Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal

Endorsed August 2007

Contents dummy

1 Introduction 1

The purpose of a Conservation Area Appraisal 1

Scope and structure 1

General identity and character 1

Date of designation 1

The Conservation Area within the wider settlement 1

2 Planning Context 2

National 2

Regional 2

Local 2

3 Location and setting 3

Historic Landscape Characterisation 3

4 Designations 5

5 Historic and topographic development 6

Early Origins 6

Medieval 6

Post-Medieval Camelford and the Seventeenth Century 7

Eighteenth century 8

Nineteenth century 8

Twentieth century 10

Present Day Camelford 11

6 Archaeological potential 12

7 Present settlement character 13

Topography and settlement form 13

Standing historic fabric 14

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Streetscape and views 18

8 Character Areas 21

Understanding Character 21

Medieval Camelford and the Valley 21

Historic Development 21

Activity and use 23

Architecture and historic qualities 23

Key Buildings 25

Local details 33

Local and traditional building materials 37

Spatial analysis 39

Streetscape and views 40

Public realm 43

Greenery and green space 46

Loss, intrusion and damage 48

Neutral Areas 48

General condition and Buildings at Risk 48

Fairground Area 49

Historic Development 49

Activity & Use 50

Architecture and historic qualitites 51

Streetscape and views 51

Public Realm 51

Greenery and green space 52

Loss, intrusion and damage 52

Neutral Areas 52

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal General Condition and Buildings at Risk 52

High Street 52

Historic Development 52

Activity and use 54

Architecture and historic qualities 54

Local details 55

Local and traditional building materials 55

Streetscape and views 56

Public realm 57

Greenery and green space 57

Loss, intrusion and damage 58

Neutral areas 58

General condition and Buildings at Risk 58

Victoria Road 58

Historic development 58

Activity and use 59

Architecture and historic qualities 59

Local and traditional building materials 61

Streetscape and views 61

Public realm 61

Greenery and green space 62

Loss, intrusion and damage 62

General condition and Buildings at Risk 62

9 Problems and pressures 63

10 Recommendations 65

11 Opportunities 67

1 Sources 68

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 1 Introduction

shops (including a post office and banks) The purpose of a Conservation and good sporting and leisure facilities. Its Area Appraisal proximity to Bodmin Moor and the North Cornwall coast means it attracts a The purpose of this conservation area significant number of visitors. In addition to appraisal is to clearly define the special the tourist industry and commercial interest, character and appearance of the premises in the town there is an industrial conservation area, and to suggest any development on its western side and possible amendments to its boundary. The Camelford is within commutable distance appraisal should then inform development of Launceston and Bodmin. There are daily control decisions and policies and act as a bus services to Wadebridge, Launceston, foundation for further work on design Bodmin and Plymouth. guidance and enhancement schemes. Despite the traffic problems along the A39 Scope and structure which bisects the town, Camelford has retained much of its historic character This appraisal describes and analyses the including a good survival of historic character of the Camelford conservation buildings. area and the immediately surrounding historic environment. The appraisal will look Date of designation at the historic and topographical development of the settlement, analyse its The Conservation Area was designated in present character and identify distinct 1997, in accordance with North Cornwall character areas. These areas will then be District Council’s policy document for the further analysed, problems and pressures area. identified and recommendations made for its future management. More detailed The Conservation Area within the advice on the management of the wider settlement conservation area can be found in the Camelford Conservation Area Management The present conservation area boundary Plan which is designed to stand alongside includes the historic core of the town close this appraisal. to the river crossing – Fore Street, Chapel Street and Market Place. It extends to take General identity and character in the immediate riverside setting including Enfield Park, Jackson’s Meadow and the Camelford is the smallest town in North fields further south on either side of the Cornwall whose population in 1998 stood Camel. In addition it includes the eastern at just 2,300. Despite its size there is a and southern approaches to the town along range of amenities one would expect to find the north side of Victoria Road and the east in a larger community including schooling side of High Street. at primary and secondary levels, a health centre, dentist surgery, public library, museum, function hall, police and ambulance stations, a reasonable level of

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 2 Planning Context

Local National The adopted North Cornwall District Local In 1967 the concept of protecting areas of Plan (1999) contains detailed polices special merit, rather than individual relating to listed buildings and conservation buildings was first brought under legislative areas. For this reason, anyone considering control with the passing of the Civil making an application for consent for Amenities Act. Whilst listed buildings are development or demolition within a assessed nationally with lists drawn up by conservation area or which would affect a the government on advice from English listed building should consult the Local Heritage conservation areas are designated Plan. The document is available for by local authorities. The current Act inspection at the Council’s offices and governing the designation of ‘areas of online at www.ncdc.gov.uk . Pre-application special architectural or historic interest, the advice can also be sought from the character or appearance of which it is Council’s Conservation and Development desirable to preserve or enhance’ is the Control Officers. Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Under this The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act local planning authorities are required Act 2004 introduced changes to the to designate conservation areas, to keep planning system that will result in the North them under review and if appropriate to Cornwall District Local Plan replacement designate further areas. Designation by a Local Development Framework. A remains the principal means by which local portfolio of Development Plan Documents authorities can apply conservation policies will set out the spatial planning strategy for to a particular area. North Cornwall and provided detailed development control policies including Regional locally distinct polices relating to listed buildings and conservation areas. All Broad polices relating to the protection and documents prepared as part of the North enhancement of the natural and built Cornwall Local Development Framework, environment is currently contained in the including the Local Development Scheme Cornwall Structure Plan (2004). The policy which sets the timescale for Development emphasis is that development should Plan Document preparation and adoption respect and consolidate local character. In can be viewed at www.ncdc.gov.uk . 2008 the Structure Plan will be replaced as part of the statutory Development Plan by The saved polices of the North Cornwall the South West Regional Spatial Strategy. District Local Plan will remain part of the The contained policy approach in respect statutory development plan until replaced of the built and natural environment will be by adopted Development Plan Documents. maintained in accordance with national guidance.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 3 Location and setting

Camelford is situated on the A39 midway Bodmin Moor lies to the south east of the between Wadebridge and Bude, and four town and the two great tors of Brownwilly miles inland from the North Cornwall coast. and Roughtor dominate views from the It is approximately 27 kilometres south-west higher ground. of Launceston and the A30 and 21 kilometres north of Bodmin. The main roads to Bodmin (B3266) and Launceston meet the A39 a little out of town on its west and east sides respectively. It lies within the parish of Camelford, in the district of North Cornwall.

As the name suggests the town crosses the River Camel at its northern end. The river rises four kilometres to the north and by the time it reaches the town has become a strong body of water in a steep sided valley with a narrow floor. The river flows Picture 3.2 Historic cast iron sign indicating the south towards Wadebridge along the direction of Rough Tor from Victoria Road eastern side of the town where its steep valley sides have remained largely To the north and east lie the gently sloping undeveloped. but equally exposed hills at Candolden and Davidstow. Due to its location on the side of a river valley the town is relatively sheltered in The flat land at the river crossing climbs up comparison to many of the other the steep valley side to the south along settlements in the area. Fore Street the principal street in the town. As it crests the hill the street becomes High Street and continues along flatter ground. Alleys slope down to the river to the east and roads and alleys climb up to farmland to the west. To the north of the river the main road to the east, Victoria Road, climbs up a gentler slope.

