Temporary Model Display (Dinosaur Exhibition)

Longleat Estate

Land to rear of Walled Garden, within existing attraction area and Sandwalk Plantation.

Heritage Statement and Historic Appraisal

NVB Architects

14/05/2015

1.0 Introduction

1.1 NVB Architects have been asked by Estate to prepare a historic appraisal for a new temporary attraction known as the ‘dinosaur installation’ which is to be located on the Estate to the rear of the Orangery and Walled Garden. This report has been prepared by Landscape Management Ltd (HLM) in the preparation of the Estates’ Conservation Management Plan and various projects in the vicinity of the current project (see Location and images to left).

1.2 The proposal was discussed by Longleat Estate (Craig Jeffery) and NVB Architects (Andrew Simpson) with Council (Matthew Perks and Mike Kilmister) and English Heritage (Caroline Power) in January 2015.

1.3 The Governments National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) advises that local planning authorities should require the equivalent of a heritage statement designed ”..to describe the significance of any heritage assets affected, including any contribution made by their setting. The level of detail should be proportionate to the assets’ importance and no more than is sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on their significance” (NPPF 2012 para 128). This historic appraisal forms part of the assessment process and is, therefore, required by the NPPF as supporting information to the planning/Listed Building Consent application.

1.4 The purpose of this report is to provide: a description of the proposal; a history of the development and evolution of the chosen location site; a gazetteer of heritage assets within the locality of the site; and a statement of significance for the location of the Ride.

1.5 The report contains the following sections:

• Summary of the proposed development;

• Outline of Longleat’s context and designations together with a gazetteer of adjacent heritage assets;

• Brief description of the Estate Yard;

• Summary of the planning context;

• A brief history of the Estate Yard and its setting; and

• A statement of significance.

1.6 The historic appraisal has been set out in a structured way and has been prepared with due regard for the guidelines on heritage statements prepared by central government. The report acts as a supporting document to other information provided to Wiltshire Council by NVB Architects and the Longleat Estate. Where necessary this appraisal makes reference to the work of NVB Architects and others with relevant plans and other documents included in the appendices.

1.7 Further background information on the proposed project are contained on the drawings and reports prepared by NVB Architects together with the Design and Access Statement prepared by NVB Architects and dated 12 August 2014.

2.0 Summary of the Proposed Development

2.1 The Longleat Estate are seeking to bring a new temporary exhibition of model dinosaurs to the park. These would be installed between 1/05/2015 and 30/09/2015, and would be located on land to the rear of the Walled Garden within the attraction area and Sandwalk Plantation.

2.2 The models are life-sized replicas of real dinosaurs and are clad in a painted latex material to give a ‘realistic’ appearance to the junior visitors to the park

2.4 Models are constructed on a lightweight frame which is loose- laid on the ground and are self-supporting (they do not require concrete footings or other permanent supports).

3.0 Site Context and Designations

3.1 The Longleat Estate is situated on the western border of Wiltshire, approximately 8 kilometres south west of the town of . The Estate extends to around 3800 hectares with the historic parkland lying primarily within the parishes of , Longbridge Deverill and Heath (see photograph below). The local planning authority is Wiltshire Council.

3.2 Longleat lies in the north east corner of the Blackmoor Vale and the Vale of Wardour Joint Character Area (No.133). The general landscape character of this area is one of undulating lush clay vales fringed by Upper Greensand hills and scarps. On these are set a complex mosaic of mixed farming, often including some small rectilinear pasture fields with hedgerow trees and small scattered broadleaved woodlands. The northern boundary of the area, where Longleat Park lies, is formed partly by the West Wiltshire Downs and partly by the ridge extending south eastwards from Frome, where the Mendip Hills, Cotswolds and Avon Vales meet in a complex transitional landscape.

3.3 Longleat House is the magnificent centrepiece of the designed historic landscape and is located in the central western part of the park. Built of Bath stone in the 16th century with early 19th century additions and alterations by Jeffry Wyatville, Longleat House (see photograph of the south elevation below) is a three storey country mansion (with basements) and consists of a large rectangular plan form around central courtyards.

