Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

HORSENDEN CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL Reviewed and Updated, June 2016

Horsenden Manor: the south front from the south-east,

Chapter 1: was adopted in 1996. It will also follow the Introduction English Heritage (now Historic England) publication Guidance on Conservation Area Conservation Areas are areas of special Appraisals published in 2005 which offers architectural or historic interest, which are helpful advice on the form appraisals should considered worthy of preservation or follow. The earlier character survey for enhancement. They are designated under the Horsenden was issued well before the provisions of Section 69 of the Planning publication of the English Heritage document. (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) This appraisal also takes the opportunity to Act 1990. review the current boundaries of the conservation area and in the light of recent Horsenden was first designated a research suggests an extension to the Conservation Area by designated area. Council in 1982. The conservation area boundaries were extended in 1989. A CHAPTER 1 Conservation Area Character Survey (CACS) Planning Policy Context was prepared and adopted as supplementary planning guidance in 1996 by Wycombe The designation of a conservation area District Council. Government Guidance states influences the way in which a Local Planning that conservation areas should have an up- Authority applies its planning policies to the to-date appraisal. area. It ensures that any planning applications and alterations or extensions to This review seeks to update the Survey in buildings within or adjacent to the light of changes to buildings and areas within conservation area respect the special and adjacent to the conservation area since it 1

Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal characteristics identified in this document, Since designation the village has become and local planning policies. part of the Phoenix Trail, which is in turn part of National Cycle Route No 57, a Sustrans The major change since 1996 is the project of nearly 70 miles in length. It passes replacement of various central government through Horsenden, to its north joining the planning policy guidance notes and former track bed of the to statements by the National Planning Policy Oxford railway line. This opened in 1862 and Framework adopted in 2012 and the issuing survived as far as Thame until the early by English Heritage (now Historic England) of 1990s, thanks to its continued use as a guidance on conservation area appraisals in freight line serving an oil depot in that town. 2005 and on conservation area management in the same year. Below is an updated list of Consequently nowadays the conservation current guidance. area has more visitors than previously: cyclists, walkers and horse-riders. Listed National policy and guidance is contained Buildings and Other Significant Buildings and in: other features are identified on the published • Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Character Survey Map, and these plus the Areas) Act 1990 land and indeed the watercourses and other • National Planning Policy Framework 2012 water featuring within the conservation area • English Heritage: Guidance on boundary, all come together as one of the Conservation Area Appraisals (2005) most attractive and interesting smaller rural • English Heritage: Guidance on the villages within Wycombe District. The revised Management of Conservation Areas (2005) document addresses some of this and the changes to it since the 1996 issue of the CHAPTER 2 original Conservation Area Character Survey. Summary of Special Interest In 2015 the research undertaken by the The Conservation Area was designated in Gardens Trust in their 1982 and revised in 1989. Research and Recording Project have been published for a number of historic parks and The conservation area comprises a small gardens in Buckinghamshire. In November village focused on its two principal buildings, 2015 their report on Horsenden Manor was the manor house and the medieval parish published and this extremely valuable church. The area designated currently document has resulted in a better includes much of the parkland and lakes at understanding of the manor house and its the Manor, the Manor Farm complex and a parkland setting. number of cottages. It excludes the Scheduled Ancient Monument immediately CHAPTER 3 south of the conservation area boundary (see Assessment of Special Interest the Archaeology paragraphs within Chapter 3, section 2) 1 LOCATION AND LANDSCAPE SETTING:

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

Location and Landscape Context west and west. The fields to the south are mainly sheep pasture, some with surviving The conservation area lies at the northern medieval ridge-and-furrow as well as having end of Horsenden Lane, a no through road. It considerable archaeological interest with a is about 400m west of Princes Risborough Scheduled Ancient Monument of which more Railway station and about 150 yards west of in the archaeology section. the Princes Industrial Estate. Both these mark the western edge of the market town of General character and plan form Princes Risborough but remarkably the village of Horsenden is surrounded by The Conservation Area comprises three agricultural fields and retains an utterly elements: The Manor with its home farm, remote and rural character. parkland and landscaped grounds through which flows a serpentine lake formed by The village lies to the north of the Chiltern damming and controlling the stream that Hills and within the Upper Thames Clay Vales flows through the village; the parish church of (Character Area 108 of the Countryside St Michael within its churchyard; and the Agency’s classification of The Character of fringe of cottages along the north side of England published in 2005). The Chilterns these two and the lane. are identified as Area 110 and consist of chalk hills designated as an Area of The manor and its grounds and Manor Farm Outstanding Natural Beauty whose boundary and the church all lie south of this lane which comes within 450 metres of Horsenden becomes a metalled track in the far north- Conservation Area’s southern boundary. west part of the conservation area beyond Glebe Cottage. The railway arrived in nearby Princes Risborough in 1862 and a branch line was built from Princes Risborough to Watlington which opened in 1872. This skirts to the north some 500m away from Horsenden at its nearest point, but did not result in any development or expansion of the village, unlike its impact on Princes Risborough. The railway survives as far as as a heritage line, the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. The Phoenix trail heads north from Horsenden and after 500m The stream between Bridge and Manor crosses it via a level crossing beyond which it Cottages (2016) joins the former Princes Risborough to Oxford line track bed as far as Thame over the Water courses are a key feature in the county boundary in . village’s general character with the main stream running northwards through the The village is still surrounded by farmland, grounds of The Manor, dividing south of the much of it pasture with arable to the north- house itself, the right hand branch dammed

