Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

18 June 2008

The Conservation Studio, 1 Querns Lane, Cirencester, Glos GL7 1RL 01285 642428

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

PART 1 CHARACTER APPRAISAL

1 Summary 1.1 Key characteristics 1.2 Key issues

2 Introduction 2.1 The Frome Conservation Area 2.2 The purpose of a conservation area character appraisal 2.3 The planning policy context 2.4 Other initiatives

3 Location and landscape setting 3.1 Location and activities 3.2 Topography and geology 3.3 Relationship of the conservation area to its surroundings

4 Historic development and archaeology 4.1 Historic development 4.2 Archaeological significance and potential

5 Spatial analysis 5.1 Plan form and layout 5.2 Landmarks, focal points and views 5.3 Open spaces, trees and landscape 5.4 Public realm

6 The buildings of the conservation area 6.1 Building types 6.2 Listed buildings 6.3 ‘Positive’ buildings 6.4 Building materials and local details 6.5 Shopfronts, advertisements and signs 6.6 General condition of the area and built fabric

7 Character areas Character Area 1: Town centre and an adjacent area to the north west including West End Character Area 2: Trinity, Sheppard’s Barton and Vallis Way including Horton Street and Button Street – primarily residential area of housing with 18th-century origins Character Area 3: Badcox, Christchurch Street West, Christchurch Street East, Portway and Wallbridge Mill – mixed development along an east-west route south of the original town centre Character Area 4: Vallis Road, Nunney Road and Broadway – residential areas west of the town centre Character Area 5: Willow Vale and the River Frome Valley Character Area 6: Frome Bridge, North Parade and the environs of North Hill House Character Area 7: Welshmill Road and Innox Hill Character Area 8: Fromefield Character Area 9: Weymouth Road, Somerset Road and Victoria Park Character Area 10: Keyford

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

PART 2 MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS

8 Introduction 8.1 Structure and scope 8.2 Current policy and other guidance 8.3 Monitoring and review

9 Management Proposals 9.1 Preservation of historic buildings 9.2 Negative sites and buildings 9.3 Building maintenance and repair 9.4 Control of new development 9.5 Loss of architectural detail, minor alterations to historic buildings and loss of front gardens 9.6 Historic floorscape and historic items in the public realm 9.7 Tree management guidance 9.8 Shopfronts 9.9 Disturbance cause by heavy through traffic 9.10 River Frome 9.11 Conservation area boundary review

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

PART 1 CHARACTER APPRAISAL

1 Summary

1.1 Key characteristics of the Frome Conservation Area

Frome is a historic market town founded in the 7th century. The special interest that justifies designation of the Frome Conservation Area derives from a number of architectural, historical and environmental factors including:

• Rural location on steep hillsides sloping down to a river crossing and the floodplain of the River Frome;

• Eccentric settlement pattern comprising distinct areas of historic building connected by sinuous streets, roads, elevated walkways and alleys winding up and down the hillside, thereby providing ever-changing views of the area’s historic townscape;

• The architectural and historic quality of the area’s historic buildings, a high percentage of which are listed and many others make a positive contribution to historic character and appearance;

• Haphazard medieval layout of streets around St John’s Church and the Market Place notable for Cheap Street’s central water conduit and Gentle Street’s cobbled surface;

• Trinity and Sheppards Barton, a planned area of late 17th-/early 18th-century terraced houses;

• North Parade (1797) and Bath Street (1810), planned routes into the town lined with early 19th-century houses;

• Weymouth Road and Somerset Road, two streets of late 19th-century middle- class houses overlooking Victorian public park (Victoria Park);

• Keyford and Fromefield, two small historic village settlements to the north and south of the main town;

• Mix of building types with many good examples of industrial (textiles), religious and residential buildings reflecting the economic and social development of the town;

• Wide assortment of house types of different periods and social classes ranging from prestigious town centre 17th- and 18th-century clothiers’ houses to edge-of- settlement rows and courts of workers’ cottages;

• The River Frome, most visible along Willow Vale (where it was channelled as part of a former millstream);

• Prevalent use of locally quarried Forest Marble and Doulting stone and a predominance of terracotta/brown/red clay tiles – either Bridgwater pantiles or double/triple/ Roman tiles – which gives rise to a distinctive roofscape;

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

• Long continuous high stone boundary walls, e.g. Goulds Ground;

• Significant areas of historic floorscape and locally manufactured items of street furniture, especially lamp standards;

• Trees and tree groups within the open spaces and specimen trees in private gardens;

Oriel Lodge West End

1.2 Key issues of the Frome Conservation Area

General • Some vacant commercial properties; • Tree management; • Inappropriate boundary treatment of some private gardens; • Control of on-street parking in residential areas; • ‘Negatives’ i.e. those sites or buildings which detract from the area’s special architectural and historic character and appearance; Buildings • Archaeological potential; • A number of buildings are in a poor state of repair, some are considered to be at risk of further deterioration; • Lack of routine maintenance and repair; • Loss of architectural details such as timber windows, doors and chimneys is eroding the historic character and appearance of the area (this might be controlled by means of an Article 4 Direction); • Insensitive alterations to historic buildings; • Garish shopfronts that are out of character with the host building; • 20th-century development that does not harmonise with the conservation area; • Satellite dishes spoiling the facades of historic buildings; Public realm • Anti-social behaviour – graffiti, rubbish litter; • Conservation of historic floorscape.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

2 Introduction

2.1 The Frome Conservation Area

Conservation areas are designated under the provisions of Section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. A conservation area is defined as “an area of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance”.

The Frome Conservation Area was first designated in 1973 and the boundaries were reviewed in 1976, 1986 and 2004.

The Blue School Frome’s lively roofscape

2.2 The purpose of a conservation area character appraisal

Section 71 of the above Act requires local planning authorities to formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of any parts of their area which are conservation areas.

Section 72 specifies that, in making a decision on an application for development in a conservation area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area.

This document is written in the light of these statutory requirements. It is in conformity with English Heritage guidance as set out in “Guidance on conservation area appraisals” (August 2005) and “Guidance on the management of conservation areas” (August 2005). Additional government guidance regarding the management of historic buildings and conservation areas is set out within “Planning Policy Guidance 15: Planning and the Historic Environment” (PPG15).

This document therefore seeks to:

• Define and record the special interest of the Frome Conservation Area and identify the issues which threaten the special qualities of the conservation area (in the form of the “Character Appraisal”);

• Provide guidelines to prevent harm and achieve enhancement (in the form of the “Management Proposals”).

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

The omission of a particular building, feature or space should not be taken to imply that it is of no interest.

St John’s churchyard Cast iron street name sign

2.3 The planning policy context

The Mendip District Local Plan which sets out the Council's policies and proposals for the development and the use of land in Mendip now and in the future was adopted in December 2002 and covers the period to 2011.

In due course the Mendip Local Plan will be reviewed and rolled forward to cover the period to 2026 in what will now be called a Local Development Framework. This new planning system was established by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which abolishes Structure and Local Plans and replaces them with Local Development Documents. More information about this important change to the planning system can be found on the District Council’s website: www.mendip.gov.uk.

The Local Development Framework will conform to the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy - the South West's development strategy for the next 20 years. The Regional Spatial Strategy is still in preparation.

The Somerset County Council and the Exmoor National Park Authority Joint Structure Plan was adopted on 20 April 2000. The Plan is currently under review.

2.4 Other initiatives

Mendip District, Somerset County and Frome Town Councils are working in partnership with the Regional Development Agency and others to achieve the regeneration of Frome Town Centre.

Frome has had an annual Regeneration Programme or Action Plan since 1996/7. Initial projects included enhancement of Market Place and the development plans for Saxonvale (east of the conservation area) together with a plethora of smaller projects and financial support for annual promotional events.

Over the past 25 years a series of partnership grant aid schemes involving the local authority, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have provided funding for conservation and regeneration work in Frome. A Town Scheme based on the Catherine Hill area commenced in 1988 and a Conservation Area Partnership scheme followed in

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

1996. A Townscape Heritage Initiative covering a much larger area of the town was completed in 2004 and further works have recently been carried out as part of a Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

3 Location and landscape setting

3.1 Location and activities

The market town of Frome lies in a rural location in east Somerset about 12 miles south of Bath midway between Warminster and Radstock on the A362. It is the largest town in Mendip District with a population of around 25,000.

The town has a relatively robust employment base with a relatively diverse, manufacturing orientated local economy. It functions as a local centre and there are over 200 retail outlets including specialist shops for antiques and collectors, and arts and crafts goods. There is a market every Wednesday and Saturday.

Market Place Shops in Badcox

South of the River Frome, the Frome Conservation Area contains the town’s commercial and business centre and discrete residential areas such as Trinity, Weymouth Road, Fromefield and Keyford. The part of the conservation area that lies north of the Frome is comprised of primarily residential development in Fromefield and along Welshmill Road and Innox Hill together with business uses in the sector between the railway and the river.

Frome has grown rapidly in the last 25 years offering employment in manufacturing, distribution and service industries.

3.2 Topography and geology

Frome lies just to the east of the Mendips, a range of hills which stretch eastwards from the Severn Estuary and form the northern boundary of the County of Somerset – the Mendip Way is a 50 mile long walking route between Weston super Mare and Frome. The town lies on the valley sides of the River Frome which flows through the lower part of the town, providing a green corridor through it. The River Frome rises in the parish of Brewham and flows north-east to join the Avon upstream of Bath.