Historic Landscape Characterisation

(taken from the CSUS report on Camelford by the Historic Environment Service, Picture 3.1 Camelford is situated in a relatively Cornwall County Council) sheltered location on the side of a river valley

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal The historic landscape around Camelford is predominantly Anciently Enclosed Land, farmland first enclosed in later prehistory, reorganised in the medieval period into strip fields and then enclosed into distinctively Cornish fields, many reflecting their former strippy shapes, in the later and medieval and early post-medieval periods. The Upland Rough ground of Bodmin Moor has been pushed further away to the south-east by the nineteenth century intakes on the higher parts of Advent parish, farms like Lowermoor, Edenvale, Poldue and Roughtor. Indeed the Moor only really begins, in the sense of being open rough grassland, at Roughtor Ford.

Other intakes spread away towards Davidstow and partly encircle the concrete remains of the great World War Two airfield on Davidstow Moor.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 4 Designations

Scheduled Monuments There are no scheduled monuments

Historic Buildings There are 21 listed buildings of which only one, Camelford House, is listed Grade II*, the rest as grade II.

There is no local list

Historic Area Designations The historic core of the settlement lies within a conservation area

Other Designations (All policy numbers refer to North Cornwall Local Plan adopted April 1999)

The land to the south of the settlement is designated an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) – (ENV1)

The valley of the River Camel is designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – (ENV4)

Camelford is designated an Historic Settlement – (ENV3)

To the west Bodmin Moor is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – (ENV4)

The land to the south east of the town is designated an Area of Great Historic Value (AGHV) – (ENV14, ENV15)

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 5 Historic and topographic development

An excellent and highly detailed history of crossing point. Camelford was given to Earl Camelford appears in the Cornwall and Richard by his brother Henry III as part of Scilly Urban Survey carried out by the the manor of Helston, and in 1258 Earl Historic Environment Service of the County Richard granted the town a charter which Council, published in September 2005. was then confirmed by Henry in 1260. Below is a summary of this history. Borough status enabled the settlement to hold a weekly Friday market and an annual Early Origins three day fair (14th-16th July), and a classic Cornish planted town was formed. The Early prehistoric activity took place on settlement developed with a broad Bodmin Moor to the south-east of the site trapezoidal market place at its centre (on of the settlement and there is evidence of the site of the present day Market Place) later prehistoric settlements in the lowland with a later market house (now the town around Camelford mainly in the form of hall). The original market place could have rounds – enclosed settlements. The many been larger extending south to the opeway hamlets incorporating tre (farming estate) linking Back (Chapel) Lane to Fore Street. in their names in the vicinity suggests there Over the years the width of the market were early medieval settlements in the place has been lessened by the area. The positioning of the A39 following encroaching properties. Agriculture was the ridges to the north of the town, and valleys basis of the economy with the market to the south suggests it was an early selling livestock and produce. topographical element. In addition to the growth at the heart of the Camelford was not specifically mentioned settlement a fair site was developed on land in the Domesday survey in 1086, as it to the south on the site of the present day formed part of the large manor of Helston, Clease Road car park and the grassed area neither was it an early Christian settlement. in front of the North Cornwall Museum. A lan (early Christian enclosure) was built Clease Road itself was originally a track at Lanteglos around a mile south of running through the centre of the fair Camelford and later replaced with a ground. A borough pound might have been medieval church. in existence on this site as early as the medieval period. Camelford’s earliest incarnation, therefore, would appear to be a farming hamlet based Many planted medieval market towns had on the crossing point of a routeway across thin property strips – burgage plots – the River Camel. running off the main streets. The nature of the surviving thin property boundaries in Medieval Camelford, however suggest the fossilised remains of the pre-existing field system. The place name Camelford was first The borough did, however have burgesses recorded in the early thirteenth century as – free citizens of the borough- and in 1311 camm ‘crooked’, and alan ‘river’. The they built a chapel of ease dedicated to St English suffix ford was presumably added Thomas the Martyr and the Blessed Virgin when the settlement developed around the Mary immediately to the west of the river

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal crossing (at around the site of the present grammar school and during the day entrance to Enfield Park). The building seventeenth century a number of large of a chapel suggests a rapid development town houses were built by current and in the population and status of the prospective candidates including settlement. By 1434 the chapel had a Warmington House, Bridge House and chantry priest, but this only lasted until the Camelford House. Reformation when the chapel was desecrated. The structure however In recognition of its Royalist sympathies remained standing. and was used as a during the Civil War, a new charter of 1669 furze store until it was demolished in the granted the town two further annual fairs eighteenth century. Pieces of worked stone and the right of the Corporation, Mayor and are reputed to be incorporated into Capital Burgesses to appoint free surrounding buildings. burgesses who were entitled to vote if they paid the local taxes. By 1327 there were probably three mills in Camelford including a possible tucking mill By the end of the seventeenth century (for fulling cloth) and a corn mill at the heart Camelford had developed into a small of the settlement on Mill Lane. The leat to market town and inn-town. The main route the corn mill still survives as a large between Launceston and Bodmin earthwork in the park. By 1521 the wooden (effectively the road from London to bridge which had replaced the ford was in Falmouth) travelled through the centre of turn superceded by a stone construction the settlement and as a result there were leading to the market place, Fore Street a number of inns, taverns and stables. The and Back Street (which operated as a Masons Arms, the Liberal Club (formerly service lane). the White Hart) and the Darlington Inn could all date from the late sixteenth Post-Medieval Camelford and the century. However, despite these Seventeenth Century developments Celia Fiennes found ‘very indifferent accommodations’ when she Tudor and later commentators were passed through the town in 1695. unimpressed with the town Leland in the 1530s thought it a ‘poore Village’ and in 1602 Richard Carew described ‘ a market and fair (but not fair) town …[that] steppeth little before the meanest of boroughs for store of inhabitants, or the inhabitants’ store’. It was during this period however that the seeds were sown for the future development of the town. In 1552 Edward VI granted Camelford the right to return two members to Parliament. Initially members were local representatives, but increasingly wealthy patrons sort to influence the voting freeholders of Camelford by providing Picture 5.1 The Liberal Club stands on the site of facilities for the town. In 1678 Sir James the late sixteenth century White Hart. Smith one of the borough’s MPs built a

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Eighteenth century

In 1716 there were around sixty houses in Camelford and during the century the buying of property for political influence escalated. The 1753 map of the borough commissioned by the Duke of Bedford shows a large number of buildings in his ownership and by the end of the century the Duke owned most of the land within the borough bounds. The poor were accommodated in almshouses built in 1709 at Trevena Walls to the south-west of the Picture 5.2 Indian King – one of the hostelries built town and later in 1791 at a workhouse at in the eighteenth century to serve as coaching inns. Sportsman’s, also to the south west. Camelford’s market and location on the In 1769 a turnpike was constructed over communication network stimulated further Bodmin Moor which reduced the volume of industries including breweries, traffic and associated trade through the slaughterhouses, tanneries and mills. The town. However, the Royal Mail coaches Borough map of 1753 shows the town had (which also carried passengers) continued. extended east of the bridge along Victoria The early hostelries were joined by two Road and south along Fore Street and High coaching inns both called the King’s Arms Street. The southern development was a – the higher King’s Arms became the Indian mix of residential and commercial buildings King and the Lower King’s Arms became and several of the workshops and carriage the Bedford Inn in 1783. In 1795 the arches still survive. Camelford, Wadebridge and St Columb Turnpike Trust was set up to improve and During the eighteenth century the town was control the road and several of their granite an important centre for Non-conformism mileposts still survive. There were three with John Wesley visiting and preaching a tollgates on the approach routes at number of times between 1746-89. The first Chapman’s turnpike, Valley Truckle and on Methodist chapel was built on Chapel the site of the Countryman Hotel. Street (until then known as Back Street). There was no provision for Anglican worshippers who had to travel to Lanteglos for their services.