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal to form an attractive lake, the stream Domesday Book as ‘Horsedene’ and emerging from the park along the east side of ‘Horsedune’. It was originally a separate the churchyard where it crosses the road and parish but is now within the civil parish of flows out of the conservation area between in a ‘tail’ of land extending south Brook Cottage and Manor Cottage. A from the main bulk of the parish. It was a secondary branch runs alongside the lane separate manor well before the Norman westward to a pond or former wagon wash Conquest and extended in a narrow strip north-west of the church where the lane never more than about 200m wide, running bears north-west. The west branch heads south-east from Little Horsenden Farm north north-west to the conservation area boundary of the B4009 (once the Lower ) and flows alongside it; then out of the as far as the Road railway bridge. conservation area at its north-west point. Curiously Gate Cottage and Manor Cottage are within Princes Risborough parish but are clearly part of Horsenden as a settlement and were always part of the manor estate.

Horsenden Manor, formerly known as Horsenden House, has a late 16th-century core within a Georgian brick house which had battlemented parapets. In 1810 it was stuccoed, an extra storey added and flanking full height segmental bows added at each end. During the English Civil War the moated The former wagon wash (2016) manor house was garrisoned for the King by Sir John Denham, although in was in the The manor grounds are well treed, the midst of hostile Parliamentary territory. northern parts of the conservation area Denham forfeited the estate but recovered it beyond have hedged fields and hedges in 1660 at Charles II’s restoration. alongside the lane while the grounds of the manor and the lane from the pond are In 1662 Denham sold the manor and the defined by estate-style iron fences. These house to the Grubbe family who held it until continue along Horsenden Lane almost as far 1841. as the railway bridge. The parish church of St Michael, consisting of 2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND the medieval chancel and 18th-century tower, ARCHAEOLOGY is considerably smaller than originally built, for its nave was demolished. Its most notable Origins and Historic development incumbent was Robert Braybrooke (died 1404) who later became Bishop of London History and played a major rôle in the troubled reign Horsenden has an Anglo-Saxon place name, of Richard II. Another rector, Edward Stone, meaning Horsa’s valley and the earliest discovered in the 18th century that chewing reference is found in the 11th-century willow bark eased his rheumatism. Reporting

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal this to the Royal Society in 1763 it was later century when the main manor of Horsenden found to be salicylic acid, the basis of Aspirin. was sub-divided. The Braybrooks bought the manor in the later 14th century and it is last Manorial history mentioned as a distinct holding in 1749, More detailed information can be found on although the field in which it sits was named this in the Victoria County History volume 2 ‘Browns’ on the Enclosure Map of 1807. on pages 253 to 256. This can be viewed on the British History on Line web site While the presence of the Ancient Monument www.british- adds greatly to the history of Horsenden it is history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol2/pp253-255 outside the CA boundary which at its nearest point is part of the park or landscaped Since the original CACS was issued in 1996 grounds to Horsenden Manor. Horsenden Manor has undergone considerable work and its architectural history 3 SPATIAL ANALYSIS is now better understood and is discussed in the ‘Architectural and historical quality of This section covers the relationship of buildings and the contribution they make to buildings, spaces and gaps between them the special interest of the area’ section below. and resultant views, and how these create Moreover the 1839 tithe apportionment and special character: its accompanying large-scale map is now available on line at The Genealogist web site The Character and interrelationship of www.thegenealogist.co.uk which shows the spaces within the area extent of the parkland attached to John Grubbe’s Horsenden Manor. Streetscape: There is no formal public open space within Other changes to buildings will also be the conservation area, but public footpaths discussed later but these are considerably run to the north of Manor Farm and lead past less historically revealing than those to Gate Cottage towards the Princes Estate and Horsenden Manor itself. Princes Risborough. Of course the road through the village and the track it becomes Archaeology near Glebe Cottage are public rights of way and on the Phoenix Trail. To the south of the conservation area and touching its boundary at the furthest south A third and more significant public footpath point is Scheduled Ancient Monument runs south from beside the Horsenden Manor Number 27159: Roundabout Wood Moated drive entrance through the parkland field Site, Fishponds, and Farming and Settlement suggested for inclusion within the Remains. It was first Scheduled in 1972 but conservation area (to be referred to its boundary and descriptions were amended subsequently as East Park). in 1996 and re-issued soon after the CACS was issued. It is thought to have been the The lane that runs roughly east to west manor held in 1300 by the Brown family, comprises the only public road and this although its origins are in the earlier 13th ceases to be tarmac by the entrance to Glebe