The historic part of the town is located on the steep north facing slopes and the centre of the town is renowned for its narrow and steep streets and constant changes in level. Indeed, it is the changes in level and width of streets which gives the town its distinctive character.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Fromefield, to the north of the town, and Keyford, to the south, are small formerly separate settlements now subsumed within the town. The former lies on a gentle south facing slope north of the Frome, the latter lies over the brow (south) of the hill upon which the main body of Frome stands.

Frome is situated on a bed of Forest Marble, an extremely durable stone, much used in local building and one of the reasons why Frome has so many surviving buildings of interest.

Nos. 7-11 Wallbridge Wesley Villas

3.3 Relationship of the conservation area to its surroundings

The boundaries of the conservation area have been reviewed and revised at least three times since original designation in 1973.

The incremental inclusion of diverse and distinctly separate pockets of special interest has resulted in a conservation area with an extraordinarily convoluted and complicated boundary including, for example, Wallbridge Mills (east), a quadrangle of houses at the top of Innox Hill (north), late 19th-century houses in Somerset and Weymouth Roads (south), the Dissenters Chapel and Burial Ground (west), as well as the settlements of Fromefield and Keyford.

The conservation area has no distinctive clear-cut boundary such as a railway, river or hedgerow that markedly divides the old from the new or the special from the mundane. Instead, the boundary tends to follow a sinuous course that encompasses diverse areas of historic interest by excluding 20th-century infill along a historic route or modern development on the site of former mills or other industry.

Generally speaking, the immediate surroundings of the conservation area are suburban housing. In the north, the boundary often runs along a line between historic and late 20th-century housing developments. Innox Hill, Egford Hill and Wallbridge Mills (within the conservation area) abut rural countryside at the very edge of the settlement of Frome.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

4 Historic development and archaeology

4.1 Historic development of Frome Conservation Area The word Frome is derived from the Welsh ffraw, meaning running water, a reference to the river on which the town stands. The first documentary record of settlement at Frome relates to St Aldhelm’s foundation of a monastery dedicated to St John the Baptist sometime around the year A.D. 685. The monastery provided the impetus for a settlement in the heart of the royal estate of Selwood. One of the attractions of this north facing site i.e. the availability of water from nearby springs and the river, later enabled an economy based on the cloth trade, taking advantage of the proximity of sheep farming in the Mendips and Salisbury Plain. The wool industry was the staple trade of the town from about 1300 onwards, passing through many ups and downs until ultimately declining from the 18th century but not disappearing completely until 1965.

Church of John the Baptist Central leat (water channel) in Cheap Street

During the late Saxon period the settlement was of both administrative and economic importance. It was the head of the largest hundred in Somerset (and the wealthiest, according to the Geld Inquest of 1084), serving a vast hinterland of settlements in forest and marginal land. The agricultural statistics in the Domesday Survey imply that by the end of the Saxon period, considerable clearance had taken place. The existence of a substantial market (worth 46s 8d) is also recorded in 1086.

In 1239 a market charter was granted and in 1270 an annual fair was granted. In 1494 King Henry VII established a second market day. John Leland visiting in c.1540 described Frome as possessing a ‘metley good market’ and ‘fayre stone howsys’ built on the proceeds of the cloth trade and the markets. Henry VIII's commissioners also described Frome as a great market town.

The woollen trade became firmly established as the basis of Frome's post-medieval economy in the 16th century. By the last half of the 17th century the prosperity of the cloth manufacturing industry was such that from c.1665 onwards an extensive speculative property development of houses for clothing workers was built on open fields west of the town, now known as Trinity. The building of Trinity is one of the earliest areas of industrial housing in the country. In addition to workers’ houses, fine 17th- and early 18th- century town houses of the wealthy clothiers and merchants testify to the wealth of the town during this period. By the end of the 17th century Frome was a cloth town of national, if not international, importance.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

In the 1720s Daniel Defoe described the town as "so prodigiously increased within these last 20-30 years, that they have built a new church, and so many new streets of houses, and those houses are so full of inhabitants, that Frome is now reckoned to have more people in it than the city of Bath, and some say, than even Salisbury itself, and if their trade continues to increase for a few years more ... it is likely to be one of the greatest and wealthiest towns in England". In 1745 the amount of cloth amounted to 1000 lengths dispatched to London at the rate of one wagon per day.

Stone setts in Gentle Street Gate piers and railings, Vallis Road

However, though trade was thriving, riots in Frome in the early 18th century indicated an underlying unease amongst the workforce. In 1739 it was estimated that over 9,000 people in the hundred of Frome were employed in the woollen industry including children as young as seven. Poverty and rising food prices led to further disturbances in the 1750s and again in the 1790s. Conservatism meant that the industry did not adapt to new practices and new materials and consequently markets were lost to the rapidly growing Yorkshire cloth industry.

By the end of the 18th century the cloth trade was in decline in the south-west. The industry was reprieved for a while in the early 19th century, as it was supplying the cloth for the uniforms used in the Napoleonic Wars, but competition from the woolen towns of the north and the local resistance to new machinery led to a continuing and rapid decline through the second half of the 19th century.

The decline of wool brought a period of great economic distress to Frome in the first half of the 19th century. The introduction of new industries such as printing, brass and iron founding and brewing helped the ailing economy and the arrival of the railway in 1850 gave a boost to the town’s trade. As the wool trade declined, Frome began to embrace the new engineering industries. At the beginning of the 19th century Cockeys began casting iron components for street furniture and the gas industry, resulting in Frome having gas lit streets by 1832. In the 1880s Singers started casting statues, many of which today are famous, e.g. The Statue of Justice at the Old Bailey and the statue of Boadicea on London's Embankment. Butler and Tanner, a firm of publishing, printing and bookbinders, had humble beginnings in 1845 before relocating to large multi-storey premises in Selwood Road (now converted to residential uses). Frome's population of c 13,000 in 1971 was little more than its population in the mid 19th century. Since the 1970s, the population has expanded greatly (in 1991 it was over 23,000), as a result of high-level planning decisions to develop Frome's housing and

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

industry, partly in order to protect the green belts of the neighbouring cities of Bath and Bristol. 4.2 Archaeological significance and potential Though important prehistoric and Roman routeways ran along the neighbouring ridges, and converged at other nearby fording points in the Frome Gap, there is no evidence of settlement on the site of Frome itself until the Saxon period. It is possible that the major fords and the routeways may have attracted some prehistoric or Roman settlement in the area but there is as yet little or no archaeological evidence for this. Apparently isolated burial sites are known in the area, with the closest to Frome being the single Roman burial on North Hill and the neolithic burial site at Fromefield; neither of these necessarily indicates settlement. An archaeological assessment of Frome was commissioned by English Heritage and published in 2003 as part of the English Heritage Somerset Extensive Urban Survey. The report, which can be accessed via the Somerset County Council website at www.somerset.gov.uk, states

Much of the conservation area lies with an Area of High Archaeological Potential (AHAP), as defined in the Mendip District Local Plan.

The Royal Oak, Egford Hill Listed boundary marker, Christchurch Street

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

5 Spatial analysis

5.1 Plan form and layout

The general form of the conservation area may be broadly described as a central medieval core of narrow streets around a market place from which a number of arms untidily radiate, following historic development along the historic approach roads to the town e.g. Broadway, Portway, Fromefield and Innox Hill. The central core comprises the mainly 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century developments around the town’s original settlement in Market Place and St John’s Church on the south side of the River Frome. Linear developments and settlements beside the main routes into and out of the town are generally, but not always, a later date.

The core of the town has a high density of development with few open spaces and until the end of the 19th century the density of the built form was matched by a high population density.

Phoenix Terrace, Catherine Street Datestone, former Selwood Road print works

The central area is characterised by narrow streets which climb the hill in a varied and haphazard fashion. Trinity, a planned development on relatively flat land is laid out on a rectangular grid pattern. Bath Street and North Parade were created in the early 19th century to try and ease communication within and through the congested town centre and these wide planned routes have added another layer to Frome’s intricate street pattern.

Alleys and back streets are common and ‘courts’ i.e. rows of houses leading at right angles from the main street, for example Button Street and Plumbers Barton are a feature of the area. Later examples of this type of development include Keyford Terrace and Keyford Gardens.

5.2 Landmarks, focal points and views

Frome is a rural town on a hill and one of the defining characteristics of the conservation area is the distant views of nearby hills that can be seen from the ‘upper’ part of the town. Of particular note are the views of the distinctive dome of Cley Hill, an Iron Age hillfort 3 miles to the east. From the highpoints of Innox Hill, Vallis Road and Egford Hill one can see long distances to open countryside.

Looking into the conservation area there is no single hilltop landmark. The most distinctive sight is the rows of development stepping down the hillside and the lively

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

roofscape comprising gables, dormers and chimney stacks and the ‘waves’ of the predominant clay tile roofs in warm colours of red and brown.

Cley Hill from Castle Street Garston Farmhouse from Millennium Green

The hillside location of Frome is best appreciated on arrival down North Parade from where the town can be seen ranked up the north facing slopes but still no single landmark predominates. However, once in the town, there are several key buildings that stand out: St John’s Church and its forecourt screen; the Blue School; the George Hotel and, most memorably, Rook Lane Congregational Chapel which, because of the re- alignment of Rook Lane has a wide forecourt that provides a fine setting for the building. These, and other grand buildings in the conservation area, have a significant impact on the local streetscene but are not seen from afar. Views within the conservation area are confined by the town’s narrow streets and changes in level but this adds interest to the townscape and produces many visual surprises as one turns a corner or looks back having ascended, for example, Catherine Hill or Bath Street. Even riverside views from The Bridge are curtailed by buildings on the west side and Willow Vale on the east side.