3.4 The Stables are located c40 metres to the north west of the House and were designed by Sir Jeffry Wyatville for the 2nd Marquess in the earl y 19th century. The Stables, which have a main north to south axis and a strong cross axis, are built of limestone ashlar with neo-Elizabethan detailing to echo the style of the House.

3.5 Designations

Buildings

3.5.1 Longleat House is the principal building in the park and, as an exceptional example of an Elizabethan mansion, is considered to be of international importance. As such the House is listed grade I. The park and gardens also include the following listed buildings:

Grade I:

The Stables

The Orangery with Walled Garden (see image top left)

The Boathouse and Covered Bridge (see image bottom left) The Horningsham Lodge Grade II:

County Cottage Park Hill Cottage

The Fountain in front of the Orangery

The milestone in the park

Stalls Farmhouse and model farm buildings (just beyond the north boundary of the park)

Landscape

3.5.2 The park and gardens surrounding Longleat House, together with Shearwater lake, has been included on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England at grade I, in recognition of its outstanding international importance as a designed historic landscape.

3.5.3 The park and gardens also lie within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Archaeology

3.5.4 There are no Scheduled Monuments within the immediate vicinity of the Stables. The only site or feature recorded on the Wiltshire Historic Environment Record in close proximity to the Stables is the remains of the original priory which are now enclosed within the existing fabric of Longleat House.

3.6 Gazetteer of Adjacent Heritage Assets

3.6.1 The following table briefly sets out the designated heritage assets within the immediate vicinity of the events canopy that should be considered as part of this appraisal. The designated heritage assets are located on Figure 2.

4.0 Description of the Estate Yard

4.1 The Estate Yard (see photograph below left) has served the function of being a working area for staff and until recently it housed the Park and Gardens maintenance team. Other parts of the site are used for storage of merchandise, while the established sewage treatment plant is located at the northern end of the yard.

4.2 Currently the yard contains a single storey, prefab style staff facility together with a larger metal clad agricultural barn used for storage. Part of the open yard and a further range of functional buildings were taken in 2013 to build the new Penguin House which sits adjacent to the proposed new facility.

4.3 The buildings are functional and do not contain any historic fabric.

4.4 Of greater historic origin is the setting of the Estate Yard. The area falls along the north edge of the Sand Walk Plantation, a belt of mixed species broadleaved trees with an understorey of predominantly evergreen shrubs including laurel, yew and box, (seen in photograph top left forming a backdrop to the Orangery). On the north side of the yard is the sewage treatment plan which occupies part of the old Great Corsley Mead, a open piece of parkland with 17th century origins (see photograph to right).

5.0 Planning Context

5.1 This section of the historic appraisal makes brief mention of the main planning policies and guidance relevant to the proposed development.

5.2 The most relevant central Government policies and guidance on the historic environment that are pertinent to this development are:

• The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990; and

• The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012, section 12.

5.3 Note has also been taken of English Heritage’s position contained in:

• The Setting of Heritage Assets: English Heritage Guidance (October2011)

5.4 The proposed new visitor attraction does not have a direct impact on the fabric of any of the listed buildings, however, it does potentially have an effect on setting. Sections 16 and 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 make it clear that local authorities are required to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the setting of listed buildings. Furthermore, Section 7 of the Act provides that consent is normally required for any works of alteration or extension that would affect the character of a listed building.

5.5 The NPPF indicates the Government’s overarching aim that the historic environment and its heritage assets should be conserved and enjoyed. The NPPF states that local planning authorities “..should recognise that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and conserve them in a manner appropriate to their significance”. In developing this strategy, local planning authorities should take into account:

• the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to a viable use consistent with their conservation;

• the wider social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits that conservation of the historic environment can bring;

• the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness; and

• opportunities to draw on the contribution made by the historic environment to the character of a place.”

5.6 The NPPF goes on to stress that local planning authorities should identify and assess the particular significance of any heritage asset that may be affected by a proposal. Local planning authorities should also consider the impact of a proposed development on the significance of designated heritage assets with great weight being given to the asset’s conservation, which includes its setting. The more important the asset, the greater the weight should be. Any harm or loss to a heritage asset should require clear and convincing justification with substantial harm to a grade I listed building being wholly exceptional.

