Corporation Park Conservation Area Appraisal, Management Plan & Development Guidelines Draft January 2013 1

Part 1 Conservation Area Appraisal

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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.

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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 .

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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.

Saves 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.

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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 north west 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.

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Figure 4 Map of Blackburn 1849.

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Figure 5 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.

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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. The process began with the creation of Corporation Park.

The land was acquired by the Blackburn Corporation from Lord of the Manor Joseph Feilden, who had reserved it for public use. An area of 50 acres was sold to the Corporation for £65 per acre with a condition of the contract being that the roads were made on either side, namely East and West Park Roads. The Park was opened in 1857, with a grand entrance off Preston New Road created in the form of a triumphal arch and lodges on East Park and West Park Road. The old reservoirs were made into ornamental lakes, terraces and carriageways were built, fountains installed and two Crimean war cannon were installed at the top of the hill. The opening of the park was a very grand affair attended by many thousands of citizens and much celebration and ceremony.

From the mid nineteenth century the area surrounding the Park became the focus of high class residential development. Prior to this the upper and mercantile classes resided in the Georgian terraces along Richmond Terrace and King Street. Prestigious housing development was concentrated along East and West Park Road, and Dukes Brow was also subsumed. Some of the building had commenced prior to the Park opening as is indicated by a date stone of 1856 on Park View Crescent opposite the Park entrance. A lithographic view of the Park in 1857 (Fig 4) demonstrates that development had only began to encroach beyond the town centre into the fields beyond, the view being dominated by mill chimneys.

An area of land which had been part of Red Rake farm was added to the northern end of the park shortly after the initial opening. This extension was used for a playground, a bowling green being constructed later as work for the unemployed. The Broad walk was laid out in the 1860s as part of the improvements undertaken by unemployed operatives, and forms the main axis of the park layout. Here on Sundays crowds of young men and maidens would walk four or five abreast, promenading from end to end between 3’oclock and 4.30.

Villas for the well to do, were scaled down copies of the mansions further out of town, with sweeping drives and landscaped gardens to complement the villas. The typical middle class villa was set back from the road with its own carriage drive, with twelve to fifteen rooms, some of which accommodated servants. The area benefited from the advent of tram travel in 1886 which would take passengers to Billinge End. By the end of the nineteenth century nearly all the former farms and cottages had been eradicated on the Brow and replaced by the new terraces of the respectable artisans or new houses of the lower middle class. The original names such as ‘The Dingle’ were replaced by streets bearing the names of such figures as Queen Adelaide (hence

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Adelaide Terrace) consort to William IV in the 1830s, Princess Alexandra who married the future Edward VII in 1863 or Victorian statesmen such as Granville or Cranbourne.

By the 1880s there was an urgent need for more schools in the area. ‘Edmundson’s Academy’ with nearly 100 pupils expanded to its rear into the adjoining low building now used by Queen Elizabeth Grammar school. The Grammar school moved from premises in Freckleton Street to new premises in West Park Road which still is the nucleus of the school today. A number of small private schools also flourished including one ‘All Springs’ in Dukes Brow and a Methodist Sunday school at Dukes Hall on Alexandra Road.

Where school children had their work adults had their play and opportunities arose for this at East Lancashire cricket club which opened in Alexandra Meadows in 1863 and the Bowling Club on Shear Bank Road in 1867. For those less able to stump up the fee for such clubs, a more leisurely time could be had having a drink in any of the public houses that had sprung up in the area, to name a few the Dog Inn (Revidge Road), Alexandra Hotel on Dukes Brow, the Quarryman’s Arms also on Dukes Brow and the Gibraltar. Churches also sprang up though many are just outside the Conservation Area such as The Baptist Church in Leamington Road which was erected in 1893. The rapid expansion of the area in the few decades following the creation of the Park was remarkable and is clearly seen in the 1890 map in figure 7.

Figure 6 Bandstand in the park erected 1880

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Figure 7 Map of Conservation Area 1890

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3.3 Twentieth century to present day.