The tight-knit grid pattern layout of the Trinity area occasionally results in views along streets terminating with a well-designed building, most notably Trinity Church deliberately aligned to close the westward view along Trinity Street.

5.3 Open spaces, trees and other natural features

The conservation area is remarkable for its density rather than its open spaces. With the exception of Market Place the town centre is a compact area of narrow streets and alleys more notable for its intimate small spaces than wide open areas, especially as the boundaries of the area have been drawn to exclude the town’s central car parks.

Market Place, as one would expect, is a wide area at the centre of the town from which narrow streets radiate. In contrast to Catherine Hill or Cheap Street, Bath Street and North Parade have a much less cramped feel, having been planned as prestigious early 19th-century routes to the town centre. Churchyards and the grounds of large houses provide isolated areas of open space, public and private, within the conservation area. The churchyards of St John’s, St Mary’s, Christchurch, Trinity, Rook Lane Chapel and the Dissenters’ Chapel are green ‘breathing spaces’ amidst the otherwise tight urban form.

Two public open spaces are notable south of the River Frome: Victoria Park and The Dippy. The former is a public park with lawns, bowling green and tennis courts, the latter is a much more informal open grassed area.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Dissenters’ Chapel cemetery Weir on the River Frome

The northern part of the conservation area (north of the River Frome) has a generally more spacious atmosphere that the southern part due to the deep set-back and large gardens of houses in Welshmill Road and Fromefield and the open spaces beside the river, especially at Welshmill. The Millennium Green links with the grounds of North Hill House (west) and Rodden Meadows (east, outside the conservation area) to form a green wedge almost into the town centre.

The River Frome is part of the raison d’etre of the original settlement and was the source of power for the town’s 400 year history of cloth-making. While the river has this important historic link to the town’s economy, its visible presence is small as there are only two short lengths within the conservation area: Willow Vale and Welshmill. In Willow Vale the river creates a delightful riverside setting for a row of historic properties (although the river’s course here is part of a former millstream) and at Welshmill the water contributes to a rural feel already created by the woods and riverside grassed areas. A footpath follows the course of the river through the heart of the town.

Trees are a significant feature of the conservation area but, given the central core’s tight network of streets, they are more plentiful in peripheral areas especially north of the River Frome. Park Road, Vallis Road and Badcox are the only location of street trees although there are some outstanding garden trees that have a positive impact on the streetscene.

In addition to Victoria Park and the Millennium Green, small groups of trees are noteworthy within the grounds of places of worship and large houses e.g. in and around St John’s churchyard, St Mary’s churchyard, the Dissenters’ Cemetery, North Hill House and Fromefield House.

Significant trees or tree groups are marked on the Townscape Appraisal map. Lack of a specific reference does not imply that a tree or group is not of value.

5.4 Public realm

Items in the public realm e.g. pavements, street furniture, signage and lighting columns are generally modern but there are some exceptional examples of historic paving, old lighting columns and iron bollards which add to the area’s historic ambience. These should be preserved.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Frome has had a long established tradition of metal working and much of the street furniture such as bollards, street lamps and railings have been made in the town. Iron railings would have once been more prevalent but many were taken away during the Second World War; however, some good examples of old railings survive, for instance at the entrance to the Dissenters’ Chapel in Vallis Road. Some lost railings are being replaced either as a requirement of planning permission or though grant aid, e.g. the railings in Phoenix Terrace in Catherine Street.

Iron railings and stone steps, Vicarage Street Stone carriageway, Fromefield

Of particular interest are the early 20th-century cast iron lamp standards by the local art- metal firm of Singers. Several of these, designed with a crook for the lamp with art nouveau ornament are listed grade II (e.g. Innox Hill, Whittox Lane, Sun Street).

Two of Frome’s streets, Gentle Street and Stony Street, are renowned for their stone paving and Cheap Street still retains a historic leat. One of the features of special interest within the conservation are the remnants of historic paving including, for example, stone pavements in Whittox Lane and Pennant stone kerbs in Weymouth Road.

Cast iron street name signs fixed to the side of buildings e.g. Cheap Street, Willow Vale enhance the streetscene. Frome has a growing reputation for arts and crafts and throughout the town there are a number of items of public art. Of note within the conservation area are the railings at the foot of Stony Street, incorporating the Frome logo with St Aldhelm’s head, the Valentine lamp in Catherine Hill and items in Millennium Green. Stone walls are important to the character of the area, particularly continuous high stone boundary walls.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

6 The buildings of the conservation area

6.1 Building types

The Frome Conservation Area is a large area and contains many examples of religious, residential, industrial and public building. It is therefore host to a wide variety of building types but is especially notable for some exceptionally interesting places of worship including Church of St John the Baptist (12th-century with alterations and much rebuilding in the 19th century), Christ Church (1817), St Mary’s Church (1863), Holy Trinity (1837), Rook Lane Chapel (1707) and Zion Congregational Church, Whittox Lane (1810).

South Parade The Iron Gates, King Street

The conservation area contains some exceptional residential buildings and areas. Trinity, an outstanding example of early industrial housing, is well known and well documented but there are other small enclaves of planned workers’ housing in Innox Hill, The Retreat, Wallbridge and New Buildings, Keyford. At the other end of the social scale, numerous fine rich clothiers’ and other merchants’ houses are dispersed around the area. Some like Fromefield House and Welshmill Lodge were built in what was then the outskirts of the town; others such as The Iron Gates and Court House were built close to the town centre or, perhaps more significantly, close to the mills.

Many buildings form the town’s industrial past have been demolished but there are still small but significant reminders of the clothing, brewing, printing and engineering industries e.g. former dye house in Justice Lane (now Tourist Information), former Selwood Printing Works, Selwood Road( now in residential use) and Merchants Barton warehouse (former silk crepe mill, now derelict).

6.2 Listed buildings

There are over 350 listed buildings in Frome, more than any other town in Somerset. The location of these is shown on the accompanying townscape appraisal map from which it will be seen that the town centre and Trinity have an extraordinarily high density of listed buildings.

The majority of listed buildings are listed grade II but three buildings are listed grade I (Former Rook Lane Congregational Chapel, St John’s Church and The Blue School). Twenty four listed buildings are grade II* including no. 4 Cheap Street (late 16th-century 18

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

with large jettied front gable) and several early 18th-century houses e.g. Wiltshires Barton, Trinity Street (c.1718), nos. 14-16 Willow Vale (1720, a terrace of 3 clothiers’ houses) and the Court House, King Street (1720).

The Blue School and Frome Bridge 18th-century doorcase, Willow Vale

6.3 ‘Positive’ buildings

In addition to listed buildings, the Townscape Analysis map identifies a large number of unlisted buildings which make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area.

Generally, these ‘positive’ buildings are individual or groups of buildings that retain all, or a high proportion, of their original architectural detailing and that add interest and vitality to the appearance of the conservation area. Most of them date to the 18th or 19th century. Where they have been too heavily altered, and restoration is not easily achievable, they are excluded. Occasionally, an unlisted building of merit may not be marked on the map because its special features or historic interest is not easily evident from the public viewpoint, so the Townscape Appraisal map should not be taken as definitive.

6.4 Building materials and local details

Some of the earliest buildings in Frome, for example the 16th-century nos. 4 and 11 Cheap Street are timber-framed but Frome is a town in which local stone predominates. Stone is the prevailing walling material, mainly locally quarried Forest Marble and Doulting stone and, as transport improved, Bath stone. Forest Marble is a tough limestone which is not easily worked or carved but which can be extracted in practical- sized chunks and built up as rubble walling. In contrast, Doulting and Bath stone can be easily dressed and is used for window and door surrounds in modest rubble-stone buildings in the Trinity area and for the smooth ashlar facades of the town’s prestigious buildings. Render, both smooth and roughcast, is also common.

Brick is rare in the Frome Conservation Area until the coming of the railway. As the conservation area mostly covers the pre-railway development of Frome, brick is rare. The most notable exceptions are the brick façade of Castle House, no. 23 Castle Street which is an 18th-century re-facing of an earlier building and Badcox Parade (1889). Chimney stacks are commonly constructed of brick being more fire resistant than stone. Red brick chimney stacks add to the area’s warm red/brown coloured roofscape.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Ashlar stone façade, Vallis Road Early and unusual use of brick in the Trinity area

Frome has a lively roofscape arising from the rippling surface created by the predominance of terracotta/brown/red clay tiles, either Bridgwater pantiles or double/triple/ Roman tiles. Stonewall Manor in Lower Keyford has a roof of stone slates but the most prevalent alternative to clay tiles is Welsh slate which is common in the post railway development of Weymouth Road and Somerset Road – although it is notable that even in this late 19th-century development clay roof tiles are still being used.

Surviving traditional window joinery is painted softwood. Stone mullioned windows with side-hung casements are common until the 17th century. Later houses have vertical sliding sashes or, in small cottages, two-light casements.

6.5 Shopfronts, advertisements and signs

Shopfronts, advertisements and signs are a feature of the commercial area around Market Place, Catherine Hill and Badcox. There are a number of whole or partly altered historic shopfronts (no. 25 Keyford is a good example of a double bowed shop front) and some good examples of modern replicas. However, many shopfronts have been altered or are completely modern.

The most common problems are:

• Over-deep fascias, hiding original features; • Use of garish colours; • Use of plastic lettering and over-dominant lighting.

Road signs and traffic lights, though necessary to control traffic and pedestrian movement, are sometimes poorly sighted in relation to listed buildings and contribute to a distracting visual clutter.

6.6 General condition of the area and built fabric

Since the late 1970s £1.8 million of grant aid has been put into restoring and regenerating listed buildings in Frome. In contrast to 25 years ago the general condition of the area and its built fabric is good although there is evidence of a lack of routine maintenance and repair in the town centre and some private residences.

