buildings were also in local stone, with collyweston or welsh slate roofs but towards the end of the century, yellow and red stock bricks from Peterborough began to be used, mainly for sheds and outhouses. There was no main drainage or street lighting and the roads (other than the A15 turnpike road) were narrow, informally surfaced, with no engineered alignment and had wide, rough grass verges.
Taking into account the boundary changes in 1883, when Peakirk and Glinton split into two civil parishes, the population continued to grow and reached a peak of 369 in 1891, then declined in the first decade of the 20th century, to 322 in 1911.
Between the 1886 and 1950’s, the village remained virtually unchanged, except for ribbon of houses and ‘prefabs’ extending eastward along the Peakirk Road and westward on the Helpston Road. (Maps 3, 4)
However, the post war local government system of urban and rural district councils saw the introduction of mains sewage, tarmac roads and street lighting, whilst some cottages disappeared, presumably demolished having been declared unfit under the slum clearance legislation of the time.
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It was from the 1960’s that the really significant changes began and the population rose fourfold during the next 50 years. (Map 5) New houses began to appear, arranged in cul-de-sacs off the estate roads of Beech Road and Scott’s Road, and strung out along the frontages of Helpston Road, North Fen Road and Peakirk Road, extending the built up area away from the historic core. These adopted the new building methods and materials of the mass production era, with artificially faced bricks, concrete tiles, cladding and factory made joinery. Whereas the traditional built form of the village was based around clusters of buildings, with some on the back edge of the footpath, this new development was set back to a standard building line, with regular spacing between buildings and plots. The population rapidly grew from 868 in 1951 to 1,444 by 1971 and 1,660 by 1991 (from 369 in 1901). In this period, demolition of older cottages continued.
All this development was designed around the car. Glinton’s roads were re-engineered to incorporate concrete kerbs set to geometric radii, the road surfaces were drained and widened and separate footpaths installed, with new street lighting. In older houses, previously narrow pedestrian and cart entrances were widened and the driveways to the new development resulted in previously long frontage stone walls being punctured and the grass verges divided, to accommodate car access. Car ownership and access to supermarkets in Market Deeping and Peterborough had other effects on the village. There was no longer a need for the orchards or the sheds in which fruit was stored, so they tended to become abandoned. Similarly, the range of village shops could not withstand the competition from the new shopping trends.
In 1975, a village conservation area was designated with the purpose of retaining the most important buildings and features and conserving the special character of the historic village.
Appendix 6 is an extract taken from the Glinton Village Design Statement to show the development of the village and for aid of reference to the conservation area.
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Map 1 Extract from the ‘Maxey & Deeping, Northborough, Glinton & Peakirk, Etton and Helpston Inclosure Map, 1819’ (original at Northants Record Office, reference ‘Map 4540’) from a Xerox copy in Peterborough Local Studies Collection).
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Map 2 Ordnance Survey 1886-1889
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Map 3 Ordnance Survey 1900-1901
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Map 4 Ordnance Survey 1938-1953
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Map 5 Ordnance Survey 1967-1978
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4. ARCHAEOLOGY
There are no scheduled ancient monuments within or close to the village; the section of Car dyke now in Peakirk parish is a scheduled ancient monument, along with associated fish ponds.
Within the village, it has been established that over successive periods, sites and in some cases the materials of previous structures were used and re-used. For example, it is known that the current Manor House was erected on the site of and incorporates parts of a much earlier building. It may be that the buildings we see today were built over or alongside earlier structures, which were subsequently demolished for their plots to become the closes shown on the 19th century maps. However, 20th century development has resulted in more continuous built frontages, so evidence of earlier settlement may have been compromised.
It is almost inevitable that this process of renewal will continue, with pressures to infill gardens and any remaining undeveloped land and to redevelop buildings that have outlived their usefulness and are not considered to contribute to the character and appearance of the conservation area. Even where old buildings are retained and converted to new uses, floor structures and sites are excavated and levelled. Thus, as sites are cleared and new foundations dug, there may still be opportunities to carry out “watching” archaeology to further our understanding of Glinton in the medieval and post-medieval periods.
For these reasons, proposals for works on or close to the street frontages and in the vicinity of the many field boundaries, outbuildings, tracks, ponds and watercourses shown on the 1886-1889 map should include an archaeological “watching” brief.
5. LANDSCAPE SETTING
The pre-medieval enclosure landscape around Glinton would have been both familiar and very different from today. Its position, on a peninsula of slightly higher land protruding into the fens, ensured that the built form of the village was above the flat landscape of fen and open fields. The magnificent 15th century church tower exploited this position and would have been visible from all points within the parish, which, of course, was the intention.
The strategic position of Glinton, on the cross roads of the main road to Lincoln and the causeway routes to Thorney and Crowland can be readily appreciated. The woodlands noted in the Domesday Book had been completely cleared by the 18th century. Historic roof structures show a marked deterioration in the quality of timber used (and their re-use) from the 17th C.
In this period, the great fen drainage schemes were also rapidly transforming the landscape to the east from vast wetland wildernesses to engineered and drained agricultural land. The canalisation of the Welland, construction of the controlled washlands and excavation of Maxey Cut (1950’s) were parts of the re-engineering of fen drainage that replaced the meandering rivers, meres and reedbeds with a grid iron pattern of fields, ditches, cuts and tracks.
The Lincoln Road would have been no more than a small country lane by today’s standards, trafficked by horse drawn coaches and carts. Tracks and paths crossed this turnpike road. The line of the A15 bypass, north of the Helpston Road, is approximately on the edge of the former Brook Field and Mill Fields, and so does not fundamentally change the organisation of ancient boundaries. In contrast, the bypass to the south, cuts across the former Pasture Field to rejoin the A15 just north of Werrington. Here, the road has fundamentally changed the historic order of land boundaries and organisation. The scale and elevated construction of this part of the A15 dominate the landscape, visually, audibly and psychologically.
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The land between Glinton and Peakirk, especially on the footpath connecting the villages, is largely unchanged and would be recognisable to people 200 years ago. However, from all points, the growth of the village outwards by new development and post enclosure trees and hedgerows have screened distant views of the historic village rooftops, with the church spire rising above. Thus the dominance of the church in the former open landscape that was so familiar in the times of John Clare, has now changed.
Another fundamental change has been the draining of the water meadows in the north of the parish and the re-engineering of long sections of Brook Drain from a meandering stream to a culverted channel.
Glinton village would have comprised a series of closes, each with a dwelling. The boundaries of these were marked by stone walls and trees grown for fuel and food. In accordance with tradition, yew and box would have grown in the churchyard since earliest times. The historic O.S. maps suggest that trees were also planted on road verges and to mark parish boundaries. The 18th and 19th century fashions for tree planting to form parklands and for hunting and game cover have also shaped the landscape in and around the village, for example Fox Covert (on the parish boundary with Werrington).
Today, many of the great trees in the 18th and 19th century landscape have been lost, as a result of Dutch elm disease, through drainage and as old boundaries were removed to aid agricultural efficiency. The extensive orchards within and on the fringes of the village shown on the 1886 -1889 OS map have almost all been lost.
Whilst great numbers of trees, hedges and shrubs have been planted over the last 30-40 years, almost all are within the village and are ornamental, small in scale and short lived in comparison to the oaks, limes, chestnuts, cedars, Scot’s pines and fruit trees planted 200-300 years ago.
The approaches to the village
North Fen Road
The flat landscape allows glimpses of the church spire from some distance away; however, sharp bends in the road conceal the rest of the settlement. Therefore, on rounding the final bend 100 metres north from the village, there is a strong sense of arrival. The narrow road lined with a hedge and ash trees evoke the feeling of the small-scale lanes of ancient times. The church spire and planting belts to the west give a sense of human mark on the landscape.
Passing into the village, the bungalows and other modern houses do not impart a strong ‘sense of place’. However, immediately past these, the position of the cottages No.15 and No.24 (Cordwainers House) on the back edge of the footpath, the mature native trees and the vista of the church confirm a feeling of arrival into a historic village.
This approach is an excellent transition from landscape to townscape, the key influences being the medieval alignment and small scale of the road, the landmark of the church spire and the historic cottages and 200-300 year old trees.
