GREAT WESTON CONSERVATION AREA Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan AN INTRODUCTION Allies and Morrison September 2018 Urban Practitioners Draft for consultation How to find your way around HOW TO USE THIS 1. 3. 5. DOCUMENT An Introduction Character Area 1: Seafront Character Area 3: Hillside This document introduces the Page 4 Great Weston Conservation Area and what makes it special. The conservation area is divided into four character Introduction and history Introduction and history areas. This document can be read as a comprehensive overview and guide to the Summary of special character Summary of special character single conservation area, but if you would like to learn more Overview of current condition Overview of current condition about each character area, there are individual appraisals Mapping character Mapping character which can be viewed and accessed separately for ease. Changes affecting the area These can be found here: Changes affecting the area THIS DOCUMENT www.n-somerset.gov.uk/ Management proposals Management proposals westonconservation INTERACTIVE 2. 4. 6. This document is intended to be Management guidance Character Area 2: Town Centre read online. You can navigate Character Area 4: Whitecross through it using the interactive links on the contents page and throughout the report. The draft for consultation Challenges Introduction and history Introduction and history sets out the appraisal of the conservation area. Following Summary of special character Summary of special character the consultation, sections Opportunities will be drafted on how the conservation area and each Implementation Overview of current condition Overview of current condition individual character area should be managed. This Mapping character Mapping character contents page shows how these sections will sit in the Appendix Changes affecting the area Changes affecting the area wider document structure (Section 2). BE DRAFTED DOCUMENT TO POST CONSULTATION Management proposals Management proposals GREAT WESTON CAA AND MANAGEMENT PLAN September 2018 3 W E S T O N Background Statement of significance The Great Weston What is a and context Conservation Area conservation The Great Weston Conservation Area Weston-super-Mare has been a place Terrace and Atlantic Terrace. There area? is a new conservation for Weston- of human habitation for more than two are also many buildings of lesser super-Mare that amalgamates five thousand years, making it a place of individual merit but high group value, Conservation areas were introduced former conservation areas and adds considerable historic value. Worlebury reflected in patterns of design, layout in the 1960s as a recognition of the a new part of the town around its Camp, immediately to the north of the or the consistency of materials. importance of the collective value of commercial and civic centre. The conservation area, is one of England’s old buildings and places. Designating former conservation areas were: most important Iron Age sites, and and There are few buildings by nationally a conservation area is a statement of Roman remains have been found in known figures other than the pier faith by the local planning authority • Birnbeck (designated 1984) the town centre. There was a Norman engineer Eugenius Birch and the that a place is of special interest, and • Melrose / Grove Park (designated castle at Worle and Weston’s parish Victorian church architect G F Bodley shows a commitment to seeking its 1989) church was established by the 13th although Hans Fowler Price, whose preservation or enhancement. century. Disastrous tidal flooding in best work is found in Weston, was a • Boulevard and Montpelier the early 17th and 18th centuries prolific and successful architect who The statutory definition of a (designated 1971) almost destroyed the old settlement, practised in the town for over 50 conservation area is an ‘area of • Beach Lawns (designated 1998) but it recovered through employment in years from 1860 to 1911. Price’s special architectural or historic interest • Ellenborough Park (designated fishing, quarrying and zinc extraction. architectural legacy is central to the character or appearance of which 1985) Weston’s present-day character. is desirable to preserve or enhance’ The turning point in the town’s history (Section 69 of the Planning (Listed This new conservation area has came after 1800 when the health- Great Weston’s aesthetic value is Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act been divided into four character giving properties of sea bathing reflected in the overall quality of 1990). areas to assist in our understanding were being promoted, drawing construction, alignment of buildings of what makes the conservation area visitors from Bath and Bristol. The on plots, consistency of materials in of special interest, and provides a first hotel opened in 1810 but the most streets. Variation of architectural basis from which change can be new resort grew sporadically until language and styles reflect the positively managed. Each of the four the 1840s, when the new railway eclecticism