Steps and balustrades in the churchyard of St John’s are in need of repair. 20

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Boarded up building, Vallis Road Damaged stonework, St John’s churchyard

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

7 Character areas

The Frome Conservation Area can be roughly divided into ten separate character areas each with its own characteristics defined by date or historic form and layout, and current and past uses and activities. These ten character areas are:

• Character area 1: Town centre (1a) and an adjacent area to the north west including West End (1b)

• Character area 2: Trinity, Sheppard’s Barton and Vallis Way including Horton Street and Button Street – primarily residential area of housing with late 17th- century origins

• Character area 3: Badcox, Christchurch Street West, Christchurch Street East, Portway and Wallbridge Mill – mixed development along an east-west route south of the original town centre

• Character area 4: Broadway (4a) and Vallis Road (4b) - residential areas west of the town centre

• Character area 5: Willow Vale and the River Frome

• Character area 6: North Parade and the environs of North Hill House

• Character area 7: Welshmill Road and Innox Hill

• Character area 8: Fromefield

• Character area 9: Weymouth Road, Somerset Road and Victoria Park – late 19th- century residential roads and the town’s main park

• Character area 10: Keyford

The full extent of each character areas is shown on the accompanying ‘Character areas map’. Each section below briefly considers their historical development and summarises their principal features.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 1: Town centre and an adjacent area to the north west including West End

Argyll House, Gentle Street Market day, Market Place

Bath Street No. 34 Vicarage Street

Principal features

• Part of original medieval street pattern around Church Steps and Market Place (Apple Alley, Cheap Street, Stony Street, Catherine Hill, Gentle Street, King Street); • Market Place, the commercial core of the town almost entirely enclosed by listed buildings, and activity on market days; • Cheap Street with central conduit of running water; • Gentle Street, winding stone paved street (repaved 1987); • Stony Street and Catherine Hill, a steep stone paved pedestrian area of specialist shopping lined with historic buildings; • Bath Street, developed c.1810, in which stand classical early 18th-century houses; • High concentration of listed buildings; • Key buildings: Church of St John the Baptist and the five-arched screen (1814, by Jeffry Wyatt), Rook Lane Congregational Chapel, The Iron Gates and Court House, Argyll House and Oriel Lodge; • 17th- and 18th-century houses in Cork Street and Vicarage Street; • Varied townscape arising from changes of level and intricate street pattern; • Raised footpaths at either end of Paul Street and in Catherine Street;

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• High boundary walls in Vicarage Street, Rook Lane, Merchants Barton and Blindhouse Lane; • West End, a small secluded area of 19th-century housing; • Stone paving in many areas notably Gentle Street and Stony Street; • Tranquil atmosphere of St John’s churchyard; • Mature trees in churchyard and Bath Street, including cedar of 1814;

Location, topography

This character area covers the medieval core of Frome. The market place occupies a relatively flat site beside the river from which Stony Street and Bath Street rise up the hillside. West End, included in this character area for practical reasons, is a tiny, self- contained enclave of mid 19th-century houses linked to the town centre by Cork Street, north of the town centre.

Historical development

The original market place may have been below Church Steps close to a crossing place over the river. The medieval street pattern radiates from Market Place: north across the River Frome; east along Cheap Street and Vicarage Street – Cheap Street is mentioned in 1500, the name deriving from the Saxon ‘ceping’, a market; the southward exit from the market place was Stony Street where the road ran on the natural Forest Marble of the hillside. At the top of Stony Street the road, then as now, divided. Catherine Hill, named after a saint whose chapel lay in the vicinity proceeded steeply uphill and Palmer Street led to Rook Lane and Gentle Street which also ran uphill to join the ‘Behind Town’ the old name for the east west road running along the ridge, now Christchurch Street East and Christchurch Street West.

Bath Street was cut in 1810-12. It was the creation of Thomas Bunn, a local solicitor and devotee of Classicism. Bath Street (named after the Marquess of Bath) was modelled on Union Street in Bath and provided a fine entrance to the town centre which previously was only accessible from this direction along the narrow streets of Gentle Street or Rook Lane. Rook Lane originally ran directly in front of the 17th-century cottages and Congregational Chapel on the west side of Bath Street. During the same period Market Place was opened up by the destruction of tenements in the middle. The redevelopment of the market place resulted in the existence of many fine 19th-century buildings.

Townscape and architectural character

The character area contains a large number of listed buildings dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries and so the architectural character is rich and varied. Cheap Street contains some timber-framed 16th-century buildings recognisable from their jettied frontage. King Street contains two prestigious houses from the 17th and 18th century. Bath Street, cut through c.1810, displays examples of handsome early 19th-century houses whilst Market Place contains 19th-century civic buildings such as the former Bull Hotel.

The area is characterised by buildings that have been rebuilt or refronted. The George Hotel, one of the most prominent buildings in Market Place, was rebuilt in the 1750s, refronted in the early 19th century and remodelled internally in 1874.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

The sweep of Bath Street, lined with smooth ashlar-faced stone three-storey buildings embellished with Classical motifs, contrasts markedly with the varied eaves line and narrow confine of, for example, Cheap Street or Stony Street.

Building height is greatest around Market Place but generally does not exceed three storeys although The Crown Public House is four storeys and Stround and Swindon Building Society building is four and a half storeys. This is the most compact and dense part of the conservation area with Market Place and the churchyard of St John’s Church providing the only significant open space. With the exception of Bath Street, streets are narrow. A guide book to Frome from 1907 describes it well in saying: “the spaciousness of the market place redeems the narrowness of the streets”.

West End is a quiet residential collection of relatively unaltered mid-Victorian houses set back behind well-tended front gardens

Local features of interest

• The Boyle Cross; • The leat in Cheap Street; • Listed K6 telephone kiosks in Scott Road; • Cast iron street name signs; • Historic lamp standards; • Stone paving; • Railings with contemporary Frome logo (St Aldhelm);

Negative features

• Modern development on north side of Palmer Street and the brick building at junction of Eagle lane and Church Steps are out of character with their historic surroundings; • High volume of traffic, including heavy goods vehicles, through the Market Place; • Advertising banner hanging from Wyatt’s screen, St John’s Church; • Graffiti; • Damaged stone wall in St John’s churchyard • Litter in the old lock-up in the churchyard; • Unkempt appearance of some areas of St John’s churchyard; • Garish shop signs; • Loss of architectural details; • Heavy goods vehicles passing through the town centre.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 2: Trinity, Sheppard’s Barton and Vallis Way including Horton Street and Button Street – primarily residential area of housing with 18th-century origins

Former print works, Selwood Road Trinity Street

Whittox Lane Castle Street

Principal features

• Area of extensive planned industrial housing dating from c.1665-1725; • Catherine Street, one of the ancient routes to the market place; • Whittox Lane containing an outstanding ensemble of historic buildings and remnants of old stone paving; • High stone boundary walls in Goulds Ground; • View along Trinity Street to Holy Trinity Church; • Phoenix Terrace, a compact early 19th-century terrace elevated above Catherine Street; • Horton Street and Button Street, two streets of 18th-century houses; • Trinity Church and its green churchyard; • United Reformed Church, Whittox Lane; • Former works of Butler and Tanner, Selwood Road;

Location, topography

The area known as Trinity, between Castle Street and Orchard Street, is located on relatively level ground to the west of the town centre. Catherine Street runs downhill eastwards in the fold of an undulation between Castle Street and South Parade. High Street is named because it was one of the highest streets in the town.

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Historical development

Trinity, so named after Trinity Church (1837), is one of the earliest examples of industrial housing in England. The area was developed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. A survey of Frome in 1785 Frome shows that out of a population of 8,125 people, 2,084 lived in the Trinity area. The whole area is recorded and documented in a Royal Commission for Historic Monuments of England publication: ‘The Trinity Area of Frome’ (R. Leech, 1981).

Prior to development for housing the area comprised common fields, subsequently enclosed. Development of the area began c.1665. During the next twenty years Castle Street, Trinity Street and part of Vallis Way had been built out and the area continued to be developed until 1725 when the street pattern was more or less complete. Part of the Trinity area was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by modern flats and houses. This area, north of Trinity Street has not been included in the Frome Conservation Area.

The development of the Trinity area was promoted by three principal owners, plots being leased for 99 years or for three named lives, whichever was the shorter. Much of the building was carried out by several families of tradesmen. The development was speculative. Though intended for artisans, the properties were not for the employees of a specific cloth manufacturer.

The development of the Sheppards Barton area in the late 17th and 18th centuries took place on land mostly leased and purchased from the Champneys by the Sheppards. Sheppards Barton, South Parade, Wine Street and High Street were laid out in closes in the same manner as Trinity, although somewhat later. Wine Street and High Street are first mentioned by name in 1746. South Parade was originally Rack Close but is name was changed in 1822 to complement North Parade (cut in 1797) perhaps with the intention of creating a link.

Uses

The area is predominantly residential, a mix of old and new dwellings, and even the former Selwood works have been converted to flats. There are some shops along Catherine Street as it approaches Badcox and a number of pubs and places of worship. The Trinity area has a quiet atmosphere and many streets are lined with parked cars.

Townscape and architectural character

Trinity was laid out in an approximate grid pattern although there is a noticeable curve in Castle Street. The streets are laid out with blocks of terraced houses with no front gardens. Two back lanes, Baker Street and York Street, were part of the original plan although the latter has been changed by redevelopment. The small square known as The Ope is also part of the larger plan for the area.