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Peakirk Road
The curving alignment denotes the medieval origins of this approach road. In the 19th century, it was a single-track carriageway with trees, hedges and ditches lining the road right up to the village. Today, the trees on the north side still give a sense of enclosure but the row of housing on the south side and kerbed carriageway are urban forms extending into the countryside.
The bends create a series of scenes, each slightly different, culminating in the final bend that brings the stone cottage (No 8) and Webster’s Farmhouse into view. This marks the approaching historic village. Passing the cottage, Webster’s Farmhouse and Manor Cottages enclose the street, and for the first time the church tower is glimpsed as a distant vista.
The combinations of historic buildings and more modern development and their frontages make for a mixed streetscape. Nevertheless, there is a great sense of arrival onto High Street with the vista of the church framed by historic buildings and frontage trees and hedges.
Lincoln Road Junction
The above two photographs were taken from the same position in circa 1920 and 2008. Both show that the church has always been an outstanding vista marking the presence of the village from the main north/south road. However, it is clear that the re-engineering of the road to accommodate the increasing traffic (especially the designated A15 trunk route) has greatly changed the character of the Lincoln Road / B1443 entrance into the village.
Today, the traffic calming works on the Lincoln Road and dominance of 20th century buildings do not give the impression of an ancient settlement. Turning into High Street there is a feeling
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of surprise as a ‘sense of place’ in gained. Although the buildings on either frontage are not strong examples of local vernacular architecture, their position close to the road frontage does give a sense of spatial enclosure (in contrast to the open nature of Lincoln Road) and frames the church spire.
Until the 20th century there were no buildings on the Helpston Road and only a cluster at the Lincoln Road crossroads. Thus, the windmill would have given an impending sense of human activity and on the horizon; the settlement nestled around the church would have been visible in the open landscape. Today, this approach is no longer possible due to the truncating of the road at the A15 roundabout. The 20th century development either side of the road has greatly changed this transition from open landscape to village.
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7. THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
7.1 Building Periods
10% of buildings in the conservation area date from the 17th century or earlier. 17% date from the 18th century and 28% from the 19th. Approximately 43% of buildings have been constructed since 1950. Outside the conservation area, over 90% of buildings are 20th century.
The only building surviving from the post medieval period is the church of St Benedict. This dates from the 12th century, but was substantially remodelled in the 15th century when the graceful spire was added.
It is known that the present Manor House was built over a part demolished former manor house. There are fragments of the earlier building surviving within the existing 17th century structure.
The increasing wealth generated by agriculture during the 17th century is reflected in the surviving buildings from this period. The obvious example is the Manor House and associated stables; it may be that a larger building was originally planned, but not built due to the uncertainties of the civil war.
Manor House Cottages, Balcony House and Bleach Cottage are substantial houses that are likely to have been built as a result of individuals amalgamating former field strips to form agricultural holdings from which profit could be made.
Cottages, for example, Rose Cottage and 11 Welmore Road serve to show that from the 17th century, more permanent stone cottages could be afforded by some. However, it should be born in mind that a high proportion of the village’s 200-strong population were labourers who lived in shanties. These have not survived.
Incomes from agricultural land continued to grow as the towns of the 18th century expanded and required feeding. The emergence of the class of educated and professional country people such as doctors, lawyers, schoolteachers etc also generated demand for new housing such as The Laurels. Cottages such as 8 & 10 Rectory Lane and 18 Welmore Road may demonstrate that trades people were also building more permanent dwellings.
Buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries shape the general character of the village. 17th century houses are vernacular in style, whilst during the 18th century the availability of pattern books and Georgian pre-occupation with proportion and symmetry are reflected in the architecture of the time. Cottages of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries reflected the local building tradition and materials available.
The Manor House dovecote, The Malt House, and the many ranges of stables, barns and biers reflect the diversifying mixed agricultural system and the break-up of the feudal system long before the parliamentary enclosure of 1819.
The continuing mechanisation and profitability of farming in the 19th century is reflected in a further wave of building, notably Figtree Villa and Scott’s Farm house. This close relationship between farming and settlement is clearly illustrated in the extensive land ownership of two prominent local families: the Webster family lands to the north of the village and the Scott family land to the south, both shown on the extract from the ‘Inclosure Map 1819 (Map I).
Changes in society in the Victorian period brought other new buildings, for example the school, the Methodist and Congregational Chapels and the village pound.
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It is clear from the 1886-89 OS map that many buildings present in the 19th century have subsequently been demolished. These include The Smithy and a complex of small cottages/sheds at the Lincoln Road crossroads. These were probably small cottages and workshops. The windmill, ranges of cottages/sheds that existed south of 22 Lincoln Road, the farm complex at the village edge on North Fen Road, and former village shop have all been demolished in the 20th century. The dates of these buildings are not known, but old photographs of the village, should they exist, may give some indication of their origins.
Twentieth century development accounts for 43% of all buildings in the conservation area, and over 90% of buildings in the village as a whole. For the first time, the occupancy of dwellings was unrelated to local agriculture and buildings were not constructed in local stone and collyweston slate.
More detailed descriptions of individual historic buildings can be found in the Statutory List of Buildings of Historic Interest and Architectural Merit Appendix 3.
7.2 Protected Buildings
There are 29 listed buildings in Glinton, as well as the churchyard wall and bridge on North Fen Road. All, apart from the bridge, are in the conservation area. Listed buildings make up 22% of all buildings in the conservation area. There are no buildings subject to Article 4 direction.
90% of protected buildings are Grade II listed. The church is of national importance and therefore Grade I. The Manor House and stable are Grade II* listed in recognition of particular historic interest and architectural merit respectively.
The listed wall around the churchyard greatly adds to the setting of the Grade I listed church and the area around The Green. There are many other walls that appear to date from the17th, 18th and 19th centuries; these greatly add to the character of the conservation area, but are not listed.
The distribution of protected buildings reflects the post enclosure nucleated village. It is noticeable that there were spaces between buildings that reflected the earlier and more dispersed form with most buildings set in their own close. (Summary – Appendix 3)
7.3 Building Heights and Plan Forms
Up to 1900, ceiling heights ranged from under 2 metres in cottages to 3 metres or more in formally designed properties such as the Manor House. There was also great variety in forms with two storey with attics, two storey and single storey cottages with attics all side-by-side. In the 20th century, floor to ceiling heights became standardised at 2.3 metres, and single and 2 storey buildings were set out in evenly spaced rows to a common building line.
Formal medieval architecture such as the church (and the former Manor House) was constructed to convey power, wealth and permanence. They have therefore survived to this day. Such buildings have complex plan forms. The average person in medieval and post medieval times would have lived in a timber framed and thatch roofed hut, with a simple rectangular floor plan and no formal fireplace and chimney. None survive today.
The properties below originate from the 17th century.
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Rose Cottage 18 Welmore Road 11Welmore Road
7 The Green (Bleach Cottage) Manor House Manor House Cottages
From 1600, cottages were constructed in local stone to a simple rectangular plan form with a front wall to back wall depth of about 6m. This narrow building depth reflects the shortage of quality timber as woods were cleared. Most dwellings had out-shuts and wings added. The cottages illustrated, and most others were one or two rooms up and one/two rooms down with ladder staircases.
At the beginning of the 17th century, a plan based around a central chimney stack was the usual form. Toward the end of the century, gable stacks, either at one or both gables superseded the earlier central stack arrangement. Most cottages comprised of a low ground floor with the upper floor contained within the roof space. The 2-storey building with stone mullioned windows was originally a small house for someone who could afford more than a simple cottage. The dwellings of all but the wealthiest were thatched in long straw.
More formal houses of the period had more complex ‘T’ or ‘L’ plans form and included carefully selected dressed stone at structurally important areas, for example quoins at corners and reveals and parapets to gables. Stone detailing was also incorporated at prominent parts of the building, notably front entrance porch ways and door cases.
Buildings such as Manor House and Balcony House and Manor House Cottages are clearly designed whereas others, such as Bleach Cottage are really large cottages constructed by local builders of the time. These continued vernacular tradition of long straw thatched roofs, however, more formal houses were roofed in collyweston slate.
