Varteg Coal Reclamation ASIDOHL2 Report

Varteg Coal Reclamation Project – Historic Landscape Impact ASIDOHL2 Assessment

ASIDOHL2 ASSESSMENT

VARTEG COAL RECLAMATION PROJECT VARTEG PONTYPOOL

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT CUTLURAL HERITAGE CHAPTER

APPENDIX 13.4A

November 2015

Local Planning Authority: Torfaen County Borough Council

Site centred at: SO 26170 06080

Author: Philip Bethell BA (Hons) MIfA

Approved:

Report Status: DRAFT

Issue Date: November 2015

CgMs Ref: PB/17673

No part of this report is to be copied in any way without prior written consent.

Every effort is made to provide detailed and accurate information, however, CgMs Limited cannot be held responsible for errors or inaccuracies within this report.

CONTENTS

Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction and Scope of Study 2.0 ASIDOHL2 Stage 1: Contextual information 3.0 ASIDOHL2 Stage 2: Description and quantification of the direct, physical impacts of the development 4.0 ASIDOHL2 Stage 3: Description and quantification of the indirect impacts of the development 5.0 ASIDOHL2 Stage 4: Evaluation of relative importance 6.0 ASIDOHL2 Stage 5: Assessment of overall significance of impact 7.0 Mitigation 8.0 Concluding statement 9.0 References

LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 – Summary table of overall magnitude of direct physical impacts Table 4.1 – Assessment of indirect, physical impacts on HCLA 018 Table 4.2 - Indirect visual impacts of the development Table 5.1 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA017 indirectly affected by the proposed development Table 0.2 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA017 as a whole in the national context Table 0.3 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA018 indirectly affected by the proposed development Table 0.4 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA018 in the national context. Table 0.5 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA019 indirectly affected by the proposed development Table 0.6 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA019 in the national context. Table 0.7 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA020 indirectly affected by the proposed development

Table 0.8 – Summary of evaluation scores Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA020 in the national context.

Table 0.9 – Summary of evaluation scores Table 6.1 – Assessment of Overall Significance of Impact

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Designated heritage assets and historic landscape areas relative to the proposed development area

Executive Summary

This ASIDOHL2 assessment has been researched and prepared by CgMs Consulting, commissioned by Harmers Limited on behalf of Glamorgan Power Ltd. It assesses the potential direct and indirect impacts of development proposed at the site of the former Varteg Hill Colliery, to the West of Varteg Road, Varteg, Pontypool, on the setting of the Blaenavon Registered Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest and four of its associated Historic Landscape Character Areas (HLCAs) and the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site (BILWHS).

The proposed development site lies partly within one HLCA of the Registered Landscape, and the BILWHS, giving rise to the potential for both direct and indirect impacts. The development site is divided into two areas, the eastern to be the focus for removal of existing vestiges of historical coal mining and new extraction, and the western designed to be used for overburden deposition.

It is considered that the direct impacts in the western part of the site, where approximately 20ha lie within the Registered Landscape area, will be minimal, as the existing character of the site would not be fundamentally altered, as it has already been subject to deposition and landscaping in this area.

It is considered that direct physical effects in the eastern part will be limited to the small (less than 1ha) area on the edge of HLCA 020 which will be removed during the mining process. The limited loss of non-designated heritage assets here could only have a very small effect on the overall heritage value of the HLCA and the Registered Landscape as a whole. An indirect physical effect has been identified in this eastern area, namely the loss of the western end of the Varteg Colliery Incline, which links the colliery area with the bottom of the Lwyd valley to the east. While this physical link will not be broken or lost entirely, it would be partly reduced by the development. While this is an impact of some significance, in the overall context of the Registered Landscape area, it is not such that it would materially reduce the significance of the landscape.

The indirect impacts on views out of the four HLCAs which are closest to the development site have been assessed as also of limited effect. The peripheral location of the site on the west side of the Lwyd valley, where it does not have any visual interaction with the core heritage assets of Blaenavon, means that the changes within the site would not have a substantial impact on the overall setting of the Registered Landscape. Impacts are limited to small areas of the surrounding HLCAs. While the development would remove existing features in the historic landscape, it would not introduce and jarring or novel elements to the residual

landscape, and as such the overall effect of the development would not alter the fundamental character or significance of the Registered Landscape as a whole.

1.0 INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF STUDY

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 This assessment has been undertaken to assess the nature and significance of effect on the Cultural Heritage Resource of the proposed coal reclamation project on the site of the former Varteg Colliery, Varteg, Pontypool, South Wales.

The Proposed Development 1.1.2 The proposed development encompasses approximately 60ha of land on Varteg Hill, off Varteg Road, Varteg. A planning application has been submitted to Torfaen County Borough Council (ref. 14/P/00290) for the excavation of coal and reclamation of the site.

1.1.3 The proposed development lies partly within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site (WHS) and within the Blaenavon Landscape Area on the Register of Landscapes of Outstanding Historic Interest in Wales.

1.2 Purpose of Assessment

1.2.1 The main objective of the assessment has been to identify the known elements of the cultural heritage resource that may be affected by the proposed development and to determine the importance of those resources so that the significance of the likely effects of the development can be established. The scope of the resource considered by the assessment has therefore included all known archaeological sites, areas of archaeological potential, World Heritage Sites, Listed Buildings (LBs) and non-listed buildings of architectural or historical value, Scheduled Monuments (SMs), Conservation Areas, and Registered Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales.

1.3 Assessment Methodology

1.3.1 The ASIDOHL2 methodology is set out in Guide to Good Practice on Using the Register of Historic Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales in the Planning and Development Process – Technical Annex, 2nd Edition (Cadw, Welsh Assembly Government. 2007). It is based on the use of identified and described Historic Character Areas within a Registered Landscape.

1.3.2 It comprises the following five stages:  Stage 1 – Compilation of an introduction of essential, contextual information;

 Stage 2 – Description and quantification of the direct, physical impacts of the development on the Historic Character Area(s) affected.  Stage 3 – Description and quantification of the indirect impacts of development on the Historic Character Area(s) affected.  Stage 4 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the Historic Character Area(s) or part(s) thereof directly and/or indirectly affected by the development in relation to: o the whole of the Historic Character Area(s) concerned, and/or o the whole of the historic landscape area on the register, followed by o an evaluation of the relative importance of the Historic Character Area(s) concerned in the national context, and a determination of the average overall value of all of the Historic Character Areas (or parts thereof) affected.  Stage 5 – assessment of the overall significance of impact of the development, and the effects that altering the Historic Character Area(s) concerned has on the whole of the historic landscape area on the register.

1.4 Register of Historic Landscapes in Wales

1.4.1 The register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales was published in 1998 and 2001, and the Historic Landscape Character Areas for the Blaenavon Landscape Area have been defined by the Historic Landscape Characterisation undertaken by Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust in 2005, and published (with a summary on- line).

1.5 Authorship

1.5.1 The ASIDOHL2 has been undertaken by Philip Bethell, BA, MIFA, an Associate Director (Archaeology) with CgMs Consulting, and a full Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. The work has been undertaken as a commercial contract for Harmers Ltd, on behalf of Glamorgan Power Ltd., the promoters of the proposed development scheme.

1.5.2 This assessment has been prepared as an Appendix to the Cultural Heritage chapter of the Environmental Statement for the development.

