CONTENTS Page
1. Introduction 1
2. The planning policy context 1
3. Summary of special interest 1
4. Location and Context 1
5. Historic Development 2
6. Archaeology 2
7. Heritage Assets 3
8. Landscape: Setting and Relationship 3
9. Landmarks and Vistas 4
10. Character of Buildings 5
11. Sensitive Areas 6
12. Local Details 7
13 Building Materials 7
14. Green Spaces 8
15. Intrusion or Damage 8
16. Neutral Areas 9
17. General Condition 9
18. Problems, Pressure and Capacity for Change 9
19. Suggested Boundary Changes 9
20. Community involvement 9
Appendix 1 11
Appendix 2 12
Map 13
1. Introduction
1.1 Wigtoft Conservation Area was designated prior to 1986 and the following appraisal is intended to clearly define and analyse its current character and appearance. This will provide a sound basis for both development plan policies and development control decisions, as well as the Wigtoft Conservation Area Management Plan (yet to be produced). This will contain policies and proposals designed to secure the preservation and enhancement of the area.
1.2 This Appraisal will initially detail the location of the village and its regional position in order to provide the geographical context for the Conservation Area. It will then provide an outline of the history of the development of the village up to the present day in order to show how this has shaped the development of the settlement.
1.3 An outline of the archaeological significance of Wigtoft will be provided with particular reference to its known buried historical deposit. Views and the character of historical buildings will also be assessed. 1.4 This Appraisal will be available in paper form from Council Offices (West Street) as well available in electronic form on the Boston Borough Website (www.boston.gov.uk). This Appraisal will be adopted as Council Policy. A Conservation Area Management Plan will follow this appraisal and will also be adopted as Council Policy. 2. Planning Policy Framework
2.1 Conservation Areas are ‘areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.’ (Section 69(1) (a) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Act 1990). Local Planning Authorities are expected to regularly review these and if necessary designate further areas or amend boundaries.
2.2 The designation of conservation areas requires authorities to regularly formulate and publish proposals for their preservation and enhancement. (Section 71). This is intended to assist in the undertaking of planning powers, especially where it is desirable to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of a conservation area. (Section 72) 3. Summary of special interest
3.1 Wigtoft is a small rural settlement in the fens which is centred around the fine limestone church with its large green churchyard. It has a variety of traditional dwellings around the core area which form the nucleus of the Conservation Area.
4. Location and Context
4.1 The village is situated in south Lincolnshire about 10km (6 miles) from the Wash and the estuary of the River Nene. It is approximately halfway between the towns of Boston and Spalding and was formerly located on the A17 trunk road. It has now been by passed. The larger village of Sutterton, to which it is adjacent, sat at the crossroads of the A16 and the A17 trunk roads.
4.2 The plan form is essentially linear, the majority of the settlement being either side of the former trunk road. There is a small nucleus around the churchyard and further development along the minor Asperton Road to the northeast. There was a population of 479 (Census of 2001) in the Wigtoft parish, which covers an area of 3,300 acres. (1336 ha)
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4.3 The underlying geology is one of Jurassic clays which formed a basin during the Ice Ages into which have been laid sands and gravels and later marine alluvium. This forms the basic level landscape of the Fens in which the village is located. The village is between 4.0 and 5.0 m above sea level.
5. Historic development
5.1 The Wigtoft name was known variously as Wigetoft, Wichetoft and Wiketoft in the 1180s. It is thought to possibly be derived from the Old Norse ‘vik’ meaning small creek, inlet or bay. Toft is a well-known second part of a place name, meaning a ‘messuage or curtilage’. This name may relate to its location near the Bicker Haven, which was in earlier times a haven from the wash. The place name suggests a foundation after the 9th century.
5.2 The medieval church of SS. Peter and Paul has its origins in the 12th century and was first mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of 1180. The parish includes three outlying late eighteenth/early nineteenth century farm groups, which are not part of the conservation area. One of these, Easthorpe Court, which is to the north of the village, was the site of the Manorial centre for Wigtoft. It would have had a chapel or chantry at the parish church. It was the seat of the Howson family. The present farmhouse dates to 1804.
