Orlingbury Character Appraisal
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ORLINGBURY CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISAL 1. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT 1.1 Orlingbury Village is located 4 miles west-north-west of Wellingborough, 4 miles from Kettering and 10 miles from Northampton. The roughly rectangular parish lies between two east-flowing tributaries of the River Ise; the higher land in the west between 107m and 137m AOD, and the central ridge which runs east-west, are covered by Boulder Clay, but the down-cutting of the two streams to the north and south has exposed bands of Great Oolite Limestone, clays, silts, and limestone of the Estuarine Series, Northampton Sand and Upper Lias Clay.¹ The village of Orlingbury itself, in the north- east corner of the parish, lies at 101m AOD, whilst in the south east the ground falls rapidly and is only 68m AOD at the parish boundary on the Orlingbury – Little Harrowden road. 1.2 The etymology of the place name is consistent with this topography as it is thought to derive from “Ordla’s Hill” with connective “ing”. However, the multiplicity of variant forms makes the second element uncertain, evolving from Ordinbaro (1086) through Orlingberg(a) (1131), Horlingbere (1203), Orlibergh (1388) to Orlibeare in 1631.² 1.3 Fairly remote from any significant routes or towns, Orlingbury appears to have been relatively unaffected by the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. Bridges, in 1753, records it as having about 50 families and census returns in the 19th century showed a stable population of between 250 and 350 persons. Whellan notes employment in 1874 as comprising: grocer/baker wheelwright/carpenter 2 shoemakers brick maker school mistress blacksmith Rector and 3 farmers/graziers farm bailiff With the possible exception of the shoemakers, therefore, employment was clearly subsistence-based. 1.4 Apart from some ‘30s ribbon development on Isham Road and Pytchley Road, the present conservation area boundary closely approximates to the main village fabric as shown on the 1938 Ordnance Survey map. 1. RCHME, 1979. 2. Place Names of Northamptonshire, Gover, Mawer and Stenton, 1933. Ordla would be a regular formation of the common personal name element Ord–, e.g. the Old German form Ortila. 2. KEY ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURE 2.1 Orlingbury’s nucleated form built around the village green is unique to the Borough. It is positioned at the crossing of two by-roads which connect it with the Harrowdens, Broughton, Hannington and Isham. 2.2 Although the present Orlingbury Hall is only readily visible from its gated access onto The Green it is clearly of fundamental significance to the village’s historic structure. Rebuilt by Richard Young in 1706-09 on the site of one of the two original manor houses³ on the crest of the hill facing Little Harrowden, the extensive contiguous garden land running south-eastwards is/was a major landscape feature (although again not readily appreciated from within the village). 2.3 The metaphorical and literal axis from hall to church across The Green including the Lord’s customary responsibility of appointing a Rector, comprises the essential component of a medieval settlement. The apparently arbitrary configuration of farms, cottages and services such as the wheelwright (Carpenter’s Yard) and the smith (formerly on the corner of Isham Road and Rectory Lane) would perhaps originally have evolved to serve the needs of the Lord(s) of the Manor(s) and this is borne out structurally by the compact village core which we see today. 2.4 Beyond the conservation area the remainder of the present village entirely comprises 20th century infill and ribbon development along the radial roads. 3. ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC QUALITY OF BUILDINGS 3.1 Listed buildings in the conservation area (see dark and mid-grey tone notation on the Appraisal Map) appear to be fairly randomly spread throughout and commonly feature ashlar gable parapets and kneelers; regular/squared coursed limestone and ironstone walling; mainly casement windows, but some sashes; brick and/or stone chimney stacks variously to ridge or gable ends; roofing is plain tile, slate, thatch, or in the case of Orlingbury Hall, Collyweston Slate. Dating of the listed buildings is centred around the period 1650-1750, with a few from c1850. Domestic examples are generally either 2-storeys or 2-storeys with attic. Significantly, the higher graded (II*) buildings are the higher status Hall, Rectory and Church and, as already indicated, these elements would have formed the core of the medieval 4 settlement, albeit in the case of Hall and Church on the basis of earlier structures. 