Christian Science Church, Wells Road, Ilkley

The Hermit Inn Burley Woodhead DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT HERITAGE STATEMENT The Hermit has a long history with the earliest parts of the building dating from the mid 18th Century. The public house was formerly known as the Woolpack but the name changed to The Hermit in honour of Job Senior, a local eccentric who lived in a hut on the moor. Local folklore recalls that Senior serenaded crowds of locals who congregated at his “primitive domicile” by Coldstone Beck, above Robin Hole. According to Burley Local History South elevation Group, Senior was born in 1780 and w ith West / North elevations (below) worked as a labourer before retiring to his shack on Ilkley Moor. After which, he received donations from those who came to hear his chants. Senior’s funeral drew a huge number of mourners and he is buried in the churchyard in Burley-in-Wharfedale. The black and white photograph (left) of a hunt meeting probably dates from the 1930’s (or slightly earlier) following the John Smith’s purchase of the pub in 1920. The building is recorded in their archives as the ‘Hermit Inn and Brewhouse’. North elevation circa 1930 1847 OS 1889 OS Peter Harrison Architects January 2021 The accompanying Planning Statement discusses the reasons why a change of use to residential occupation provides the most appropraite means of ensuring the survival of this building in a form that respects it’s long history as a public house. During the second half of the twentieth century a series of licencees undertook a number of alterations to the original building in attempts to diversify the business in the face of falling income from the core business. The impact of these alterations has been to erode the character of the original building. The guiding principle of the proposed physical alterations were discussed with Martyn Burke in the pre-application enquiry to Bradford Metropolitan District Council and seeks to remove the smoking canopy to the north elevation and the extended dining and function room to the south elevation. These removals along with the re-instatement of windows currently occupied by large kitchen extractors will take the physical appearance of the building back towards it’s early twentieth century appearance. Removal of the shallow pitched function room and the large extract ventilation systems will return the south elevation to this earlier appearance. Likewise removal of the vents and smoking shelter to the north elevation will remove this clutter from this side. Whilst stripping away these modern additions it is proposed to retain the earlier pub sign above the rear (south) door. Replacement of modern uPVC windows with sliding sash windows will further restore the finer detailing of the earlier building Peter Harrison Architects January 2021 The existing internal sub-division of the building is largely retained within the proposed conversion but will include the stripping out of the modern WC’s and function room to restore the building to an earlier form with very limited alterations to allow the rooms to serve a domestic function. Proposed ground floor plan Proposed first floor plan The first floor plan is already used for the licencees residential use and requires only modest alteration but includes the creation of a new staircase. The original stone basement stairs and the layout of the rooms on the basement floor (which is at groud level on the east gable end) allows the creation of a self contained property to be managed either as a holiday let or perhaps as a short term let managed by the principle property on the upper floors. The east elevation is fully screened from public views of the building and enjoys long distance views east across the Wharfe valley. It is proposed to enlarge the (previously much altered) openings on this elevation to provide daylight into this lower floor and to the principle sitting room above. It is considered that these alterations will have no impact upon public views of the building. Peter Harrison Architects January 2021 East gable facing valley. The only new construction associated with this proposal is a modest double garage sited on the present car park area. This structure will be stone built in random stone brought to courses with its gable end abutting the road broadly in the manner of a roadside barn. In conclusion the original character of this well loved building is retained and enhanced by the alterations detailed within this application. Whilst the continued use of the building as a public house can not be sustained this carefully considered conversion to form two dwellings seeks to ensure the memory of The Hermit Inn is preserved. Peter Harrison Architects January 2021 .

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