5.3 In the fourteenth century Wigtoft is mentioned in a number of Commissions relating to drainage of the area and in particular the need to repair Wigtoft Gote. Salt making was certainly undertaken in the medieval period but by the late 16th century this had come to an end as the Commissioners of the Sewers noted decayed salt cotes at that time.
5.4 A map of the area dating to the 19th century shows the area to the west of the church as far as Clover Lane, as parkland associated with Casterton House, another of the farm groups, which dates to the late eighteenth century. The third group is that of Burtoft - which lies to south and is now separated from the village by the new route of the trunk road. All of these houses and their associated farm buildings are listed grade II.
5.5 In the White’s Directory of 1842, the church and the vicarage are mentioned, also the Primitive Methodist Chapel dating from 1839 and the Free School which had been rebuilt in 1830, but which had been endowed in 1715. At that time there were three public houses, two blacksmiths, nineteen farmers in the village itself, two shoemakers, two shopkeepers, two tailors, and one butcher, farrier, carrier, wheelwright, bricklayer, baker, corn miller and schoolmaster.
5.6 The drainage records of this area refer to Wigtoft, Sutterton, Algarkirk, Fosdyke and Swineshead as being the five ‘towns’ and the drainage being effected by the Five Towns, Four Towns, Three Towns and Two Towns Drains. This linkage is still recognised today as the five settlements are all in the ‘Five Villages Ward’ of the Boston Borough Council area.
6. Archaeology
6.1 There have been no archaeological excavations in the parish, only two watching briefs. There is no evidence of any prehistoric or Romano British presence here. There has been one find of a Viking brooch and to the north of the village the medieval field systems and settlement enclosures have been identified from crop marks.
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7. Heritage Assets
7.1 There are no scheduled monuments within the parish.
7.2 Listed Buildings within the Conservation Area:
Grade I The Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul. The distinguished medieval church has work of all periods dating from late Norman through to the perpendicular style. It was restored in 1891 by the architect C. Hodgson Fowler. It is built in limestone ashlar and coursed rubble, with lead roofs and has a west tower, nave with clerestory, south porch and chancel.
(Church of St. Peter and Paul)
Grade II The former early nineteenth century vicarage on the Main Road, is in stucco with a hipped slate roof. It is thought that this may have been designed by Jeptha Pacey, architect from Boston, who also designed the town’s Assembly Rooms.
Stanhope Cottage, Main Road. This small cottage was originally mud and stud, the local Lincolnshire vernacular form of architecture. It was encased in brick in the early nineteenth century and has a clay pantiled roof.
(View of Stanhope Cottage)
8. Landscape: Setting and Relationship
8.1 The focal point of the Conservation Area is the space at the centre of the village defined by the former post office group on the south side of the main road and Church House, the Golden Fleece Inn and the two properties adjacent. This group is set back at an angle to the main road and thus leads the eye to the churchyard entrance gate.
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(View of village from the Golden Fleece Inn)
8.2 Beyond the post office group to the west is a well cut tall evergreen hedge and then the vicarage site whose buildings are back from the road. There is nonetheless a strong frontage which is defined by an evergreen hedge, trees and cast iron railings. Opposite to these sites, is a long narrow field still in agricultural use. It is adjacent to the churchyard and has a hedged and tree lined boundary on both sides. As the church is set far back in its churchyard this field and the churchyard together make up a rural green centre to this part of the village.
8.3 To the west of the field on the north of the main road and the Vicarage on the south side are sites with 20th century developments within the Conservation Area. On the north side is a cul de sac of semi detached single storey old persons housing and two storey municipal housing forming a western edge to the village.
8.4 Beyond the focal area to the east is Asperton Road, leading north to Easthorpe Court. The Conservation Area includes Dewsbury House and its associated outbuildings that make up the group on the corner of this road with the Main Road and also part of the open space on the opposite corner. Adjacent to these edges of the Conservation Area are small works buildings that are not part of the character of the area.
8.5 On the opposite side of the road the former historic but unlisted public house, Phoenix House, has been replaced by two modern houses.
9. Key views and vistas
9.1 Leading into the village from both directions the former main road is wide and grass verged with trees lining the road. The tower and short spire of the parish church features in views of the village from outside, although the church is partially masked by the bungalows to its west and the village generally from the east side.