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

Cottage and becomes a metalled track. when the leaves are off the hedges and trees. However the lane and the track are very rural There is still a good view of the Manor House in character and between Brook Cottage and façade from the churchyard. The best views Barn Cottage the view north is into open that look in all directions are at two points: countryside while the south side beyond Manor Farm has the pasture field alongside.  Firstly, by the entrance to Manor Farm East of Manor Farm’s entrance drive the which includes the former service church and the grounds of Horsenden Manor entrance to the Manor and to the occupy the south side and the gardens of churchyard (this was identified in the Brook Cottage, Manor Cottage and Gate original Character Survey as a Cottage occupy about half of the north side of ’grouping’). This gives views along the the lane. At its centre is the bridge under lane towards Glebe Cottage, across which the stream flows and from its brick the pond, then along the main lane parapets are views along the stream. eastwards towards the bridge over the stream, into the manor’s service The proposed extension to the conservation access and towards the buildings of area, the former parkland field to the east of Manor Farm. To the south-west there the current conservation area boundary, East are views along the public footpath. Park, has to its Horsenden Lane frontage a six-rail park fence and numerous trees, some  Secondly, beside the main drive to very sizeable. Horsenden Manor and south of Gate Cottage. From here there are views Important Views and vistas along the manor drive, along the lane towards the stream bridge to the west Views into the conservation area: and past Gate Cottage along the There are few public views into the remnants of the former drive to Princes conservation area due to the hedges and Risborough, along Horsenden Lane trees, except from the south-west along the south-eastwards and into East Park. footpath from Bledlow and from the north- east along the now much depleted former Other views within the conservation area horse chestnut and lime avenue that led to include looking back from near Glebe Horsenden from Princes Risborough along Cottage, past Barn Cottage, towards the the footpath that emerges from the Princes churchyard and Manor Farm. From the Estate. There are also views along footpath towards Bledlow there are views into Horsenden Lane into the east Park, including the grounds of Manor Farm and from the from the field gate into it opposite the sports bridge over the stream there are views north fields, and from the path at the south where it along it between the gardens of Bridge enters East Park. Cottage and Manor cottage. South there is a view of the sluices that control the level of the Views within the conservation area: Manor’s lakes as well as of the widened Within the conservation area open views from stream. There are no effective views into the the north of the Manor House are somewhat grounds of Horsenden Manor from the east screened in summer but more open in winter

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal due to its boundary being heavily treed, as well as other privacy screening. The rest of the landscape is private: the lake and stream dominated grounds of Horsenden Views out of the conservation area: Manor which includes a kitchen garden and There are relatively few of these, apart from the grounds of Manor Farm which includes a looking along the track to the north-west into tennis court and former farm buildings. open countryside, the former drive north-east from beside Gate Cottage and south-east Architectural and historical quality of along Horsenden Lane. There are views east buildings and the contribution they make across the fields by Gate Cottage and views to the special interest of the area into open countryside from where the other There are a total of six statutorily-listed footpaths cross into open countryside. Along buildings within the conservation area. The the east-west lane there are views, some two key Statutorily Listed buildings are glimpsed, others more open of the fields to Horsenden Manor and the parish church of St the north. Michael, the latter listed at the higher Grade II*, the manor at Grade II. 4 CHARACTER ANALYSIS St Michael’s Parish Church (Grade II*) is Definition of Character Areas or Zones prominently located and consists merely of As stated earlier the conservation area falls the 15th-century chancel, the then ruinous into three character areas, although the nave and west tower having been pulled church in its churchyard could be seen as down in 1765. The present tower was added part of the manor house, its home farm and to the chancel west wall, re-using medieval parkland area or zone. The other area is that stonework and the fine 15th-century west to the north of the lane with a few cottages in doorway. It also lost much of its churchyard their gardens: that is what one might term the to the Horsenden Manor pleasure grounds village. discussed later. In 1869 the noted church architect William White extended the chancel Activity and land use, and influence of by half a bay. these on the plan form and building types The five cottages and the converted outbuildings to Gate Cottage are no longer connected to the farms and fields on the edges of which they sit. There are three agricultural fields within the conservation area with only the north one by Glebe Cottage not part of the manor and manor farm complex. The two main fields are the one north of Manor Farm which is pasture with a clump of three mature trees in its centre and East Park, also grassed with evidence of medieval St Michael’s Church from the east (2013) ridge and furrow and a number of surviving and more recent parkland trees within it.

