Ambleside Conservation Area Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan Draft 5 – June 2010 The Conservation Studio 1 Querns Lane Cirencester Glos GL7 1RL Lake District National Park Authority: DRAFT Ambleside Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan The Ordnance Survey Mapping included in this document is provided by the LDNPA under licence from the Ordnance Survey in order to make available townscape appraisal information. Persons viewing the mapping should contact Ordnance Survey copyright for advice where they wish to licence Ordnance Survey mapping for their own use. © Crown Copyright All Rights Reserved LDNPA 100021698 2008 The Conservation Studio – 2009 1 Lake District National Park Authority: DRAFT Ambleside Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan AMBLESIDE CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL AND MANAGEMENT PLAN Part 1 CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISAL Summary of special interest 1 Introduction 2 Location and setting Location Boundary Topography and landscape setting Geology Archaeology 3 The historical development of the hamlet 4 The character and appearance of the conservation area Street pattern and building plots Townscape analysis – character areas 1. Chapel Hill and How Head - ‘Above Stock’; 2. Charlotte Mason College and environs, now University of Cumbria; 3. Former area of mills and industrial activity beside Stock Ghyll; 4. Market Cross and Market Square – ‘Below Stock’; 5. Victorian expansion to west and south. Focal points, views and vistas Current activities and uses Open spaces, landscape and trees Public realm 5 The buildings of the conservation area Architectural styles, materials and detailing Listed buildings Significant unlisted buildings 6 Negative features and issues Part 2 CONSERVATION AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN Part 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY The Conservation Studio – 2009 2 Lake District National Park Authority: DRAFT Ambleside Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan Summary of special interest The special interest that justifies the designation of Ambleside Conservation Area can be summarised as follows: Origins as an early medieval settlement on the brow of a small promontory between Stock Ghyll and Scandale Beck; th Second phase of development in the 17 century at the foot of the hill, based on the town’s extensive wool trade and burgeoning water-powered industrial economy; Victorian expansion of the town south- and westwards following the growth of the tourist trade stimulated by construction of turnpike roads from the 1760s and the arrival of the railway in Windermere in 1847; th Complex street pattern partially overlaid and extended by later 19 century routes comprising a network of roads, streets, narrow lanes, ginnels and back lanes; Rural setting of the town nestling closely under the fells with a sunny south-facing aspect surrounded by fells to north, east and west and a lake to the south; Varied townscape reflecting the town’s three main phases of development; Haphazard intimate layout of cottages and former farm buildings clustered in islands formed by a network of narrow roads and footpaths north of Stock Ghyll – ‘above Stock’; th The former 17 century market place, now Market Place, altered and encroached upon by mid-19th century development but still retaining its original shape; th Formal, planned 19 century redevelopment of the town centre together with suburban expansion of villas, semi-detached houses and terraces of Victorian stone built houses; Varied informal collections of historic buildings with high group value; Attractive outward views to surrounding fells, especially Loughrigg Fell; Architectural and historic interest of the area’s buildings, including 38 listed buildings dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries; th Good examples of Lakeland local vernacular architecture, plain18 century dwellings and Victorian suburban building; th Large purpose-built hotels and guesthouses as testimony to the 19 -century tourist industry; Scale How, formerly Charlotte Mason College, and its open grounds; Stock Ghyll, a fast-flowing tributary of the River Rothay which supported many different waterwheels and mills for 700 years; Picturesque views of Stock Ghyll, which retains a wild quality despite its urban location, up- and down-stream from the two bridges; Historic associations with many notable figures including William Wordsworth, Charlotte Mason and Harriet Martineau; Prevalent use of local stone, reflecting the underlying geology of the area, used for walling, roof slates and boundary walls; Former mill buildings on either side of Stock Ghyll, a mainstay of the town’s economy until the end of the 19th century; Spire of St Mary’s Church, a local landmark; Green open space of St Mary’s churchyard and the University of Cumbria site; Trees in public open spaces and private gardens; Isolated areas of historic floorscape including stone setts, flagstone paving and cobbled water gullies; The Market Cross and small items of street furniture that add to Ambleside’s local identity e.g. iron street name signs, old letter boxes, stone slab boundary walls; The Conservation Studio – 2009 3 Lake District National Park Authority: DRAFT Ambleside Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan 1 Introduction Ambleside is a small town in the Lake District National Park. It occupies an important position at the centre of the Lake District’s road network. The town originated with an early medieval settlement above Stock Ghyll, a fast flowing tributary of the River Rothay. Development later moved southwards to nucleate around a 17th century market place, today’s Market Square. Industrial activity, powered by water mills alongside Stock Ghyll, was the focus of the town’s economy until the mid-18th century. The coming of the railway to Windermere in 1847 opened the floodgates to what was already a growing tourist trade, and this in turn stimulated expansion to the south and east of the town, creating a virtually new Victorian town with church, assembly rooms, police station and detached and terraced houses. The Ambleside Conservation Area encompasses the pre-1914 phases of historic development of the town from its initial c.10th century foundation on a low promontory between Stock Ghyll and Scandale Beck through to its Victorian expansion on the level Rothay valley bottom. Areas of open space on the edge of the built development have also been included as they form a vital part of the town’s landscape setting. Fig. 2 The Market Hall and Clock Tower, dated Fig. 1 Stock Ghyll provided water power for the 1863. This was the Mechanics Institute in the town’s mills until the end of the 19th century. 1900s with billiard & reading room& library. The Ambleside Conservation Area was designated in 1980 by the Lake District National Park Authority. 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’. Section 71 of the same Act requires local planning authorities to formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of these conservation areas. Section 72 also specifies that, in making a decision on an application for development within a conservation area, special attention must be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area. In response to these statutory requirements, this document defines and records the special architectural and historic interest of the conservation area and identifies The Conservation Studio – 2009 4 Lake District National Park Authority: DRAFT Ambleside Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan opportunities for enhancement. These features are noted, described and marked on the Townscape Appraisal Map along with written commentary on how they contribute to the special interest of the conservation area. While the descriptions go into some detail, a reader should not assume that the omission of any characteristic, such as a building, view or open space, from this Appraisal means that it is not of interest. The document conforms 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 seeks to: Define the special interest of the conservation area and identify the issues which threaten the special qualities of the conservation area (in the form of the Appraisal); Provide guidelines to prevent harm and achieve enhancement (in the form of the Management Plan). This document therefore provides a firm basis on which applications for development within the Ambleside Conservation Area can be assessed. It should be read in conjunction with the wider adopted development plan policy framework produced by the Lake District National Park Authority. These documents include: (i) The Lake District National Park Local Plan (adopted 1998): Chapter 3 addresses the conservation of the built environment; (ii) The Cumbria and Lake District Joint Structure Plan 2001–2016 (adopted 2006): Chapter 6 provides strategic guidance for the environment for the period to 2016. Policies E38 and E39 cover the historic environment. In 2007