2.0 CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION

2.1 Outline of proposed development

2.1.1 The proposal is for an area of approximately 60ha, occupying the east and west slopes of Varteg Hill, to be the subject of a major coal reclamation project. This will involve the removal of the existing spoil tips, which remain from the previous coal and ironstone mining activity on the site. Coal deposits will be recovered both from the spoil tips and from new excavations, and the site will be remediated following completion of the coal extraction.

2.1.2 An area to the west of Varteg Hill (Mynydd Varteg Fach), material will be deposited and the surface landscaped. To the east of Varteg Hill, the spoil heaps will be removed, and coal extracted. The scheme will involve changes to the existing landscape, primarily the removal of the existing spoil heaps, and subsequent landscaping. The coal mining activity will be of limited duration.

2.2 Planning and legislative context

2.2.1 The following are the main international, national and regional legislative and guidance instruments that provide the context for the management of the Cultural Heritage Resource within the planning system:

 UNESCO, Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, adopted by the General Conference at its seventeenth session, Paris, 16 November 1972, WHC-2001/WS/2

 The Xi’an Declaration on the Conservation of the Setting of Heritage Structures, Sites and Areas, published by the ICOMOS General Assembly in October 2005

 The Quebec Declaration, published by ICOMOS in 2008, considering the Spirit of Place of heritage sites, and how this can be affected by changes brought about by development

 The 2011 ICOMOS guidance on assessing the impacts of development on cultural world heritage properties

 The National Heritage Act 1983 (amended 2003)

 Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (and subsequent amendments)

 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act (AMAA) 1979

 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990

 Planning Policy Wales (2002) Chapter 6: Conserving the Historic Environment (there is no specific TAN for cultural heritage)

 Welsh Office Circular 61/96 'Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas

 Welsh Office Circular 60/69 'Planning and the Historic Environment: Archaeology'

 Welsh Office Circular 1/98 Planning and the Historic Environment: Directions by the Secretary of State for Wales.

 ‘Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales’, CCW, Cadw, ICOMOS UK - Part 1: Parks and Gardens (published on a county basis); Part 2.1: Landscapes of Outstanding Historic Interest; Part 2.2: Landscapes of Special Historic Interest

 The local plan framework is provided by Torfaen County Borough Council, and the Local Development Plan (LDP) was adopted in December 2013, to cover the period up to 2021.

 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site Management Plan 2011- 2016

 The ‘Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance for the Sustainable Management of the Historic Environment in Wales’ published by Cadw in March 2011 also provide useful guidance

 Another important source of guidance on assessing the impact of developments on the historic landscape is the ‘Guide to Good Practice on Using the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales in the Planning and Development Process, (Revised Edition 2007)’

2.3 Sources of contextual data

2.3.1 The following sources have been consulted for information on the Cultural Heritage Resource within a 1km radius of the site centre (OS Grid ref. SO 26170 06080):

 The Historic Environment Record for TCBC, curated by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT);

 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape WHS Nomination Document;

 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape WHS Management Plan;

 The Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales;

 The Historic Landscape Characterisation report for Blaenavon, prepared by GGAT;

 The National Monuments Record of Wales;

 Other published sources, written and on-line;

 Site visit by heritage consultant;

 Consultation with GGAT;

 Consultation with Cadw;

 Written responses from the TCBC Conservation Officer.

2.3.2 This ASIDOHL2 is based on good quality data, with a high confidence level. The World Heritage Site has been well-studied, and the Historic Landscape Characterisation work undertaken by Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) has provided a detailed understanding of the area in which the development is to take place. The very large quantity of Historic Environment Record data returned from within a 1km radius of the development site has enabled a robust knowledge of the archaeological background of the site to be developed.

2.4 Cultural Heritage Baseline

Blaenavon Registered Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest in Wales 2.4.1 The area has been registered by Cadw as a Landscape Area of Outstanding Historic Interest (1998), and has been the subject of a detailed Historic Landscape Characterisation programme carried out by Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust (2005). The characterisation report divides the landscape into a series of 21 Historic Landscape Character Areas (HLCAs). It is this designation and characterisation which provides the base information on which to carry out the ASIDOHL2 assessment.

2.4.2 For the avoidance of doubt, the boundaries of the Blaenavon Registered Landscape are taken to be those defined on the detailed Historic Landscape Characterisation prepared by GGAT. This work refined and re-set the original boundaries of the Registered Landscape, and although the HER still contains the earlier mapped extent, GGAT advise that the true boundaries should be considered as those defined in the detailed characterisation mapping.

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site (BILWHS) 2.4.3 The Blaenavon Industrial Landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2000, on the basis of its remarkable survival of an industrial landscape developed over many decades, including the housing built for those who worked there. Mineral extraction began in the surrounding hills in the late 17th century, and the ironworks were built in the late 18th century. What is particularly remarkable is the survival of such a variety of features relating to this industrial past.

2.4.4 “The area around Blaenavon is one of the finest surviving examples in the world of a landscape created by coal mining and ironmaking in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The parallel development of these industries was one of the key dynamic forces of the world’s first Industrial Revolution, and South Wales was among its leading centres. For over a century, the natural landscape of Blaenavon was changed and scarred by ironmaking, coal extraction, settlement and related activities as the entire area of the nominated World Heritage Site was turned to the demands of a single new industrial enterprise and the radical transformation of land and society which followed in its wake. There are two major preserved sites: Blaenavon Ironworks, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in state care, and Big Pit, an historic coal mine and museum in the care of the National Galleries and Museums of Wales. These sites are set in a relict or fossil landscape of inter-dependent mineral extraction, manufacturing, transport and settlement. The historic industrial town of Blaenavon also lies within the nominated site. The total landscape includes a range of Scheduled Ancient Monuments of National Importance, many Listed Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest and the Blaenavon and Cwmavon Conservation Areas.” (Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site Management Plan)

2.4.5 The boundaries of the BILWHS and the Registered Landscape are not contiguous, and in the case of this assessment, the BILWHS overlaps with the Registered Landscape only in two small areas within one HLCA (see below).

Archaeological and historical background

Palaeolithic (c. 800,000 BC – c, 10,000 BC) 2.4.6 Remains from this remote period are nationally rare, and in Wales are largely confined to cave deposits from North Wales and the Gower coast. Human and animal bones have been found from interglacial periods, although much of the landscape detail from these interglacials has been scoured and removed by subsequent glacial activity, which ended about 10,000 BC with the most recent retreat of the ice caps. Although

there is some survival of river terrace gravels and glacial meltwash deposits from beyond the glacier limit in South Wales, these are not present around Blaenavon, and there is very little likelihood of encountering any material of this age in the area.

Mesolithic (c. 10,000 BC – c. 4,400 BC) 2.4.7 During this period settlement evidence showing exploitation of a wide range of natural resources appears in the archaeological record. Mesolithic finds have generally been confined to the coastal regions of Wales, but more artefacts have been recovered in recent years from the Black Mountains. A small amount of flint tools has been recovered in the Blaenau upland area, but no direct evidence of settlement. There is very little likelihood of encountering Mesolithic material on the site, and no sites from the period are present in the wider area.

Neolithic (c. 4,000 – c. 2,000 BC) 2.4.8 Evidence has been recovered in South Wales for food production in the form of domesticated animals and cereal crops. The evidence from the Blaenavon area is limited to isolated finds of stone tools, and it is suggested that the uplands around Blaenavon were used for seasonal activities such as hunting which left no settlement evidence. There is therefore very little probability of finding any material from this period within the site.