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

Horsenden Manor (Grade II) This is may have made improvements, none are described in the list entry as built in 1810, known. In the 18th century the house was although the 1996 Character Survey transformed, probably during the time of John indicated that it incorporated the remains of Grubbe III around 1770 and became a house the old moated manor house. Works of two storeys of chequer brick with red brick undertaken for the present owner exposed dressings. It is reputed to have had a late 16th-century brickwork and brick and battlemented parapet and has a lower service clunch walls in the north range (the entrance wing to the west. The facades differ: the front) and a couple of mullioned stone entrance front facing north has a central Doric windows and arched doorways. The previous portico with paired columns and entablature owner believed there was older material and there are five bays of sashes, the ground within the Regency stucco but had thought it floor ones retained with their 1810 lowered was in the south-west service range. This sills. Indeed the portico may also date from view was supported by the Royal the 1810 campaign. The rear elevation which Commission on Historical Monuments who faces the gardens or pleasure grounds has a visited the house in 1912 (Volume 1, three bay principal front the centre bay Buckinghamshire South) who also indicated slightly set forward and with a Venetian first that there was a reused doorway salvaged floor window above a pedimented doorcase; from the church (Monument 2, p206). the outer bays have a central sash. The plan However in 2004 it became clear that the of the house is two rooms deep and three doorway was in situ in extensive 16th-century bays wide. The central entrance hall and walling surviving from the first house. staircase compartment separate the rooms at each end. The Venetian window to the rear lights the first floor staircase landing.

These Georgian fronts were restored in 2001 to their brick and sash design. In 1810 John Grubbe IV had the building transformed again, stuccoing and changing windows, adding a third floor and the hipped slate roof, probably replacing a steeper pitched tiled one set behind the battlemented parapets. He also had the full height bows added at each Horsenden Manor viewed from the end to the north range of rooms only and churchyard in summer (2016) these were retained as stuccoed in the 2001 restoration. Although these late 16th-century walls which flank the northern entrance hall and continue There was a fire in the 1980s that severely along the spine between the front and rear damaged the third storey but fortunately the rooms, it is not possible to reconstruct with lower floors survived largely intact. However, any certainty the original plan of this house at the recent exposure and restoration of earlier that date. The Grubbe family bought the phases has added greatly to our knowledge house and estate in 1662 and, while they of this house which has a far more complex

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal architectural history than that in the 1980s list description.

The brick and flint former stable building opposite the church belongs to the manor and is dated 1912. It was converted into a separate dwelling for the previous owner of the estate in 1997, James Gourlay, Baron of Kincraig. He was the 28th Chief of the Clan Kincraig and was buried in the churchyard in 2008. Gate Cottage from the south-west (2016) North of the east-west lane are a few further listed buildings. The contribution of key unlisted buildings

Glebe Cottage (Grade II) situated at the Manor Farm, immediately north-west of the north end is a good 17th-century cottage of grounds of Horsenden Manor has a lobby entry plan: that is with a back-to-back datestone of 1891 and is a double-pile fireplace behind the central entrance lobby. It cement-rendered three-bay house. It has some timber-framing and an 18th-century incorporates earlier work but its present brick front, all beneath a thatched roof. There appearance (and the datestone) largely is a modern linked parallel rear range, but the belong to the improvements made for Mrs house is less seen nowadays as the owner Leonard Jacques who inherited the manor in has installed high hurdle style fences for 1886. Its farmbuildings include a barn which privacy. This house was known until relatively was there in 1839, a granary on recently as Rectory Farmhouse. staddlestones and various later ones, one with a datestone 1912. Gate Cottage (Grade II) is at the east end of the lane and is a house of about 1700 with picturesque 19th-century alterations. It has a thatched roof and some exposed timber- framing to its walls, the rest being roughcast and colourwashed. At its west end is a late 19th-century single-seater brick built privy.

Behind it are two weatherboarded and tile- roofed outbuildings, also Grade II listed, one with a tower dovecote. They have been converted to a dwelling in recent years.

Manor Farm from the north (2016)

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

Horsenden and their work can be viewed on North of the east-west lane are two cottages, www.bucksgardenstrust.org.uk . one each side of the stream as it heads north out of the village. The Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust (BGT) have established that the grounds and Brook Cottage, now one cottage but until parkland to Horsenden Manor were designed recently a pair, is a picturesque brick and flint in 1794 for John Grubbe IV by an anonymous cottage with tiled roofs. It appears to date designer. The BGT summarise these from the early 19th century and has been developments in their report as ‘including modestly extended when converted to a informal pleasure grounds containing a single dwelling. number of garden buildings, an orchard and water features’. Manor Cottage on the east bank is dated 1890 and was built as an estate cottage by When John Grubbe IV recast the Georgian Mrs Jacques, the then owner of the manor, house into a Regency villa in 1810 the 1794 and has a roughcast and colourwashed upper plans for the gardens were further floor and a brick ground floor. implemented and developed. The garden buildings appear not to have materialised but Barn Cottage, beside Glebe Cottage at the ‘the grounds were enclosed and in the north end of the conservation area was built, pleasure ground part of the former defensive again for Mrs Jacques, in 1925 on the site of moat was incorporated into the garden design one of Rectory Farm’s barns. It is a brick around the east and south of the house. cottage with a hipped tiled roof and copies Beyond this in the new park a ‘new walk’ Gate Cottage in having a lobby entry plan. (now known as Nut Walk) was formed to the Between it and the lane is a former five-bay south-west and a lake was created from cart shed from the farm but now partly former fishponds’. The park and gardens converted to residential use. There is another were complete by 1838 with further work weatherboarded outbuilding with its gable to undertaken by John Grubbe V. the lane which relates to Glebe Cottage. This is a cursory summary and the fuller Victorian Post Box This is set within the analysis and description are in the admirably front railings and hedge to Gate Cottage in a complete and detailed BGT Research Report. brick structure with a plinth and a pitched top. It is also clear from this that the garden front It is rendered and encloses a red letterbox was seen as the principal front in landscape with the initials ‘VR’. terms with its views towards Whiteleaf Cross and the Chilterns, but the north front The Contribution of Historic Landscape remained the entrance front with its carriage and Parkland drive and large portico. Thanks to the work of the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust Research and Recording The BGT report also notes that between 1812 Project our understanding of the county’s and 1823 a straight drive flanked by an smaller historic parks and gardens has been avenue of trees was created between the greatly increased. This work has included manor’s gates and Summerleys Road in

