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HeritageCollective Heritage Proof of Evidence Dr Jonathan Edis BA MA PhD MCIfA IHBC (1) Land North of St George’s Road, Semington (2) Land North of Pound Lane, Semington On behalf of Oxford Law Limited May 2017 PINS Ref: APP/Y3940/W/16/3164255 PINS Ref: APP/Y3940/W/16/3162997 LPA Ref: 16/06956/OUT LPA Ref: 16/05783/OUT Heritage Collective Ref: 3306 HeritageCollective CONTENTS PAGE NO. 1.0 QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 4 2.0 INTRODUCTION 5 3.0 RELEVANT HERITAGE POLICY AND GUIDANCE 8 4.0 SIGNIFICANCE AND SETTING OF HERITAGE ASSETS 11 5.0 IMPACTS ON HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE 22 6.0 CONCLUSIONS 27 Appendices (Two separate volumes, 1-29, and 30) 1 CANAL LOOKING WEST FROM SEMINGTON BRIDFE 2 CANAL LOOKING WEST, SEMINGTON AQUEDUCT 3 SEMINGTON AQUEDUCT 4 CANAL LOOKING WEST FROM THE SWING BRIDGE 5 ST GEORGE’S FROM THE CANAL 6 PILLBOX LOOKING SOUTH 7 PILLBOX, WESTERN EMBRASURE 8 PILLBOX, SOUTH SIDE 9 PILLBOX FROM FOOTPATH, ST GEORGE’S ROAD 10 ST GEORGE’S FROM THE NORTH WEST 11 ST GEORGES FROM THE WEST 12 ST GEORGES FROM THE WEST 13 ST GEORGE’S FROM THE WEST 14 ST GEORGES FROM THE WEST, ST GEORGE’S PLACE 15 ST GEORGE’S FROM THE SOUTH WEST, ST GEORGE’S PLACE 16 ST GEORGE’S FROM ST GEORGE’S PLACE, LOOKING NORTH 17 ST GEORGE’S FROM ST GEORGE’S PLACE, LOOKING NORTH WEST 18 ST GEORGE’S EAST SIDE, INCLUDING THE HANNICK HOMES SITE 19 ST GEORGE’S, FRONT ELEVATION 20 ST GEORGE’S, LOOKING WEST 21 ST GEORGE’S, LOOKING WEST 22 ST GEORGE’S LOOKING WEST OVER THE HANNICK HOMES SITE 23 MELKSHAM POOR LAW UNION 24 STEEPLE ASHTON ENCLOSURE MAP 1818 25 STEEPLE ASHTON TITHE MAP 1839 26 LISTED PILLBOXES – IMAGES OF ENGLAND 27 INDICATIVE LAYOUT, HANNICK HOMES SITE 16/01678/OUT 28 INDICATIVE LAYOUT, AMENDED APPEAL SCHEME 29 INDICATIVE LAYOUT, RICHBOROUGH ESTATES APPEAL SCHEME 30 ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT (BOUND SEPARATELY FROM THE ABOVE) Heritage Proof of Land North of St George’s On behalf of Oxford Law May 2017 © 3 Evidence Road, Semington Limited HeritageCollective 1.0 QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 1.1 I am Jonathan David Edis. I hold the degrees of BA (Hons) in History, MA with distinction in Architectural Building Conservation, and PhD, and I am a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA) and a Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). I have more than thirty years of professional experience of the historic built environment in the public and private sectors, including employment as a Conservation Officer with Bedfordshire County Council. 1.2 I am a Director of Heritage Collective, a company which provides independent heritage consultancy. During my career I have dealt with a wide range of cases involving physical changes to historic structures and development affecting the setting of heritage assets. I am also a Director of Archaeology Collective which is a subsidiary of Heritage Collective. 1.3 I have provided expert heritage evidence at more than a hundred public inquiries. My work has included the assessment of effects on a wide range of heritage receptors in England, Wales and Scotland, involving listed buildings, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, historic parks and gardens, historic battlefields, and expansive prehistoric and medieval relict landscapes in upland areas. My firm is involved in a wide range of work including the effects of housing developments, urban extensions, renewable energy schemes, commercial and industrial developments, and national infrastructure projects. 1.4 I understand my duty to the inquiry and have complied, and will continue to comply, with that duty. I confirm that this evidence identifies all facts which I regard as being relevant to the opinion that I have expressed and that the Inquiry's attention has been drawn to any matter which would affect the validity of that opinion. I believe that the facts stated within this proof are true and that the opinions expressed are correct. Heritage Proof of Land North of St George’s On behalf of Oxford Law May 2017 © 4 Evidence Road, Semington Limited HeritageCollective 2.0 INTRODUCTION The appeal proposal 2.1 The proposed developments comprise (1) an amended outline planning application (16/06956/OUT) for 50 dwellings on land north of St George’s Lane, Semington, Wiltshire, for Oxford Law, and (2) an outline planning application for 75 dwellings on land north of Pound Lane, Semington, for Richborough Estates. My involvement in these appeals 2.2 I first became involved in this case in February 2017. My evidence is given on behalf of the appellant in the case of appeal APP/Y3940/W/16/3164255, namely Oxford Law Limited. Heritage considerations 2.3 Oxford Law’s application 16/06956/OUT was refused by Wiltshire Council on 4 November 2016. There was no heritage reason for refusal of planning permission. The committee report mentioned a number of heritage considerations which are addressed at various points in my proof of evidence below. 