Bronze Age (c. 2,700 – c. 700 BC) 2.4.9 The development of copper and later bronze technology was the defining characteristic of this period, which also saw the introduction of new types of monument such as round barrows and standing stones. Pollen evidence shows that the scale of land- clearance increased during this period. In the Blaenavon landscape, the most notable Bronze Age features are round barrows sited on prominent ridges. To the north of the town, several barrows are visible as stone cairns on the Blorenge and Mynnydd-y- garn-fawr, including the nearly-intact Carn-y-Defaid round barrow. A Bronze Age standing stone (Carreg Maen Taro) is present on the ridge of Llanelly Hill, 5.3 km to the north-west. No settlement of the period has yet been discovered in the area, and the finds are few and widely distributed. It is therefore very unlikely that any unknown material of this period will be encountered within the site.

Iron Age (c. 700 BC – c. AD 43) 2.4.10 The first major impact of human settlement on the physical environment of South Wales dates from this period. The appearance of a more clearly hierarchical society, with substantial monuments and defensive structures such as hillforts typified this period, allied to an increase in settlement density and accelerated land clearance. The

development of iron metallurgy was another defining characteristic. Iron Age society was described by contemporary classical authors, and is thought to have been based on a series of tribal kingdoms linked by kinship and controlling a defined territory, at least by the time of the Roman invasion.

2.4.11 Although hillforts are common in south-east Wales, they are absent from the Historic Landscape area immediately around Blaenavon, the nearest being Tywyn-y-Dinas and Craig-y-Gaer, dominating the Clydach gorge 7.2km to the north-west. Within the Blaenavon historic landscape area there is little evidence of Iron Age activity in the form of settlement or defensive structures, although much may have been removed by the later intensive industrial activity. There is very little chance of encountering any Iron Age material within the site.

Roman (AD 43 – 410) 2.4.12 The Roman invasion pushed into South Wales around 50 AD, and frontier lines were established at various points, notably along the Wye, and later the Usk, which lies in the next valley to the east of Blaenavon. A fortress was established at Usk, and a fort at Abergavenny. The fortress was replaced in the 70s by that at Caerleon, and the area around Blaenafon/Torfaen was largely bypassed. The main centres of recognisably Roman settlement remained to the south, and the Torfaen Borough area contains very little evidence of settlement or any other activity during the period. This is a similar pattern to the preceding Iron Age, and is perhaps a reflection of the upland nature of the area, with relatively narrow and densely wooded valleys unsuitable for agriculture. Mineral exploitation in the area may have begun in this period. There is very little chance of encountering any archaeological material from this period within the PDA.

Early Medieval (AD 410 – AD 1066) 2.4.13 The period between the departure of the Roman army and the Norman invasion is one of the least well documented and understood parts of the history of Wales. The area of Varteg is no different, with the GGAT HER and RCAHMW database containing no records for this period either within or immediately surrounding the site. Like the preceding periods, the evidence from the Blaenavon area is very limited. In the post- Roman period, pottery production ceased in south-east Wales and coins no longer circulated. The pattern of Welsh society known from later documentary sources emerged during this period, and the division of the land between clans, with the emergence of commotes, cantrefi, and kingdoms as the major political units. There is no evidence of a settlement in the Blaenavon area during this time, and place-name evidence does not indicate the nature of land-use as in other areas.

Medieval (AD 1066 – AD 1485) 2.4.14 Until the late Medieval period, the area around Blaenavon was primarily used for sheep grazing, and there was very little in the way of any substantial settlement. The Torfaen and Blaenavon area remained under the control of the local Welsh Princes until the 13th century, being bypassed by the earlier advances of the Norman invaders. To the south-east, the area around modern Usk was under Norman control by the early 1090s, and Abergavenny to the north had a Norman castle by 1106. To the south, Caerleon changed hands several times before finally being settled as a Norman possession in 1217. Blaenavon lay within the “Welshry”, where traditional forms of tenure and communal activity survived the introduction of the Anglo-Norman feudal system (the “Englishry”). No urban or nucleated settlements are known from the Torfaen Borough, and the settlement pattern is of small dispersed farmsteads. The Blaenavon area remained of little strategic or economic value during this period.

2.4.15 The development of monastic orders, particularly the Cistercians from the later 12th century saw large areas of land in the area taken over by abbeys – the nearest is at Llantarnam, 17km south of the site. The pattern of monastic landholding meant that large areas of upland land was used for sheep farming, but controlled from a few isolated granges, so that there was very little density of settlement within the wider landscape. The depredations of the Black Death saw population decline in the late 14th century, and the abandonment of upland areas by the monasteries. The pattern of land tenure began to change, and as the 15th century progressed more land was rented out to smallholders and villages began to develop.

2.4.16 The first documented beginnings of the iron industry date from c.1425 with the establishment of an ironworks in Pontymoel. The upland area around Blaenavon has revealed very little direct evidence from the Early or main Medieval periods, although documentary evidence reveals some information about the estate owners and landholdings. A pattern of dispersed unenclosed farmsteads appears to have been established by the end of the Medieval period. The ruins of a late Medieval chapel are present 950m north-east of the site, the site of Capel Newydd.

2.4.17 It is likely that the area changed little over this period, remaining wooded or part of an agricultural community living in dispersed farmsteads. There is no evidence of settlement at Varteg during this period. A low potential for hitherto unknown evidence from this period is therefore identified for the site.

Post-Medieval to Modern (1486 – present) 2.4.18 The site contains substantial vestiges of 19th and 20th century coal mining activity, largely now in the form of very large spoil heaps. Other surviving features include trackways, extraction sites, remains of buildings, and elements of the transport network which linked the coal mining to the rest of the industrial landscape. More recent mining activity is likely to have effectively removed or masked any earlier Post- medieval archaeological remains.

2.4.19 The Tudor period ushered in further changes, as larger estates began to be built up by local gentry, accelerated after the dissolution of the monasteries and the selling of their lands under Henry VIII. Most of the County Borough of Torfaen was enclosed between 1550 and 1750 without formal Parliamentary approval, and there were many squatter settlements of displaced persons. The settlement landscape prior to the industrial development of Blaenavon consisted of scattered farmsteads set within their own agricultural holdings, within the ambit of large estates. The later industrial developments have masked this pattern and it has largely disappeared. Some evidence does survive of the transition from agricultural to industrial landscape in the form of smallholdings on the slopes of Coity Mountain and the Blorenge. Some buildings or traces of buildings pre-dating the 18th century survive, notably Ty’r Godwith off Charles Street in Blaenavon town where massive stone fireplaces from c.1600 are retained.

2.4.20 Ironworking developed in the general area in the 16th century, with the Glyn Trosnant works (near Pontypool) being established in c. 1577. The ironmasters of Pontypool, particularly the Hanbury family, acquired the mineral rights over the land within the Lordship of Abergavenny, which included Blaenavon. From at least 1675 there was small-scale iron-ore extraction taking place on the mountain slopes within the Blaenavon historic landscape. The pattern of exploitation of the mineral wealth around Blaenavon, without any substantial settlement, continued until the late 18th century, when the Blaenavon Ironworks was established. A considerable tract of land around Blaenavon was leased from Lord Abergavenny, and the ironworks built in 1787-89. This was the true birth of the industrial development which shaped the landscape now preserved in the BILWHS. The scale of the construction was exceptional for the time, with three blast furnaces and a confident reliance on steam power. The hills to the north of the Ironworks were exploited for coal, limestone and iron ore. This juxtaposition of raw materials enabled the newly-developed processes of the Industrial Revolution to be applied fully, and enabled a huge increase in production of iron.