Nineteenth century

By the end of the 18th century the voting system had grown increasingly corrupt with vote buying, election rigging and intrigue the norm. Patrons continued to try and buy the support of the voters - in 1806 the Duke

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal of Bedford built an additional storey on the By 1881 the livestock market had moved market house allowing it to be used as a from the market place to a proper auction town hall (now the library). market at the top of the hill, on the north-eastern quarter of the old Fair Ground During the 1818 election the patronage of adjacent to a wagon and carriage building the borough was contested between the shop (now the North Cornwall Museum). A Earl of Darlington, representing the Whigs, slaughter house was located a little way and the Earl of Yarmouth, the Tories. The down Chapel Street, and abattoirs stood battle for land accumulation and vote on the east side of this street, opposite the buying resulted in a win for Darlington’s fairly grand houses on its west side, until candidates, but was duly declared void. the mid 20th century. The rivalry continued and culminated in Darlington using his mining rights to build The town was also still an important an adit beneath Yarmouth’s land and using coaching halt on the Launceston road and gunpowder to blow up the newly built in 1865 the Corporation set back the road houses. frontage of the Darlington Arms and rebuilt some of the cottages uphill from it (on the The 1832 Reform Bill removed the right of west side of the street) further from the the town to return two members and so the road. Street lights had been installed by the former patrons deserted Camelford, 1850s, and many of Camelford’s shops and contributing to a period of decline for the public buildings date from the mid and late town. However, despite the eventual repeal 19th century. Many of the more substantial of the borough charter in 1883, Camelford town houses also date from this period on still continued to maintain local function as Chapel Street, Trefrew Lane, and infilling a small market town, probably because it on High Street, Victoria Road and College served such a large agricultural hinterland. Road.

Camelford was an important local farming That Camelford also served as a local centre, not just a market and fair town, but administrative centre is confirmed not only also a settlement in which agricultural by it being the centre of a Rural District, but products were processed to add value to also by the ring of public institutions them. By 1811 Pearce’s cloth factory was established either near or beyond the in operation, producing broad and narrow developed periphery of the town through cloth, across the Camel near Outground the 19th century and the first decade of the Mill, and a yarn market adjoined the Town 20th: the Camelford Union Workhouse at Hall. By the 1830s there was a Sportsman’s in 1858; the Elementary slaughterhouse, a wool warehouse, three School at the Clease in 1843; a Police smithies, a malthouse and a bakehouse in Station near the top of Fore Street before or near the centre of town. There were even 1881; the new school in College Road in farm animals in the town centre itself, with 1894; and a Drill Hall at the Clease before pigsties recorded in 1841 at the Darlington 1907. Arms and in Back Street (a fine long row of them still survives (disused) on the Non-conformity continued to flourish in the higher slopes below the Co-op). town - in 1810 a new Methodist Chapel was built on Back Street, and was later joined by a Bible Christian Chapel on Victoria

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Road and in 1837 a prominent chapel on Some shop fronts were renewed, though the eastern side of Market Place. In 1854 a good number of Victorian and Edwardian the Elementary School was licensed for ones remain, and a few buildings had divine service to minister to the Anglican wholly new facades installed, for example community. 29 Market Place with its red brick ground floor and pebble dashed first floor and Early tourists were by the mid-19th century scalloped parapet, an odd but important beginning to use Camelford as a base for modern building in an otherwise quite exploring the Moors, including Roughtor, conservative set of shops and offices. Brown Willy and the Devil’s Jump. The town itself, however, was still looked down upon By 1907 the Camelford Rural District by most topographical writers; for example Council had installed a Sewage Works Mrs Craik in 1884 called it ‘a very close to the Camel below High Street respectable, commonplace little town, much (where the more modern works still lie). A like other country towns; the same genteel small park to the west of the Camel linendrapers’ and un-genteel ironmongers’ upstream from the bridge was presented shops; the same old-established to the town in 1922 by local tailor Albert commercial inn, and a few ugly, but solid Tingcombe and named Enfield Park from looking private houses, with their faces to the town in which he had spent most of his the street and their backs nestled in working life. It replaced the town’s gas gardens and fields….We let our horses works. rest, but we ourselves felt not the slightest wish to rest at Camelford.’ In 1937-8 St Thomas Church (designed by Sir Charles Nicholson) was constructed in In 1893 the London and South Western a field to the north-east of the town. Railway finally arrived at Camelford, en Camelford’s bridge was replaced by a route from Launceston to Padstow. This simple modern structure in 1957 following late date and the station’s distant location a series of serious floods caused by the (nearly two kilometres to the north) reduced small opening being blocked by trees and the railway’s impact compared to other branches. towns. Nevertheless, it still brought the town a period of modest growth and the Throughout much of the 20th century improved availability of imported materials Camelford continued to perform its such as red bricks and clay ridge tiles. traditional role as not only a market and commercial centre, but also a supplier of Twentieth century services to a rural population. Many village smithies, carpenters’ shops and During the first three-quarters of the 20th wheelwrights were closing, drawing those century there was limited growth and only who required their products to towns like piecemeal updating and improving of Camelford. The Back Street abattoirs were premises before a marked increase in joined by the Victoria Road cheese factory activity during the last quarter of the (now Sleeps) and there were small factories century. and workshops in Mill Lane, High Street, Chapel Street and down the lower opeways by the riverside. The inns continued to