Local Policy Framework 5.7 The Wiltshire Core Strategy Development Plan Document was adopted in January 2015. It replaces the South Wiltshire Core Strategy as well as a number of policies from the former District Councils Local Plans. It sets out the spatial vision, key objectives and overall principles for development in the county. Particular attention is drawn to Core Policy 58: Ensuring the conservation of the historic environment.

5.8 Core Policy 58 seeks to ‘...protect, conserve and where possible enhance the historic environment...’ noting that development should not have an unacceptable impact on the historic environment. The policy goes on to state that designated heritage assets and their settings will be conserved, and where appropriate enhanced.

6.0 History

6.1 The historic development of the Estate Yard and the immediate surrounding area is set out briefly below. This section is intended to be a summary but is supported by the historic map sequence and overlay analysis contained at the end of this section.

6.2 It can be safely assumed that the area to the north of the proposed location for the attraction was historically an open area of pasture known as Corsley Mead that was once part of the 17th century deer park. The Siberechts paintings of Longleat in the mid 1670s show the area to the north of Longleat House as open land (see image below), although the exact site of the proposed development is hidden by the House.

6.3 In the late 17th and early 18th century the landscape was formalised and this area remained as open parkland, although bounded between the stream to the west and the long canal flanked by avenues to the east.

6.4 In the 1730s the 2nd Viscount Weymouth embarked on landscape improvements to the park at Longleat. One of the Viscount’s most significant additions was the creation of a ‘Serpentine River’ in Corsley Mead, created by softening the outline of the Great Canal. The results of the 2nd Viscount’s works are recorded on the Ladd survey of 1747 and show the softened water as being clearly visible from the old Frome Drive. These changes suggest that Corsley Mead had taken on a more significant place in the landscape at this time.

6.5 Ladd’s 1747 survey of Longleat provides great detail on the landscape and shows some changes had occurred to the area north of the House in the early 18th century. As far as the area of study is concerned the principal change is the development of a long, narrow range with an east - west orientation set between the House and Corsley Mead. Overlay analysis indicates that the proposed development site lay to the north of this range in the open park (see image below - Longleat Estate Archive).

6.6 In the late 1750s and early 1760s the 3rd Viscount Weymouth commissioned Lancelot Brown to make improvements to the park when the western edge of the canal which had been turned into a rococo curve in the 1730s, was further deformalized by Brown. 6.7 Brown’s work at Longleat started with men surveying the park and part of the surrounding area in 1756. By October 1757 Brown had entered into a contract with Viscount Weymouth for landscape works in the park which included levelling and draining ground south of the house, completing the removal of the formal gardens to the east and softening the series of canals in the valley. The Estate archives record payments, in 1756, to a Robert George for ‘removing earth in the Great Meadow (the area north of the House) which suggests that Corsley Mead was included in the mid 18th century landscape improvements.

6.8 The second of Brown’s contracts concentrated on the creation of the new walled garden, the ha-ha along High Wood and the formation of the pleasure grounds (Thynne Papers Box XX Vol LXXVII). The contract, which is dated November 1758, begins with work to level the ground in front of the house and High Wood down as far as the new ponds in the park. The contract makes it clear that this was a continuation of alterations in the park started the previous year.

6.9 The formation of the pleasure ground ha-ha either took longer than expected, or more probably the design was modified and extended, as Brown was to sign a third contract at Longleat in September 1759. This contract specifies the formation of a sunk fence along the southern boundary of the park, and confirms the parks expansion to the south in this period.

6.10 Brown’s last contract was signed in May 1762 with the works to be completed by September 1763. This contract mainly concentrates on land to the north west of the House, with the formation of a new road north of the stables and the removal of the straight road to Frome. Ditching works and the construction of the ha- ha west of the House are also included as was an evergreen shrub screen to hide intended new offices. Brown’s work in the early 1760s, therefore, saw the remodelling of the area to the west, northwest and north of the House, part of a process that consciously brought the White Marshes into the design of the landscape.