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

summer the view from the conservation area Princes Risborough to give direct access along it can give the illusion that it still exists. from the town. In the early 1870s this was bisected by a railway line and the eastern Assessment of the Conservation Area section became a road within the Princes Boundary in Relation to the Park Estate, opened in 1925 as the Forest When designated in 1982 and amended in Products Research Laboratory. This avenue 1989 the conservation area included all of the is largely lost but a few isolated horse key features identified in the BGT Report chestnuts and lime survive that could be except for the carriage avenue to Princes stragglers from the avenue. It survives as a Risborough and East Park. public footpath, emerging from the industrial estate through a field gate and bridle gate.

It had been 550m in length, but the first 360m are now within the industrial estate, then the next 140m are amid fields before they reach the conservation area boundary. Across the stream there is about 50m within the conservation area. The course of this avenue survives as a public footpath but not sufficiently as an historic entity to justify considering extending the conservation area East Park looking through north gate (2016) to include it.

View north along former carriageway from Horsenden Lane (2016)

However the avenue course commences within the conservation area and the section beyond before it reaches the industrial estate Tithe Map of 1839 showing East Park at the is through open countryside and four lower right substantial trees (two horse chestnuts and two limes) survive in this section and in 11

Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

East Park is shown on the 1839 Tithe Map as associated with country houses and smaller parkland and was part of the original 1794 villa estates. plan. It was planted therefore in the earlier 19th century and a number of specimen Local details parkland trees remain within its 16 acres (6.7 hectares). These are mainly limes, horse Boundary Walls chestnuts and ash while the east and south There are only a few stretches of boundary margin, the former fronting Horsenden Lane wall within the conservation area. They has some substantial ash trees and a six-rail appear to be late 19th century and were metal park fence. The south boundary is also probably erected by Mrs Jacques who was mainly ash trees. There is also a fine copper pretty active architecturally at that time. beech near the northern apex of East Park. They are in red brick with half-round blue This is classic parkland and has considerable engineering brick copings. There is a stretch historic and evidential value. The BGT Report in front of Glebe Cottage, about 850mm high, makes clear that this area was part of the higher but similar walls within the grounds of 1794 plan and its trees relate to an 1806 Manor Farm and the bridge parapets where survey that they consulted. the lane crosses the stream by Bridge Cottage.

East Park looking east-south-east (2016) Wall and outbuildings at Glebe and Barn Cottages (2016) Although now separated visually by the plantings and fencing along the east edge of Railings the Pleasure Ground and West Park its As befits an estate village most boundaries historic context and place in the evolution of are demarcated by estate style iron fences Horsenden Manor and its planned parkland is with standards and four, five or six horizontal clear. In any case the plantings between it rails. They are a particular feature of the and the ponds may be thinned or die back in conservation area and also surround the the future. Anyone walking the public footpath churchyard and the part of the Manor alongside cannot fail to notice that they are grounds between its north drive and the lane. walking through parkland and of a type They are all 19th century, many doubtless erected in the Mrs Jacques era and indeed

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal continue south along Horsenden Lane as far more so since the Survey in 1996. It now virtually as the parish boundary, with a gap presents chequer brick and red-rubbed brick for the sports fields. facades, flanked by stucco bows to each gable and shallow-pitched slated roofs with deep eaves and paired console brackets. The service range is in painted brick. St Michael’s church has a flint with stone dressed chancel and a west tower in local somewhat friable limestone.

All external joinery appears to be painted timber, either sliding sashes for example at Horsenden Manor or timber side hung casements elsewhere. The church has Railings in Horsenden Lane (East Park leaded lights to its stone windows. beyond) in June 2016 While all these elements are described These railings are of course less visible in individually they and the hedges, iron fences summer but are an essential characteristic of and vegetation all come together to create an the conservation area and of considerable historic settlement of considerable and evidential and historical value unspoilt character.

