Corporation Park Conservation Area

Corporation Park Conservation Area Supplementary Planning Document August 2014 Part 1 Conservation Area Appraisal 1 2 Contents: Part 1 Conservation Area Appraisal. 1. Introduction. 2. Location and setting. 3. Historical Development and archaeology. 4. Character and relationship of Spaces. 5. Key views and vistas. 6. Contribution made by Green Spaces to the Character of the Area. 7. Historic buildings and features. 8. Prevalent and Traditional Building Materials 9. Extent of Intrusion and Damage. 10. Boundary Review. 11. Community Involvement. 3 Figure 1 map of Conservation Area 4 Figure 2 Aerial view of Corporation Park Area 5 1. Introduction. The Corporation Park Conservation Area was designated in 1975, and Corporation Park 2 was designated as a separate Conservation Area in 1990. Both areas are combined here in one appraisal and referred to as the Corporation Park Conservation Area. The Corporation Park Conservation Area lies northwest of Blackburn town centre, on the north side of Preston New Road and covers approximately 18ha? The Conservation Area is focused upon Corporation Park itself which is an English Heritage designated Park and Garden of Special Historic Interest, and the surrounding high quality residential area which developed on its fringe in the mid-late C19th. The principal streets within the Conservation Area are West Park Road and East Park Road, Dukes Brow to the west and Shear Bank Road to the east. The extent of the area is shown on the map Fig 1. 1.2 Conservation Area Status The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires local planning authorities to determine which parts of their jurisdiction merit conservation area status. Section 69 of the Act defines conservation areas as: ‘ Areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.’ The special character of a conservation area is usually derived from a combination of features which include individual statutory listed buildings, historic street patterns, views and vistas, traditional building materials and areas of open space and greenery. The designation of a conservation area demonstrates a commitment by the local planning authority to protect and enhance the special character. Conservation area status is not intended to stifle new development nor preserve as museum pieces, in fact conservation areas should evolve to meet changing demands. Local Planning Authorities are however legally obliged to ensure that the special architectural and historic characters of their conservation areas are not eroded when taking planning and development control decisions. They are assisted in this obligation by additional controls that are afforded to them by conservation area status. These are: • Planning Permission is required for the demolition of buildings or structures (with certain exemptions) within conservation areas. • Planning permission may be required for certain changes to buildings that would normally be permitted elsewhere. Changes requiring permission include cladding a building, erecting a satellite dish in a visible location, and material changes to commercial buildings. This list is not exhaustive and it is advisable to contact the Planning Authority prior to carrying out works on a property within the Conservation Area. • All trees within a conservation area are protected and some trees have Tree Preservation Orders. Works to trees within a conservation area require consent from the Council. This enables the contribution that the tree makes to the character of the area to be assessed. 6 1.3 Planning Policy The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how they are expected to be applied. The Council is required to prepare a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment in their Local Plan. In doing so should take into account the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; the wider social, cultural, economic, and environmental benefits that the 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 place. When considering the impact of a proposed development Local Planning Authorities should weigh the harm or loss to significance against the public benefits of a proposal (policies 133 and 134, NPPF). Policy 141 of the NPPF requires Local Planning Authorities to make information about the significance of the historic environment publicly accessible. Publishing this character appraisal will comply with this requirement. The Core Strategy for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the Local Strategic Planning Policy Document for the Borough and requires in Policy CS17 for new development to identify and take opportunities to integrate and promote the Borough’s cultural assets. More detailed policies relevant to development management decisions are set out in the saved policies from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Local Plan, and the Local Plan Part 2 Publication draft. Saved policies from the Local Plan are; • Policy HD 11 Development in and adjacent to conservation areas. • Policy HD12 Alterations to unlisted buildings in conservation areas. • Policy HD 13 Alterations to listed buildings. • Policy HD14 Demolition of listed and unlisted buildings in conservation areas. Policy 39 is the relevant policy in the Local Plan Part 2 Publication draft. On Development affecting Heritage Assets and sets out how the Council will manage change affecting the historic environment. The policies can be viewed on the Council’s web site www.blackburn.gov.uk. 7 2.0 Location and Setting. 2.1 The area is laid out on rising land north west of Blackburn Town Centre and extends to the ridge marked by Revidge Road to the North. The land rises gradually from the entrance and the park itself is laid on sloping ground generally falling from northwest to southeast. The Park itself has an irregular outline defined by the surrounding roads of Park Crescent and West Park Road to the west, Brantfell Road and East Park Road to the East. Rear boundaries of properties along Revidge Road form the northern boundary to the Conservation Area, and rear boundaries of properties on the south side of Preston New Road form the southern boundary. The area is predominantly residential comprising detached and semi-detached properties set in large plots with terraced properties to the fringes of the area. The Park forms a large central area of open, landscaped area with a narrow main entrance at the southern end, and broadens out to nearly extend across the full width of the conservation area at its northern end. There are seven listed buildings within the Conservation Area, other than the park itself which is Grade II* designated Park and Garden. There are many unlisted buildings within the area which are historically and architecturally significant. The mature landscape and ancillary structures such as distinctive boundary walls are also of significance. The most dominant building is the grand entrance to the park which creates an important gateway to the area. The rising topography within the park and the conservation area gives rise to significant views across the whole of the town and beyond. Figure 3 Entrance to Corporation Park 8 3. Historical Development and Archaeology. 3.1 Pre industrial. The town of Blackburn was developed around the site of the Cathedral, and along the line of the existing Roman Road from Manchester to Ribchester. There is no known Roman settlement at Blackburn. Throughout the medieval period and beyond Blackburn was the administrative centre of the huge ‘hundred’ of Blackburn which extended across east Lancashire from the edge of Preston to the Yorkshire border. Prior to the development of Corporation Park, the area was a sloping site on the east side of Billinge Hill, which was depicted as an area of irregular fields, wooded cloughs and a reservoir of the Blackburn Water Works. On the East side was a collection of buildings at Shear Bank. To the west was a lane Dukes Brow running northwest towards Revidge Four Lane Ends. By the seventeenth century a number of folds existed in the area including Old Bank Fold whose principal building is Bank House which is said to be the oldest house in Blackburn and dates from the early seventeenth century. It was from here that during the Civil War the royalist Sir Gilbert Hoghton ineffectually bombarded the town using a small cannon around Christmas 1642. There is a plaque that commemorates this event on the gate post of the house at Adelaide Terrace. Blackburn was noted for textiles by 1750 and thereafter expanded rapidly with the growth in the cotton industry. Infrastructure was a key contributor to the expansion of Blackburn, including the turnpike roads, canals and railways. The turnpike roads were superseded in the early seventeenth century by new roads with easier gradients one of which was Preston New Road which ran from Preston through Salmesbury to Blackburn. The development of this new road facilitated development west of the Town. Figure 4 Red Rake represents an early farming fold prior to the construction of the park. 9 Figure 5 Map of Blackburn 1849. 10 Figure 6 View from the battery when the Park first opened. Note how little developed the area was and the dominance of mill chimneys in the background. 11 3.2 Nineteenth Century Development. The steep terrain from the top of Montague Street to Beardwood was mostly open terrain still by 1850 and the area was punctuated by quarries, individual homes and farms of cottages forming isolated cottages. This was all to change in the coming 100 years. The homes of the wealthy industrialists who had sought solitude in the area were to be surrounded and then supplanted by those of their managers and workmen and their housing which remains there today.

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