Further expansion of the area continued and the development of streets such as Brantfell Road was completed in the early twentieth century with its unique stepped highway. The Grammar school on West Park Road continued to expand and occupies many of the former villas along the West Park Road with some modern infill sections. Further development of the Park continued, the Conservatory was opened in 1900 and 10 new tennis courts were laid out in 1924 on the land adjacent to Revidge Road.

The late twentieth century saw little physical change which was largely a result in the decline of the textile industry. The Aviary next to the conservatory was erected in 1950.

Figure 8 Brantell Rd and its stepped highway.

There have been some small scale infill housing developments from the middle of the century, and the development of Barbara Castle Way to the south of the area cut through former terraces and businesses. Many of the villas especially along Preston New Road have more recently been converted to offices and or have been subdivided in to flats or bedsit homes. There has been significant investment in the Park itself in the twenty first century with a Heritage Lottery Grant to enhance its environment in 2004 and included the clearance of woodland and scrub, the restoration of terraces, walks and landscape features.

Figure 9 New Development in Park Crescent.

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Figure 10 Townscape analysis map

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4.0 Character and relationship to spaces.

The centre piece of the Conservation Area is undoubtedly the Park which forms a distinctive landscape setting to the streets surrounding it. It also dominates vistas from outside the conservation area. The prevailing townscape character of the area is of nineteenth century villas set in landscaped grounds bordering serpentine roads flanked by stone boundary walls as characterised by East and West Park, and Shear Brow. There are however variations to this predominant townscape characteristic and some distinct character areas are described below and shown on the map at the end of this section.

4.1 Character Areas.

1. Revidge Road.

This linear road at the northern edge of the Conservation Area has panoramic views across the park and is lined by red brick and stone terraces dating from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Revidge Road forms the spine road to this area with the Park boundary on its southern side. Along its length are also clusters of earlier stone cottages which represent the former farming folds that existed prior to the development of the Park such as Red Rake. These are modest rows of two story cottages which contrast with the more elegant later larger terraces with stone window bays. The terraces are set back from the footway with small front gardens and dwarf boundary wall, the larger terraces have stone bay windows.

Figure 11 Terraces along Revidge Road

2. Brantfell Road.

This street was laid in the early twentieth century and is characterised by a stepped row of terraced properties descending down a steep slope on the eastern edge of the Park. The section of road that meets Revidge Road descends the slope in a series of stone shallow steps, 60 in total to accommodate the significant change in level resulting in a unique townscape character. Two storey red brick terraced houses front onto the eastern boundary of the Park. Dwarf front boundary walls enclose small front gardens, complemented by projecting bay ground floor windows that overlook the park. The original setted highway still remains today.

Figure 12 Brantfell Rd and its steps. 17

3. Mid Nineteenth century Villa development area.

This area forms the larger portion of the Conservation Area and includes the streets flanking the Park boundaries. This area includes East and West Park Road, and Shear Bank Road which are serpentine streets fronted by large detached stone and brick mid nineteenth century villas, interspersed with semi-detached properties. The dominant aspect is the mature landscape, tree lined roads, and only glimpses of the villas can be gained through gateposts and up sweeping drives. The villas and their gardens complement the setting of the Park and were developed at the same time as the Park. The serpentine roads climb steeply and afford views of Blackburn to the south. High stone walls flank many of the streets and contribute to the secluded suburban character. Dwellings are in the main detached or semi- detached set back from the road, behind stone boundary walls. Villa styles have classical and gothic influences such as the elegant gabled roof forms of the stone built Franciscan Figure 13 Typical villa in the area. Convent formerly Stoneleigh on East Park Road to the more modest semi-detached villas of Dukes Brow and Adelaide terrace.

Figure 14 Shear Bank House on Lilford Road.

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4. Corporation Park 2, Preston New Road.