Prevalent and traditional building Contribution made by the natural materials environment Because there are so few buildings in the conservation area and they are of different Green Spaces & Open Spaces dates there is no overall uniformity of building There are no formal areas of public open materials. Examples of most are found with space, but two key parts of the landscape are all but the church and Horsenden Manor accessible to the general public via public being vernacular in style. Materials thus footpaths: the field north of Manor Farm and include timber-framing (Gate Cottage), brick East Park. Moreover the former carriage drive (Glebe Cottage), render (Manor Farmhouse), between the conservation area and Princes brick and flint (Brook Cottage), and Risborough survives as a public footpath, the colourwashed roughcast (Manor Cottage). last 50m within the conservation area. Roof materials include thatch (Gate and Glebe Cottages), and plain clay tiles. There The grounds of Horsenden Manor and Manor are also a number of weatherboarded and Farm can be seen in part from public tiled farmbuildings, two behind Gate Cottage, viewpoints, including the parish churchyard one at Barn Cottage and some at Manor and along the lane and the public footpaths. Farm (a barn and granary, for example). Some of these views are glimpsed, particularly in summer when the leaves are Horsenden Manor is the most sophisticated on the trees and hedges but the visitor is very building in the conservation area and the much aware of them as part of the whole.

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

East Park is often grazed by sheep which The parish churchyard is a semi-public open helps maintain its parkland character. space and accessible to all and indeed affords views of Horsenden Manor to its The extent of loss, problems and south. pressures There are currently no pressures on the Trees and Vegetation conservation area, although the Risborough In such a rural location and surrounded by Area Local plan is considering bypass options open countryside, trees and vegetation make for the town, two of which routes would have a very significant contribution to the very significant and detrimental impacts on appearance and special character of the the setting of the conservation area, both Horsenden Conservation Area. directly and indirectly in passing nearby to the very considerable diminution of the village’s There are a large number of mature and current tranquil and open countryside setting. specimen trees, both within the grounds of Horsenden Manor and Manor Farm and CHAPTER 4 within in particular East Park as well as along Recommendations the lane or immediately adjacent. Within the north field is a clump of three specimen trees, 1 The Conservation Area Appraisal a lime and two sycamores giving this field a and possible boundary amendments: park-like character. Tree groups, boundary As discussed above East Park has been plantings and small woods are a particular identified by the Buckinghamshire Gardens feature including Nut Walk and the ash tree Trust as an integral part of the planned boundary plantings to East Park. landscape for Horsenden Manor. It was designed in 1794 and the scheme Hedges are also significant in establishing the implemented over the next thirty years. It conservation area’s rural character and the survives remarkably complete. rougher plantings and trees along the north- west end of the lane are more informal. It is therefore recommended that the conservation area be extended to include East Park together with its south and east boundary plantings and the iron estate fence along Horsenden Lane.

2 Buildings that make a positive contribution to the conservation area: A number of buildings have been identified on the conservation area map which contribute positively to the character and appearance of the conservation area, by virtue of their age, Sheep grazing in East Park (December 2013) design, massing, scale, and enclosure. Where possible these buildings should be retained.

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

The policies and proposals of the Wycombe 3 Proposals for the enhancement of District Local Plan are the primary source of the Conservation Area reference for development control advice. In It is not considered that any enhancement of addition the Council’s approved Conservation this superbly conserved village is necessary. Areas guidance note is seen as a supporting document to the plan. CHAPTER 5 Next Steps/further Information The Council will also have in mind the requirements of the National planning policy 1 Public Consultation and Community Framework (2012) which requires it to have Involvement special regard for the impact of proposals on Following publication of the draft revised the significance of a conservation area or a Horsenden Conservation Area Appraisal, six listed building, and indeed on non-designated weeks will be allowed for public consultation. heritage assets. Each household within the conservation will get a copy of the appraisal, including the Appended to this document is a series of appraisal map, and will have an opportunity development guidelines, covering both new to comment on the draft. Copies of the draft development and the protection of existing will be available on the Council’s website, and character. This forms the base of a at other local public facilities. management plan for the conservation area.

Following the completion of the consultation APPENDICES period and the revision of the document to take account of public responses, the Appendix A Conservation Area Map Conservation Area Appraisal will be formally The attached Appraisal map illustrates and adopted by Wycombe District Council. The clarifies the text and defines the extent of the amended document will then be published. area which is regarded as possessing those qualities of special character, architectural or Public consultation could identify proposals historic interest which designation is intended for preserving or enhancing the conservation to protect. It identifies particular areas, vistas, area, and any further or detailed work that is views, buildings, etc. that are considered required in order to safeguard Horsenden’s essential to that character. special character. It has not been possible to gain access to all 2 Monitoring areas within the conservation area boundary. Changes in the appearance and condition of There may be individual structures, features, the Horsenden Conservation Area should be trees or views of importance which are not monitored regularly. A photographic survey visible from the public domain and which was undertaken at the time of the appraisal have therefore not been annotated on the work, and this could be updated every two conservation area map or referred to in the years or so. text. However these may also warrant protection in the evaluation of individual 3 Design Guidance

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal development proposals. The listed buildings Horsenden Manor’s house and historic park are shown on the designations map. and garden.