Buildings are generally of two or three storeys and most terraces have slight variation in eaves line often broken by the characteristic twin gables of the earlier houses. Some of the houses are of uniform appearance. The area has a high density being more tightly- knit than, say, late 19th-century terraced houses. Plot sizes become larger in the Goulds Ground area and the adjacent Trinity churchyard gives the northern part of the character area a more spacious feel.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

The houses built in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were generally of simple design, but with attention being paid to doorway and window detail. Well proportioned, symmetrically designed facades were a characteristic feature of the larger houses. Gables with attic windows are a feature of houses up to about 1700. Early windows have stone mullions but the external appearance of many houses was changed in the 19th and 20th centuries by the insertion of larger windows with plain ashlar surrounds, which are characteristic of houses of this period in Frome.

In Selwood Road stands the original Butler and Tanner printing factory, built in stages from 1866-1876 in the Bristol Byzantine style, now in residential use. Its mass and use of red brick give it prominence in the streetscene of Trinity Street and Selwood Road.

Button Street is a cul de sac of 18th-century houses (all listed grade II) named after a prominent clothier family. Horton Street appears on the 1774 map of Frome. Development on the south side has been demolished.

Local features of interest

• Stone pavement in Whittox Lane; • Pavement in Sun Street; • The Ope, Selwood Road; • Historic lamp standards.

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • Unsightly satellite dishes; • UPVC windows that are out of keeping with historic buildings.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 3: Badcox, Christchurch Street West, Christchurch Street East, Portway and Wallbridge Mill – mixed development along an east-west route south of the original town centre

Wesley Methodist Chapel Christ Church

Portway

Principal features

• Small commercial centre at Badcox; • Christ Church, churchyard and trees; • The Old Brewery; • Garston Lodge; • Wesley Methodist Chapel, Wesley Villas and Hall; • The Butts; • Garston House; • Nos. 7-11 Wallbridge; • Wallbridge Mill and The Retreat. • Victorian terrace on Portway

Location, topography

This character area follows an east west route through the town which carries a high level of traffic bypassing the town centre. Although it lacks architectural coherence, the area is characterised by robust development alongside a route that has performed the role of bypass for several centuries, known in the 18th century as ‘Behind Town’. There is a slight but appreciable fall to the east, to a bridge over the Frome.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Historical development

The development of the street pattern along the ridge is not fully understood. Christchurch Street East and West may have been a reused prehistoric ridgeway or a post-medieval bypass of the town. This road became known as Behind Town and until c1750 it defined the southern limit of the town. The name Christchurch Street for the section west of Bath Road followed the building of Christ Church in 1818. The eastern section remained Behind Town until it became Christchurch Street East in 1867. Portway is a common name for a road between market towns, in this case Frome and Warminster.

Uses

Being astride a busy road, this character area has is typified by commercial, office and educational uses although there are significant number of dwellings. Traffic dominates the area and can be busy at rush hour times.

Townscape and architectural character

Because of its high level of traffic, this area suffers from road signs, traffic lights and other obtrusive traffic management measures that detract from the historic appearance of the area. The route is still characterised by road junctions where roads ascending from the town centre meet the ancient ridgway route i.e. at Badcox, Gorehedge and Portway/Vicarage Street.

Badcox is a small shopping centre at the meeting of many roads with the feel of an urban ‘square’. Nos. 6 and 6a are grade II listed, three storeys with a painted ashlar façade. Immediately adjacent is Badcox Parade, unusual for its height (four storeys) and use of red brick, uncharacteristic in Frome. Street trees soften the urban atmosphere but a vacant petrol filling station is an eyesore.

Travelling eastwards, Christchurch Street West has trees on the south side and terraced development on the north. The trees partly screen Christ Church which sits in the centre of a large churchyard, a contrast to the tight-knit streets of pre-19th-century Frome. From here to Gorehedge development is set back and plot sizes are larger than further east. Despite being overlooked by some fine listed buildings (e.g. Wesley Villas and the Wesleyan Church), the large intersection of roads at Gorehedge is a poor piece of townscape because of the necessary traffic control measures and the negative impact of a building with a prominent corner site, currently occupied by Express Beds.

No. 9 Christchurch Street East, just east of the Gorehedge roundabout, dates from c.1770 and was once the County Court Office. Adjacent development is unremarkable but architectural interest returns where nos. 52, 53, 54 and 55 Christchurch Street East, a row of 18th-century cottages, stand at angle to the road. On the opposite (north) side of the road there are short alleys cutting through to Vicarage Street: Blindhouse Lane, Plumbers Barton and Portway Steps.

Portway, which links older Frome with the railway station and the former sidings, contains a number of attractive red-brick terraced houses with Doulting stone dressings, characteristic of late-Victorian Frome. Built around 1890 the houses contained within the

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

street add further to the wide variety, period and range of house types to be found within the Frome Conservation Area. The terrace stands in an elevated position above the road and is set back from a wide, raised pavement; as such it has a notable impact on the street scene, adding significantly to the area’s interest.

Local features of interest

• Street trees in Park Road; • Bunn’s Pillar.

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • High volumes of through traffic, including heavy goods vehicles; • ‘Negative’ sites i.e. sites that detract from the special interest of the area: Express Beds premises, Gorehedge and vacant petrol filling station, Badcox; • Obtrusive traffic signage.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 4: Vallis Road, Nunney Road and Broadway – residential areas west of the town centre

Lansdown Place The Royal Oak, Broadway

Dissenters’ Chapel, Vallis Road Rowden House behind stone boundary wall

Nunney Road

Principal features

Vallis Road:

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

• Large 19th-entury houses (Leaze House and Rowden House); • Roadside stone boundary wall and gate piers to Rowden House; • Mature street trees in grass verge on north side; • Dissenters’ Chapel (1851) and Cemetery; • Significant open space at Rowden House and Dissenters’ Chapel Cemetery;

Nunney Road • Semi- detached 19th-entury housing; • Consistent boundary treatments to front gardens; • Attractive grounds of Critchill Grange located on a prominent corner plot.

Broadway:

• Terraced houses and short rows of houses along Broadway; • Lansdown Place, a secluded 19th-century terrace; • The Royal Oak (grade II) in a prominent corner location facing down Broadway; • Edge of town settlement.

Location, topography

These three areas comprise development immediately alongside three of the western approaches to the town, Vallis Road, Nunney Road and Broadway. Vallis Road is flat, following the contour, while Nunney Road rises to the west and Broadway rises to Egford Hill. There are views looking down Broadway that extend to countryside beyond Frome to the east.

Historical development and uses

Both Vallis Road and Broadway are at least medieval in origin. Broadway is probably an ancient trackway above the Frome valley. It is named in a charter of c1271 as ‘Brodeweye’. Nunney Road consisted of a simple track way until it was developed upon in the late 19th century. The streets are primarily residential. Rowden House in Vallis Road is now a care home and further west there is a chapel and large cemetery. Broadway contains two public houses.

Townscape and architectural character

Vallis Road is characterised by large buildings set back from the road. This spacious character is enhanced by the wide grounds of Rowden House and the tranquil, narrow Dissenters cemetery from where there are views across the Frome valley.

The conservation area has been drawn to enclose pre -1900 development on the north side of Vallis road but the presence of modern development, notably the bland Inland Revenue Office, on the south side dispels historic character. Rowden House is enclosed by a high stone wall.

The south side of Broadway is lined with terraces and rows of stone-built houses, those at the lower end opening directly onto the pavement whilst later development near the

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brow of the hill has small front gardens. The Royal Oak commands the upper end of Broadway from where small lanes lead directly to surrounding countryside.

Nunney Road consists largely of attractive semi-detached dwellings. A number of those of interest were constructed in the late 19th century, many by a local builder named Hodders who worked from a small quarry located at the bottom of the road. The majority of properties were constructed using Forest Marble rubble walling with Doulting stone dressing and as a result are familiar examples of Frome’s vernacular architecture.

The predominance of single-storey canted bay windows reveals the Victorian origins of these buildings which are also characterised by low front boundary walls which enclose small areas of garden. These act as an important feature of the area and are sometimes supplemented with hedges or, in the case of Oakfield Road terrace, railings. A significant number of the buildings within this vicinity retain the majority of their original architectural detailing and, as such, add interest and vitality to the appearance of this part of the conservation area.

Local features of interest

• Historic paving in front of Robins Court • Iron railings and stone gate piers at Dissenters’ Chapel.

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • Boarded up building on roadside adjacent to Dissenters’ Chapel; • Uncompromisingly modern extension to Rowden House; • Breach in Rowden House’s boundary wall and ivy-covered listed gate piers;

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Character area 5: Willow Vale and the River Frome Valley

Nos 14-16 Willow Vale No. 4 Willow Vale

River Frome

Principal features

• Early 18th-century clothiers’ houses located here to be close to their mills; • Dye tower and remnants of other industrial buildings; • The Blue House; • Willow Vale House and The Willows; • Nos. 14-16 Willow Vale; • River Frome and attractive well tree’d riverside; • Significant open space of Rodden Meadows

Location, topography

This character area lies at the bottom of a valley and includes the River Frome and development alongside. The River Frome is one of the defining features of the conservation area but, being a short distance from the bustle of Market Place, it can easily go unnoticed perhaps because the unusually located houses on the west side of the bridge block views of the river.

Historical development

The Sheppards were the major woollen cloth firm in Frome from the middle of the 17th century until 1878. In Willow Vale there are one or two outbuildings surviving from the

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Sheppards’ Town Mill (located on the south bank, now demolished), one of several mills along the Frome. The remaining workshop buildings are consistent with the use of hand- worked or horse-powered machinery and therefore may be early. A maltings was located at Willow Vale, some buildings survive but much altered.