This section of the Conservation Area has a more urban feel and was designated as a separate area which formed the Corporation Park 2 Conservation Area. Plots are predominantly long and narrow and comprise- semi-detached buildings or groups of three. The buildings are set towards the front of the long deep plots with rear gardens behind. Landscape elements are less pronounced and many properties have been converted to offices or subdivided with garden areas being given over to hard standing. Styles vary but are mostly redbrick three storey buildings, with steeply gabled roofs. Front elevations have vertically proportioned window openings and projecting bays. Red brick or stone boundary walls with railings and gate posts form an attractive edge to the street.

Figure 15 Group of properties ,Preston New Rd.

5. Wellington Street St John.

This portion of the Conservation Area comprises two storey red brick nineteenth century terraces. There is a more urban character to this section of the Conservation Area, plots are narrow with small front areas or buildings fronting directly onto the footway. Property styles have classical references with stone dressings and columned entrances. Many of the properties have been converted to offices. Some of the terraced properties on the East side have square bays to the font and a dentil cornice, pitched roofs step up the slope. There is a small of group of early nineteenth century stone cottages along Limerick Rd on the eastern edge of the Conservation Area.

Figure 16 View north along Wellington Street St John. 19

6. Corporation Park.

The Park is the centre piece of the Conservation Area and has its own character as a significant public space comprising winding paths, lakes and fountains. From the arch at the principal entrance the main drive leads northwards up through a steep sided valley. A stream, broken with falls and pools forms a feature along the ornamentally planted western bank. The drive leads below the substantial dam of the main lake passing a little cascade over a rockery. Adjacent to this fall stands a statue of Flora by Thomas Allen of Liverpool. The main lake known as the big Can covers 1Ha has an irregular outline with a small island. It was formed from a pre-existing reservoir, Pemberton Clough created in 1772. To the west of the lake lies a second smaller piece of water with two islands and a restored fountain at its centre. Figure 17 View east along the Broadwalk At the heart of the Park the drive forks, the western branch leading west along the Park and swinging round to the west end of the Broad Walk, the eastern branch leading between the two ponds then serpentining north eastwards to join with the east end of the Walk. The Broad Walk laid out in the 1860s at the northern end of the Park forms the main axis of the Park layout on higher land and from here there are panoramic views across the wider area, across the town and beyond to the hills to the south. A row of lime trees mark the southern end of the Walk. To the north walks cut into the rock lead between rocky outcrops up the steeply sloping ground to the top level of the Park. Figure 18 The main lake in Corporation Park.

The main path leads in front of an underground reservoir, the embankment of which juts into the northern end of the Park, to a stone built battery. This viewing platform stands 213.5 m above sea level which allows views of the Town below. The Park has one of 4 regional panopticans here. To the east a path leads from the Revidge Road entrance, tennis courts can be found here, terraced into the hillside. A further set of hard tennis courts lie below the eastern end of the Broad Walk above the three bowling greens.

Figure 19 Statue of Flora 20

Figure 20 Map showing character areas.

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5.0 Key Views and Vistas

The mature trees and landscape along most routes within the Conservation Area generally obscure views especially when trees are in full foliage, however by virtue of the steeply rising topography there are glimpsed views of the distant hills and the town through openings in the canopy such as at the junction with Lilford Road and Shear Bank Road. The most important views are from high ground in the Park as along the Broad Walk, the view point at the battery, and from Revidge Road. The view of the Corporation Park Conservatory within the Park is also significant as it forms a focus along the main footpath northwards in the Park and can also be viewed from West Park Road. The main arched gateway to the Park on Preston New Road has a dominant presence in the Street and can be viewed from east and west approaches along Preston New Road.

Figure 21 View along Broadwalk (left), Along Preston New Rd (middle) and from steps down from Broadwalk in the Park (right).

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6.0 Contribution made to the Character of the Area by Green spaces.

The generous gardens which are a characteristic of the area provide an opportunity for mature trees to emerge as dominant features in the Conservation Area and combined with the Park landscape give the area a wooded semi-rural character. The penetration of open space afforded by recreational spaces such as the East Lancashire cricket club on West Park Road opens out the townscape with a large expanse of green, and can be glimpsed through openings in the boundary walls.