If you own a listed building and are Appendix E Development Control considering undertaking alteration works, Guidelines: please ensure that you contact the The following guidelines have been drawn up Conservation Officer at Wycombe District for the management of change in the Council to find out whether they require listed Horsenden Conservation Area to allow for building consent. development and alterations that keep the conservation area vital, without losing the Where buildings are shown on the characteristics that make it special: conservation area map as being of local importance, they are considered to make an In conservation areas, the Council has an especially positive contribution to the historic overriding duty to preserve or enhance the interest or architectural character of the character or appearance of the area. Many conservation area. Other buildings within the seemingly minor alterations, if insensitively conservation area also play a key role in the carried out, can have a cumulative and highly character of the settlements, and although damaging effect on the overall appearance of they are not individually identified on the map, the area. Such alterations not only damage this does not mean that they are not of value. appearance, but also reduce the value of houses as historic features and attractive Appendix B Listed Buildings: areas, all of which are highly desirable in These are indicated on the conservation area today’s property market. map and listed in earlier pages. Further information on listed buildings can be Preservation of existing character- The obtained from the English Heritage website maintenance of historic buildings in www.english-heritage.org.uk Horsenden Conservation Area

Appendix C Bibliography: 1 The use of traditional materials and Pevsner; N and Williamson; E: The Buildings detailing can have a considerable of England, Buckinghamshire 1994 positive effect in enhancing the Victoria County History of Buckinghamshire: conservation area. The owners of 1925 historic and prominent properties RCHME: An Inventory of the Historic should be encouraged to remove Monuments of Buckinghamshire; 1912 unsympathetic modern materials, such Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust: Horsenden as concrete tiles and plastic rainwater Manor 1977 goods, and to reinstate traditional materials such a plain clay tiles, local Appendix D Acknowledgements Bucks brick, painted timber windows In particular this revision has been greatly and cast iron guttering. assisted by the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust’s excellent and thorough Report on 2 Repointing should only be carried out when structurally necessary, and kept

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

to a minimum. Variations in colour and the application of excessive amounts The maintenance of trees and green of mortar in a non-traditional manner spaces can detract from brickwork and 5 Trees make a significant contribution obscure it. Inappropriate mixes can to Horsenden’s special character and cause brickwork to deteriorate. property owners should continue to manage existing trees sensitively. 3 A variety of window types can be seen Within the conservation area, consent across the conservation area including if requires to fell, lop or top trees. wooden sliding sashes, casements, Consideration should be given of and metal windows. They all add to the important views into and out of the charm and character of the area. village when planting or undertaking Original windows should generally be tree works, as should the setting of retained as they have a character of historic buildings. their own which derives both from the proportions of the frames and glazing All trees in conservation areas are bars and from the charm of old glass protected but special consideration which has a ‘wobbly’ or rippled effect. should be given to those trees Original single glazed windows can be indicated on the conservation area draught-proofed and upgraded by map to ensure that they are not specialist companies and secondary harmed. New development should glazing installed to improve heat recognise this and should not present retention. UPVC windows should not a risk to their continued growth and be installed as their proportions, habit. opening methods, modern shiny plastic appearance and the reflection 6 The fields, gardens, parkland and of the double glazed units are all very incidental open space, whether much at odds with the character of publicly accessible or private, are key historic buildings. Modern windows to the character of Horsenden as a can appear very out of place, conservation area. These areas are particularly if surrounded by more valuable resources and will be traditional types. Dark staining of protected. timber is a modern technique which does little to enhance windows, and Design Guidance for new development can look out of place when juxtaposed and extensions to traditionally painted windows. 7 In the conservation area higher standards of design are required, as it 4 The use of modern machine made roof is the function of the planning authority tiles should be avoided as a replace- to consider all applications as to ment for traditional handmade tiles. whether they preserve or enhance the Concrete or artificial slate should be special character as identified in this avoided as these materials are visually appraisal. The sides and rear of detrimental. buildings, where visible to the public,