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal obtain reasonable trade from the highway In the 1990s the bypass was part of a wider and small hotels serving the modest tourist DETR Road Programme with the Highways trade came and went. Agency announcing their preferred eastern route in 1994. However, following budget In the last twenty-five years the town has cuts and a change in road policy this expanded significantly, with new housing scheme was shelved. estates to the south and west of the medieval town and also to the west of In 1967 the livestock market was Victoria Road. Most new development has transferred to Hallworthy, marking the been residential, both public and private, effective end of the town as a market but has also included the relocation of Sir centre. However, Camelford continues to James Smith School to the western side of serve as a shopping and social centre for the town in 1962 and the construction of a a large agricultural hinterland stretching small industrial estate to the south of the from the north coast to Laneast and St town. With this expansion the population Breward. rose: in 1971 there were 1525 inhabitants; by 1998 this figure had risen by over 50% Present Day Camelford to 2300, and the number continues to grow. The town continues to expand with building In 1988 the town suffered an accidental, programs taking place to the north-east of but serious water-poisoning incident (at the the town (off Victoria Road) and to the nearby Lowermoor treatment works); south (towards Valley Truckle). The bypass attendant adverse publicity led to a issue continues to dominate strategic plans, perceived blighting of the good name of with a favoured route for a distributor road Camelford. now established to the west of the town. This may lead to a significant increase in Proposals for a bypass road began to the development envelope of the town and dominate plans for the future of the town - enable further employment-related land use the deleterious effect of motor vehicles on in the form of industrial estate units. the town centre having been noted from as early as the 1930s and John Betjeman in The town is looking for ways to regenerate 1964 confirming that ‘motor traffic today itself and has been identified, with Delabole turns the narrow street into a hell of noise’. and its hinterlands, as a Market and Betjeman went on to suggest that most of Coastal Town. A ‘Health Check’ has been the fabric of the medieval town survived: carried out with schemes expected to flow ‘From the long gardens, survivals of from this. The town has also secured a medieval strip cultivation…one can get Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme more idea of what the old borough once to address some of the built environment was like. The curve of the road through the issues visible within the town; this is town and the little square by the Town Hall concentrating attention on a number of key show that if only Camelford was by-passed, target buildings, the opeways and the it would be a very pleasant and more riverside walk. prosperous old town.’

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 6 Archaeological potential

There are no scheduled monuments in Camelford but archaeology is potentially a rich asset for the town. There is much about the town’s history that is obscure and archaeology is the only way in which certain key aspects of its historic development can be better understood.

Archaeology does not refer solely to buried remains. Information on the historical sequences embodied in standing buildings and other above ground features could be extremely valuable and a building survey of the town would be likely to yield significant new information. Opportunities for investigation and recording should be sought when buildings are refurbished or undergo substantial alteration.

There may be some archaeological potential in waterlogged features in the riverside area around St Thomas’s: the lowest levels may contain organic remains preserved in the waterlogged ground.

Archaeological remains are an important and non-renewable resource and as such are protected by national and local planning legislation. One component of future investigation of both buried archaeological remains and standing buildings may be through more extensive targeted implementation of PPG15 and PPG 16 legislation as part of the development control process.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 7 Present settlement character

The following overview of the general character of Camelford is taken from the CSUS report on Camelford produced by the Historic Environment Service at Cornwall County Council.

Topography and settlement form

Camelford depends on its location and topography for its existence, name and form. The medieval town was established immediately west of the ford across the Camel, the market place in a narrow flat ham beside the river and the main streets on the slopes running uphill to the south from this.

Camelford’s streets are flaring threads crossed by a webbing of opeways to form a long narrow skein laid diagonally over those slopes. Fore Street and Back Street climb their steepest part and run into the old fairground (The Clease) when they have Picture 7.1 An opeway connecting Chapel Street to crested the rise. Fore Street continues Fore Street. along the top of the Camel’s valley side as Across the Camel, the main northern street, High Street. Other opeways slope east Victoria Road, runs up a gentle side valley down to the river and lanes climb up west slope. Side streets here, Trefrew Road and to breezy farmland. College Roads have the character of country lanes.

The town’s commercial centre is still focussed on the old market place and most of the remainder is residential, the largest and oldest town houses being closest to the centre, terraces, rows and cottages towards its edges.

An effect of the town being laid across rolling slopes is that it is difficult to see the entire historic town from any one spot, either from within it or from beyond it. This makes it seem almost village like.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Standing historic fabric As in many Cornish towns, public buildings are scattered across the town, neither People passing through Camelford gathered only at its centre, nor entirely in generally do so fairly slowly and as they a ring around it. look around they will notice that the town has numerous attractive historic buildings, Camelford’s central landmark building and relatively little modern development at is the post-medieval market house, its heart, compared with many other now the town’s library. In 1806 it was Cornish towns. Should they walk around given a first floor and a green-painted the historic core of the town, they will find timber cupola topped with a camel good quality and wide variety in its public weather vane. buildings, shops, dwellings, outhouses, Remains of the 1311 bridge-side spaces, opeways, and lanes. chapel of St Thomas were finally removed in the late nineteenth century. Camelford has no set pieces to match A neat greenstone and slate Truro’s Lemon Street or Launceston’s replacement Church of St Thomas of Castle Street. Instead there are fairly Canterbury was built in 1937-8 in the haphazard juxtapositions of elegant field uphill from Camelford House. townhouses with modest buildings, and The architectural merit of a post-war public buildings intermingled with shops medical centre constructed uphill from and dwellings, an effect that is both the new church may be limited, but the dynamic and stimulating. It reflects not only building has become a local landmark. considerable time depth in the town’s Before 1881 a Police Station opened development (extant buildings date from near the top of Fore Street. It was the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries), moved south to the former Volunteer but also an intermixing of landholding, Inn in High Street by 1907. which had its origins in the strip fields of The 1810 Wesleyan chapel and medieval Camelford, and which prevented adjacent Sunday School in landlords developing whole streets. Back/Chapel Street have both been converted to dwellings. A dramatic Losses in recent decades have largely Free United Methodist church in been confined to replacements of some Market Place was built in 1837 with shop fronts, and house windows, doors, gabled porch and Gothic doors and wall facings and roofs. Some buildings windows. The hipped roofed early (dwellings, shops and workshops, including Victorian Bible Christian Chapel and an important smithy) were removed from adjacent Sunday School were nicely the upper eastern side of Fore Street and integrated into the row set back from others uphill of the Sleep’s building in Victoria Road. Victoria Road.

Individual buildings are dealt with in more detail below in Section 7, on the Character Areas; the following introduces some of the more significant buildings and features.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal century with twentieth century alterations. The late eighteenth century Indian King is set perpendicularly to Fore Street, its principal rooms and entrance on the first floor. The Liberal Club, on the west side of Market Place, originated as an inn. The Western Inn (now no.57 High Street) and the Volunteer Inn (lost to the late Victorian Police Station) were at the south end of town. Sunnyside, now the Countryman, was a late Victorian hotel in Victoria Road.

Picture 7.2 The former Wesleyan Chapel in Chapel Street dates from 1810 and has been converted into a house.

Camelford has a fine collection of former and extant public houses, relics of its days as an important coaching town on the main Picture 7.3 The Countryman was originally a late road through Cornwall. They are all on the Victorian Hotel. main through road (Victoria Road, Market Place and Fore Street). Shops are largely in Market Place and the lower part of Fore Street. Again they are The slate clad and L-shaped varied and generally well preserved. Shop Darlington Inn may have some fronts, the elements of such buildings most sixteenth century fabric although there susceptible to changes in presentation have has been some good quality late always been the most vulnerable features twentieth century restoration of this and there are no very early fronts surviving. building after a damaging fire. However, there are several good shop The Mason’s Arms, with its irregular fronts from the later nineteenth and early fenestration over three storeys and its to mid twentieth centuries (egs. nos. 12, great chimney stack, may also be 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 27, and 28B Market sixteenth century in origin. The stables Place; nos. 3, 7, 24 and 26 Fore Street; no. to its north are later. 35 High Street). Camelford House, with its symmetrical five-window front, was probably once A pair of apparently eighteenth century another coaching inn. It is seventeenth shops at nos. 8 and 10 Market Place.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal More low eighteenth century shops on the other side of Market Place, downhill from the Mason’s Arms and uphill from the chapel. The eighteenth century shop at no.9 Fore Street has a mix of slate and stucco coverings and fairly flimsy timber-framed upper floors.