2.4.21 More furnaces were added in the early 19th century, and the whole complex of mines, surface workings, adits, transport network (canal, railways, roads) and industrial machinery developed during the rest of the century. The other major surviving site apart from the ironworks itself is Big Pit coal mine, opened in 1860. Alongside this industrial development, the town of Blaenavon grew to house the community who lived and worked in the landscape. The growth was relatively slow, with the earlier areas of housing clustering around the Ironworks and St. Peter’s Church (1804). Most of the older town is a mid-19th century development, where the gaps between earlier housing were filled in, and new streets of speculative build brought a more ordered pattern to the town.

2.4.22 Towards the end of this period, iron production declined and coal mining took over as the dominant industry in Blaenavon and across South Wales. Coal production reached its peak in 1913. Alongside the industrial and urban developments, much of the rest of the land remained in agricultural use, with some of the field and plot boundaries surviving to influence the block pattern of the residential developments. A series of long, narrow plots can still be seen to the north of Blaenavon, on the north side of Upper Coedcae Road running up the lower slopes of Mynnydd-y-Garn Fawr. Some pre-19th century agricultural dwellings also survive either as ruins or in much altered form in the enclosed landscape along the lower slopes of Coity Mountain, including Coity Farm and Waun-Mary-Gunter Farm.

2.4.23 Prior to the formation of the Varteg Ironworks in 1803 and the later Varteg Hill Colliery in 1860, the landscape surrounding the PDA would have been characterised by scattered farmsteads with upland areas used for grazing. A forge was built at Cwmavon to the east of the site in 1804, and an early version of the incline tramway connected it to the site soon after. The main Varteg ironworks lay immediately to the south of the site, bounded by Varteg Road on the east and a local lane on the west side.

2.4.24 Small-scale ironstone mining took place across the site in the form of ‘patchworkings’ along the outcrops of the ironstone horizons and coal seams. Four main belts of patchworkings have been identified across the study site from early Ordnance Survey plans. Some of these were obliterated by later opencast mining. The patchworkings are all presumed to date from the early 19th century, and worked to supply the Varteg Ironworks and the forge. Following the early patchworkings, the seams were further exploited by the development of adits driven into the outcrops.

2.4.25 An estate map of 1821 (of the Barony of Abergavenny) shows a limited number of buildings within the site, mostly in the southern part close to the ironworks. The incline is depicted rising up from the forge in Cwmavon, and a number of tramways running south to link the dispersed ironstone workings. There is a single long rectangular building shown approximately where the late Varteg Colliery buildings were developed.

2.4.26 The forge in Cwmavon was out of use by the 1840s, and the iron extraction activity within the site was largely superseded by the later coal extraction.

2.4.27 The earliest detailed plan of the site is the 1844 Trevethin Tithe map, which shows the site itself as an area of unenclosed ground. The map shows the layout of the Post- Medieval settlement of Varteg, prior to the construction of the Turnpike Road in 1847, later known as Varteg Road, situated to the east of the site. Varteg comprised a number of rows of terrace housing, accommodating the workers of the adjacent industries and a number of public and commercial premises. The row of cottages known as Twenty Houses was present, which has since been demolished. This lay to the north of Salisbury Terrace.

2.4.28 During the course of the 19th century, the Ironworks declined and was closed by 1865. In contrast, the Varteg Hill Colliery was established and expanded in the early 1860s, to exploit a large area of coal accessible through open-cast mining, on the slopes of Mynydd Varteg. This area of open-cast workings ran north-east from the PDA into Waun Hoscyn, and westwards onto Mynydd Varteg Fach. The two main areas of workings were known as Varteg Hill Pit, with Mine Slope to the north. In 1870, the workings were expanded further north to New Slope.

2.4.29 The 1880-82 Ordnance Survey map shows the colliery centred on a dense cluster of buildings at the upper limit of the Varteg Incline tramway (1861), which ran due east down to the river at Cwmavon and linked the site to the Monmouthshire Railway in the valley bottom. Another incline led north (along what is now the modern track that runs up from Varteg Road past the Reservoir), linking the colliery to the London & North Western Railway. This railway ran along the valley side, between Varteg Road and the Monmouthshire Railway.

2.4.30 A complex series of trackways and tramways was present which criss-crossed the site, and led out of the site to the west, skirting Yewtree Farm, and running to the Varteg Top Pits colliery at Cwm Ffrwd. The site of the Varteg Ironworks is labelled as ‘Old Furnaces’ on this map, and had no structures remaining on it: it had become disused

by this time. The connection north towards Blaenavon indicates that the colliery was now supplying the main Blaenavon Ironworks.

2.4.31 At this time, substantial tips had formed at Mine Slope and Varteg Hill, Bracy’s Pit was shown to the south west, at the southern fringe of the site. Between this pit and the main colliery were two Mine Kilns, believed to have been used for roasting iron ore. The houses which lay on the eastern edge of the site included Pembroke Place, and Twenty Houses, but not yet Salisbury Terrace.

2.4.32 By 1899, Varteg Hill Pit was no longer active, and the central tip on the site (528A in Halcrow 1979) had reached its final extent. Mine Slope and New Slope were still active, and a ‘washing machine’ has been built the site of the earlier mine kilns. The waste from the washery was deposited to form the southernmost tip (528B in Halcrow 1979). The tramway to the Blaenavon Ironworks had been upgraded to a branch of the LNWR. A new tramway laid on an embankment which forms part of the northernmost tip (572 in Halcrow 1979) had been constructed.

2.4.33 By 1902 the site was not much altered. Some of the buildings in the works to the north-west of the main colliery buildings (e.g. Mine Slope, Varteg Slope) were no longer in situ, but the tramway system was extended to the west across Mynydd Varteg Fach. The incline to Cwmavon was still in situ and depicted with tracks, so was presumably still functioning. The houses of Salisbury Terrace were built by then, as was the Varteg Reservoir, at the northern end of the site.

2.4.34 On the 1922 OS map the removal of tramways to New Slope and Mine Slope had been removed, indicating these adit mouths had probably been worked out. The washery continued in operation, processing the output from the Varteg Hill Top Pits. Tip 528B (Halcrow 1979) had reached about ¾ of its final extent.

2.4.35 The railway connections to the north, and via the incline to the east, had been removed, but a new zig-zag railway had been constructed to the south, to transport production via Varteg Lower Colliery. This pattern remained in 1938 (Figure 5), with some areas of earlier workings (e.g. Mine Slope) clearly no longer active.

2.4.36 By 1953 while most of the mineral tramways, and the main colliery buildings themselves, were shown, much of the connective infrastructure had disappeared – the majority of the railway and tramway links were no longer active. However, opencast mining on Waun Hoskyn operated between 1948 and 1956, both to the west and north

of the site. This activity obliterated Mine Slope and New Slope, and the large spoil heaps that had formed at their entries.

2.4.37 The washery probably continued in operation until the early 1950s (Halcrow 1979), when Varteg Hill Top Pits closed. Aerial photographs of 1955 (Halcrow 1979) show the washery no longer in operation and tipping on the southernmost tip (Halcrow 1979 Tip 528A) had ceased. These photographs also show modifications around the northern embankment of Tip 527 (northernmost tip) relating to sedimentation ponding related to the opencast workings. Excavations were taking place into the ironstone of Tip 528A (central tip), to extract brick-making clay, by the Star Brick and Tile Company. New housing was beginning to spread northwards from Garndiffaith to the south.