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The properties below are all from the 18th century.
8 & 10 Rectory Lane 13 High Street 2 The Green (Stone Haven)
North Fen Road Webster’s Farmhouse 6 The Green (Bleach House)
These range from formally designed houses like Webster’s farmhouse to more modest dwellings such as 13 High Street and model agricultural buildings, for example, in the Manor House farm group. The formally designed houses achieved wider plan depth by more complex floor joist configurations, the incorporation of double pile plan forms and addition of formal wings. They are generally 2 storeys with attics. Cottages continued with the strongly rectangular narrow plan forms of the previous century, but design was evolving toward the typical 3 bay symmetrical configuration with the front door in the middle and a chimney stack incorporated in either gable. Others were cottage tenements in terraces comprising 3 or 4 one-up one-down dwellings, each served by a separate stack. Thus some cottages have chimneystacks at either end and also in the middle of the roof.
The buildings below are from the 19th century.
8 High Street 24 Lincoln Road
2 Welmore Road 1 High Street
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These continue the symmetry of the 18th century houses with a central panelled door and sash windows, but are now 2 full storeys with a shallower pitch roof. Before 1850, limestone and collyweston slate continued to be the sole building materials. In the second half of the century, methods of construction and the building materials available changed. Stone was now mechanically sawn producing far more regular coursing and faces with ashlar type quoins, sills, and lintels and reveals more easily fashioned. From about 1840, pantiles began to be used, particularly on outbuildings and after 1850, bricks from Peterborough could be transported direct to the building sites on carts via the improved streets. The railways brought Welsh slate which could easily be off loaded at the goods yards in Peakirk or Peterborough. These new slates were more regular, easier to lay and cheaper than collyweston slates. By 1870, collyweston slate had been superseded as a roofing material.
At the end of the 19th/turn of the 20th century, the 1000 year old local tradition of buildings in stone and local slates had given way to new methods and materials. However, the romantic notion of rural architecture persisted, notably with the Old Rectory, but adapted for the new mass produced bricks and factory made small clay tiles.
The properties below are from the 20th century.
Even into the early 20th century, local builders stuck to tradition and produced stone built properties, but brick and tile were now predominant. Few new buildings were constructed between 1930 and 1950. However, the early 1960’s brought major expansion and a totally new form of development. No longer were houses put up singly in individual plots; they were erected in substantial numbers set out in new estates. Each dwelling now had identical plan forms, based on national template layouts. This form of development was made possible with the mass-produced bricks, concrete tiles, windows and doors now available.
From the 1990’s there has been a reversion to buildings that have some affinity to the local building tradition. Stone, laid in courses, has once again become the choice for walls and a high quality replica collyweston slate is available for roofs. However, new properties have to incorporate more accommodation and larger room sizes than was previously required. Therefore there is a considerable challenge in designing buildings with proportions that are akin to those of the 18th and 19th centuries. Furthermore, there is a marked reluctance to set new buildings on the back edge of the footpath. In general, stone boundary walls typical of the 17th and 18th century character of the village do not accompany new buildings.
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7.4 Building Materials
Before about 1850 the only building materials were timber, local stone, collyweston slate, and thatch. 37% of all buildings in Glinton’s conservation area are built in modern bricks, and 50% are now roofed in concrete tiles.
From earliest times, formal buildings were constructed in local limestone, with carefully selected oak for floor and roof structures. Windows were stone or wood mullioned and roofs were in collyweston slate. These materials and methods gave a longevity that has enabled the church and Manor House to survive to this day.
Barn, Balcony House Manor Farm
By the 19th century, few if any medieval or post medieval ordinary dwellings survived. From the 17th century, timber and mud frames began to be replaced by stone rubble. Stone was readily available from local quarries in Maxey and Helpston and building timbers were in short supply as woodlands became exploited. The decreasing quality of timber can be appreciated by looking at roofs from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Earlier structures are in substantial oak timbers, but 200 years later, small birch; hazel and other trees were simply felled and roughly hewn to form trusses and rafters. Dressed stone was used for mullioned windows, doorframes, quoins at the corners of buildings and chimneystacks. Fire hearths were of mass stone construction emerging at the ridge where better quality stone formed the stack. Thatch remained in use on cottages into the 19th century, but was then replaced by locally made pantiles and later by Welsh slate.
From the 17th century, stone boundary walls became the established boundary enclosure. Walls to the parklands of formal houses utilised carefully squared stone. Boundaries to cottage closes were in rubble and generally did not exceed 1.5metres in height.
By the 18th century buildings in local stone had completely superseded timber framing. Better quality houses, for example Scott’s Farm, were in carefully selected and dressed ashlar with moulded lintels and other detailing. Cottages were in rubble using stone blocks at vulnerable corners and window and door reveals but with wooden lintels. Better quality buildings had ashlar block chimneys; in cottages local stock bricks began to be used for stacks.
Most cottages had (and still have) long straw thatched roofs. Long straw is the stalks of the traditional species of wheat that was grown in the surrounding fields before short stemmed wheat was bred for combine harvesting. It was traditional for longstraw thatch to incorporate a simple ‘swept’ ridge. The current use of decorative block-cut ridges did not appear until the latter half of the 20th century.
The beginnings of mass production techniques led to the manufacture of clay bricks and tiles in and around Peterborough. The coming of the railways in the mid 19th century also made cheap Welsh Slate available. All these materials are present in the village. However, local stone was still used for buildings and freestanding walls. 19th century technology enabled even the poorer quality stones to be machine cut and hence buildings such as the barn to
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Balcony House have a distinctive appearance formed by laying in alternate bands of dressed stone and rubble.
The 20th century saw the introduction of mass-produced manufactured bricks and concrete tiles and completely replaced local stone, thatch and slate. Concrete tiles have also replaced many former collyweston slate roofs. Stronger conservation policies since the 1990’s have resulted in the re-adoption of traditional local building materials within the conservation area. Today, the availability of local stone and the excellent visual qualities of replica collyweston tiles have also reinforced the use of traditionally based building materials. Furthermore, recent interpretations of the Building Regulations have once again allowed the use of thatch on new buildings.
Outside the conservation area modern brick and tile still prevail. This has given rise to a split character village. On the outskirts, buildings tend to be in modern brick and tile selected with little regard to traditional local colours and textures. Within the village core, the use of natural stone and high quality replica collyweston slate helps retain its special character.
More attention needs to be given to the design and choice of materials for new development in order to make it blend with the existing village and into the surrounding landscape. Further use of Welsh slate should be discouraged since the evidence shows that until relatively recently, Glinton was a stone village, with collyweston slate on more formal buildings and long straw thatch on cottages and yellow pantiles on outbuildings and sheds.
7.5 The Built Fabric
Typical 17th and 18th century cottages are of 1 storey and attics:
Rose Cottage 2 North Fen Road 18 Welmore Road
Roofs were thatched. Attic windows were set in hooded or eyebrow dormers and were generally constructed of wrought iron frames with small leaded lights hung in wooden frames.
To the ground floor, post medieval cottages had simple wood mullioned windows shuttered and with no glass. Better quality structures had stone mullioned-framed windows with iron and leaded lights inset into wrought frames. Later windows had timber frames with wrought iron lights hung on crude hinges. By the end of the century, timber-opening lights were more widely used as glass became available in larger sizes. Today, almost all 17th and 18th century cottage windows and doors have been replaced with modern patterns. 23
Stone rubble chimneystacks were gradually being replaced with local stock bricks.
Cottages had simple plank doors.
Typical 17th and 18th century houses are of two storeys and two storeys and attics.
Scotts Farmhouse 2 The Green (Stone Haven) Websters Farmhouse
Bleach House is a typical 18th century design incorporating a symmetrical 3-bay plan with sash windows and a panelled central door with a porch surround. 2 The Green (Stone Haven) has a similar symmetrical plan form with attention focussing on an ornate entrance, but has 3 light metal casement windows.
These formal houses are constructed with good quality stone, Webster’s Farmhouse and Scott’s Farmhouse being in carefully sawn freestone, whereas Stone Haven and The Laurels are in squared blocks. In all cases the stone is laid in strict courses of a generally regular height.