Picture 7.5 The nineteenth century War Memorial Institute, Market Place.

There are simple three-storeyed eighteenth and nineteenth century shops with rooms over on the lower west side of Fore Street. The early twentieth century Lloyds bank further up Fore Street has its door set in a pedimented bay.

Dwellings are again varied and include some of north Cornwall’s finest town houses together with some locally important rows and terraces.

There are excellent seventeenth century town houses, most notably Warmington House and its immediate Picture 7.4 No. 9 Fore Street dates from the uphill neighbour, no. 34 Market Place. eighteenth century. Camelford House is also seventeenth A group of three two-and-half-storey century. nineteenth century shops with dormer Another good town house is Bridge windows on the east side of Market House, mid seventeenth century, but Place include the impressive War reworked in the eighteenth century, Memorial Institute and the modernist whose beautiful north front has a left front of no.29, next door. of centre door with fine Palladian hood. Bush House, one of Camelford’s finest eighteenth century town houses, has five floors. Its finely dressed ashlar local stone façade has stringcourses and flat arches over openings. On the other side of Fore Street, at no.18, is a smaller eighteenth century

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal townhouse whose ashlar front with stringcourses and flat arches, gives a finish very similar to Bush House. Tregarr, a large Victorian townhouse has a hipped roof, incised stucco front, and a cellar opening onto Back/Chapel Street. Trefrew and College Roads have fairly substantial late Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached houses and villas looking out across Camelford. Some of the cottages in the upper part of Back/Chapel Street and on High Picture 7.6 The former Victorian coachworks at Street are sixteenth or seventeenth Clease. century. In College Road are a number of By 1881 a cattle market was in place eighteenth and nineteenth century on the former fairground. It was closed cottages. in 1967, but much of its infrastructure survives. Most of Victoria Road’s fine row of cottages are mid to late nineteenth Service buildings of a variety of dates century. They are a mix of double and (seventeenth to twentieth century), single fronted. sizes (one and two storey) and functions (barns, slaughter houses, A feature of Camelford is the diversity (and stores and garages) along the east visibility) of outhouses, rear yards, and side of Back Street. service buildings. Many of the latter (abattoirs, mills, smithies etc) reflected the importance of the town as an agricultural market centre offering a range of rural services. Most are nineteenth century, but some, especially those along Back Street, may be earlier.

Former mill building on the north side of Mill Lane (probably eighteenth or nineteenth century rebuild of a medieval one). Victorian coachworks at Clease, now the North Cornwall Museum, and other Picture 7.7 Historic service buildings on the eastern coachworks, workshops, yards and side of Chapel Street. The building in the foreground stores in High Street. still retains its cast-iron rain water goods. Complexes of yards, pathways (including opeways) and extensions of the main buildings between Fore Street and the Camel, along the

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal opeways between Fore and Back splits the space down its length. Until the Streets, and in Mill Lane. advent of the motor vehicle this space The three storey lower part of the would have been crossed and recrossed Sleep’s building in Victoria Road. at leisure, with most movements being The medieval bridge, replaced in the lateral, first between market stalls and later early nineteenth century, was again between shops. Now the road emphasises rebuilt in 1957. the longitudinal and makes crossing the space hazardous. Consequently it is now Wall finishes on Camelford’s buildings are largely controlled by a pedestrian crossing very mixed: fine ashlar; bare shillet stone on the corner by the Mason’s Arms. with rough rubble finish; plain or incised stucco; stucco around openings; Nineteenth century granite kerbs and pebbledash, etc. The effect of this range in pavements have been largely replaced with materials and also the range of paints modern mass-produced materials, a great applied to joinery, is of great variety in pity in terms of historic character and colour and texture through the town. It is associations with the granite quarries of generally a bright and cheerful mix, with nearby Bodmin Moor. Most other Cornish some odd and dramatic juxtapositions. towns are now better provided for with granite street furniture than the town that Considering how close the town is to is closest to the De Lank quarries. Bodmin Moor, it is surprising that there is not more use of granite. Back/Chapel Street has good slatestone gutters, slate bridges across them, and Most roofs are of the local slate (Delabole locally manufactured iron drain covers. being such a short distance away). Their effect is to give this street greater Chimneys are sometimes of local stone, historic character than the more important but are mainly brick (some rendered) and central parts of town. ridge tiles are simple and usually red.

Streetscape and views

Away from the A39, Camelford is a quiet town with fairly low levels of pedestrian and traffic movement. Most buildings, perimeters and gardens can be appreciated at leisure. Vehicles move fairly slowly and the free car parks mean that there is less on-road short-term convenience parking than in many other Cornish towns. Lorries do struggle up the hills and noise and fumes are a feature of these; the lower part of Fore Street is especially badly affected.

The Market Place is still wide and spacious, but the busy road greatly weakens the original open effect; the stream of traffic

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Other important urban views are had from the higher opeways themselves, looking across the backs of properties between Fore and Back/Chapel Streets and from the lower riverside opeways, between Market Place and the river. From College Road the shape of the early town can still be identified from its varied roofscape.

Unfortunately views across the old fair ground at The Clease have been severely compromised by late 19th-century development and poor quality 20th-century accretions. These have fragmented what was once an important open space and have introduced a number of prominent, but poorly designed modern features that distract attention from both the space itself and the better-designed Victorian structures.

The modern housing developments at Picture 7.8 Slatestone gutters with slate bridges on Mount Camel, Hillhead Gardens, Green Chapel Street. Meadows, Warren’s Field and Sunnyside Views into Camelford are most complete Meadow have removed from the town its when descending Victoria Road and then green backdrop and have also reduced its turning into Market Place, but the twists in linearity. They have turned the strong the roads mean that there are few diagonal lines climbing both sides of the extensive views of the medieval town. Camel valley into generalised urban However, good streetscapes can be smudges. Fortunately the open ground of appreciated throughout the historic town. Enfield Park and the riverside meadows below the bridge survive and help delineate Both directions along Market Place. the lower edges of the old town. Up and down canyon-like Fore Street. Views out from Camelford are most Up and down leafy and architecturally extensive when looking south towards varied Back/Chapel Street. Roughtor and the Moor. Other more Along the varied rows of High Street intimate rural views are to be found along and Victoria Road, the former hard the riverside walks. Enfield Park is a against the road, the latter set high pleasant municipal garden with numerous above it. trees; its wooded effect is enhanced by the Along the twists of College Road and survival of several mature trees on the east Mill Lane. bank of the river, relics of Camelford Up and down the many and varied House’s ornamental gardens. opeways.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Its twisting topography and long history provide Camelford with a wide range of landmarks.

Landmark buildings include the following.

The Market House. Darlington and Mason’s Arms. Camelford, Bridge and Warmington Houses. The Indian King arts centre. Bush House. North Cornwall Museum. The 1930s church. All three chapels.