The Bowling club on Shear Bank Road is also another formal space which is also enclosed by high walls but also opens out the townscape and affords views to buildings on higher ground beyond.

Sweeping drives, shrubs border and lawns are common elements of the Conservation Area that give the sense of an exclusive setting. The arrangement of dwellings accommodating set backs from the street have allowed for gardens and mature landscape to dominate the street scene. The large walled front and side garden area to the Franciscan convent at the junction of West Park Road and Lilford Road is of particular note and provides an attractive landscape setting to this part of the area and the building.

Figure 22 Shear Bank Road Bowling Green and clubhouse.

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7.0 Historic Buildings and Features.

There are seven listed buildings in the Conservation Area which are described below. There are also many individual buildings and groups of buildings which make a positive contribution to the area, the most notable are also described in the subsequent section. The Park itself is a Grade II* Registered Park and Garden.

Bank House, 8 Adelaide Terrace. (map ref 1)

Bank House is a two storey stone cottage which probably dates from the seventeenth century as one of the window panes has a date of 1744. The front elevation has stone mullioned windows and a two storeyed centre gabled porch, with balls, and a round arched entrance. The wing at the rear is of constructed of old handmade brick with sash windows and a projecting chimney. Immediately in front of the house is a small garden with an eighteenth century fountain called the ‘spewing laddie’ consisting of a square stone column topped by a small naked boy blowing the water jet, a circular stone basin with urns, and 2 standing stone statues of Orpheus with a Lyre and Eurydice in chains. The building predates the opening of the Park and is one of few surviving buildings from the pre-industrial period. Figure 23

Entrance Gateway and Flanking Lodges, South Entrance, Corporation Park. (2)

The main entrance to the Park on Preston New Road is in the form of a triumphal arch built in 1855, and constructed in ashlar stone. The central tall round arch has fine mouldings flanked with by 2 tiers of smaller round arches. The arch is crowned by a rich cornice and the pediment ornamented by the Corporation coat of arms. The two small lodges at each side have round arched windows in pairs. It is a grand statement piece of architecture reflecting the wealthy aspirations of the Corporation when the Park was created .The entrance dominates this side of Preston New Road. Figure 24

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Conservatory at West End of Park. (3)

On the northwest side of the Park is a large conservatory constructed of cast iron and erected in 1902. It replaced a former glass house that proved to be too small due to the popularity of viewing rare blooms in the nineteenth century. The chosen design was by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham and comprises a central rectangular house, gabled at both ends with a clock in the pediment. The iron is richly ornamented with arches, pierced spandrels and columns. Lower flanking wings have curved ends. The building is a good example of a Victorian Conservatory.

Figure 25 42-46 Preston New Road (4).

This is a short terrace of three Victorian town houses constructed of red brick in the palazzo style, with stone dressings. They have hipped slate roof with eaves on deep stone brackets, rising as round arches over 4 half-dormers. The centre house is larger and slightly projecting, with a centre round-arched doorway in a shallow porch, and single round-arched sash window above; flanking double round-arched sashes on each floor, and 2 half-dormers at eaves level. Nos 42 and 46 are symmetrically placed at each side, with similar doorways and one double round- arched sash on each floor, and one half-dormer. A rear wing at each end is set back from front facade. The buildings represent a dignified and unified composition, relatively unaltered. The front area has a circular drive with a central shrubbery feature giving the buildings a landscape setting from the road.

Figure 26

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Figure 27 Heritage Significance.