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Houses have local collyweston slate roofs incorporating dormer windows with hipped and gabled dormers, some incorporating lead roll hips and sash windows.
House windows included typical classically proportioned sashes, but well proportioned casements also appeared on outbuildings such as Balcony House.
Grander houses have six fielded panel doors, with ornamental fanlights incorporated under a moulded stone head or within a grandly decorated porch.
Typical 19th century cottages and houses are 2 storeys in stone. Before about 1850, they were collyweston slated. After the opening of the railways, Welsh slate became more widely used. The 19th century also brought mass-produced pantiles, probably from Peterborough, but these were mainly used on sheds and stores.
5 High Street 1a The Green 1 High Street
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Early windows in cottage type dwellings continued the development of casement windows, with triple lights replacing 18th century two-light patterns.
19th century sashes appear in more formal houses, further developing the Georgian sash designs.
However, despite being of good quality, some Victorian sashes have been replaced by modern uPVC windows.
These windows almost always have a negative effect on the character and appearance of an older property and the conservation area. They do not achieve the visual quality of traditional windows due to the material and oversized frame elements Examples of UPVC windows
The 19th century also brought the development of casement windows in larger houses, as illustrated below.
Cottages and agricultural and storage buildings had plank doors on wide strap hinges. Houses developed the Georgian panelled door and fanlight design.
Many 19th century doors and windows, with their accompanying latches and hinges, have now been replaced with modern joinery and furniture.
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20th century dwellings are generally bungalows and 2-storey houses with low-pitched roofs. They are set well back from the road to uniform building line and spacing.
Early 20th century buildings continued the stone tradition and symmetrical plans of the Georgian and Victorian periods. By the 1940’s and 50’s mass produced bricks and tiles were available along with ordinary Portland cement, ending the long tradition of lime and limestone. However, building design was still based on traditional proportions.
From the 1960’s the influence of mass-produced joinery and concrete bricks and tiles gave rise to new designs based on standard floor plans, unrelated to the local building tradition. Towards the end of the 20th century, there has been an increasing awareness of the need for more sympathetic designs to try to retain the particular character and appearance of historic areas. In the 1980’s, artificial stone and clumsy stone slate-like tiles began to be used in villages. By the 1990’s natural stone and far more sophisticated replica collyweston tiles became available in response to more restrictive conservation policies.
7.6 Building Uses
Residential buildings represent 78% of uses in the conservation area. Of the remaining 22%, most are agriculture related buildings, some only partially used; there are also offices, a pub, a church, a Village Hall, a post office, 2 small shops, a surgery and a school.
From historic census material, 19th century maps, photographs and the historic buildings remaining, it can be seen that there was a greater diversity of building uses, even 50 years ago.
In the 19th and early 20th century Glinton had a mill, a smithy, a telephone exchange, police station, at least 4 mixed farms, orchards, a shop, a school, and 2 public houses/inns. Most other working people would have been employed on the land or as domestic servants in the village.
Today, only Scott’s Farm and Manor Farm continue in agriculture. Most agricultural barns, sheds and stores are now vacant and farmyards redeveloped, or about to be redeveloped for residential uses.
The majority of people who now live in Glinton commute to work elsewhere. The number of people who both live and work in the village is unknown but can be assumed to be a small proportion of the total population, which was 1660 in 1991.
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8. TREES, HEDGES AND WALLS
There are clear patterns in the distribution of trees, hedges and walls. Within the historic village, hedges and stone walls enclose frontages and plots. Outside this core, it is likely that stone walls were more rudimentary field boundaries. The 18th and 19th century enclosures would have led to the planting of thorn hedges to mark the new field boundaries and to retain grazing stock. These are apparent on the approaches to the village. The 19th century also brought the introduction of picket fences.
8.1 Trees
The historic OS maps can be taken as giving a reasonable representation of significant trees that once existed. They differentiate between coniferous and deciduous trees and formal orchards. They show most trees perhaps at least 50 years old and therefore prominent in the landscape or street scene some 100-150 years ago.
The 1886-1889 OS map shows the very extensive stands of trees that stood in and around the village. The Welmore Road, Peakirk Road and North Fen Road approaches to the village all had deciduous trees lining the verges. From the evidence of today, it can be concluded that these were mainly ash and oak. Running north from the village are three narrow plots that may have their origins in the strips of the former Mill Field. These are indicated on the 1819 Enclosure map and shown as wooded on the 1886 OS map. Today, these strips are still present and wooded but not well maintained. It appears that at one time they included fruit trees. The grid iron layout of tree symbols indicates that there were many other small orchards, on the east side of the Lincoln Road, just north of the health centre, east of the Bluebell PH and behind The Laurels. It is likely that the other farms had small orchards; the former cottage closes would also have had apple, pear, cherry and nut trees.
Within the grounds of The Rectory, the typical 18th and 19th century planting of native and exotic forest trees shown on the map and still exist today. A similar type of planting is shown and still exists in the grounds of Stone Haven and Bleach House. The boundaries of the fields immediately around the village, already enclosed by 1819, are shown as lined with trees. Again from the evidence of today, it can be guessed that these were mainly ash, oak, and probably elms, whilst beside ponds, dykes and Brook Drain, crack willows and alder could be expected.
On the east verge of North Fen Road immediately beyond The Green was a line of deciduous trees, whilst a line of conifer trees is shown in front of No12 High Street. It may be that these are the topiary yews now within the front garden.
Few trees are shown on the former great medieval fields. This may be reflection of the fact that the open fields were, as the name suggests, open and tree less, and/or a matter of cartographic convention, with detail concentrated in and around settlements. However, this would not explain the groups of trees shown far from the village along Brook Dyke and elsewhere. A most likely explanation is that by 1880, the trees planted (within hedges) following the enclosures of the 1820’s had not matured to the point where they were sufficiently large to be noteworthy on the OS map.
It is clear that many trees within the landscape have been lost, as a result of dutch elm disease, through gales and natural forces and due to 20th century farming practices. It also appears that the traditional orchards have now disappeared.
Since the 1950’s, ornamental trees and conifers have dominated plantings in cottage gardens and landscaping to new housing.
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Streetscapes dominated by ornamental planting tend to be more open and without strong elements that enclose space and give a village sense of scale.
Large mature native trees, combine with buildings to form well enclosed, human scale streets
North Fen Road The Green North Fen Road
There is a need for new planting to eventually replace the 18th and 19th century trees such as along the Peakirk Road, on North Fen Road and in gardens around the village in order to maintain the green structural framework that gives Glinton its special sense of place. Native species including ash, oak, holly, cherry and (small leaved) lime would be most appropriate. If Dutch elm resistant strains of elm can be located, these would also make good edge of village trees. A planting programme over the next 10 -15 years, would ensure ready made replacements are coming to maturity when the existing 200-300 year old trees reach over maturity and require removal.
8.2 Hedges
The hedges at the centre of the village are an important feature of Glinton. Those on the east side of North Fen Road and to The Green mark ancient boundaries and the hedges may have been in place for around 100 years. Clear evidence of the yew hedge pictured below can be found on the 1886 OS map and this topiary work now makes a striking contribution to the streetscape.
Welmore Road North Fen Road 12 High Street, The Laurels
This hedge is clearly part of the 18th century landscaping to 12 High Street (The Laurels). A photograph of the 1920’s shows (privet) hedges fronting the west end of High Street. It may be that some of the hedges we see today have replaced the stone walls that enclosed the closes in which the villages dwellings were sited. There is no doubt that continuous runs of hedges, on both sides of the road give a better sense of place than isolated individual hedges.
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The combination of buildings, stone walls, trees and hedges makes for the most attractive village streetscapes, for example in the vicinity of The Green. Native hedges, such as beech, hornbeam, yew and holly have a better appearance in village streets than species such as leylandii, pyracantha etc. All important hedges in the village are shown in Appendix 1.5
Whilst most hedges within the village are regularly maintained, those on the approaches to the villages are also important visually and as historic features that need regular maintenance. In this respect, the hedges on the Peakirk Road entrance may require some further investigation.