2.4 Paragraph 5.18 of Wiltshire Council’s statement of case asserts that the Oxford Law appeal proposal will cause less than substantial harm to the significance and setting of two heritage assets, as follows: i. St George’s Hospital, which originated as a workhouse built by Melksham Union between 1836 and 1838. Designed by Henry Edward Kendall,1 it was listed grade II on 31 August 1988 and has been converted to residential use. It is referred to throughout my proof of evidence as St George’s. 1 There were two Henry Edward Kendalls, father and son (1776-1875 and 1805-1885 respectively) who both designed gaols and workhouses as part of their prolific output. Heritage Proof of Land North of St On behalf of Oxford Law May 2017 © 5 Evidence George’s Lane, Limited Semington HeritageCollective ii. A Type FW3/28a pillbox dating to the Second World War. This is not a designated heritage asset.2 2.5 I address the substantive points relating to setting and significance below. Scope of my evidence 2.6 My evidence relates to the effects of the proposed developments on the setting and significance of heritage assets. Chapter 5, which is in two parts, describes the effect of the Oxford Law appeal (APP/Y3940/W/16/3164255, on land north of St George’s Road) and the effect of the Richborough Estates appeal (APP/Y3940/W/16/3162997 on land north of Pound Lane). It does not involve an assessment of the overall planning balance, which is contained in the evidence of Mr Peter Frampton. Relationship of my evidence to previous studies and statements 2.7 Oxford Law’s planning application 16/06956/OUT was supported by a Heritage Desk Based Assessment prepared by Cotswold Archaeology for Framptons dated May 2016. I do not depart from the material within Chapters 1 to 4 of that document3 but I distance myself somewhat from the assessment of setting in Chapter 5. That is not to say that I disagree with everything contained in Chapter 5, but for clarity I replace the assessment of setting with the analysis that follows in my proof of evidence. I broadly agree with the conclusions in Chapter 6 of the report, but paragraphs 6.10 to 6.14 relating to setting should be regarded as being substituted by the conclusions in my proof of evidence below. 2.8 I am the author of the heritage statement of case, on behalf of Oxford Law, relating to the Richborough Estates appeal APP/Y3940/W/16/3162997 on land north of Pound Lane, Semington (16/05783/OUT). That statement of case stands on its own merits and I do not add to it here save to further describe certain characteristics of the Kennet and Avon canal. I have tried 2 It should be noted that there are some technical inaccuracies in the way the harm relating to the pillbox has been described in paragraph 5.18 of the Council’s statement of case, but these are presumed to be drafting errors. 3 There are some comments in paragraphs 4.17 to 4.34 of the document which I would query in detail, but these do not seem to me to be material to the appeal and it is to be expected that there may be minor variations in approach between heritage consultants in such matters. Indeed, I rely on a quotation from one of these paragraphs below. Heritage Proof of Land North of St On behalf of Oxford Law May 2017 © 6 Evidence George’s Lane, Limited Semington HeritageCollective not to repeat material that has already been set out in that statement of case, particularly in relation to the grade II listed structure known as Semington aqueduct. Archaeology 2.9 During April and May 2017 Archaeology Collective managed a geophysical survey of the appeal site, followed by trial trenching, in liaison with Wiltshire Council’s Archaeology Officer. The results of that work will be available by the start of the inquiry and it is considered that any remaining matters can be agreed and addressed by way of condition. More specifically, the trial trenching report is in the final stages of preparation at the time of finalising my proof of evidence, and it is proposed to be issued on 25 May as Appendix 30, in a separate volume from Appendices 1 to 29 of my proof. It is anticipated that the report will in due course be “signed off” by the appropriate monitors and that it will not be an issue at the inquiry. 2.10 Comments made by the Archaeology Officer in relation to the Type FW3/28a pillbox are addressed separately below.