2.4.38 The 1964-5 map shows a marked contrast, with all of the main colliery buildings, including the washery, removed, and a building known as ‘The Lighthouse’ standing where the south-west corner of the colliery complex was. The area west of Mynydd Varteg Fach, (in which the western part of the PDA lies) is depicted as ‘Opencast Workings’, but by this time the Waun Hoskyn workings had ceased, and much reinstatement had taken place. Spoil heaps to the south and east of The Lighthouse were more extensive than before, and again elements of the older mining landscape were buried by this dumping. Just north of the western limit of the Varteg Incline, a large pond is shown. The urban creep from the south had moved closer to Varteg village.

2.4.39 The Star Brick and Tile Company made further excavations into Tip 528A in 1969 (Halcrow 1979), and this was the last intervention in to that tip. By the late 1970s, the railways in the Afon Lwyd valley had been dismantled, and many of the 19th-century houses in Varteg demolished. The area across the western side of the site, within the area of 20th-century opencast mining, saw the valley of the Mynydd Varteg Fach re- modelled to the current topography by the end of the 1970s.

2.4.40 During the later decades of the 20th century, the existing structures declined further, and The Lighthouse was in ruins by the early 1990s. A small area around the western limit of the Varteg Incline was worked in the 1990s as the Cwm Glo Drift Mine, but this was a short-lived enterprise.

2.4.41 By 2006 the site was essentially as it is today, with some vestiges of the 19th century mining works surviving in a much altered landscape dominated by the 20th century spoil heaps. The extensive remodelling and tipping activities within the PDA mean that much of the evidence for the 19th century mining has disappeared. Despite the

documented history of the site, there is a low potential for finding any Post-Medieval to Modern remains on the site, that are not currently visible as surface features.

2.5 Historic Landscape Character

2.5.1 The site lies partly within the BILWHS, which is characterised overall as follows: ‘the components of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape together make up an outstanding and remarkably complete example of a 19th century industrial landscape’.

2.5.2 The site lies partly within Historic Landscape Character Area Blaenavon HLCA 019 Mynydd Varteg Opencast. This is summarised as: ‘Extractive landscape dominated by modern opencast workings and waste tips. Former industrial extractive features related to quarrying and mining were previously characteristic of the area’.

2.5.3 The site lies partly within the Landmap Aspect Areas TRFNHL017 Waun-wen and Mynydd Llanhilleth V, TRFNHL019 Waun-wen and Mynydd Llanhilleth, and TRFNHL020 Mynydd Coity. Landmap is a Wales-wide landscape characterisation tool developed by the Countryside Council for Wales, and characterises the Aspect Areas’ historic landscape as follows:

TRFNHL017: Post-medieval industrial landscape over early post-medieval landscape of hillside enclosure and scattered farmsteads. Ironworking and coal producing area with technological developments. Archaeologically Sensitive Area. Industrial extraction and processing of iron and coal. Communication routes, industrial housing, remnant post-medieval agricultural landscape.

TRFNHL019: Upland common with exploratory mining and traditional administrative boundaries. Communications route. Former monastic grange land. Traditional boundaries. Upland common with trial shafts.

TRFNHL020: Post-medieval industrial landscape. Extractive industries. Registered Historic Landscape and World Heritage Site. Mineral extraction - coal and iron ore.

2.6 Identified Cultural Heritage Assets

2.6.1 Within the 1km study area around the site, the following designated Cultural Heritage Assets have been identified:

• WHS: the study area lies partly within the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site;  Scheduled Monuments: the study area contains one Scheduled Monument (the site lies at some distance from this);  Listed Buildings: the study area contains 13 Listed Buildings (0 Grade I, 6 Grade II*, 7 Grade II), none of these are close to the site;  Conservation Areas: The study area covers part of Cwmavon Conservation Area, but the site itself lies outside of this area.  Landscape of Historic Interest: The northern half of the study area lies within the Blaenavon Registered Landscape Area of Outstanding Historic Interest. The site lies partly within Historic Landscape Character Area 017. Three other HLCAs lie partly within the 1km search area.

2.6.2 Within the study area there is a considerable number of entries for non-designated heritage assets within the Historic Environment Record and the Welsh National Monuments Record. These are all of Post-medieval to Modern date, predominantly relating to the industrial heritage of the site and the surrounding area. There are a number of non-designated cultural heritage assets identified within the footprint of the proposed development. These relate to the former use of the site for ironstone and coal mining and processing.

2.7 Summary of cultural heritage evidence for the proposed development site.

2.7.1 A review of the cultural heritage background of the area suggests that the site is unlikely to have contained any significant evidence from any period prior to the early 19th century. The nature of the site’s use, and especially the impact of later opencast mining and spoil deposition, is likely to have destroyed much early evidence. What cultural heritage evidence there is within the site is confined to traces of the industrial activity which took place there.

3.0 ASIDOHL2 STAGE 2: DESCRIPTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF THE DIRECT, PHYSICAL IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT.

3.1 Direct Impacts

3.1.1 The proposed development includes large scale excavation and redeposition of soil, coal and other materials. The types of direct physical impact on the Cultural Heritage Resource that may result from this development are: • The disturbance or removal of archaeological deposits during groundworks; • The destruction of sensitive deposits by the presence of heavy plant; and/or • The alteration of stable ground conditions resulting in the degradation of the quality of survival of buried archaeological remains.

Direct Impact - Absolute 3.1.2 The total area of the proposed development is c. 60ha. Approximately 20ha of the proposed development site lies within the Registered Historic Landscape, in HCLA 019, which has a total area of approximately 200ha. As a result, approximately 10% of the HCLA area will be affected. If this was all permanently lost or removed, then the resulting absolute impact would be graded as Slight (5-14% ASIDOHL2 Table 2).

3.1.3 The proposed development would deposit topsoil and extraction overburden over an area of approximately 19ha in its western part. This would overlie an area of Mynydd Varteg Fawr that has already been subject to substantial remediation and resculpting of the landscape by spoil deposition. While this is an area which contributes to the character of the HCLA, in practice it will not be altered in character.

3.1.4 A part of the development area proposed for coal extraction, includes an area of HCLA 019, approximately 1ha in extent. Given that the area proposed for deposition (western part of the development site) has already been landscaped, the 1ha coal extraction area remains the only part of the HCLA which will be subject to absolute loss. The absolute direct impact on the HCLA is therefore anticipated to be Very Slight (0-4% ASIDOHL2 Table 2).

Direct Impact – Relative 3.1.5 As noted above, the western part of the development area would be used for deposition of material arising from the extractive site works in the eastern part. This deposition will not alter the essential character of the HCLA, as the area of deposition

will remain as a featureless low-lying area between the high ground of Mynydd Varteg Fawr and Mynydd Varteg Fawr. This area does not contain any known archaeological sites, as these have already been removed by the previous landscaping. It is also highly unlikely that any unknown archaeological remains will be affected. In this part of the development, there would be no part of the HCLA lost or removed, and there would therefore be no relative direct impact on the HLCA arising in the largest area affected.

3.1.6 The boundary of the BILWHS overlaps the proposed development site boundary in two small areas within HLCA 019, namely at the northern end of the western part of the site, and in the small area of planned coal extraction.

3.1.7 As with the impact described above in 3.1.5 for the whole HLCA, there will be no fundamental change to the character of the small portion of the BILWHS within the development footprint in the western part of the site. Within the area of coal extraction described in 3.1.8 below, the proportion of the WHS which would be lost is very small (less than 1%).