The bridge, the entrance to Enfield Park, and the lines of beeches at the northern and southern approaches to the town are all important local landmarks.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 8 Character Areas

in this area and their range of dates from Understanding Character the sixteenth to the twentieth century lends great visual variety. The lively environment In addition to the broad elements of is further enhanced by the historic street settlement character identified in the patterns and interconnecting alleys and previous chapter Camelford can be divided opes. into four distinct character areas. These were first identified in the Cornwall and Historic Development Scilly Urban Survey report on Camelford in 2005 produced by Cornwall County Following the 1260 Charter a planted Council’s Historic Environment Service market town was created with a broad report. They are : market place – its trapezoidal shape possibly originally extended as far as Medieval Camelford and the valley the second opeway along Fore Street. Fairground By 1311 there was a chapel of ease High Street dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr Victoria Road west of the river’s crossing point on the site of the present day entrance to These character areas are differentiated Enfield Park). By 1327 there was a from each other by their varied historic corn mill along Mill Lane. origins, functions and resultant urban By the sixteenth century there were a topography, by the processes of change number of inns and stables catering which have affected each subsequently for travellers along the road from and the extent to which these elements and London to Falmouth. These included processes are evident in the current the Mason’s Arms, the White Hart (on townscape. the site of the present Liberal Club) and the Darlington Inn. In 1521 a stone The special interest of each character area bridge was built across the Camel will be defined in order to asses its value replacing an earlier wooden structure. or significance both as an individual area During the late seventeenth century a and as part of the settlement as a whole. number of impressive town houses This understanding can then form the basis were built including Warmington for maintaining and enhancing Camelford House, Bridge House and Camelford in the future – to ensure that its special House, and the town’s first grammar character is sustained and enhanced (this school was built in 1678. analysis draws heavily on the research already carried out by Cornwall County Council for the Urban Survey).

Medieval Camelford and the Valley

The medieval market centre this is still the commercial and social heart of the town. A high proportion of historic buildings survive

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.1 Camelford House one of the fine town Picture 8.2 1-7 Market Place stand on the site of a houses built in the late seventeenth century. former bowling green

A further inn was built in the eighteenth By the 1830s there was a yarn market, century the Kings Arms which later a slaughterhouse, a wool warehouse, became known as the Indian King. The three smithies, a malthouse and a 1753 map clearly shows a mill on the bakehouse near the centre of town. In northern side of Mill Road, and 1806 an upper storey was added to buildings either side of Market Place the Market House to allow it to be used and Fore Street. The development as a town hall, but the structure below here was a mix of residential and dates from an earlier period. In 1810 commercial use. The development a new Methodist Chapel was built to along Back Street was more piecemeal replace the eighteenth century building at this date. The map also shows the on Chapel Street. A further Methodist original course of the River Camel, Chapel was built in Market Place in which flowed directly to the south of 1837. Sometime in the early the Mason’s Arms before curving south nineteenth century the sixteenth to the river crossing. There was a century stone bridge was replaced. In bowling green south of the river on the the 1850s street lights were installed site of nos. 1-7 Market Place. in the town centre. Many of the shops Sometime between 1753 and 1841 the and public buildings date from this course of the river was altered to its period and the more substantial present configuration. In 1784 a houses on Chapel Street, Trefrew Methodist Chapel was built on Back Lane and infilling on High Street and Street. College Road. A number of public institutions were established around the town centre throughout the nineteenth century including a police station at the top of Fore Street in 1881 and a new school in College Road in 1894. Some new shopfronts were built including 29 Market Place and in 1922 Enfield Park was created on the site

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal of the old gas works. In 1937 St a hub of commercial activity and through Thomas Church was built on a site to the surviving historic buildings, many of the east of the river. A cheese factory which are shops and inns, much of the was built on Victoria Road (now historic character still remains – (particularly Sleeps) and small factories and when there is a lull in the traffic!) workshops along Mill Lane, High Street and Chapel Street. In 1957 the bridge Architecture and historic qualities was rebuilt as the Victorian bridge occasionally became clogged causing There is a good survival of historic buildings floods in Market Place. in this area and as a result the built environment encompasses a wide range of styles and types. The predominant building type is relatively modest two-storey shops, offices and dwellings. These are built of local rubble stone with granite or brick dressings and local rag or scantle slate roofs. There are however a number of three storey and higher buildings particularly in the centre of the town and these together with the larger public buildings lend a sense of grandeur. Most of the taller buildings are rendered and many have sash windows. Picture 8.3 The bridge over the River Camel was rebuilt in 1957 following a number of floods. The higher status buildings often have facades enlivened by classical detailing Activity and use such as quoins, pediments and decorative doorcases. There are also a number of This area has always been the commercial quirky buildings of eclectic design such as heart of the settlement, the site of the the four storey 9 Fore Street which market and until the eighteenth century the incorporates gables and slate hanging into entire extent of the town. Its central role its design. throughout Camelford’s development is reflected in the variety of architectural styles of all periods, which in turn indicates the continuous prosperity of the area. Up until the mid twentieth century the busy atmosphere of pedestrian and commercial activity first evident in the medieval period would have survived remarkably intact. However the car and motor transport now dominate the centre of the town and the north-south passage of traffic is the governing characteristic rather that the lateral flow of pedestrians moving between the shops. This said, the town centre is still

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal The Gothic style is represented by the Methodist Chapel in Market Place, St Thomas’ Chapel and the converted chapel on Chapel Street.

Surviving industrial buildings in the town centre include Sleeps on Victoria Road – whose former uses include a cheese factory, barracks for Napoleonic prisoners and an early motor garage - and the former mill and nineteenth century factory on Mill Lane.

Picture 8.4 Classical nineteenth century doorcase on Bridge House – The six panel door incorporating stained glass panels is surmounted by a segmental arched hood supported by moulded consol brackets. Picture 8.6 Now a shop Sleeps was originally one The Arts and Crafts movement is of the town’s industrial buildings. represented by the Memorial Institute and an Art Deco curved parapet has been applied to the façade of 29 Market Place.

Picture 8.5 Art Deco curved parapet on the façade of 29 Market Place.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.8 St Thomas Chapel off Victoria Road was built in 1937.

Picture 8.7 Former industrial buildings on Mill Lane.

Key Buildings

St Thomas Chapel, Victoria Road – built in 1937 this single storey building has green stone walls and granite Picture 8.9 The slate roof of St Thomas’ was detailing including simple rounded constructed using the Delabole system. arches above the windows. The roof slates have been laid using the Bridge House, Victoria Road – listed Delabole system which gives a grade II. A seventeenth century town pleasing uniformity to the roof and house remodelled in the late allows very small slates to be used. eighteenth century. This three storey building has a rendered façade with rusticated quoins, sash windows and a nineteenth century part glazed six panel door below a decorative segmental arched door canopy supported by moulded consol brackets. Nos. 2 and 4 College road built in the mid nineteenth and eighteenth centuries respectively adjoin Bridge House and are included in the listing.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.10 One of Camelford’s late seventeenth Picture 8.11 The mullion windows from the original century town houses – the façade was remodelled sixteenth century house still survive at basement in the late eighteenth century. level on the front façade of Camelford House.