8.3 Stone Walls
From the 17th century, the character of the village would have been a largely formed by houses and cottages spaced some distance apart but connected with stone walls. The 17th and 18th century fashion for formally enclosed gardens saw a transformation from agricultural field walling to craftsman built, finely detailed enclosures. More formal houses had craft built walls incorporating piers, gates and wrought iron railings; cottages had more rustic walls with cock and hen copings. This tradition of coursed boundary walls continued into the 19th century, when half round and special blue semi-engineering bricks were used as copings.
The desire to park cars within curtilages and infill development has led to puncturing and fragmentation of previously continuous and imposing boundary walls and sub-divided verge. Shorter runs of wall with re-instated stretches are less stable than longer runs of one build. Other walls have been reduced in height and capped with modern copings; others still are in obvious need of repair, have been replaced by fences or simply been demolished. Correct repair and maintenance is important because the use of hard cement and inappropriate copings will hasten deterioration. Further loss of these important historic features would greatly diminish the character and appearance of the conservation area.
Replacing traditional stone walls with modern materials/ wood fences may result in a loss of ancient boundary features and diminish Glinton’s streetscape. There may be opportunities to build new walls, and repair/restore the height of existing walls, as part of new development.
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9.0 TOWNSCAPE
The street pattern of Glinton may date back as far as Saxon times, when the village could have centred around a small church and a village green. It is certainly the case that the church, the green and the road alignments of High Street and North Fen Road are medieval in origin and form. The present character of the village largely derives from the 17th and 18th century buildings, walls and trees put in place as a result of the more prosperous systems of agriculture as the communal open filed system was replaced privately owned mixed farmsteads.
However, the village has changed more in the last 75 years than in the previous 750 as the 20th century has had a marked impact on form and townscape.
Today, we can consider the historic village in 4 distinct character zones.
1. The Green/Church yard
This is the heart of the village conservation area. The key townscape elements are:
• The church, sited within the churchyard.
• The churchyard wall and gates
• The mainly traditional houses from the 17th and 18th centuries, facing the church with plots enclosed by frontage walls and hedges with mature trees behind.
• The street pattern and alignment, that gives a sense clear sense of place, prevents long perspective views out of the central space, yet at the same time allows views and glimpses of the church and the central space when approaching from North Fen Road, High Street or from the Lincoln Road junction.
The very open spaces in front of the Bluebell PH and the school contrast sharply with other more strongly defined frontages; on the 1886 map, a number of mature trees are shown on the southern frontage in front of the school and public house.
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Open frontage to Blue Bell PH Stronger defined frontage to The Green/ Flag Fen Road
Many of the trees planted in the grounds of the village houses are some 200 – 300 years old. It is likely that they will reach over maturity together. This raises the possibility of extensive felling. It would make sense to plant replacement trees of suitable species now, so these can grow up and maintain village character, when older trees are removed. Recently planted trees tend to be small, ornamental species, for example flowering cherry. These are short-lived and do not make the positive visual impact of native forest trees.
A number of stone walls will require repair/rebuilding in the foreseeable future. Were these not maintained, or replaced with fences or hedges, there would be a clear loss of character to the conservation area.
2. High Street (west)
5 High Street &24 Lincoln Road
This is the main entrance to the village and gives an important first impression of Glinton
The key townscape elements are:
• Numbers 5 and 24 which are traditional style 19th century properties that combine to form a gateway into the conservation area.
• Numbers 1, 6 and 9, which are stone buildings positioned on the back edge of the footpath and together give a strong sense of enclosure and frame views of the church spire.
• The subtle curving alignment of the road
• Glimpses of yards and buildings behind the frontages.
The engineered road and concrete kerbs, multitude of highway signs, street furniture, fencing and railings detract from this space. This is one space where a narrowed carriageway (possibly incorporating parking bays) could, if appropriately designed, greatly enhance the spatial qualities and reduce the need for the highway related signage.
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3. North Fen Road
Key townscape elements are:
• The curves in the carriageway and verges that create a series of unfolding spaces between The Green and the end of the village.
• The narrowness and informality of the road carriageway, that give a sense of human scale.
• The traditional buildings, walls and (at The Green end) hedges, positioned on the back edge of the footpath that together give interest, variety and a strong sense of enclosure.
• The mature trees on the carriageway edge which overhang the highway and combine with buildings opposite to form a series of gateways.
• The sudden transition from village to open countryside and sense of historical landscape and townscape.
The infilling of spaces and replacement of historic properties with 20th century development has changed the nature of this part of the village. The dwarf, modern brick frontage walls and ornamental planting associated with more modern houses emphasises this changing character.
4. High Street (east)
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This part of the village has prominent historic buildings including the Manor House, Manor House Cottages and Scott’s and Webster’s farmhouses. It has also greatly changed as a result of demolition of buildings that were present up to the 20th century, the infilling of frontages and re-engineering of the road with a wider carriageway and footpaths.
Key positive elements are
• The stone buildings, boundary walls and mature trees close to the carriageway edge.
• The irregularly aligned grass verges
• The series of bends in the road that give a sense of passing from one space to another.
• The vistas of the church and spire, Manor House cottages, Webster’s Farmhouse and No 8. All situated on or close to the ends of bends and so present features of strong interest in the unfolding street scene.
The sense of a series of spaces, each with a slightly different character could be emphasised by judicious tree planting combined with minor re-modelling of footpaths and verges trees.
Whilst the desire for easy short stay parking is appreciated, the forecourt to the village shop presents a very open aspect just before entering The Green space. It may be that the planting of a single specimen tree at the back edge of the pavement at a central point in the forecourt would not inhibit parking but in time would give a better sense of enclosure at this point in the street scene. The utilitarian nature of the street surfaces and street furniture do not add to the character and appearance of this part of the conservation area.
OTHER TOWNSCAPE CONSIDERATIONS
Front Gardens and Hedges
Balcony House 9 The Green (Fig Tree Villa) 12 High Street (The Laurels)
Glinton has some quite outstanding gardens that greatly add to the interest of the conservation area. The above topiary hedge and parterre gardens are based on historical forms, popular in the 16th and early 17th centuries, and entirely appropriate to the associated buildings. The evergreen hedge and conifers pictured above is also completely sympathetic to the Victorian building and this part of the conservation area street scene. It may be that there are 34
opportunities to extend this idea of very individualistic hedge features. This would reinforce Glinton’s special sense of place, even though there is no strict historical precedent.
Fences
The desire to demarcate boundaries and give privacy is understandable. However, modern stained fences do not have the same visual qualities as traditional stone walls, a native hedge, or even 19th style century picket fences.
24 Lincoln Road
Floorscapes
The photographs below from Ufford but give a glimpse of the importance of floorscape to the character and appearance of conservation areas. Disappointingly there are no similar surfaces publicly visible in Glinton.
In old photographs, it can be seen that even up to 50 years ago, the roads and footpaths were quite different from those today. Roads were single track, had surfaces of compacted lime and stone and were not kerbed. There were wider grass verges either side but these were more meadow-like than today’s mown verges. Where hard surfaces were needed, for example in stable yards, and on paths across verges to front doors, York stone, or a hard form of the local limestone (called Wittering Pendle) was laid. In contrast to these surfaces, ordinary asphalt is unattractive.
Street Furniture and highway materials
Glinton retains some historic street furniture and also has introduced new items of character and interest.
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When streets were re-aligned and tarmaced, standard engineered kerb radii, concrete kerbs and a whole new order of signage were introduced. Over time, other minor highway works and street furniture have taken their place in the village streets. These include bus shelters, litterbins, road signage, seats etc.
The arrows above mark the road signs, lamp standards, railings, bollards, telephone poles etc in just a short stretch of High Street. This is an extreme example, but there are other instances of collections of signs, benches etc. Street furniture can enliven conservation areas. However, the bollards, concrete and galvanised lamp standards and grey coated road signs, poles etc are generally of a utilitarian nature and in some cases are in need of maintenance/repainting. The overall impacts are exacerbated because street furniture tends to be clustered in groups around road junctions where they are particularly prominent.
The standard tarmac finishes to roads and footpaths along with concrete kerbs is more appropriate to an urban situation than an historic village street.