of the Victorian period character areas has its own appraisal brought passengers in large numbers. – Tudorbethan, Italianate, Gothic, What are and management plan which can be Development was rapid, spreading neoclassical, French Renaissance, viewed on the Council's website: inland and south towards Uphill. Arts and Crafts and various hybrids appraisals and create a rich and lively townscape. www.n-somerset.gov.uk/ The historic interest in the hillside area The twentieth century legacy is westonconservation management of Weston where the influence of early also diverse with good examples estate ownerships can be traced to of, classical revival and moderne The purpose of this document is to the 1830s and 40s. The survival of (including the Centre on Walliscote plans? introduce the boundary of the Great terraces closer to the town centre, such Road, 1933) as well as International Weston Conservation Area and to as Alfred Street are part of a once Style and Festival of Britain influences No place stands still. Conservation is summarise its special interest. The larger area of working class housing in the High Street. an active process of maintenance and document also introduces the character from the mid-19th century. managing change. There is a requirement areas. There have been fewer examples to review conservation areas from time to time. Appraisals provide an evidence Great Weston is of high aesthetic and of good contemporary architecture © Crown copyright and database rights 2018 Ordnance Survey 100023397. You are not permitted architectural value. There are numerous but there has been some exemplary to copy, sub-license, distribute or sell any of this data to third parties in any form base for determining character and landmark buildings – Birnbeck Pier, conservation work and transformative context which is then used to develop Odeon Cinema. Town Hall, the public realm projects. management guidance. The guidance is Mercury Offices the Old Library and intended to help planners, homeowners, several fine churches. There are residents and business owners to take notable set pieces of urban planning good care of their conservation area. including Ellenborough Crescent, Oriel 4 GREAT WESTON CAA AND MANAGEMENT PLAN September 2018 5 Summary of special interest Setting and dimensions The impressive topography and seaside setting are a defining feature of the town, providing an ever changing landscape with frequent glimpses of the sea from across Weston. The hills allow long views of the sea from the north which are complex and layered. Weston Wood provides a stunning backdrop to views from the beach towards the town. Weston-super-Mare has grown exceptionally from its humble beginnings as a fishing village to a town with over 76,000 residents. Despite parts of the town facing challenges of deprivation, Weston continues to be a popular place to live, work and visit. The richness of its heritage is a great asset and presents a valuable opportunity for renewal. The Great Weston Heritage Action Zone is an exciting initiative which will help the town's heritage to play a central part in its regeneration. Weston's story can be told through layers of its heritage, not only from historic buildings, but the layout of roads, paths Victorian architecture and the stone town Hidden gems and boundaries, the building and paving The Victorian housing boom led to a distinctively 'Weston' townscape, Weston's Victorian inheritance dominated by classical villas and limestone Gothic villas with elaborate is evident. Less well known is materials, and the special relationship detailing. Building and boundary materials were sourced locally; the quality and variety of its 20th between the town and its seaside setting. carboniferous grey limestone and Bath stone contribute enormously to the century buildings, including shops, The conservation area is unique and a areas' built character. Hans Price was an influential architect who made his offices, churches and a Grade II product of geographical, social, economic eclectic mark on Weston's buildings in the second half of the 19th century. listed cinema. and cultural processes that have shaped, and continue to shape its character today. 6 GREAT WESTON CAA AND MANAGEMENT PLAN September 2018 7 Materials and features Weston sits on an outcrop of grey carboniferous limestone, also known as Birnbeck stone. This characterful material gives the Victorian town much of its consistency and character. Shaly and Sash windows Art Deco glazed tile 1950s raised lettering Decorative stonework rough-textured, it is not suitable as a freestone and is generally laid as coursed rubble. Dressings and carved work are excuted in Bath stone, a finegrained oolitic limestone for carving and finer work like the mouldings for cornices, columns, or door and window architraves. Bath stone (or the geologically similar Dundry limestone from quarries south of Bristol) was also used for prestige compositions such as Ellenborough Crescent. Where the stones are used together, the honey-coloured Bath stone provides a pleasing contrast with the greyish-pink tones of Weston stone.