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Unlisted Buildings of Note. The special character provided by the conservation area’s listed buildings and features is further enhanced by the numerous unlisted buildings, yet historically and or architecturally interesting buildings. These buildings are considered to be notable and make a positive contribution to the conservation area and include many of the detached and semi-detached villas. A few have been selected and described below:

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, QEGS, West Park Road.(5)

The main school building fronts West Park Road and is constructed in stone, was built in the 1880s. The school itself was granted a charter in 1567 and was first sited next to the parish church in Blackburn. The present site was acquired in the nineteenth century and included Horncliffe an Italianate mid C19th house and subsequently the main school building was developed in 1882-4 by Frederick Robinson of Derby in the Elizabethan style. The building is characterised by gables at roof level, a large perpendicular east window and stained glass windows to main hall. The principal window shows Elizabeth I granting the Charter to the school.

Figure 28 QEGS main building West Park Rd. Claremont house, Lilford Road. (6)

A large villa in the Italianate style built in the mid nineteenth century in red brick with stone ornamentation. The main entrance would have originally fronted East Park Road, and comprises a front stone porch flanked with ionic stone columns and two storey bays. The roof is hipped with stone slates finished at the eaves with a moulded stone cornice. The property was the home of Richard Coddington, a mill owner. The building has been extended and converted into apartments with much of the grounds accommodating car parking accessed from Lilford Road. The front of the plot has been developed into modern apartments.

Figure 29 Entrance elevation Claremont House

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Franciscan Convent and coach house, East Park Road. (7)

At the junction of East Park Road and Shear Bank is a large stone house built in the gothic style, of mid to late nineteenth century date. The building is set back from West Park Road with a sweeping drive to the portico entrance. The roof is characterised by gables with ornate eaves details and turreted two storey bay windows on the south side. Windows are timber sliding sash with arched heads. The Coach house to the rear is also on a grand scale, gabled at both ends, with projecting half dormers to roof and topped by a pyramidal wind vane. The building was formerly a villa in the name of ‘Stoneleigh’ and the home of Mr James Hargreaves. The building is one of the few stone villas in the area which is virtually unaltered and has grounds which are relatively intact. It represents a good example of the grand villa in the gothic style built for the emerging Figure 30 Front Elevation Francisca Convent. mercantile class in the nineteenth century.

Shear bank House, Lilford Road. (8)

A two storey stone built detached house fronting Lilford Road, with its side boundary to Shear Bank Road. It has a modest frontage with a projecting porch flanked by single storey bays. The building is set within substantial grounds and may have formed part of an earlier farming complex that was later subsumed by the mid nineteenth century villa developments.

Figure 31 Shear Bank House The Coach House, Shear Bank Road.(9)

This single storey building is set at right angles to Shear Bank Road and was formerly the coaching house to Claremont House. It is the largest surviving coaching house in the area and has a long linear footprint set at right angles to Shear Bank Road with nine arched carriageway openings to the front elevation topped by a stone parapet. It has been converted into a children’s nursery and the former coaching doors have been replaced with modern windows. It is a good example of a large coach house which served the mercantile wealthy classes.

Figure 32 Coach house view from Shear Bank Rd 28

Netherleigh and Edgerton Shear Bank Road.(10)

A pair of semi-detached dwellings of late nineteenth century origin fronting Shear Bank Road and designed in an eclectic style with timbered gables, towering chimneys and stone window details. The houses are elevated from the road with sweeping drives and lawned front areas. They are a good example of the Arts and Craft style influences on wealthy residences which seek to emulate the grander mansions of the aristocracy.

Figure 33 Netherleigh and Edgerton

Gate Houses and Gates East and West Park Road.(11 and 12)

The gate house lodges at the East and West Park Road Entrances are identical stone built part single storey buildings with a gabled projecting two storey bays to the left hand side. There is a steeply pitched porch roof with recessed entrance. Roof has fish tail slate detailing. The gate house complements the gate house to the west entrance and is a good unaltered example of a gate house designed in the gothic style. The gate piers are substantial stone gate posts with dental detailing and large profiled stone head. Ornamental cast iron gates complement the gate posts.