3.1.8 Where the coal extraction will physically remove part of the HCLA, this will include the loss of three or four recorded archaeological features of Category C, D or U. While the total amount of archaeological features within the whole HCLA is not known, it is estimated that this would not represent more than 2-3% of such assets. As noted above in 3.1.7, a tiny proportion of the BILWHS would also be lost in this area, les than 1% of the total area. As a result, it is considered that the direct relative impact on the HCLA would be Very Slight (0-4% ASIDOHL2 Table 2).

Direct Impact - Landscape 3.1.9 The part of the proposed development site within the HCLA contributes to the value of the Historic Character Area, by providing an open area between the high ground of Mynydd Varteg Fawr and Mynydd Varteg Fawr. It does not contain any evidence of opencast mining, the spoil tips and scars of which characterise the HCLA. It has a Medium landscape value in terms of its contribution to the overall character of the HCLA. This area will not be fundamentally altered in character at the completion of the development.

3.1.10 The small area of HCLA 019 which will be lost makes only a very limited contribution to the overall historic character of the HCLA, and its overall landscape value is Low.

3.1.11 The proposed development would have very little direct impact on extrinsic elements or values of the HCLA. Given the lack of change over the great majority of the area of the HCLA affected by the proposed development, it is considered that the overall direct landscape value effect would be Slightly Reduced.

Direct Impact – Overall Magnitude 3.1.12 The overall direct impact is summarised in the table below

Table 0.1 – Summary table of overall magnitude of direct physical impacts

Absolute impact (loss of area) 0- Magnitude and score: Very Slight - 1 1% Relative and landscape impacts (loss of known elements or characteristics) Element Category Magnitude of Landscape Landscape impact Value value effect BILWHS, loss of a A - 4 Very Slight - 1 Low – 2 Very Slightly fraction of 1% Reduced – 1 Minor archaeological C/D/U - 2 Very Slight - 1 Low – 2 Very Slightly assets, 2-3% Reduced – 1 Area of previous N/A Low - 2 None landscaping/ remediation in west of proposed area of development Overall Magnitude = 16/3 = 5 (Slight)

4.0 ASIDOHL2 STAGE 3: DESCRIPTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF THE INDIRECT IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT

4.1 Indirect, physical impacts

4.1.1 Indirect physical impacts arising as a result of the proposed development are considered to be limited. While access across the development site will be interrupted during the operational phase of the development, following completion of the development, public access through the site wil be restored with no loss of amenity. The development would not cause any significant physical dislocation between elements of the historic landscape, and no HCLA will suffer fragmentation.

4.1.2 The only identified indirect physical impact on an individual heritage asset is the burial of the upper part of the Varteg Colliery Incline. This relict railway linked the Varteg Colliery to the Scheduled Incline Catch Pit which lies to the east in HCLA 018 Cwmavon Industrial Transport Corridor. While the western end of the incline will be buried, the catch pit and main incline up to Varetg Road and beyond will remain, so the physical link between the valley bottom and the level of the former colliery will not be broken. This is considered as of a Slight magnitude in historic landscape terms.

Table 4.2 – Assessment of indirect, physical impacts on HCLA 018

Impacts Category & Magnitude & Score Score Partial burial of the western (upper) end of the A - 4 Slight – 2 Varteg Hill Colliery Incline

Overall score = 6

4.2 Indirect, visual impacts

4.2.1 The indirect visual impacts of the development have been examined as part of a heritage impact assessment, which looked at the potential for the proposed development to affect the settings, and therefore the significance, of designated heritage assets within 1km of the development site. This assessment has formed the baseline for the cultural heritage chapter of the Environmental Statement, to which this ASIDOHL2 is an appendix.

4.2.2 Impacts on individual heritage assets are presented in Table 4.2 below. The level of impact is derived from the previous settings assessment. Where no impact on setting was identified in the previous assessment, those assets are not included here.

4.2.3 The site is intervisible visible with some locations in the wider landscape. The topography of the site varies in the western and eastern parts. The relatively enclosed bowl of the western part, is only visible from within the Registered Landscape from the higher ground to west, north and east looking down into its relatively enclosed bowl- shaped extent. The eastern part of the site has views inand out primarily to the north- east and east, over the Afon Lwyd valley.

4.2.4 The proposed scheme will not affect any major significant views or vistas. While it will change the views out from other character areas, this will be by removing elements (the spoil heaps) rather than adding new elements from the view. This could be regarded as an enhancement in some cases. The appearance of the developed area in its final form will not be out of keeping with other areas of the landscape. The development site is only visible from parts of each charater area.

Table 0.2 –Indirect visual impacts of the development

Element and impact Category Magnitude Change to the overall setting of the BILWHS A - 4 Very Slight – 1 Change to setting of Varteg Hill Colliery Incline A - 4 Moderate – 3 Change to setting of Carlo’s Grave/The Dog Stone B - 3 Very Slight – 1 Change to setting of Capel Newydd Chapel A – 4 Very Slight – 1 Change to overall setting of the Registered A – 4 Very Slight – 1 Landscape Alteration to general views out from Character A – 4 Slight – 2 area HLCA017 Alteration to general views out from Character A – 4 Slight – 2 area HLCA018 Alteration to general views out from Character A – 4 Slight - 2 area HLCA020 Alteration to general views within Character area A – 4 Slight - 2 HLCA002 Development form and appearance 3 Moderate - 3 Overall magnitude of indirect visual impacts = 56/10 = 5.6 = Slight Impact (within Slight scale of 4-8)

Overall magnitude of indirect impacts 4.2.5 The following presents the calculations of the overall magnitude of indirect impacts:

 Indirect, physical impact score = 6  Indirect visual impact score = 5.1  Combined score = 11.6  Combined score multiplied by 28 then divided by 20 = 16.24

4.2.6 The ASIDOHL2 scoring system indicates that the Overall Magnitude of Indirect Impact can be regarded as Considerable.

5.0 ASIDOHL2 STAGE 4: EVALUATION OF RELATIVE IMPORTANCE

5.1 Evaluation of Relative Importance – Areas Affected

5.1.1 The registered landscape has been divided into 21 Historic Landscape Character Areas (HLCAs). The proposed development sits partly within a single such area, HLCA019 Mynydd Varteg Opencast. The direct impacts of the proposed development have been assessed as confined to this character area.

5.1.2 The following character areas have been considered for indirect visual impact:

 HLCA017 Mynydd-y-garn-fawr  HLCA018 Cwmavon Industrial Transport Corridor  HLCA019 Mynydd Varteg Opencast  HCLA020 Coity Mountain

5.1.3 Brief descriptions of the HLCAs and discussion of their relative importance can be seen below with tables that evaluate their relative importance in accordance with the guidance set out in ASHIDOL2.

5.2 HLCA017 Mynydd-y-garn-fawr

5.2.4 The bare slopes of Mynydd-y-garn-fawr rise to the north-east and east of Blaenavon, dominating the views in these directions. The HLCA represents the limits of the unenclosed land. Some post-medieval encroachment and minor industrial activity is evidenced, but otherwise there is evidence of activity back as far as the Bronze Age in the form of burial cairns. The landscape is essentially upland moorland with signs of divisions in the form of boundary markers and banks.