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

must be of equally good design and the conservation area are not spoilt. materials. Those of particular importance are marked on the survey map. 8 Since 10 August 2006 most planning applications within the conservation Contextural design area require Design and Access 12 Within Horsenden any new statements accompanying them, in development such as extensions, order for local authorities to evaluate ancillary buildings or other proposals the impact of the scheme on the wider should respect the character of this locality, and understand the design small rural village and respond to the process behind the proposal. immediate environment, particularly in Applications for listed building consent terms of scale, density, form, materials also require a Design and Access and detailing. Building works such as statement extensions must be designed not as a separate entity but relate to the original 9 Listed and other significant buildings building. Care should be taken not to are identified on the survey map and fill gaps between buildings which then their specific qualities are described in give the appearance of continuous the text above. Any new development development. must not harm the buildings or their settings or any special architectural or 13 In the draft appraisal, Chapter 3, historic features that they may contain. Section 4 describes the important It should be recognised that new features of buildings in the development may well not be conservation area. Whilst there is acceptable in this rural conservation some variation in the characteristics of area. the buildings, there are key features as described the accompanying text and 10 Applications for development adjoining in relation to the individual buildings but beyond the conservation area which new development proposals boundary will be assessed for their should take account of. affect upon the conservation area’s character, appearance, and setting, These key features include: and may be refused permission if this affect is considered adverse. This is a) The height and scale of particularly significant for Horsenden: buildings, including the location of its setting is entirely rural and any windows and doors within the development in these fields, however elevations. well designed, could only be highly c) The siting of new buildings, e.g. detrimental to the adjoining rural in relation to the highway and spacing conservation area. between buildings. d) The density of development. 11 Special care must be taken to ensure e) The style and materials of doors that views looking into and out from and windows

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

f) Detailed design features, e.g. into historic areas and can provide gables, brick course, treatments vitality and interest to the streetscene. around doors and windows, bay Natural materials and high quality windows, decorative features, etc. detailing should be incorporated into g) Roof styles and chimneys. any proposals. h) Buildings materials i) Garden boundary treatment. 17 Where a more traditional approach is appropriate buildings should be The intention of this guideline is not designed in a traditional form that new development should (including plan form, roof spans etc) automatically replicate buildings in the and include pitched roofs. Dormers locality but that important features set and rooflights should be modestly out above should be taken into sized and situated on rear facing account where appropriate, especially roofslopes. Use of historic detailing in relation to the individual such as stringcourses, eaves details, circumstances of each case. fenestration pattern etc, will be acceptable if they are appropriate to 14 Development opportunities in the design of the new building. Such Horsenden Conservation Area are detailing, or a modern interpretation of limited indeed. Proposals for new it, can do much to break up facades of development and extensions within the buildings. Chimneys are essential in conservation area should include a roofscapes and should be incorporated detailed analysis of the locality and into designs. villagescape, and show how the proposals have been drawn up in 18 Materials for any new building works relation to this (see Design and Access must be sympathetic to those Statements above). prevailing in the area. Where possible local traditional material should be 15 Where extensions to existing buildings used – good quality traditional brick for are proposed, the extension should be walling and sand faced clay roof tiles, subservient to the main buildings, with and slate. Although many of the a lower roofline. buildings with the conservation area are rendered or have painted Appearance, materials and detailing brickwork, modern interpretation and 16 The emphasis in conservation areas is techniques are not always visually to provide high quality design. successful and should thus be used Conservation area status does not with care. Where traditional materials preclude good modern design survive they should be retained. provided that it takes account of the prevailing form of existing 19 Inappropriate replacement windows development, scale, density, height and doors can damage the character and massing. Innovative modern of the conservation area. Traditional design can be successfully integrated natural materials should be used in

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

order to safeguard the special works which are beyond planning character of the conservation area. control can have a disproportionate Windows should be timber, painted, impact on the streetscape and not stained, and their design should character of the conservation area. reflect local styles, usually sliding However it is unlikely that much of this sashes or side-hung casements. If sort of intrusion will come to such a windows are to be double-glazed rural and isolated conservation area. these should be a slimline type with a maximum depth of 14mm (4mm glass 23 Surfacing within domestic curtilages and a 6mm inert gas-filled cavity). for driveways, paths and Joinery details should be submitted hardstandings should be in keeping with planning applications. Top hung with the rural nature of this village. lights and modern materials such as Large areas of tarmac and concrete UPVC and aluminium are are wholly out of place in this setting. inappropriate in the conservation area. Gravel, whether loose or resin-bonded Doors should be traditional panelled is infinitely preferable, particularly in ones or vertical matchboard on large areas of parking such as the vernacular cottages. farmyard. Paths to front doors were historically surfaced with clay tiles or Boundary treatments brick, and this is a tradition that could 20 Traditionally most of the front be encouraged. boundaries in the conservation area are defined by metal estate fences and 24 Satellite dishes and solar panels are a few low brick walls and hedging. unsightly especially when poorly sited Where new boundaries are proposed or on front elevations. Care should be in the public realm these should be in taken to site these in the back garden keeping, and the use of panelled or on roof slopes that are not visible fencing should be avoided. from the lane or public views. Satellite dishes and solar panels are generally 21 Some agricultural hedges are not acceptable affixed to listed protected by the 1997 Hedgerow buildings and should be located on Regulations. The majority of hedges ancillary buildings out of public view. are not covered by these Regulations. However in the conservation area the Further Information can be obtained on hedgerows indicated on the survey Wycombe District Council’s website or map are an important element of the by contacting the Conservation Officer area’s character, and should be on 01494 421578. retained and where possible enhanced

Public realm 22 Street furniture, lamp posts, CCTV camera mountings and posts, telephone boxes and other public

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Revised Draft Horsenden Conservation area Character Appraisal

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