The Bowling Club, Shear Bank Road.(13) Figure 34 East Park Lodge Set behind high stone boundary walls at the junction of Shear Bank Road and Clarence St is a bowling green and single storey club house built in 1867. The site was gifted to the bowling club by Lord Fielden and moved to this site in the nineteenth century from its original site along St Peters Street. The Bowling club is a long low building set behind the bowling green to the rear of the site, and characterised by arched window openings with small panes, and a fish tail slate pattern to the roof. It is a good example of a recreational facility which was serving the emerging wealthy residents of this growing nineteenth century wealthy area.

29 Figure 35 Shear Bank Bowling Club.

66 Preston New Road (14)

A three storey stone built town house opposite the junction of Preston New Road with Montague Street. It is an elegant property built in the classical style with a columned front entrance portico. It is distinctly Georgian in character and predates the creation of the Park. The site was formerly known as Lower Bank as it lies on lower ground than Bank House and would have formed part of Bank Fold. The front elevation is constructed of smooth ashlar stone, and is three window bays wide with sliding sash windows to all three floors. Railings enclose the small front area.

Figure 36 66 Preston New Road

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8.0 Prevalent and traditional building materials and the public realm.

Materials.

The majority of the buildings have been constructed in a red brick with stone dressings. The earlier villas have a red brick with a rich warm colour and variety of bonded constructions. Later nineteenth century buildings have a darker red brick or an Accrington engineered brick. Isolated stone built properties have used a buff yellow sandstone or a sandstone grit. The surface has either been tooled, or dressed and is regularly coursed. A warm sandstone is a common feature to window surrounds and on bays. It is also used to accentuate gutters and eaves. Segmental brick arches to windows are also prevalent. On some early twentieth century properties there can be found mock timbering and render such as at Netherleigh on East Park Road.

Figure 37 Red brick property

Windows.

Window openings and styles vary throughout the area and are important decorative features. The prevalent style are in the main square headed or arched with timber sliding sashes, some have been replaced with UPVC. The openings have a vertical proportion and sashes are split in the main in to two panes. Openings are quite often paired as on QEGS and dressed in stone, window bays are also a prevalent feature. Dormers feature on some buildings.

Figure 38 An original window 31

Roofs and chimneys.

Roofs are pitched and predominantly constructed in a blue grey slate and characterised by steep gables especially to front and side elevations. Tall chimney stacks are prevalent and often exaggerated and are either in red brick or stone with glazed clay chimney pots of varying styles. Ornamental timber fascias are a feature of gabled elevations and decoration is also common to the eaves and gutters.

Rooflines add visual interest and gable ends of dwellings can be glimpsed through the trees and can be dominant features on elevated sites.

Figure 39 tall stone chimney stack Boundaries.

Stone and brick boundaries abound in the Conservation Area, with a scattering of original railings. Shear Brow is lined on much of its length with a stone boundary wall constructed from a rough textured grit stone but random coursed stone boundaries also prevail as on Dukes Brow. In some cases these may have formed former field boundaries. Gate posts of varying styles are a very distinctive element of the Conservation Area, the most significant are to the East and West entrances of the Park. Gate posts to properties often have the original house name engraved on them and can be very ornate. Many of the original cast iron and wrought iron railings have been lost. The railings around the park itself have been restored and reinstated and are characterised by a spear head detail. The ornate entrance gates to the park entrances have also been restored and are very distinctive incorporating the coat of arms.

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Figure 40 Stone gate post

Street furniture

Footways would have been stone flagged and roads surfaced in granite setts. There are some stone flagged pavements in the area, but many have been tarmacked over. Setted streets are also evident such as can be found on Brantfell Road and Hope Terrace and are characterised by large granite setts. There are traditional style modern lamp posts in the area. Original surface treatments should be retained where possible or reinstated.

Ancillary Building features. Figure 41 Setted street Brantfell Rd Coach houses and conservatories would have been attached or erected within the grounds of the large wealthy houses. Carriage ownership was part of the affluent middle class lifestyle and houses and stables would thus have been very important and essential ancillary buildings to the larger houses in the area. Very few original conservatories survive today but are an important feature and should be retained if they are original.