9.2 Within the village centre there are views across the large churchyard and a pleasing one of the church from the churchyard gate adjacent to Church House. In the churchyard there is a path which skirts its south eastern edge and then turns east to meet Asperton Road. Here the path is fully enclosed as it now goes around the rear garden of the former schoolhouse. Even glimpse views here are limited and the containment makes it an unappealing path to use.
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(View from footpath from the Churchyard to Asperton Road)
9.3 In the central area the former school is set back between the Golden Fleece and Church House and its gable end is thus nicely framed in the view between these two buildings.
(View of Former School from Main Road)
9.4 Views out of the Conservation Area are generally of the flat fen farmed landscape that surrounds the village. There are no noticeable landmarks.
10. Character of buildings
10.1 Prevailing uses and Activity
10.1.1 This village centre would have had, as can be seen from the Directory entry for 1841, a wide variety of uses to serve the working farming village. Not long ago the village retained two public houses which would have had some passing trade due to the location on the main trunk road. Now that the village has been by- passed there is only sufficient custom for one public house and former retail premises have all closed. The closure of the village school will also have significantly reduced activity in the village and thus it is now largely residential in the central conservation area.
10.2 Architectural and historic qualities of buildings
10.2.1 The buildings in the Conservation Area are no higher than two storey. In the core area they are grouped quite tightly together and at the back of pavement or set slightly back. These buildings are all eaves onto the street. They are aligned to form a potentially interesting space at the heart of the village. Their details vary and the eaves lines and the use of gable chimney stacks gives interesting profiles to the roofs. As with most traditional buildings the roofs are narrow gutted.
10.2.2 The predominant dates of the buildings are late eighteenth century and nineteenth century with buildings on the edge of the Area being twentieth century.
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10.2.3 The listed former vicarage is rather hidden from view behind its hedged and treed frontage, but there are interesting partial glimpses of the house and the former coach house both of which are elegant early nineteenth century designs.
10.2.4 The small listed Stanhope Cottage, is set back slightly and its former front garden is gravelled over to provide parking. Its survival is a useful reminder that most villages would have had many small cottages to house agricultural workers.
11. Sensitive Areas
11.1 The group of houses on the Main Road at the site of the former post office makes an important contribution to the Area. It has strong vertical emphasis and the projecting canted bays provide good modelling. Although there are minor alterations to the fenestration these do not significantly detract from the value of this group. The terrace is set at a very slight angle to the street, which helps in the part that it plays in defining the central space.
(View of Former Post Office Site)
11.2 Adjacent to the terrace is a small two storey brick cottage of nineteenth century date. This is set back slightly from the terrace, but is in front of the listed Stanhope Cottage. Beyond this is a two storey house which is in a similar position to the brick cottage. These changes in relationship to the street frontage create interest in this group of traditional village buildings.
11.3 On the opposite side of the Main Road the buildings fan away towards the churchyard gate. These buildings are two storey, but with differing eaves and ridge heights. Although they have been altered, particularly the fenestration, these are all key traditional buildings in the Conservation Area. Of particular interest is the red brick former school building, now converted to a house. It still retains characteristic details of a mid nineteenth century village school with a touch of the Tudor in its styling.
11.4 On the corner of Asperton Road is an outbuilding to Dewsbury House. This single storey gabled building marks the corner and is thus in a prominent position acting as a fulcrum between the two roads.
(Outbuilding on the corner of Asperton Road and Main Road)
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12. Local details
12.1 Windows are generally vertically proportioned although most have lost their original sashes. Some have brick cambered arches, other have flat stone lintels. Many lintels are covered in render.
12.2 The houses have chimney stacks and these are generally located at the ends of the roofs, at ridge level. They are contained within the plan of the building except where the roof has a hipped end, when they are external to the plan. The stacks are important features in the Conservation Area.
(View from Main Road of buildings with important features including Chimney Stacks)
12.3 There a number of iron railings in the area. The finest of these are outside the former vicarage, which are cast iron with shaped terminals and the gate piers are formed from open ironwork. Along the footway beside the area in front of the Central House, is a section of bow topped railing. The same railing type is found on the footpath near the church. The emphasis on ironwork has been followed through in the new village sign which has been erected at the end of the central space.