5.2.5 This HLCA is significant in its evidence of more ancient occupation of the landscape. The development site is visible only from the southern part of this HCLA, where it rises to 425m on the east side of the Afon Lwyd valley. It has clear views to and from the site from this southern section. The Scheduled Monuments present on the higher ridge are at least 1.5km distant, and not considered to be affected.

Table 0.1 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA017 indirectly affected by the proposed development

Value/ V High High Mod Low V V High High Mod Lo V Low V Gd Gd Med Low V Gd Gd Med Poorw /Criteria Poor Relative to - Whole of historic character area Whole of historic landscape area Rarity X X Representative X X ness Documentation X X Group Value X X Survival X X Condition X X Coherence X X Integrity X X Potential X X Amenity X X Associations X X (Score 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 25/55 = 45% 21/55 = 38%

Table 0.2 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA017 in the national context.

Value/ V High High Mod Low V Low V Gd Gd Med Poor /Criteria Relative to: National context Rarity X Representativen X ess Documentation X Group Value X Survival X Condition X Coherence X Integrity X Potential X Amenity X

Associations X (Score) 5 4 3 2 1 23/55 = 42%

5.3 HLCA018 Cwmavon Industrial Transport Corridor

5.3.1 This HLCA occupies the valley bottom to the east and north-east of the development site. The medieval settlement of the area has been documented, but the main visible survival in terms of land division is from the post-medieval farmsteads. Some of the farm houses are still extant in altered form. A large part of the HLCA is now given over to recent forestry plantation. There was industrial development at Cwmavon at the southern end of the HLCA in the early 19th century alongside industrial terraced housing. The transport links are the most significant aspect of the industrial remains, and include a tramroad of 1796, a railway of 1854 and later railway extension and branch lines. The turnpike road from Blaenavon to Pontypool runs through this area, now Varteg Road. The current main road to the south (A4043 Cwmavon Road) runs there as well.

5.3.2 The views into and out of the HLCA from the site are very limited, as much of the transport infrastructure is in the valley bottom and not intervisible with the site. However, there is some intervisibility with this significant HLCA, primarily with the relict agricultural landscape on the east side of the river valley.

Table 0.3 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA018 indirectly affected by the proposed development

Value/ V High Mod Low V V High High Mod Low V High Gd Med Low V Gd Gd Med Low /Criteria V Gd Poor Poor Relative to - Whole of historic character Whole of historic landscape area area Rarity X X Representativen X X ess Documentation X X Group Value X X Survival X X Condition X X

Coherence X X Integrity X X Potential X X Amenity X X Associations X X (Score 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 22/55 = 40% 18/55 = 33%

Table 0.4 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA018 in the national context. Value/ V High High Mod Low V /Criteria V Gd Gd Med Low Poor Relative to: National context Rarity X Representativen X ess Documentation X Group Value X Survival X Condition X Coherence X Integrity X Potential X Amenity X Associations X (Score) 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 28/55 = 51%

5.4 HLCA019 Mynydd Varteg Opencast

5.4.1 This HLCA lies to the north and north-west of the site, along the lower northern slopes of Coity Mountain, overlooking Blaenavon town. It contains prominent large opencast mine workings and associated waste tips, with a rail incline to the main colliery, but these are located some distance from the site, directly to the south of Blaenavon. The majority of the opencast activity has taken place since the end of WWII, which has destroyed the evidence of the earlier workings.

5.4.2 This HLCA is significant for its modern industrial/mining activity, as well as its historic mining. The only views in and out of site are of the western part, and in practice the topography shields the great majority of this HLCA from any intervisibility with the site. The small area of coal extraction within the HLCA has no appreciable intervisibility with the HLCA, as it is largely hidden from view from the west. Only a very small part of the HLCA will be affected by any changes to the views.

Table 0.5 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA019 indirectly affected by the proposed development

Value/ V High Mod Low V V High High Mod Low V /Criteria High Gd Med Low V Gd Gd Med Low V Gd Poor Poor Relative to - Whole of historic character Whole of historic landscape area area Rarity X X Representativen X X ess Documentation X X Group Value X X Survival X X Condition X X Coherence X X Integrity X X Potential X X Amenity X X Associations X X (Score 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 22/55 = 40% 20/55 = 36%

Table 0.6 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA019 in the national context.

Value/ V Hig Mo Low V /Criteria High h d Low V Gd Gd Med Poo r Relative to: National context Rarity X Representativen X ess Documentation X Group Value X Survival X Condition X Coherence X Integrity X Potential X

Amenity X Associations X (Score) 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 31/55 = 55%

5.5 HCLA 020 Coity Mountain

5.5.1 The area encompasses Coity Mountain, Mynydd James and Mynydd Varteg Fawr. It is a predominantly unenclosed upland landscape characterized by agricultural stock management, boundary markers, and prehistoric funerary ritual features. Another main characteristic is industrial extraction given the numerous quarries and collieries once in the area. It lies to the north-west of the site, rising up to 544m within 1km of the site boudnary.

5.5.2 The HLCA has a very wide setting, in most directions, given its upland nature. The setting includes the town of Blaenavon, the Ironworks, as well as Ebbw Vale to the west, the Clydach Gorge to the north and the wider Blaenavon landscape to the north- east. The setting is an important element of the HLCA’s significance, as it comprises the rest of the historic landscape.

5.5.3 This HLCA retains a palimpsest of all periods of activity within the landscape, from the Neolithic onwards. It provides the backdrop to the town and the ironworks in Blaenavon, and serves to create the isolation which has preserved the Blaenavon landscape features. The western part of the site can be seen from the higher ground at the south-eastern end of Coity Mountain (Mynydd Varteg Fawr), but the eastern part is obscured by the higher ground of Mynydd Varteg Fach, and this eastern part of the completed development will not be visible from this HLCA.

Table 0.7 – Evaluation of the relative importance of the part of HLCA019 indirectly affected by the proposed development

ess Documentation X X Group Value X X Survival X X Condition X X Coherence X X Integrity X X Potential X X Amenity X X Associations X X (Score 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 28/55 = 51% 26/55 = 47%

Table 0.8 – Evaluation of the relative importance of HLCA019 in the national context.

Value/ V High Mod Lo V /Criteria High Gd Med w Low V Gd Poor Relative to: National context Rarity X Representativen X ess Documentation X Group Value X Survival X Condition X Coherence X Integrity X Potential X Amenity X Associations X (Score) 5 4 3 2 1 Total Score 30/55 = 55%

5.5 Summary of Evaluation Scores

Table 5.9 Summary of evaluation scores:

Table Value Measured Score 5.1 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area 45% Mynydd-y-garn-fawr (HLCA017) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the character area 5.1 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area 38% Mynydd-y-garn-fawr (HLCA017) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the registered landscape area 5.2 The value of HLCA017 relative to the national context 42% 5.3 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area 40% Cwmavon Industrial Transport Corridor (HLCA018) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the character area 5.3 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area 33% Cwmavon Industrial Transport Corridor (HLCA018) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the registered landscape area 5.4 The value of HLCA018 relative to the national context 51% 5.5 The value of the part of Historic Landscape Character Area 40% Mynydd Varteg Opencast (HLCA019) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the HLCA 5.5 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area 36% Mynydd Varteg Opencast (HLCA019) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the registered landscape area 5.6 The value of Mynydd Varteg Opencast (HLCA019) relative to the 55% national context 5.7 The value of the part of Historic Landscape Character Area Coity 51% Mountain (HLCA020) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the HLCA 5.7 The value of the part of Historic Character Landscape Area Coity 47% Mountain (HLCA020) indirectly affected by the proposed development relative to the whole of the registered landscape area

Table Value Measured Score 5.8 The value of Coity Mountain (HLCA020) relative to the national 55% context

5.5.1 Using the conversion formula of the ASIDOHL2 process, by which each score above is expressed as a percentage of the total possible score (in this case 55), and an average taken of these percentages an overall value of 44%, this equates to a Considerable overall value for the landscape elements potentially affected by the proposed development.