A number of Coach houses are scattered within the grounds of the larger properties in the Conservation Area or have become separate dwellings in their own right. The largest is on Shear Bank Road, and formerly the coach house to Claremont House with numerous stone built arched bays for the carriages. At Beechwood there is a small red brick two storey coach house facing Shear Bank Road with a circular

Figure 42 Coach House window and double width carriage opening. Other coach houses are constructed either of stone or brick built double or single width with slate pitched roofs. A coach house within the QEGs site includes a carriage house, stable and hayloft which survives with some original fittings. 33

Landscape Features and trees.

Trees within the conservation area are protected by conservation area designation and in the Corporation Park Conservation Area make a very important visual contribution. There are also numerous individual and group Tree Preservation Orders throughout the area where trees have also been specifically protected for their landscape value to the area and are sited within the front and rear garden areas of properties . Mixed tree groups soften the built up character of the area.

Within the Park itself there are formal and informal clusters of trees, all are significant to the character of the park. The most significant formal arrangements are the row of lime trees marking the southern edge of the Broad Walk and to the south of this a line of pine trees define Pine walk.

The streets are dominated by mature trees and shrubs, set within the generous front gardens of the plots and at the edges of the Park, and contribute to the leafy wooded landscape character of the area. From long distance views the tree canopy is the dominant visual characteristic that defines this area apart from the built up areas of surrounding terraced streets.

Figure 43 East Park Road

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9.0 The extent of intrusion or damage. A number of large buildings have a negative impact on the conservation area. The derelict former YMCA building on Clarence Street and mosque in Wellington Street St Johns Street are inappropriate in terms of their scale, design and materials. These buildings have a horizontal emphasis with flat roofs and a large footprint. Many gardens have been given over to tarmac for car parking which detract from the setting of individual buildings and cars dominate the spaces.

Figure 44 Mosque Wellington Street St John

9.1 Key issues and pressures are:

 Loss of architectural features such as fenestration.

 Garden areas given over to parking.

 Changes of use and sub-division of properties into small units.

 Infill of gap sites by new development of inappropriate scale and design.

 Alterations and extensions inappropriate in terms of design, scale and materials.

 Proliferation of Signage?

 Poor maintenance of buildings.

 Loss of trees and landscape features. 35

9.2 Opportunities

It will be necessary to address issues and threats in order to secure the Conservation Area’s long term Character and viability as an important heritage asset. There is opportunity to:

 Address existing buildings which erode character and quality.

 Prevent the threat of unsympathetic development.

 Prevent the gradual erosion of special character.

 Encourage the reuse of vacant buildings.

 Protect key views and vistas.

 Enhance public realm with appropriate materials.

 Promote appropriate techniques of repair.

 Reduce dominance of in curtilage car parking.

 Enhance the interpretation of the historic interest in the area.

 Minimise the sub-division of properties.

 Promote appropriate landscape management.

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10. Boundary Review.

10.1 Corporation Park 2 Conservation Area is a separate designation and includes properties on the south side of Preston New Road fronting onto the Park. This area has many similarities to the wider Corporation Park Conservation Area and can create confusion as a separate designation. It is proposed to combine both areas as one single Corporation Park Conservation Area designation to give greater clarity when making development management decisions and to promote consistent decision making. The status of properties would not be altered as a result of this change.

Figure 45 Pair of Semi-detached villas Preston New Road.

11.Community Consultation.

Residents and public will be consulted on the draft documents, the outcome of the consultation will be reported in this section.

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References.

‘Blackburn’ A History by Derek Beattie. 2007 Carnegie

‘Blackburn A photographic History of your Town ‘; by Alan Duckworth 2002.

‘The New Corporation Park in 1857, Blackburn Times 25th July 1935.

Lancaashire North, The Buildings or England; Clare Hartwell and Nikolaus Pevsner 2009

Corporation Park 1857-2007 www.cottontown.

Contact.

Jackie Whelan

Strategic Planning Section,

Regeneration Department

Blackburn with Darwen Council.

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