6.11 In the second half of the 18th century Lord Weymouth, latterly the 1st Marquess of Bath after 1789, continued to expand and improve the estate and this period is marked by a noted increase in woodland planting around the park. It is in this later 18th century phase that the 1st Marquess, or possibly his son, added some clump planting to Corsley Mead.

6.12 Having inherited the Estate in 1796 the 2nd Marquess appears to have continued his father’s work on the landscape but also sought to remodel the House and its setting. Certainly by the turn of the 19th century the 2nd Marquess had embarked on a fundamental reorganisation of the Estate helped by Jeffry Wyatt (later Jeffry Wyatville after 1824, knighted 1828) and Humphry Repton, which saw sweeping changes made in and around

Longleat House and in his Red Book for Repton made proposals for tree and shelterbelt planting along the western side of what it now Half Mile Pond - the belt became known as Sand Walk Plantation (see image from Red Book showing Repton’s vision for both the belt of trees along the water and the density of trees between the parkland (‘Mead’) and the gardens of Longleat House).

6.13 However, the Estate Steward, Thomas Davis, completed a survey of the estate and his map, dated 1804 (see image below) shows that the area was being altered in a way that is subtly different to that proposed by Repton. The Davis map carries some hand annotations within the outline of the Sand Walk which were clearly added at a later date, since they refer to areas of planting taking place here in 1825, 1826 and 1830. Evidence that the whole section was planted in the first half of the nineteenth century is provided by the 1844 Ordnance Survey map.

6.14 The 1844 map records, for the first time, the name ‘Sand Walk Plantation’, which is shown as it was to remain - as a solid block of woodland with a path running along the western bank of what had become known as the Half Mile Pond. The path runs to the north end of the water where it leads into the Rookery, now shown to extend around the top of the water and about a quarter of the way down the east bank, the path dividing left into main body of The Rookery, and right over a footbridge onto the east bank of Half Mile Pond. The Ordnance Survey map published in 1884, shows little change from 1844, although at 6” to the mile scale, rather than 25” to the mile (1844 map) there is slightly less detail - for example, the path is not shown. Great Corsely Mead retained the character created in the early 19th century until after Longleat House was opened as a tourist attraction (see map of Longleat from 1844 below).

6.15 Over the course of the first half of the twentieth century very little changed in the area. In the mid to late 20th century the Estate, in conjunction with the Caravan Club, established a caravan park to the north west of the site, and a sewage treatment plant for the House was installed as the south end of the meadow was developed as an Estate Yard . The existence and retention of Sand Walk Plantation appears to have been a driver in locating the works yard here - close to the House but well screened from it (see view opposite looking south- west across the Mead towards the Estate Yard and Sand Walk Plantation).

7.0 Statement of Significance

7.1 This section briefly summarises the significance of the area occupied by the Estate Yard, the attractions area to rear of the Walled Garden and the Sandwalk Plantation as the location for the proposed temporary dinosaur exhibition. Section 3.6 above contains a brief assessment of the other designated heritage assets in the immediate vicinity of the Yard.

7.2 Corsley Great Mead was once part of an early deer park, but has progressively lost its historic character, especially during the 20th century. It is now isolated from the main areas of parkland and visually hidden from the other historic features. Its southern end has lost its parkland character since being converted to a working yard in the second half of the twentieth century. Thus, today the significance of the land on which the Estate Yard sits is assessed as being low.

7.3 The Sand Walk Plantation, which forms the division and screen between the Estate Yard and the gardens together with the built historic features around Longleat House, is a highly significant woodland belt. Historically it formed part of a deliberately designed element of the Repton lands cape that was a key part of the estate improvements of the early 19th century as carried out by the 2nd Marquess, Jeffry Wyatville and Humphry Repton. Thus it functioned as a feature in its own right as well as being a wooded backdrop to the set of key buildings around Longleat House - the Stables, the Orangery and the Covered Boathouse (see image to right, showing view from Orangery towards the Sand Walk Plantation). It is therefore considered to be of considerable significance as part of the Repton landscape design, as well as demonstrating a strong relationship to the key built heritage assets.