There are opportunities to reconsider, rationalise, reduce and refurbish street furniture. This, together with the choice of designs that are appropriate to the conservation area setting, would do much to reinforce historic character and appearance. The overall effect of post 1960’s highway works and street furniture has lessened the visual qualities of the conservation area.
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10. MANAGEMENT PLAN
10.1 The Conservation Area Boundary
The conservation area was designated in 1975 and would appear to have been conceived as a protective shield rather than a reflection of the physical historical development of the village. The current boundary does not relate to historic features such as ancient buildings and their curtilage, field boundaries, ponds, footpaths and landscape. There is logic in re-defining the conservation area to include surviving historic field patterns. The land north of the village to Brook Drain has not been intensively farmed and shows evidence of ridge and furrow farming. The remnants of historic field plots survive and are illustrated on the ‘Inclosure’ map 1819.
The extension east of Manor House recognises the full curtilage to this grade II* listed building and its semi-parkland setting. The other changes will include no. 7 Rectory Lane, the full curtilage to Glinton Primary School and nos. 32-38 even North Fen Road to give consistency to the conservation boundary.
• Extend the conservation area boundary as indicated on the Proposals Plan (appendix 2)
• Discuss with local interests (Landowners, Parish Council) and English Heritage the most appropriate conservation area boundary designation to protect historic built landscape and archaeological resources, in particular the pre-nineteenth century enclosure field systems north of the village to Brook Drain.
• Remove nos. 2, 3, 5 and 7 Webster’s Close from the conservation area as these 20th century properties have no particular architectural or historic interest.
10.2 Protected Buildings
The following two historic buildings appear to be at some risk of future deterioration: the dovecot to Manor House is roofless and weathering may have affected the integrity of the structure and pigeon-holes, and the stone boundary walls to a number of properties require repair and consolidation.
• in consultation with landowners and other interested parties, consider mechanisms to ensure the fabric of all historic buildings is consolidated and maintained in a condition that ensures their long term survival.
10.3 Historic Buildings
The appraisal has found that the essential architectural qualities and historic interest of Glinton conservation area are largely represented in the 17th, 18th and 19th century buildings and enclosures.
It is inevitable that the fabric of buildings requires repair and updating from time to time. However, in the case of most historic properties, the challenge is to retain original fabric such as old windows and catches and stays, doors and door-cases, brick and stone floors, staircases etc in houses that have already been modernised, extended and in some cases amalgamated.
It is noticeable that collyweston roofs have been replaced with concrete tiles and modern designs of windows and doors have been installed in many older buildings. In some instances buildings have been so altered and extended that their historic value and architectural qualities have been much diminished. Much of the advice contained in the Peterborough City Council broadsheet “Renovating Your Cottage – A Guide For Owners” 1988 still holds good today.
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• Up-date the broadsheet “Renovating Your Cottage” and distributed to all owners of traditional buildings.
• Further extension of already extended listed properties and amalgamations to form larger dwellings should be resisted.
• On thatched properties, where old extensions are to be remodelled or where a new extension is acceptable in principle, the presumption will be that the new roof(s) will be in thatch of the same type. The new Building Regulations allow the use of thatch provided adequate fire precautions – to a standard known as the “Dorset model” – are in place). The traditional thatching material is long straw.
• All original materials, particularly collyweston slates, should be re-used and additional salvaged matching materials incorporated into new work, as required.
• Cottage window and doors and frames surviving from before 1930 should be repaired and/or taken as patterns for replica doors and windows for use in repair and restoration on other similar buildings where modern patterns have replaced traditional fabric. On non-listed buildings, the requirements of the Building Regulations (Part L) in relation of attaining high levels of thermal efficiency can be achieved by the use of composite type doors and sealed double glazed units in timber framed windows. The use of replacement uPVC windows should be avoided as they invariably have a negative impact on the character of the conservation area and are inappropriate in a historic context.
• Replacement windows should always be located set back into their reveals with the face of the wall in order to retain traditional detailing. As a guide, where non-original windows are to be replaced, new windows should be set back a minimum 50mm and up to 75mm.
10.4 New Buildings
The 1886-1889 OS map clearly shows that the character of the village was made up of a linear form of development with cottages placed on the back edge of the footpath to High Street and North Fen Road and along the tracks that are now School Lane and the drive to the Health Centre. Most houses and cottages had yards with workshops and store buildings to the rear. The area around 1-7 High Street gives an indication of this form of development. Most frontage buildings were façade onto the pavement but some were gable end on. These are important because the gables often form gateways between spaces for example High Street (no 1) and North Fen Road (no 24). The map shows that gaps between groups of buildings and stone walls existed along frontages, linking the buildings and enclosing the orchards and allotments between. The 20th century pressure for infill development has eroded this character. The siting and modern brick and tile of most new buildings further emphasises the differences between the traditional village character and 20th century development.
In the past, the requirement to use sympathetic building materials has been restricted to the conservation area even though other areas in the village are close to and can be seen from the historic core and are prominent in the local townscape and landscape. Development outside the current conservation area tends to be in modern brick and tile and is generally unrelated in form to the historic core. Some new buildings (pictured below) have been designed to assimilate with the character of the historic settlement.
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• Proposals for infill development within the conservation area should generally be resisted unless it can be demonstrated that this will enhance the character and appearance of the area.
• Where infill development may be seen to be inevitable, for example, to replace buildings of little architectural merit the city, council will prepare design briefs, setting out the form of development considered being acceptable.
• The general design principles will be based on the following factors
• No new accesses should be formed that will puncture or require the part demolition of frontage walls, or further divide grass verges.
• New development should closely follow the forms and grouped siting of buildings that shaped the character and appearance of the conservation area, with an emphasis on restoring the traditional form of buildings on the back edge of the footpath.
• Where new dwellings are permitted, they should be designed with a narrow plan form of around 6m.
• New buildings should be in locally quarried, coursed, squared stone with Bradstone collyweston slate or thatch roofs. Welsh slates or replica blue slate, red pantiles and brick should be avoided, since these were only introduced from the second part of the 19th century. Yellow pantiles may be acceptable on single storey buildings to the rear of the main range.
• Opportunities should be taken to consolidate and repair existing features in the conservation area such as stone walls and to construct new walls as part of new development.
• Subtle architectural detailing that enhances the character and appearance of the buildings and creates interest in the village streetscape, should be encouraged.
• the city council will publish design guidance and advisory leaflets for owners and residents on how the Conservation Area designation affects them, including advice on appropriate maintenance, repairs and alterations
Outside the conservation area, stone or replica coursed stone should now be encouraged. If there are particular reasons why replica collyweston slate cannot be used, for example on affordable housing schemes, grey/buff small plain tiles are readily available and more sympathetic to the local building tradition than modern concrete tiles or actual or replica Welsh slate.
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10.5 Archaeology
The appraisal has identified that over the centuries there have been successive buildings, one over the site of another. Whilst this redevelopment process is in itself destructive, it is often the case that vestiges of previous buildings and the activities that took place in and around them, still survive. Furthermore, medieval features such as moats, ponds and springs/wells now within gardens and paddocks or on the fringes of the village in fields that may in time be developed, may hold remnants of preserved material from previous periods.
• All schemes for new development within the proposed conservation area boundary or where there is evidence of previous settlement or activity on the 1886 – 1889 OS map, should include an appropriate archaeological assessment before the detailed planning (application) stage.
10.6 Stone Walls
Stone boundary walls are fundamental to the character and appearance of Glinton. Many of these represent historic boundaries that in some cases may date from pre-medieval times. The majority of walls date from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and are constructed in the unique local style of regular courses, set with the ground contours. A few are remnants of demolished buildings. Over the years, some have been reduced in height in preference to replacing top courses and copings; others are simply disappearing through neglect. Were these reinstated they would clearly make a great contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area. Peterborough City Council has available detailed practical guidance notes on the building and repair of walls in the local style.
• All existing stone walls should be retained, maintained and rebuilt if necessary and where there are opportunities (for example as part of a landscaping scheme or planning agreement linked to the grant of planning consent), restored to their original height.
• The City Council, in conjunction with the parish council, English Heritage and other bodies considers ways to assist the repair of existing walls and the building of new walls in the local tradition.