(Attractive historic Ironwork)
13. Building materials
13.1 The main walls are built in an orange red brickwork, the earlier bricks being handmade and the later Victorian ones are machine made, smoother and more orange. Quite a number of buildings in the village are either rendered or painted bricks. The colour used is generally white.
13.2 Roofing materials are Welsh slate and clay pantile. Some roofs have been replaced in concrete tiling.
13.3 The parish church is exceptional in that it is built in Lincolnshire limestone that would have been brought here by river and then carrier probably from quarries in the Stamford Area.
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14. Green spaces
14.1 The main green space in the Area is the churchyard. This is lower lying than thepavement level and has a low brick wall around it. It is full of grave stones, in slate and limestone, many of which are leaning. In the centre of the churchyard is a larger and grander stone memorial on a plinth and this acts as a focal point within this space. There are trees alongside the western boundary of the churchyard.
(The Churchyard is an important green space)
14.2 The other green space at the eastern end of the Area is a well tended level green that is bounded by Spion Kop Lane on the north and the Depot on the east.
14.3 There are two Tree Preservation orders in the Conservation Area. One covers a group of trees at the Old Vicarage and the other refers to two trees in the vicinity of the Golden Fleece.
15. Intrusion or damage
15.1 The central area is surfaced in tarmacadam and on its western edge is an unsightly bus shelter adjacent to the churchyard.
(Unsightly Phone Box and Bus Shelter on Main Road)
15.2 The footpath from the churchyard to Asperton Road has along its outer boundary bow topped railings that are unpainted and that have the cladding of the adjacent site built up hard against the railings. This looks unsightly.
15.3 The trunk road has been by passed yet the concrete lamp standards at regular intervals and the wide roadway still remain meaning that the village centre lacks cohesion because of the dominance of this road which divides rather than unites the space.
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15.4 A number of houses have lost their original windows to UPVC and also unsuitable modern casements. Similarly original roofing materials have been replaced with concrete tiles.
16. Neutral areas
16.1 The twentieth century municipal housing on Church Close has always been part of the Area. It has however no features of any special interest to warrant preservation.
16.2 On the opposite side of the road there have been some new bungalows built adjacent to the c. 1900 house ‘Belmont’. These new dwellings neither preserve nor enhance the character of the Area.
17. General condition
17.1 There are no buildings at risk in the Area. Buildings are generally well maintained.
18. Problems, pressures and capacity for change
18.1 The de-trunking of the road and the bypass do mean that some changes could be considered to the design and appearance of the Main Road.
18.2 The central space deserves a facelift in terms of the layout of the area, the street furniture and the hard surfacing. A well designed treatment could significantly enhance this core area.
19. Suggested boundary changes
19.1 Consideration could be given to reducing the size of the Conservation Area to exclude the areas of twentieth century housing on the west side of the village. It does not seem reasonable to impose Conservation Area restrictions on these properties.
19.2 Part of the green area on the north side of the Main Road appears to be arbitrarily omitted from the Area. It is recommended that the boundary is adjusted to include it.
20. Community Involvement
20.1 A Draft Conservation Area Appraisal was be available for public consultation for 7 weeks from the 19th December 2005. All representations were taken into account when finalising the Conservation Area Appraisal
20.2 This finalised Appraisal was adopted as Council Policy on 12 April 2006.
20.3 This Appraisal will be available to download on the Boston Borough Website and available on request from the Council Offices (West Street, Boston).
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(Attractive ironwork used in Village sign)
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Appendix 1: Bibliography
Cope-Faulkner, P., Hambly, J. and Young, J., 2004, Boston Rural Baseline Survey (Draft Copy Only)
Department of Environment, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest
Wheeler W.H., 1896, A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire
Pevsner, N. and Harris, K., 1989, Lincolnshire, The Buildings of England (2nd Edition revised N. Antram)
White’s Directory 1842.
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Appendix 2: Specialist Advice
Consultant architect, Anderson and Glenn
Lincolnshire County Council Conservation Services
Heritage Trust for Lincolnshire
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