Camelford House, Victoria Road (also known as 1,2,3 Manor Farm and No 5 Victoria Road) – listed grade II*. Originally late sixteenth century this building (now divided into three houses and an office) was extended in the mid seventeenth century and rebuilt around the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century. The building is predominantly rendered with granite dressings. Its symmetrical façade has nineteenth century sash windows, painted quoins and strings and deep overhanging Picture 8.12 The mid-seventeenth century side eaves. The original sixteenth century extension to Camelford House has exposed granite mullion windows still survive at dressings. basement level. There are two wings at the rear - the left hand wing is Masons’ Arms, Market Place – grade rendered and painted with exposed II. Originally a coaching inn and now granite dressings whilst the right hand a public house. This building dates wing is of stone rubble. from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, and was extended in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.It is stone rubble, rendered and painted with a rag slate roof (part of which has been bitumen coated). The eighteenth century two panel door still survives on the right hand range and there is a mixture of nineteenth century sash and casement windows. The two storey coach house

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal to the left has two wide segmental arched openings with plank doors and a chamfered left hand corner.

Picture 8.14 The mid eighteenth century extension to the Masons’ Arms with the adjoining late eighteenth century coach house and stables.

Methodist Chapel, Market Place – Picture 8.13 The irregularly placed windows and massive stone chimney stack indicate the early grade II. Built in 1837 from stone origins of the Masons’Arms. rubble with granite dressings this building has a hipped slate roof with a gable end to the front. Its façade with gothic detailing, including two-light lancet widows and a two centred arch door opening reached by a stone ramp with iron railings, makes a significant contribution to the character of the town centre.

Picture 8.15 The façade of the Methodist Chapel built in 1837. Its stone rubble façade with granite dressings forms an important part of the townscape in the centre of Camelford.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.16 Decorative cast iron grills on the front Picture 8.18 The nineteenth century shopfront on of the Methodist Chapel. the façade of No. 23 Market Place.

Town Hall, Market Place – grade II. Originally the market house until 1806 when the upper floor was added by the Duke of Bedford to form a town hall. The building is now used as the town library. Due to its prominent position and survival of historic features it has become the iconic building of Camelford and is used as a visual shorthand for identifying the town. Built from slate stone rubble with dressed stone quoins and arches to the window Picture 8.17 The stone steps outside the Methodist openings, it has a hipped scantle slate Chapel are an important feature in the townscape. roof and a distinctive timber cupola with a clock and camel weather vane. 23/25 Market Place – grade II. These mid to late nineteenth century stone rubble buildings with a stuccoed façade and slate roof still retain a wealth of historic features such as the nineteenth century shopfront and original sash windows and consequently make a significant contribution to the quality of the town centre.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.19 The distinctive town hall with its upper Picture 8.20 Stained glass window on the southern floor remodelled in 1806 has become the iconic façade of the Town Hall. building of Camelford.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.22 The symmetrical late eighteenth/early nineteenth century façade of Warmington House is an important component in the historic Market Place.

34 Market Place – grade II. Adjacent to Warmington House this house was built and remodelled at around the same time, and is of similar construction. At only two storeys high and with less decorative detailing it is Picture 8.21 Interlocking tracery on the Town Hall a more modest building than its windows. neighbour but much of its historic Warmington House, Market Place – integrity still survives including some grade II. This seventeenth century early nineteenth century sash town house was remodelled in the late windows. eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Darlington Arms, Fore Street – grade It has painted rubblestone walls and a II. Originally a sixteenth century slate roof. The nineteenth century coaching inn remodelled and extended details with symmetrical sash windows in the early nineteenth century. The and doorcase with fluted Doric distinctive L shape of this painted pilasters and frieze lends classical rubblestone building with a slate hung grace to the eclectic architecture of the timber frame at first floor level lends a Market Place. great sense of enclosure at the head of Market Place. A pleasing mix of historic sash and casement windows, a jettied first floor supported by granite piers with a wrought iron balcony all add to the building’s eclectic charm.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.23 The Darlington Arms dates from the sixteenth century, but was extensively remodelled in the early nineteenth century.

9 Fore Street – The height of this building with its rather flimsy eighteenth century timber framed upper floors with a mix of slate, stucco and weatherboard covering make it a prominent and somewhat eccentric feature in the surrounding streetscape. Picture 8.24 The eighteenth century timber framed upper floors of No 9 Fore Street.

18/20 Fore Street – grade II. This mid nineteenth century stone rubble building has a symmetrical ashlar façade with original sash windows at first and second floor level, decorative string courses and dressed stone segmental window openings. The fine quality of the stonework compliments Bush House on the other side of the road. Bush House, Fore Street – grade II. One of Camelford’s finest houses rises to five floors including basement and attics and was formerly an hotel. The very finely dressed ashlar local stone façade has string courses and flat arches over openings including the double door with decorative fanlight. The side elevation is stone rubble with a classical doorcase.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.26 The long lintels on the ground floor of the former Indian King indicate its former use as a public house.

Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street – Built in 1810 this stone rubble building with rendered façade and mixture of gothic and classical detailing such as incised quoins, semi-circular lunette, central arched entrance and arched Picture 8.25 Classical style doorcase with incised lights was de-listed following its pilasters supporting a pedimented fanlight on the northern façade of Bush House. conversion into domestic accommodation in 1990. Indian King, Fore Street – grade II. Sunday School, Chapel Street – This building forms a wing of Bush Dating from the mid nineteenth century House and is included in the same list this stone rubble building with granite description. Its stone rubble walls with quoins and a slate roof has a ramp up asymmetrical windows, long ground to its central entrance with a floor lintel and double doors reflect its nineteenth century iron balustrade earlier incarnations as a public house. similar to the ramped entrances to the Town Hall and Methodist Chapel in Market Place. The building was de-listed in 1999 following its conversion to domestic use. 2 Chapel Street – grade II. This building forms part of a group with Warmington House and 34 Market Place which it abuts. Built and remodelled at a similar time it has rendered stucco walls beneath a slate roof with gable ends. Surviving historic features of note include a nineteenth century door and doorcase with fanlight, sash windows and a

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal semi-circular headed window with with a rag slate gable end roof. The radiating glazing bars. house has retained its original sash windows and doors.

Local details

With its variety of building styles, heights and plans the overall characteristic of the town centre area is one of lively diversity. This is also evident in the detailing of the buildings.

Many buildings retain wooden sash and casement windows, and original sixteenth century mullion windows can be found at basement level on Camelford House. Some Picture 8.27 The historic windows on No 2 Chapel Street which include tripartite and semi-circular buildings such as Camelford House and headed sashes enhance the surrounding the Methodist Chapel, Market Place have streetscape. granite window surrounds whilst others are of slatestone.

Picture 8.29 Classical style window on the façade of Lloyds TSB on Fore Street.

Picture 8.28 Nineteenth century doorcase with fluted pilasters on No. 2 Chapel Street.

12 Chapel Street - grade II. An early nineteenth century stone rubble house

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.30 Wide eaves soffit on Bush House with modillion brackets.

Picture 8.32 Modillion brackets on the façade of 25 Market Place.