6.0 ASSESSMENT OF OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT (ASIDOHL2 STAGE 5)

6.1 Assessment of Overall Significance of Impact

Table 6.1 – Assessment of Overall Significance of Impact

Historic Value of Impact of Reduction of Total Overall Character HLCA Development Value of the Score significan Area Affected Historic ce of Landscape impact on Area on the HLCA Register HLCA 017 Medium - 4 Very Low - 1 Very Low – 1 6 Slight Mynydd-y- garn-fawr HCAL 018 – High – 7 Very Low - 1 Very Low – 1 8 Slight Cwmavon Transport Corridor HLCA 019 High – 7 Low - 2 Low - 2 11 Moderate Mynydd Varteg Opencast HLCA 020 Medium - 4 Very Low - 1 Very Low – 1 6 Slight Coity Mountain

6.6.1 The development as proposed will have, at most, a Slight impact on the Blaenavon Historic Landscape Area.

7.0 MITIGATION

7.1 Possible Mitigation

7.1.1 The main impact of the proposed development is its potential for visual change on views from the Historic Landscape Character Areas neighbouring the HLCA directly affected, and within the immediate area surrounding the site. This visual change would be brought about by the removal of historic elements of the landscape (in the form of large sopil tips) outside of the Registered Landscape Area. Taken on its own, the overall visual impact on the whole Registered Landscape would be relatively limited, and would not have any substantial impact on the overall significance and landscape value of the Registered Landscape.

7.1.2 The only realistic mitigation for this residual visual effect is by management of the design of the final landscaping. This must be designed in such a way that it does not introduce a new visual element into the landscape, but blends in to the surrounds.

7.1.3 Other impacts would occur, in the form of direct physical impacts to very small areas of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape WHS, and to an area corresponding to 10% of the area of Mynydd Varteg Opencast (HLCA 020). In practice, a very small area would be lost to coal reclamation, and the great majority of the impacted area in HLCA 020 would not be fundamentally changed in character, as it would continue to be a landscaped area of deposited material.

7.1.4 The mitigation for direct impacts would be in the form of recording any arcaheolgical heritage assets that might be lost in the area of coal reclamation.

8.0 CONCLUDING STATEMENT

8.1 Concluding statement

8.1.1 The proposed development is for the reclamation of coal from the site of the fomer Varteg Hill Colliery. This involves the removal of existing spoil tips and excavation fo rcoal in the eastern part of the site, the deposition of overburden material in the western part of the site, and the reclamation of the affected are as open countryside. The eastern and western parts of the site are only connected at their southern ends, and otherwise are physically and visually separated by the high ground of Mynydd Varteg Fach.

8.1.2 The site lies on the fringe of both the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site and the Blaenavon Registered Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest, and the site boundary overlaps partly with both of these deignated areas.

8.1.3 While the main direct physical impact of the development will be on the site of the former Varteg Hill Colliery in the eastern part of the site, this lies outside of the Registered Landscape apart from one small area of c. 1ha, on the eastern slope of Mynydd Varteg Fach. Approximately 20ha of the western part of the site lies within the Registered Landscape, and this area is intended to be for depostiion of overburden material.

8.1.4 Overall, the direct physical impacts on the Registered Landscape are considered to be limited, and likely to produce a Very Slight reduction in the overall landscape value of the Registered Landscape. This is primarily because the largest area of the proposed development within the Registered Landscape, the western part, is only to be used for overburden depostion. This area, the hollow lying between Mynydd Varteg Fawr and Mynydd Varteg Fach, has already been subject top deposition and landscaping, and any individual features or heritage assets which contribute to the historic landscape have been removed or buried. The current character of the area will not be fundamentally altered, and so there will effectively be no loss of landscape character in this area.

8.1.5 In the case of the small area of the Registered Landscape that will be removed for coal extraction, this will result in the loss of 2 or 3 non-designated heritage assets which represent a very small part of the total archaeological interest. Again, the loss of landscape character in this area will be minimal.

8.1.6 It is considered that the indirect visual impacts from the development would also have a limited effect on the overall character of the Registered Landscape. This is largely because the nature of the development means that no new, intrusive elements will be introduced to the landscape. Elements of the historic landscape (outside of the Registered area) will be removed, and this will have some effect on views out of four Historic Landscape Character Areas. The location of the site out of sight of the main central areas of Blaenavon, on the periphery of the Registered Landscape area, means that any changes will not be visible from the core assets of the Blaenavon landscape. It would affect views from only limited parts of the four nearest character areas, and its resulting effects can be considered as slight on the individual character areas, and also on the overall setting and character of the Registered Landscape as a whole.

8.1.7 The ASIDOHL2 methodology does give weight to the indirect physical impacts of the development, which raises the score overall for measuring indirect impacts. The only such impact identified is the possible loss or burial of part of the upper section of the Varteg Colliery Incline. The association of the affected section with the Scheduled part of this feature gives it high category value, and hence even a slight change/loss to the whole feature is given a high mark, even though the connection of the incline with the catch pit in the valley to the east would not be broken. In terms of overall effect on the Registered Landscape, this indirect impact is very small.

8.1.8 In summary, the proposed development would have some impact on the Registered Lansdscape, but this would be primarily through a change to the landscape character beyond the limits of the registered area, via the removal of existing spoil tips and re- landscaping. It is considered, however, that in terms of an overall change to the Registered Landscape, and especialy in terms of a reduction in the character value of the Registered Landscape, the impacts from the proposed developemnt would be slight, and would not materially reduce the significance of the Registered Landscape to an extent that the Registered Landscape could not easily absorb.

8.8.9 The most effective mitigation for these slight effects is to ensure that the resulting landscaped area resembles other areas of open hillside grassland in the surroudning landscape, and so blends in with the exisitng landscape.

SOURCES CONSULTED

General

Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust Historic Environment Record Gwent Record Office National Monuments Record Wales, Aberystwyth Planning Policy Wales Edition 3, July 2010 Wales Spatial Plan 2008 Update Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments (Wales) Welsh Office Circular 60/96 The Historic Environment: Archaeology and Planning Welsh Office Circular 61/96 Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas

Bibliographic

CCW/Cadw/WAG 2007 Guide to Good Practice on Using the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales in the Planning and Development Process. Revised (2nd) Edition including Revisions to the Assessment Process (ASIDOHL2) CgMs Consulting 2010 Archaeological Desk Based Assessment, Varteg Road, Varteg, Gwent CgMs Consulting 2015 Cultural Heritage Chapter of Environmental Statement for the Varteg site. Halcrow Ltd 1979 Viponds Top & Washery Spoil Heaps: Report on the Investigation into the Security of Tips 527 and 528. Report to the National Coal Board by Sir William Halcrow and Partners,

October 1979.

The Blaenavon Partnership 1999 Management Plan for the nominated World Heritage Site of Blaenavon Industrial Landscape www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscapes : Historic Landscape areas HLCA 017-19 http://landmap.ccw.gov.uk: LANDMAP assessment, areas HL015, HL017, HL020 and HL022