10.7 Highways, Open Spaces and Street Furniture
Since the 1960’s streets have been re-engineered to incorporate services and separate footways. These works have changed the character and appearance of the village. There are some vestiges of earlier stone kerbs and un-kerbed highways but these are the exception.
The Lincoln Road has been re-engineered in places to affect traffic speed and manage the extremely high levels of vehicular, cycle and pedestrian movement at the start and finish times of Arthur Mellows Village College. The character and appearance of the junction of Lincoln Road and High Street and the vicinity has been eroded by these works. The quality and siting of street furniture and signs could be rationalised and better planned.
Peterborough City Council, in liaison with the parish council:
• Identifies and retains all vestiges of historic street furniture and materials including gas and early electric light standards and brackets, milestones, and granite and local stone kerbs and setts.
• As upgrading and maintenance schemes for street furniture come forward; new designs and materials are chosen to compliment the historic character of Glinton and its conservation area in preference to the standards of the late 20th century.
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• Paint all the late 19th/early 20th century lamp standards in gloss black.
• In the longer term, consider the practicality and financial possibility of remodelling the Lincoln Road junction and west end of High Street with the objective of re-instating the character and appearance of a historic street.
10.8 Tree Planting And Landscape And Townscape Enhancement
The character of the village is changing as more ornamental trees and hedges are planted in front gardens and on the grass verges. At the same time, many of the trees are known to have been in existence since at least 1880, are nearing over-maturity, yet no specific provision has been made for eventual replacements. In contrast, many of the exotic trees planted in the last 20-30 years comparitively short life-spans and are likely to require arboricultural work in the forseeable future.
The following areas, shown on the proposals map, could be considered for replacement and/or new planting to maintain and enhance spatial organisation and the unique village character. These include:
• A single specimen tree on the village shop forecourt
• The school frontage. This could take form of a new topiary hedge as part of educational project with the pupils participating and shaping parts of the hedge into images that are already part of the schools / village identiy.
• Other areas, particularly around the fringes of the village that shape the setting of Glinton, using the 1886-1889 OS map as a guide for the location and type of planting.
In general, tree planting should be in native species such as oak (holm), ash, small leaved lime, wild cherry and hedges on thefringes of the village would best be hawthorn, buckthorn, blackthorn. Within the village ornamental hedges could include yew, box, hornbeam and beech in preference to leylandii, shrub rose, pyracantha, cotoneaster etc.
11.0 CONTACTS AND REFERENCES
Contacts
For advice on the conservation area and listed buildings: www.peterborough.gov.uk or write / telephone: Peterborough City Council, Planning Delivery, Stuart House East Wing, St Johns Street, Peterborough, PE1 5DD; Tel: (01733) 747474; or e-mail:
jim.daley@peterborough.gov.uk or jonathan.biggadike@peterborough.gov.uk
For advice on planning permission: www.peterborough.gov.uk; or write to address above Tel: (01733) 453410; or e-mail: planningcontrol@peterborough.gov.uk
For advice on trees, works to trees and Tree Preservation Orders: www.peterborough.gov.uk or write Natural Environment Section, Planning Delivery, Stuart House East Wing, St Johns Street, Peterborough, PE1 5DD; Tel: (01733) 747474; or e-mail: john.wilcockson@peterborough.gov.uk
References and sources of Information
Glinton Parish Council Glinton Village Design Statement, 2002 www.peterborough.gov.uk
Peterborough City Council Planning Department archives; Museum archives; Sites and Monuments Record; Statutory List of Buildings of Architectural Interest and Historic Merit
Peterborough Reference Library Local Studies Collection; Census Records 1891 to 1991, photographs, maps.
Pevsner, N. The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire and the County of Huntingdonshire, 1968
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Royal Commission on Historical Monuments An inventory of the Historic Buildings in the Peterborough New Town Area, 1973
Stocker D. England’s Landscape – The East Midlands, 2006
The Victoria County History of Northampton Volume 2.
• Legislation and Guidance
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
Town and Country Planning Acts 1990 (part viii)
Town and Country Planning (Trees) Regulations 1999
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
Planning Policy Guidance Note 1 (PPG1): General Policy and Principles
Planning Policy Guidance Note 9 (PPG9): Nature Conservation 1994
Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 (PPG15): Planning and the Historic Environment 1994
Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16): Archaeology and Planning 1990
www.communities.gov.uk
Guidance on Conservation Area Appraisals. English Heritage 2006
Guidance on the Management of Conservation Areas. English Heritage 2006
www.english-heritage.org.uk
• Local Planning Policy:
Peterborough Local Plan (First Replacement) 2005 www.peterborough.gov.uk
• Web related:
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk http://www.english-heritage.org.uk
www.communities.gov.uk http://www.culture.gov.uk
http://www.ihbc.org.uk
• For technical advice, including repairing, maintaining and restoring historic buildings:
http://www.spab.org.uk http://www.georgiangroup.org.uk
http://www.victorian-society.org.uk http://www.maintainyourbuilding.org.uk
Appendix 3 Summary of Listed Buildings – Grade II unless otherwise stated
No 1 The Green
Late C18 cottage. Coursed stone with Welsh slate roof with gabled ends. Two storeys. Three window range. Three-light casements with glazing bars. Central modern glazed door.
No 2 (Stone Haven) The Green
Late C18 house. Tablet in east gable “LW 1796”. Collyweston stone roof with coped gabled ends. Two storeys and attic. Three window range. First floor 3-light casements with glazing bars and wooden lintels. Ground floor 2 late C19 stone bay windows.
No 6 (Bleach House) The Green
Late C18 house with tablet inscribed “V” over “RL 1783”. Coursed stone, with quoins. Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Four window range. Sashes with glazing bars, keyblocked lintels. Ground floor left, French window.
No 7 (Bleach Cottage) The Green
C17/18 cottage. Coursed stone rubble with thatched roof with coped gable ends. Gabled wing projects on south-west forming L-shaped plan.. Two storeys. Four window range. Modern casements and 2 canted ground floor bay windows. C19 3-light casements in wing.
No 9 (Figtree Villa) The Green
Early C19 house. Inscription “AS” over “R 1837”. Coursed stone with flush quoins. String course at floor level. Low pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Three bays. Sashes with glazing bars. Keyblocked window arches. Round-headed doorway.
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Church of St Benedict High Street (Grade 1)
From C12. Nave has Perpendicular clerestorey and battlements with large grotesque gargoyles. North aisle has shallow buttresses and battlements and Norman round arched slit window in west end, chamfered north doorway with small flanking buttresses, and restored Early English windows. The south aisle has battlements angle buttresses restored Early English and Decorated windows and C15 four-centred arch south doorway.
Boundary wall enclosing Churchyard to Church of St Benedict High Street
C18/19. Low coursed stone rubble wall with stone coping slabs. Encloses churchyard on all sides. Included for group value.
No 13 High Street
C18 cottage. Coursed stone rubble. Steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. One storey and attic. Two window range. Modern 2-light casements. Two old hipped dormers. Modern plank door off centre. Brick end and ridge chimney stacks.
Manor House, High Street (Grade II*)
Circa 1630-40. Built probably by the Wildebore family. Large coursed rubble and ashlar house with steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof. Two storeys and attic. Four window range. Gabled on left and gabled 2 storeyed and attic porch on right. The porch was intended to have been the centre feature with a balancing wing on the right, but this was either never carried out or has been demolished. Part of the base wall and skeleton window remain to indicate this.
Stables immediately north-north-west of Manor House High Street (Grade II*)
C17 stable range with carriageway between it and the Manor House. Squared and coursed stone. Steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with ogee-shaped gable end facing house with ball finials at apex and feet, and stone mullion window with stepped head with cornice.
Barn north-north-east of Manor House High Street
Early C19 barn. Coursed stone rubble with Collyweston stone roof with gabled ends. Segmental arched cart entrance boarded up, small loft window, and ventilation slits. Included for group value.
Cattlesheds adjoining north of stables at Manor House High Street
C18/early. Coursed stone rubble single storey range with Collyweston stone roof. Three small window openings and double doors. Faces former farmyard, now a lawn. Included for group value.