Uses

This is a predominantly residential although historically the area contained a maltings, dye house and buildings associated with woollen cloth manufacturing in Town Mill which fell into disrepair in the late 19th century.

Townscape and architectural character

Willow Vale is a collection of about 20 dwellings (some in converted former industrial buildings) facing the River Frome. The area is well-tree’d especially on the south bank, lending a sylvan air to the area which, being a vehicular cul-de-sac is pleasantly free of traffic. Development is mainly two storeys, often with dormers. Stone and clay tile are the prevalent building materials.

The Blue House was built in 1726 as an almshouse and boys’ charity school, symbolised by the old maid and boy carved above the main door.

No. 1 Willow Vale may have been one of the first smaller houses on this side of the river, it once belonged to the Allen family, local dyers. Nos. 14-16 Willow Vale is a terrace of three clothiers’ houses with tall slender windows dating from around 1720. Willow Vale dates from the same period with an extension (The Willows) built in 1816.

Further along the valley the area largely consists of Rodden Meadows, an open valley flanking both sides of the River Frome. The area is bounded on the south side by the railway line and on the north side by a footpath which bends southwards to link with nearby Willow Vale. It links well with Millennium Green, thereby creating a large open green space within the conservation area which is otherwise marked by its density. The river, which is scarcely represented within the conservation area, has a strong presence here both visually and audibly.

Local features of interest

• Listed lamp standards; • Cast iron street name sign; • Iron railings, probably by the local firm of Cockeys; • Stone gate piers.

Negative features

• Poor surface of Willow Vale; • Poor quality of timber fences and signs in Rodden Meadows

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Character area 6: Frome Bridge, North Parade and the environs of North Hill House

North Parade Gable of The Blue School from North Parade

Principal features

• Frome Bridge; • Long straight course of North Parade cut in 1797; • North Hill House; • Millennium Green; • Literary and Scientific Institute (1865); • Listed houses in North Parade; • Open space and mature tree cover in front of North Hill House and on opposite (west) side the road.

Location, topography

North Parade leads from the town centre to Fromefield. It rises from the river bridge gently at first then more steeply past North Hill House. The character area is bisected by the railway. Approaching from the north, there is a good view directly down North Parade to the Market Place.

Historical development

Frome Bridge was built in the 14th century and in the early 16th century is described as having five arches. The bridge was rebuilt in the 16th century and widened in the 18th century. Today’s structure and many of the houses on it date from the early 19th century.

Historically there was much less development on the north side of the Frome than on the south side. A 1774 map shows the outline of development on North Hill but few details. Originally, the northward route from the town centre ran from the bridge up Bridge Street but North Parade was made in 1797 cutting through the garden of North Hill House and easing the passage uphill. The west side has a terrace of three-storey houses with basement c.1811 stepping down the hill.

Townscape and architectural character

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At the foot of North Parade is a wedge-shaped building built in 1865 as the Literary and Scientific Institute which is a local landmark. From here North Parade takes a direct course uphill of uniform width uphill lined with historic development especially on the east side. The railway bridge marks a distinct change in character and appearance. South of the railway, North Parade has a distinctly urban feel and feels very much part of the town centre but north of the railway, trees, open space and a lower density of development give the distinct impression of a suburb. This leafy approach to Frome via Fromefield is one of the most pleasant gateways to Frome.

The Millennium Green is an area of green sloping land that is a semi-wild open space for wildlife where there are walks and a picnic area.

Local features of interest

• Wall and railings on west side of North Parade;

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • Commercial sign on the west side of North Parade, beside railway bridge, is in a location that would be better suited to a FROME town sign;

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 7: Welshmill Road and Innox Hill

Welshmill Road River Frome from Welshmill Lane

St Mary’s Church Workers’ housing in Innox Hill

Principal features

• St Mary’s Church, forecourt and boundary trees; • Large houses in large plots of land; • Key buildings: Mendip House and Welshmill House (grade II*), Welshmill Lodge and Innox House; • Tunnel-like atmosphere created by overhanging trees in Welshmill Road; • High stone boundary walls in Welshmill Road and Innox Hill; • Green stretch of the River from and the weir. • Views across valley from top of Innox Hill;

Location, topography

This sinuous character area lies on the north side of the River Frome. Welshmill Road sweeps down from North Parade as it rises from the river towards Fromefield. A band of trees and greenery separates the road from the railway and the river until the land becomes level and the intervening space is occupied by a children’s playground beside a weir and a bridge.

Just beyond (north) of the river bridge and junction with Welshmill Lane, Innox Hill rises in a north westerly direction until it reaches a commanding position overlooking Frome

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on the other side of the valley. As one climbs Innox Hill, there are glimpses of the spire of St John’s. From the top of the hill, the distinctive twin spires of Trinity Church stand out in the distance whilst, looking westwards, there are views of open fields.

Historical development

Welshmill Road and Innox Hill follow the course of an ancient route to Bath from the town centre that left the market place and crossed the river before ascending Bridge Street and then turning northwards to avoid a steep gradient.

Houses in this area are mainly 19th-century prestigious dwellings. Mendip House and Welshmill House is a c.1790 villa with a distinctly Adam influence. At the top of Innox Hill is a compact development of 26 humble houses laid out around a quadrangle and dating from c.1820 to accommodate workers at Spring Gardens Mill which had been built in 1809 and extended in 1815 and 1824.

The earliest reference to Welch or Welsh Mill is in 1550. In 1764 it was a fulling mill and a factory was built beside it in 1810. It continued to work as a fulling and scouring mill until the early 20th century. The site of the now demolished mill was on the south side of the river just outside today’s conservation area.

Uses

The area is primarily residential but includes a major place of worship (St Mary’s Church) and a playground. At the west end of Welshmill Road is a dental practice operating from a large former dwelling. By day, Welshmill Road, being close to the town centre, is lined on one side with parked cars

Townscape and architectural character

Welshmill Road has built development on its north side only and these are large detached or semi-detached dwellings in large plots of land, those at the western end stretch back considerably and combine to create a large area of (private) green space on the south facing hillside. In summer, thick overhanging trees on both sides of the road create a tunnel-like atmosphere that is quite unusual so close to a town centre. The trees conceal the railway and river to the south, and three well set back large houses to the north.

Tree cover diminishes as the ground levels. The loss of roadside trees in front of Shelsey House, breaking the length of tree cover on the north side, is regrettable because the house and its extensive hard-surfaced parking area do not contribute positively to the streetscene. From the playground and from the bridge over the Frome there are views of the river and the weir.

Innox Hill starts boldly with a row of fine mature beech trees behind which stands St Mary’s Church (grade II) perched above an area of open space that provides a good setting for the Victorian building. The church, designed by C.E. Giles, was erected in 1863/4 as a Chapel of Ease to St John’s Church.

Modern development on the south side of Innox Hill is undistinguished and the boundary of the conservation area has been drawn to exclude this and modern infill on the north side. The lane is characterised by stone walls especially towards the top of the hill.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Local features of interest

• Stone gate piers in Welshmill Road; • Stone walls; • Line of beech trees beside St Mary’s Church; • Historic lamp posts in Innox Hill.

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • Loss of tree cover at entrance to Shelsey House • Break in otherwise continuous stone wall and garage on south side of Welshmill Road; • Intrusive modern infill (outside the conservation area); • Litter.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 8: Fromefield

Fromefield House No. 32 Fromefield

Principal features

• Fromefield House (1796); • Brunswick Place, an early 19th-century terrace; • Fine ensemble of late 18th- and early 19th-century houses, many of which are listed buildings; • Extensive roadside tree cover; • Village atmosphere.

Location, topography and use

Fromefield, once a separate hamlet on the outskirts of Frome, is located north of the town on the far side of the hill on the north side of the River Frome such that the town of Frome cannot be seen from Fromefield. Approaching Fromefield from the north, the road curves slightly and rises to meet North Parade ascending from Frome town centre.

Uses

The area is mainly residential and there is a doctors’ surgery, a bed and breakfast, a post office and a take-away. Stoneleigh House is part of Farleigh Further Education College. The area has a generally tranquil atmosphere marred only by traffic

Historical development

When the grounds of Fromefield House were being laid out, a Neolithic burial chamber was discovered and partly dug out in 1819-20. The name “Fromefield” derives from the open field system, the Field of Frome, appearing in charters from the 13th century. In 1796 George Sheppard, a wealthy Frome clothier, built Frome Field House, then in substantial grounds in a good rural position on the edge of the town. The grounds even included an ice house and a bath house. Further development followed, especially after the creation of North Parade in 1797 and, by the mid 19th century, Fromefield had become a small settlement of a dozen dwellings, large and small. The area has been surrounded by modern housing development in the second half of the 20th century. Fromefield House is now divided into flats.

Townscape and architectural character

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

The profusion of roadside greenery gives the area a semi-rural atmosphere that belies its proximity to Frome. Fromefield House stands in a relatively large plot beside a wide modern road junction and partly concealed by trees.

Most buildings are of two storeys and face the road. Abergele is set back at an angle on the west and presents a very pleasing Georgian façade to those arriving from the north. Brunswick Place (nos. 31-33 Fromefield) is an elegant three-storey building given greater presence in the streetscene through being elevated above the road. Stone is the most prevalent walling material, either ashlar as at Fromefield House or rubblestone as at no. 34. Pantiles are common.

Local features of interest

• Grade II listed milestone opposite Brunswick Place; • Stone boundary walls; • Stone paving to rear of Abergele; • Mature trees especially yew and horse chestnut; • The poet Christina Rosetti (1830-1894) ran a school at no. 32 during 1853/54.