3. One or other of Loges or Beaver’s. Victoria Country History, 1937 4. The site of the church is taken to be medieval consecrated ground; the present building of c1843, by R C Hussey of Birmingham, contains the alabaster effigy of a knight c1375, and brasses to William Lane (died 1502) and his wife. 3.2 The addition of various “Other Buildings of Note” (see buildings shown in black edging on the Appraisal Map), however, to the core of listed buildings provides the necessary continuity of basic quality required of a conservation area. These “other” buildings are largely 19th century, local red brick or stone structures with natural roof covering (pantile, slate, plain tile) and therefore represent good quality vernacular architecture which makes a positive contribution to the setting of the listed buildings and to the character of the conservation area as a whole. 4 SPACES: TOWNSCAPE ENCLOSURE AND GREEN SPACE 4.1 Townscape is essentially to do with the relationships between buildings and the spaces that are thereby formed. In the case of Orlingbury’s Appraisal area, the character of the townscape could be described as “informal” or “diffuse”. That is to say, the buildings very rarely face one another across the street in a conventional manner. 4.2 The brief analysis in the preceding section of the Appraisal suggested that the country house was clearly the village’s raison d’etre. It is no surprise, therefore, that the latter’s peculiar townscape is largely characterised by the relationship of the striking stone walling running along the boundary of Hall and Rectory with the various buildings and spaces aligned on the opposite sides of Harrowden Road, The Green (south east) and Rectory Lane. 4.3 Spatially, though, the village green is Orlingbury’s focus and pivot. It is an attractive and relatively “un-manicured” green space surrounded by semi-mature chestnut, beech and oak trees and is clearly a positive contribution to local character. 4.4 Other landscaped/treed areas of particular townscape value include the mixed deciduous and coniferous trees in the grounds of the Hall and Rectory, including the large sycamore at The Rectory entrance in Rectory Lane; the churchyard trees including 2 yews at the entrance, a beech at the top corner fronting Pytchley Road and laburnum and purple-leaved maple elsewhere; the beech, willow and sycamore on the right of the entrance to Carpenter’s Yard; the tree cover including sycamore and Scots pine at Home Farm House, Rectory Lane; and the modest but nonetheless significant triangular grassed area with a single horse chestnut adjacent to 12 Harrowden Road. 5 BUILDING MATERIALS 5.1 Common building materials and features of special architectural or historic interest visible from the public domain include the following: • Walling Red Brick (mostly Kettering-type in Flemish and English bond); ironstone; limestone/ironstone bonding; limestone with ironstone quoins or with decorative red brick corners and window surrounds; bull-nosed red bricks on agricultural building entrances; chamfered dressed stone window and door surrounds on coursed rubble; render (yellow ochre). • Roofing Welsh slate; plain tiles (with decorative terracotta pierced ridge with finial); thatch; pantiles. Chimney features include red/brown brick stack with decorative header/stretcher projection; ashlar stone; red brick stack with stone weathering on top; red (earthenware) clay chimney pots, square or circular section. • Windows/Doors Flush closing casements, white-painted; leaded casements; timber vertical- boarded doors. • Free-standing walling Limestone/ironstone mix; limestone (mainly coursed rubble); red brick. Coping types include limestone flags; red terracotta, triangular section; pantile; blue engineering brick; moulded limestone. • Other Features Tyrolean barge-boards; chamfered ironstone parapet on limestone building; dormers on wall plate, cutting eaves line; arched brick lintels, some white painted; ironstone “quoin” effect on window sides; wicket gate/fencing. Also of note are the granite setts around the inner perimeter of The Green. • Individual Example 7, The Green. 1½-storey house with dormers on wall plate; black-painted stone sills to windows with timber lintels; patterned ironstone/limestone window and door surrounds; panelled timber door, iron studded. 6 EXTENT OF LOSS, INTRUSION OR DAMAGE TO BUILT ENVIRONMENT 6.1 There appear to be no examples of intrusive development in the designation area. As regards loss to the built fabric, the former agriculture barn immediately to the east of Manor Farmhouse (16 Harrowden Road) could perhaps be mentioned. The building was recently found to be structurally unsafe and had to be substantially taken down. It had made an important contribution to the street character for many years and its effective loss is regrettable. There is a possibility that it could be reinstated as part of a development scheme currently being informally discussed with the Council for the southern part of the farm premises. 7 NON-RESIDENTIAL LAND USES 7.1 A relatively small village on a County scale, Orlingbury’s non-residential land uses are limited to: • St Mary’s Church. • The Queen’s Arms Public House. Presumably a purpose- built pub, shown as such on the earliest available O.S Plan (1888). • Manor Farm. A proportion of the premises is currently suffering from functional obsolescence. Still a working farm, however, involved in the rearing of Friesian cattle.