Dovecot north-east of Manor House High Street
Dated 1789. Coursed stone rubble dovecot with flush quoins. Square on plan. The hipped slate roof with lantern has fallen in. Straight headed doorway with stone lintel. Re-used tablet “1594 RW”. Interior lined with brick nesting boxes with stone ledges.
The Malt House High Street
C17 coursed stone rubble building detached from the Manor House but might have been intended to be a wing if the south wing had been built. Steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Stone mullion windows, some blocked. C19 Tudor arched doorway.
Manor House Cottages (formerly listed under Peakirk Road) High Street
C17 house. Coursed stone rubble. Steeply pitched concrete tile roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Five window range. Central coped gable with oval panel. Three-light ovolo moulded stone mullion windows with cornices, centre first floor 4-light window with transom.
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Websters Farmhouse (formerly listed as House 50 yds north of St Crispins, The Green) and garden area railings High Street
Late C18 house. Coursed stone rubble with ashlar front. Steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys and attic. Three bays. Sashes with glazing bars, flat stone arches with keyblocks. Central fielded panel door in plain stone frame with straight head with voussoirs and keyblock, rectangular fanlight with intersecting glazing bars.
No 12 (The Laurels) High Street
Late C18 house. Coursed stone. Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys and attic. Three bays. Modern casements in original openings with flat stone arches with keyblocks. Central panelled door with rectangular fanlight with glazing bars and cast iron porch
The Blue Bell Public House High Street
C18 range. Coursed stone with steeply pitched Welsh slate roof with gabled ends. Date stone in gable end “R” over “HF1701”? One storey and attic. Gabled dormer with 4-light casement. One late C19 tripartite sash, remainder of front has modern lean-to. Early C19 cross wing on west end, gault brick with slate hipped roof. Included for group value.
Canal Bridge North Fen Road
Circa late C18 canal bridge. Coursed stone with freestone dressings. Round arch with flush voussoirs. Parapet with plain stone coping, end quoins and string course.
No 2 (Grace’s) (formerly listed as shop premises south of Balcony Ho. ) North Fen Road
C17 house. Coursed stone. Thatched roof with coped gable ends. One storey and attic. Four window range. Two and three-light moulded stone mullion windows with cornices. Moulded stone framed doorway with cornice and flush panel door. Four eyebrow dormers.
No. 4 North Fen Road
Late C18 house. Coursed stone rubble. Pantile roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Two windows. Modern casements in original openings with keyblocks. Stone end chimney stacks.
No 20 (Balcony House) North Fen Road
C17 house largely rebuilt in C18 and with porch added using stone details from another building. Coursed stone with steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys and attic. Three window range. Central two storey ashlar porch
No 24 North Fen Road
Late C18/early C19 house at right angles to road. Coursed stone with flush quoins. Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys and attic. Two windows. Three-light casements with keyblocked heads. Tablet on front wall with date.
No 15 Rose Cottage (formerly listed under Rectory Lane) North Fen Road
C17 cottage. Whitewashed stone rubble. Thatched roof with gabled ends. One storey and attic. Two stone 3-light mullion windows with cornices and leaded panes. Modern central door. One eyebrow dormer. Brick internal end chimney stack, later brick stack over end.
No 4 Peakirk Road
Early C19 house. Coursed stone rubble with banded treatment and with stone quoins. Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Two storeys. Three window range. Three-light casements, centre first floor 2-light casement. Straight stone window heads with keyblocks.
Scott’s Farmhouse Peakirk Road
Late C19 house. Coursed stone with ashlar dressings. Steeply pitched Collyweston stone roof with coped gable ends. Moulded stone cornice and blocking course. Two storeys and attic. Three bays. Sashes with glazing bars in moulded stone frames with keyblocks.
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Nos. 8 and 10 Rectory Lane
C18 range of cottages. Coursed stone rubble. Belgium tile roof with gabled ends. Two storeys. Three window range. First floor 2-light casements, ground floor C19 sashes.
No 12 Rectory Lane
Early C19 red brick house. Concrete tile hipped roof. Two storeys. Three bays. First floor new sashes with glazing bars, ground floor right C19 sash without glazing bars and canted bay on left with dentilled cornice. Central doorcase with pediment
Village Pound adjoining No 12 to north, Rectory Lane
Probably C19. Low coursed stone rubble wall with cement capping, surrounding a rectangular enclosure. Formerly the Village pound, now part of garden of No 12.
No 11 Welmore Road
C17/18 cottage. Coursed stone rubble. Steeply pitched concrete tile roof one end hipped, the other with coped gable. One storey and attic. Back to road with one small modern casement. Modern fenestration with dormer in hipped end of road. Brick stack over gabled end.
No 18 Welmore Road
C17/18 cottage at right angles to road. Coursed stone rubble with thatched roof with coped gable end. One storey and attic. Two windows. Modern casements. Two eyebrow dormers. Brick end chimney stacks. Modern flat roof extension at rear.
Appendix 4 Statutory Planning Policies
Ailsworth Conservation Area is covered by the Replacement Peterborough Local Plan 2005. The following is a summary of the main policies that protect the conservation area:
www.peterborough.gov.uk
Policy H8 Village envelopes
H10 Limited rural growth settlements
H11 Group settlements
H15 Residential density
H16 Residential design and amenity
OIW10 Employment uses in villages
T10 Car and motorcycle parking requirements
R10 Shops in villages
R11 Loss of shops or A3 uses in villages
LT3 Controls over the loss of open space
DA1 Townscape and urban design
DA2 The effect of development on an area
DA6 Controls over tandem, backland and piecemeal development
DA9 Protected spaces and frontages in villages
CBE2 Areas of archaeological potential or importance
CBE3 Development affecting conservation areas
CBE4 Controls over demolition of buildings in conservation areas
CBE6 Control of alterations and extensions to a listed building
CBE7 Control of development affecting the setting of a listed building
CBE8 Sub-division of the grounds of a listed building
CBE11 Controls over Buildings of Local Importance
LNE9 Landscaping implications of development proposals
LNE10 Detailed elements of landscaping schemes
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LNE11 Ancient, semi-natural woodland and veteran trees
LNE12 Hedgerows
LNE13 Controls over ponds, wetlands and watercourses
IMP1 Planning obligations
Appendix 5 Effect of Conservation Area Status
Conservation area designation has the following effect:
• Permitted development rights that make a planning application unnecessary for some minor alterations and extensions to dwellings are more restricted within a Conservation Area. Planning permission is required for external cladding and painting, boundary walls, roof alterations, the formation of hard surfaces and additional controls over the positioning of satellite dishes. The size and location of outbuildings may require planning permission.
You are advised to contact the council concerning any proposed works to determine whether or not planning permission is required.
• Special attention must be paid to the character and appearance of the conservation area when determining planning applications. Planning applications are advertised for public comment and any views expressed are taken into account. Applicants are encouraged to discuss ideas for development proposals with planning officers prior to submitting a planning application.
• Conservation Area Consent is required for the demolition of unlisted buildings. It is advisable to contact the council to confirm whether your proposal will require consent. In certain circumstances consent is also required for the demolition of any wall exceeding 1m in height (abutting a highway or public open space) or 2m in height elsewhere.
• Trees within conservation areas are covered by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended). It is an offence to cut down, top. lop uproot or wilfully damage or destroy a tree having a diameter exceeding 75mm at a point 1.5m above ground level. The local planning authority must be given 6 weeks notice of works to trees within a conservation area. Failure to give notice renders the person liable to the same penalties as for contravention of a Tree Preservation Order.
A potential additional means of planning control available to a local authority is the ability to apply an Article 4 Direction Order to residential properties: –
An Article 4 Direction made under the Planning Act removes some or all ‘permitted development rights’ from significant elevations, normally front and side. Alterations such as replacement doors, windows and porches, the creation of hard standings and the removal of original boundary enclosures may be insignificant as individual alterations. However, the cumulative effect of these alterations together with the removal of other architectural details such as chimneys, ridge tiles and decorative timber work leads to erosion of character and appearance. An Article 4 Direction requires planning permission to be obtained for these minor developments. No planning fee is paid in these circumstances. There are currently no Article 4 Directions in Glinton.
Appendix 6 Extract from Glinton Village Design Statement showing village layout
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