Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study
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BLAENAVON HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP BLAENAVON: HERITAGE AND REGENERATION STUDY A Final Report September 1998 BLAENAVON HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP BLAENAVON: HERITAGE AND REGENERATION STUDY A Final Report by DTZ PIEDA CONSULTING Greyfriars Gate 5 Greyfriars Road Reading RG1 1MU Tel: 0118 967 2020 Fax: 0118 950 3759 Also at Manchester, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Belfast Ref: 8976 September 1998 CONTENTS PART ONE 1 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. BLAENAVON STUDY AREA 14 3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 26 4. TOURISM MARKET 39 5. PROPERTY MARKET 49 6. CURRENT VISITOR ATTRACTIONS 60 7. PLANNING CONTEXT 69 8. HERITAGE VALUE OF THE STUDY AREA 78 9. COMMUNITY VIEW 87 10. KEY ISSUES AND PRIORITIES PART TWO 90 11. HERITAGE AND REGENERATION STRATEGY FOR BLAENAVON PART THREE 12. MANAGEMENT AND ACTION PLAN 114 13. FUNDING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 178 Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 DTZ Pieda Consulting, in association with Gillespies and Jonathan and Kay Bryant, was appointed by Torfaen County Borough Council, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Monmouthshire County Council, the Brecon Beacons National Park, the National Trust and the Wales Tourist Board in September 1997 to undertake a heritage and regeneration strategy for Blaenavon. The purpose of the study was to provide an integrated strategic vision, action and management plan, based on the heritage potential for stimulating economic regeneration in the area. The study is expected to provide the basis for the preparation of applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and other agencies. 1.2 The aims of the study were to: • establish base line information on the heritage, economic, environment and social composition of the town and surrounding area • recommend proposals for change to provide an effective and sustainable economic future for the town centre • identify key areas/buildings within the town for protection/enhancement and sustainable end uses, including specifically: • undertake a feasibility study into establishing an Environment Task Force/Heritage Restoration Training Centre based at St. Peters School and develop a business plan in liaison with the National Trust • examine viable new uses for Blaenavon Town Hall • make recommendations on the balance between land reclamation and protection of heritage features • recommend actions to maximise the sustainable tourism potential of existing and possible new tourism attractions to optimise the economic benefit to both town and the surrounding landscape • provide specific proposals for improving the interpretation of the heritage features of the town and surrounding area • evaluate the benefits of, and potential for, achieving World Heritage Site status 2 Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study • evaluate the market potential and financial viability of all proposals • produce a prioritised and costed Action Plan and Implementation Programme • investigate all potential sources of funding and propose funding packages for each element of the Action Plan • establish the need for and quantify an Endowment Fund to cover all ongoing management costs of all proposals • suggest appropriate organisational/management mechanisms for the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan, and • assess the potential economic, heritage, environmental and social benefits of the proposed Strategy and Action Plan and identify measurable outputs. STUDY AREA-DEFINITION 1.3 With agreement from the study partners the study area as defined in the brief was widened to encompass a more realistic geographical area from a landscape and heritage perspective. INTERIM SUMMARY REPORT 1.4 An interim summary report was prepared for the client in November 1997. It provided a statement of conclusions emerging from work to that date on both the Blaenavon Heritage and Regeneration Study and the Pwll du Land Reclamation Study (by Ove Arup and Partners). The report was used to assist in negotiations with the Coal Authority over the possible purchase of 3,060 hectares of land in the Blaenavon area. THIS REPORT 1.5 This is the final report which is presented in three parts. Part 1 sets out the baseline information, summarises the results of our consultations and identifies key issues and priorities. Part 2 develops the strategy and vision for Blaenavon and Part 3 provides the Action Plan which describes the details on projects and programmes, and discusses funding mechanisms and management issues. Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study 3 2. BLAENAVON STUDY AREA 2.1 The purpose of this section is to provide a baseline summary analysis of the physical aspects of the study area. This section draws on relevant past work which has studied the landscape, environmental and heritage aspects of Blaenavon to present a baseline, but does not attempt to represent the large body of available information. Documents which have been referred to include: • Torfaen Tourism Development Strategy, John Brown and Company, 1993 • The Torfaen Landscape Strategy, Derek Lovejoy Partnership, 1997 • Schedule for the Register of Landscapes of Outstanding Historic Interest in Wales produced by CADW, the Countryside Council for Wales and ICOMOS UK • Various entries to the Schedule of Ancient Monuments, CADW • Pwll-du an Archaeological Desktop Assessment, The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Archaeological Unit, 1994 • Evaluation of Slopes on Artificial Landforms, Blaenavon, UK, Martin J Haigh, 1978. STUDY AREA LOCATION 2.2 Blaenavon is located at the north-east margin of the South Wales Coalfield. To the north of the town lies the Brecon Beacons National Park, Abergavenny and the spectacular Usk valley (see Figure 2.1). To the south is the industrialised coast of South Wales. The study area is easily accessible from Cardiff, Bristol, Newport and numerous other regional centres. GEOLOGY 2.3 Much of the physical form of the study area landscape and its use has been strongly determined by the underlying geology. The area can be broadly divided into two regions, The South Wales Coalfield and The Black Mountains. These are shown in Figure 2.2 and are described briefly below. • The South Wales Coalfield: the majority of the area around Blaenavon consists of a central dissected plateau region consisting of Pennant Sandstones around which are narrow peripheral belts of high moorland underlain by Lower Coal Measures, Millstone Grit and Carboniferous Limestone. 4 Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study • The Black Mountains: the geology of the Black Mountains consists of varying types of Old Red Sandstone. This extends to the South and West of the Usk to the base of the limestone escarpment which delineates the edge of the coalfield. TOPOGRAPHY 2.4 The natural topography of the region is clearly related to the uplift and weathering of the underlying geology. The study area is an excellent example of how geology informs topography. The key topographic characteristics are shown in Figure 2.3 and are briefly described below: • The Pennant Sandstone upland plateau. • The steep sided glacial valleys that run from the northern margin of the Coalfield in a generally southerly direction. • The coalfield fringe dramatically defined by the limestone escarpment and millstone grit outcrops. • The ‘Blaenavon Basin’ at the head of the Lwyd Valley with shallow slopes formed by the erosion of the Lower Coal Measures. • The gentle slopes of the Usk valley over the more easily eroded underlying sandstone. 2.5 The study area also has interest due to its artificial landforms. Martin Haigh, 1978, has studied ‘Anthropogenic Landform Generation in the Blaenavon Area’ and states that the area is “a striking example of an area whose landscape is completely dominated by artificial landforms”. 2.6 The main artificial landforms to be found in the area are the following: • Patch-working/scouring of the Blaenavon Ironstones: Patch-working entailed virtually turning over the mountainside like a garden. Haigh describes the process, “Small streams were ponded then flooded into miners hollows. The surge flushed out the lighter shales and left behind the heavier Ironstones”. Large tracts of the landscape around Blaenavon show evidence of this method of working. Blaenavon: Heritage and Regeneration Study 5 • High Ridge Tips: formed by tipping from an aerial bucketway or from an extending lattice girder frame resting on the actual tip. • Conical Tips: created by a conveyor belt system. • Flat Topped Tips: formed by tipping rail wagons or rubber tyred dumper trucks operating over the flat surface of the tip and advancing on one or more faces. These are the most numerous historic tips in the Blaenavon area and fall into two categories: • Fan ridge tips • Plateau tips The flat topped tips are prominent in the Garn yr erw and Pwll du areas and are an important component of the heritage landscape. They were predominantly built up by tipping from tramways extending from the entrance of the drift or level. When the tip moved too far from the source of the waste the tramroad was moved building up a characteristic radial pattern. • Opencast: Opencast activity began in the Second World War and continued (on and off) until 1972. The majority of areas have been left unrestored, or poorly restored. The most dramatic topographic elements are the two huge ‘exploration’ trenches at Blaen Pig and the ‘moonscape’ of the Canada Tips near Pwll du. • Reclamation: contrary to many perceptions, there has been extensive reclamation of the landscape around Blaenavon including what would have been dramatic landscape features such as the Washeries