Negative features

• Hardsurfacing for car parking spoils the setting of Stoneleigh House; • Modern infill does not harmonise with adjacent historic buildings (and has therefore not been included within the conservation area);

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 9: Weymouth Road, Somerset Road and Victoria Park

Victoria Park Weymouth Road

Principal features

• Residential roads dating from the 1870s to the 1890s with a distinctive late Victorian architectural style; • Victoria Park (1887) and its thatched bandstand; • Specimen trees in Victoria Park.

Location, topography

This area of late 19th-century development lies south west of the town centre on rising ground above the east-west thoroughfare of Christchurch Road. Weymouth Road rises up from Badcox to its right-angled junction with Somerset Road which gently falls towards Butts Hill. Victoria Park occupies a large space in the angle of the two roads and is mostly level.

Historical development

Before the end of the 19th century Weymouth Road and Somerset Road were tracks across open fields.

Nos. 36-52 Weymouth Road were the first houses of this Victorian planned development. They were built by Thomas Parfitt of Nunney Road in 1871 and named Bath Buildings after Lord Bath who sold the land for building. The rest of the houses in this small character area were erected during the following 25 years. The local building firm of Sewards built Somerset Road in the 1890s.

Victoria Park was opened in 1887, fifty years after the accession of Queen Victoria. Today it is notable for its collection of specimen trees.

Townscape and architectural character

Historic development (and the conservation area) lies only on the west side of Weymouth Road. Detached, semi-detached and rows of stone fronted Victorian houses step up the hill. All are set back behind small front gardens and follow a strict building line except for nos. 66 to 76 which are built slightly closer to the road. Low stone walls,

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

sometimes supplemented with hedges, form the front boundary and building height rises to three storeys.

There is more variety of design in Somerset Road than Weymouth Road and a slightly more austere feel. The lower (eastern) end of the road comprises three rows of dwellings: nos. 8-13 are of two and a half storeys with gables, nos. 14-18 are of two storeys with canted bays and then the building height rises to a full three storeys in the third short row, nos19-24. Continuing westwards, semi-detached pairs become the norm, nos. 32/33 embellished with corner turrets.

Typical late Victorian details adorn the houses. Canted bay windows, foliated capitals, cast-iron balconnettes, stained glass, clay ridge tiles and finials can all be found in varying degrees as part of the design of individual houses.

Local features of interest

• Stone walls and gate piers; • Victoria Park gates and railings; • Stone kerbs along Weymouth Road (west side); • House names incised into stonework e.g. St Maur, Ivanhoe, Belmont Villas.

Negative features

• Replacement of timber windows with uPVC and other loss of original historic fabric; • Blocked-up former toilet building in Victoria Park; • High steel coloured railings at the corner of Weymouth Road and Somerset Road; • Graffiti in the Park;

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Character area 10: Keyford

Keyford Terrace Nos. 77 and 79 Keyford

Stonewall Manor, Lower Keyford No. 47 Lower Keyford

Principal features

• Hilltop location of Keyford, ‘secluded dell’ location of Lower Keyford; • Keyford Terrace and other 19th-century terraces including Keyford Place, Keyford Gardens and Redland Terrace); • The Crown Inn; • No. 25 Keyford with an intact historic shopfront; • Stonewall Manor (c1700); • New Buildings, an early 18th-century housing development; • The Dippy, a large public open space.

Location, topography

Keyford, comprising the two adjacent but distinctively different settlements of Great and Little Keyford, lies directly south of Frome town centre beside the B3092 road leading to Maiden Bradley. Keyford, the larger of the two settlements, sits on the brow of the hill around the junction of Rossiter’s Hill/Lock’s Hill and Keyford/Culverhill. This area with its traffic light controlled junction and passing traffic has a more urban character than Little Keyford which lies in a more secluded location off the foot of Culverhill.

Historical development

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Keyford was a Saxon settlement called in Domesday Book Caivel or Chaivert, a name which may derive from Old English caeg-fyrhth, a woodland or frith. In the time of Edward the Confessor, the whole of Keyford had belonged to a Saxon called Levedai but it was divided between the Bishop of Coutances and Turstin FitzRolf, giving rise to Great and Little Keyford, names recorded as early as 1405. The two settlements, though close together, have distinctive characters.

Little Keyford was independent of Frome for centuries and now, though encompassed by the town, it retains a secluded village atmosphere. Tanning is first recorded at Lower Keyford in 1666. A 15th-century manor house belonging to the Twynhoe family was ruinous by 1740 but medieval fabric can be seen in the walls of the building listed as nos. 55-67 (odd). The remains of late medieval wall painting have also been found on site. A few buildings of a tannery that closed in the 20th century remain. Until the 1950s the hamlet was dominated by a large Victorian building known as Stevens’ Asylum (opened 1803).

Uses

The area is today primarily residential. Although Keyford was once a small shopping centre, only a betting shop, domestic appliance shop, take-aways and public house remain dispersed along Keyford. Lower Keyford is residential.

Townscape and architectural character

Keyford is characterised by two-storey 17th- and 18th-century houses on either side of the thoroughfare which, close to the crossroads, is one way. Being at the top of a hill there are views northwards of distant trees above the rooftops of Frome itself. Clay pantiles and stone predominate.

Two buildings stand out: The Crown Inn and no. 25 Keyford. The Crown Inn is a late 17th-century building with two gables typical of Frome’s 17th-century vernacular. No. 25 dates from the 18th century and has a pantiled mansard roof. Both buildings are built with rubble stone but no. 25 has ashlar dressings. Of particular note is the double bowed shop front with 20 panes to each window.

There are four unusual terraces of 19th-century houses: Keyford Place, Redland Terrace, Keyford Gardens and Keyford Terrace. The latter three are orientated almost at right angles to the main street with access along a pedestrian footpath across the front of the terrace and large front gardens. Nos. 1-14 Keyford Terrace are grade II listed and date from c.1816. The houses are three-storeys, stone with slate roofs. Doorways have small bracketed pediments. Unfortunately some front gardens have been taken over by hardsurfacing for car parking.

Lower Keyford is a secluded hamlet which contains an informal ‘square’ formed by the blocking of the road. Absence of pavements adds to a rural feel. Buildings have a haphazard relationship to the narrow thoroughfare and plot sizes are large. The area is notable for its well kept gardens. Well preserved 17th-century buildings such as no. 47 (Keyford Farmhouse) and no. 36 (Stonewall Manor - unusually roofed with stone tiles) testify to the area’s historic origins.

Local features of interest

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

• GR V post box;

Negative features

• Loss of architectural details; • Loss of front gardens in Keyford Terrace; • Awkwardly constructed buttresses to the end gable wall of 54 Keyford.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

PART 2 MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS

8 Introduction

8.1 Structure and scope

Part 1 of this document, the Frome Conservation Area Appraisal, assesses the special interest of the Frome Conservation Area. The key characteristics which make the conservation area special are summarised in Section 1.1.

The Appraisal also identifies negative factors and weaknesses which detract from the conservation area’s special character. These are noted in Section 7 ‘Character Areas’ and provide the basis for the list of key issues summarised in Section 1.2.

Part 2 of this document, the Management Proposals presents proposals to achieve the preservation and enhancement of the conservation area’s special character, by providing a series of recommendations for future action based on the issues raised in Section 1.2 of the Conservation Area Appraisal.

The proposals include recommendations for enhancement and policies for the avoidance of harmful change, many of which are the responsibility of the District Council.

The proposals are written in the awareness that in managing the District’s conservation areas the Council’s resources are limited and therefore need to be prioritised. Financial constraints on the Council mean that proposals for which it is responsible may take longer than is desirable to implement.

The structure and scope of this document is based on the suggested framework published by English Heritage in Guidance on the management of conservation areas (2005).

Both the Conservation Area Appraisal and the Management Proposals will be subject to monitoring and reviews on a regular basis (see Section 8.3 below).

8.2 Current policy and other guidance

This document reflects Government guidance set out in Planning Policy Guidance 15: ‘Planning and the Historic Environment’ and satisfies the statutory requirement of section 71(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act 1990 namely:

“It shall be the duty of the local planning authority from time to time to formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of any parts of their area which are conservation areas.”

Current planning policies for the district, including those governing development and management of change in conservation areas, are laid out in the Mendip District Local Plan (adopted December 2002). However, the Local Plan will be replaced in the near future by a Local Development Framework (LDF) which is part of the new planning system introduced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

The character appraisal and management proposals document will sit alongside the conservation policies contained within the new LDF and be complementary to its aims of preserving and enhancing the district’s conservation areas.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

8.3 Monitoring and review

As recommended by English Heritage, this document should be reviewed every five years from the date of its formal adoption. It will need to be assessed in the light of the emerging Local Development Framework and government policy generally. A review should include the following:

• A survey of the conservation area including a full photographic survey to aid possible enforcement action; • An assessment of whether the various recommendations detailed in this document have been acted upon, and how successful this has been; • The identification of any new issues which need to be addressed, requiring further actions or enhancements; • The production of a short report detailing the findings of the survey and any necessary action; • Publicity and advertising.

It is possible that this review could be carried out by the local community under the guidance of a heritage consultant or the District Council. This would enable the local community to become more involved with the process and would raise public consciousness of the issues, including the problems associated with enforcement.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

9 Management proposals

9.1 Preservation of historic buildings

As part of the appraisal process, and as recommended by English Heritage and in PPG 15, ‘positive’ unlisted buildings have been identified and are marked on the Townscape Appraisal Map. See Section 6.3 of the conservation area appraisal for further information on their selection.

Proposal:

• The council will only grant conservation area consent for the demolition of a ‘positive building’ (as identified on the relevant townscape appraisal map) if demolition is justified against the criteria specified in PPG 15 paragraphs 3.16 – 3.19.

9.2 Negative sites and buildings –opportunities for enhancement

The Conservation Area Appraisal has identified specific ‘negative’ sites and buildings i.e. those buildings and sites which detract from the special character and appearance of the conservation area and which therefore present an opportunity for improvement and enhancement. These are:

• Vacant petrol filling station at Badcox • Express Beds premises, Gorehedge; • Yellow brick building at junction of Church Steps and Eagle Lane; • Boarded up stone building adjacent to Dissenters’ Chapel • Damaged stonework of steps in St John’s churchyard.

Proposal:

• Where a building or site has been identified as having a negative effect on the conservation area, the council will seek to enhance that building or site.

• The council will, after further research and analysis, seek to prepare planning and design briefs for major ‘negative’ sites.

9.3 Building maintenance and repair

There are a small number of historic buildings in need of routine maintenance and repair, particularly in the town centre. In addition, four listed buildings within the conservation area are on Mendip Council’s Buildings at Risk Register 2006: no. 2 Button Street (now restored), warehouse at Merchants Barton, outbuilding to Lamb and Fountain Inn and warehouse in South Parade.

Proposal:

• The council will seek to monitor the condition of all historic buildings in the conservation area and will report findings and advise action, as necessary. Where the condition of a building gives cause for concern, appropriate steps will be sought to secure the future of the building, including the use of statutory powers;

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

• The council will continue to operate a programme of discretionary grant aid to assist in the repair of historic buildings that appear on the Buildings at Risk Register.

9.4 Control of new development

Some modern developments do not harmonise with the historic character and appearance of the conservation area. This applies to small extensions and garages as well as larger development schemes.

Proposal:

• Development proposals will be judged for their effect on the area’s character and appearance as identified in the Frome Conservation Area Appraisal together with relevant Local Plan policies and any other material considerations.

• The council will continue to ensure that all new development accords with policies in the Mendip District Local Plan (adopted 2002) and any other policies which supersede this in the emerging Local Development Framework (SDF);

• The council will require a Design and Access Statement in the validation of all planning applications in the conservation area.

A Design and Access Statement is a method by which applicants and agents should be able to show how they have achieved good design in their development proposals, taken account of sustainable construction principles and ensured equal and convenient access to buildings and spaces and the public transport network, and access for emergency services where relevant. It should clearly demonstrate how the proposal fits the context of the site and its immediate surroundings.

9.5 Loss of architectural detail, minor alterations to historic buildings and loss of front gardens

Many of the unlisted, and some of the listed, buildings in the Frome Conservation Area have been adversely affected by the replacement of original timber sash windows with uPVC or aluminium, the loss of original timber front doors, alterations to stonework and the replacement of clay tile roofs with concrete tiles. In some cases the removal of original architectural details such as chimneys, railings and stone gate piers has spoiled the external appearance of a building and the local streetscene.

The incremental loss of original building materials and detailing continues to erode the character and appearance of the area. Breaching of stone boundary walls for parking and replacement of front gardens with hardstanding results in the loss of historic fabric, cumulatively erodes one of the characteristic features of the conservation area, and can lead to drainage problems.

Most of the above, where dwelling houses (called single family dwellings in the relevant legislation) are concerned, can normally be carried out without planning permission from the Council. Development of this kind is called “Permitted Development” and falls into various classes which are listed in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

Powers exist for the Council, known as Article 4 (2) Directions, to withdraw some of these permitted development rights in the interest of preserving and enhancing the character and appearance of the conservation area.

An Article 4(2) direction may be made where it is to restrict the carrying out of specified development, (e.g. alterations to windows and doors, creation of hard standing), in relation to a building or land that fronts a highway, waterway or open space in a conservation area. This might be considered in the Frome Conservation Area to prevent the further erosion of the historic character of residential properties particularly in Character Areas 2 (Trinity) and 9 (Weymouth Road and Somerset Road) and the small enclave known as West End.

Proposal:

• The council will encourage restoration of architectural detail/reversal of unsympathetic alterations where there is sound evidence of the originals, especially timber windows, chimney stacks and original roof coverings.

• The council will consider preparing advisory guidance and ‘best practice’ notes that would assist in retaining the area’s prevalent historic character and appearance and promote awareness of the value and importance of the conservation area, e.g. written advice regarding (a) alterations to historic buildings, (b) development within conservation areas, (c) the use of traditional building materials, and (d) residential parking in front gardens.

• The council will consider serving an Article 4 (2) direction in selected areas of the Frome Conservation Area.

9.6 Historic floorscape and historic items in the public realm

Areas of historic stone paving most notably in Gentle Street and Stony Street are one of the locally distinctive features of Frome. Other smaller areas of historic floorscape, e.g. stone kerbs and carriageway entrances exist in scattered locations. The historic interest of several lamp standards is noted and they are therefore listed but there are other unlisted iron bollards, street name signs and items of street furniture of historic interest, many manufactured locally that are of equal interest. These are part of the special interest of the area and should be preserved.

Proposal:

• There should be a presumption against the alteration of any part of the remaining historic floorscape or historic street furniture. Historic paving, gratings and gulleys, bollards, railings and street name signs should be protected and repaired as necessary, using traditional techniques and materials; • The council will consider carrying out an audit of all road signage and street furniture in the conservation area with a view to bringing about a simplified and better co-ordinated approach in line with the principles set out in English Heritage’s latest ‘Streets For All’ publication, including removal of items which are not absolutely required.

9.7 Tree management guidance

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

While trees are not particularly characteristic of the town centre, individual trees do make a positive contribution to the area’s character and appearance. Groups of trees within the grounds of places of worship and large houses make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area. Nearly all of these trees are in private ownership and the district council could help to ensure their long term survival by providing guidance to owners about their care.

Proposal:

• The council will consider preparing guidance about care and maintenance of trees in the conservation area.

9.8 Shopfronts

There are a number of well preserved historic shopfronts in the conservation area. However it can be seen that some of them have been spoiled by insensitive alterations or garish or over-large signage. The provision of a Shopfront Guidance leaflet, which would include a full survey of the existing shopfronts, and the provision of detailed design guidance would help local business owners achieve high standards of design.

Proposal:

• The council will consider preparing an Advertising and Shopfront Guide for Frome.

9.9 Disturbance caused by heavy through traffic

The conservation area suffers the noise, pollution and inconvenience of large vehicles passing through. This is partly because of a weight restriction on a bridge along an alternative route and the restricted height of the railway bridge in Coalash Lane, Spring Gardens, which prevents heavy goods vehicles from avoiding using town centre streets.

Proposal:

• The council will seek, if possible, to resolve the issues of heavy lorries passing through the conservation area by liaising with county highways officers and other relevant parties.

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

9.10 River Frome

The River Frome is one of the town’s assets that is at present not fully exploited. Development of the Garsdale site will provide an opportunity to secure riverside landscaping but there is a need for co-ordination of the whole of the river as it passes through the town.

• The council will seek to ensure that development of the Garsdale area fully incorporates an appropriate landscaping scheme that harmonises with other activities and proposals for the riverside.

9.11 Conservation area boundary review

As part of the character appraisal process a thorough survey of the existing boundaries to the conservation area was undertaken. This included a desk-top assessment of the historical development of Frome.

Proposal:

Two boundary alterations are proposed. These are identified on the Townscape Appraisal map – see Character Areas 3 and 5. The proposed changes are:

1. Frome Valley and Garston Farm

At present the River Frome, the raison d’être of the town and undoubtedly part of the special interest of the Frome Conservation Area, is not well represented in the conservation area being present only for a short length beside Willow Vale and south of Welshmill Road. This could be corrected by the inclusion within the conservation area of Rodden Meadows, the open valley flanking both sides of the River Frome east of Willow Vale. The open space is an attractive green area containing several footpaths, including footpaths to Rodden Road and Wallbridge. It links well with Millennium Green, thereby creating a large green open space in the conservation area, and with Willow vale, thereby including a significant length of the River Frome within the conservation area. The meadows are bounded on the south side by the railway line and on the north side by the rear of properties on Rodden Road.

2. Portway (north side) - Nos. 21-39 (consec.) Portway, nos. 1-5 (consec.) Portway Villas, Wallbridge House and nos. 1-6 (consec.) Wallbridge.

The current conservation area boundary extends westward along Portway to include nos. 7-11 Wallbridge, a fine 18th-century listed building; however, the north side of the road adjacent to the listed building, which contains red brick terraced houses characteristic of late Victorian Frome, has been omitted from the conservation area. The houses are built with red brick with stone dressings and stand in an elevated position above Portway set back from a wide raised pavement. They have a pleasing uniformity of design and the development is further unified by a stone front boundary wall.

Being elevated above the road, the houses have a notable impact on the streetscene and the raised pavement and stone walls add to the area’s interest. The motif of houses raised above the thoroughfare is a feature of the conservation area (e.g. Paul Street, Stokes Croft and Phoenix Terrace, Catherine Street) and in this case the development of late 19th-century houses adds further to the wide variety, period and range of house types in Frome Conservation Area. It is therefore recommended that nos. 21-39

The Conservation Studio 2007 Mendip District Council Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals

(consec.) Portway, nos. 1-5 (consec.) Portway Villas, Wallbridge House and nos. 1-6 (consec.) Wallbridge be included within the conservation area.

18.06.08

The Conservation Studio 2007