Many of the higher status buildings have classical detailing but other more local decorative features include plaster window Picture 8.31 An eclectic mix of Classical modillion surrounds on 52/54 Fore Street and the bracket and Gothic intersecting tracery on No. 9 Mason’s Arms, two storey canted bay Fore Street. windows – 21 Market Place and the Conservative Club and chamfered corner walls on the Mason’s Arms and 4 Victoria Road.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.33 The façade of the Conservative Club Picture 8.34 Double height bay windows on No 21 incorporates double height bay windows. Market Place.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.35 The corner of No. 4 Victoria Road is Picture 8.37 The double flight of stone steps outside chamfered to improve access and visibility. the old Sunday School on Chapel Street.

Double flights of granite steps with iron A good number of original Victorian and hand rails can be found on the town hall, Edwardian shopfronts still survive. the Sunday School on Chapel Street and the Wesleyan Chapel, Market Place.

Picture 8.38 Historic shop front on Fore Street.

Picture 8.36 The fine double flight of stone steps on the western façade of the Town Hall.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.39 Historic shopfront on Market Place. Picture 8.41 The stucco façade of 25 Market Place has applied classical detailing including quoins and Local and traditional building moulded cornices on the doorframe and eaves. materials The stucco façade of Warmington House has at some point been removed revealing Nearly all the buildings have slatestone the timber lintels beneath. rubble walls, a large proportion of which have facades which are either rendered or painted.

Picture 8.42 At some point the stucco has been removed from the façade of Warmington House revealing the timber lintels below. Picture 8.40 Coursed slatestone walls with granite lintels on terraced houses on the western side of The first floor of the Darlington Arms is Fore Street timber framed and slate hung whilst the upper timber framed floors of No. 9 Fore Some of the higher status buildings have Street are weather-boarded. stucco facades – Nos. 23/25 and No. 34 Market Place, and there are a few examples of rubblestone buildings with ashlar facades – Bush House and Nos. 18/20 Fore Street.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.43 The slate hung timber framed upper Picture 8.44 Nineteenth century gable end full floors of the Darlington Arms. dormers on Nos. 23 and 25 Market Place – both dormers have slate hung cheeks and No. 23 still There is a variety of roof forms including has is original sash window simple vernacular pitched roofs with hipped and gable ends, sleigh (lean to) roofs, and on larger buildings double pile and deep plan roofs. The majority of roofs retain their original blue/grey Delabole rag or scantle slate coverings. A particular feature of the town are roofs laid using the Delabole system (a highly skilled method which gives a very regular appearance), but the majority of roofs are laid with random widths and diminishing courses. The majority of ridge tiles are simple clay or lead but a few later nineteenth century buildings have decorative crested and pierced ridge tiles. Picture 8.45 Early twentieth century dormers with Traditionally hips were mitred rather than crested ridge tiles and terracotta finials on the War covered with clay tiles or lead flashings. Memorial Institute. Historic dormers are be found in this area Most chimneys are slender brick stacks but and are both of the raking and gable end there are a number of older substantial variety. stone stacks, some of which have been rendered.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.46 The mid eighteenth century extension to the Masons’ Arms with the adjoining late eighteenth century coach house and stables.

Spatial analysis

This area consists of a number of contrasting spaces. Along Fore Street the road is narrow and the height of the buildings gives an enormous sense of enclosure - this is however dissipated at its Picture 8.47 The height of the buildings and the narrowness of the road give a great sense of southern end above Indian King where the enclosure on Fore Street. modern housing is set back from the road. Chapel Street also presents a fairly enclosed space with development rising up either side of the hill in steps, but the lower height of some of the old workshops and outbuildings on the eastern side makes the sense of enclosure less intense.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal the foot of Victoria Road where the townscape opens up further at the entrance to Enfield Park.

Picture 8.49 The width of the road and the entrance to Enfield Park gives an impression of spaciousness at the foot of Victoria Road.

Streetscape and views

Picture 8.48 The tall buildings and narrow road at John Betjeman in the 1960s celebrated the the northern end of Chapel Street give a sense of views along the main road through the enclosure. centre of Camelford: a snaking street with At the southern end of Market Place there fine historic buildings backed by green is a pleasing circle of buildings with the fields with mature trees along their hedges'. Darlington Arms at one end and the Library These views have now been compromised at the other, but the sense of intimacy is by recent residential developments on the somewhat diminished by the constant flow slopes above and by the creation of the of traffic on the eastern side. main lower car park.

The numerous opes and alleys leading off and connecting the main streets adds to the sense of an intensively developed townscape. Many of these opes are bordered by tall buildings or cut through buildings at ground level giving the impression of tunnels.

At the northern end of Market Place the street broadens and although either side of the road is lined with buildings there is a far greater sense of space. The impression of spaciousness increases at

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.50 The green fields and mature trees described by John Betjeman in the 1960s behind the historic building line have been developed for housing in recent years.

Side roads are short and twisty and views along them are therefore restricted. Mill Lane, cut deeply into the hillside and edged by tall buildings, is as dark as College Road, wider and opening onto the riverside meadows, is light. Picture 8.51 The twisting roads restrict the views in the centre of the town.

The opeways are among Camelford’s special places. An air of secrecy pervades most of them, where one expects to meet only local people. What makes them especially attractive, besides their practicality in cutting off lengthy detours, is the great variety in finishes. Their floors include granite or concrete steps, tarmac, concrete, cobbling and paving and their sides are formed by hedges, railings, fences and standing or semi-ruined buildings.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.52 Granite steps leading to an opeway on Picture 8.54 Cobbles, granite and slate are all used the western side of Fore Street. as surfacing along this ope.

Picture 8.53 Concrete steps and ramp, and an iron Picture 8.55 The entrance to an opeway on the handrail in an ope leading off Market Place. eastern side of Market Place is formed through the side of a building.

The Camel is noisy, especially when in spate, and people walking over its bridge find it hard not to be at least momentarily distracted by it. It naturally dominates the

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal land east of Market Place and Fore Street and gives Enfield Park its sinuosity and feeling of fecund dampness.

Picture 8.57 The historic cobbled surfacing in front of the Darlington Arms greatly adds to the quality of the area.

As mentioned above the variety of surfaces Picture 8.56 The River Camel is an important feature of the townscape. in the opes and alleyways greatly enhances the public realm particularly where the Public realm historic granite steps, slabs, slates and cobbles still survive. Over the years there has been a piecemeal, haphazard and at times highly utilitarian approach to the public realm in Camelford which has resulted in areas of poor lighting and paving. Along Fore Street the pavements are generally tarmac with concrete curbs, and patches of modern brick paviours and concrete slabs. None of these surfaces are suitable for such an historically sensitive location. Similarly the street lighting is generally of a standardised form and not always sensitively positioned.

There are still however some very attractive areas of surviving historic paving such as the cobbles in front of the Darlington Inn and the well-preserved (and generally carefully repaired) slate-stone gutters with wrought and cast iron drain covers in Chapel Street.

Picture 8.58 A flight of granite steps flanked by granite gate piers on Chapel Street.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.59 Historic granite steps adjacent to the Picture 8.61 The cobbled surface of an ope. War Memorial Institute. Garden and boundary walls are generally slatestone with simple stone caps.

Picture 8.60 Granite slabs and slate form the surface of an ope. Picture 8.62 Traditional diagonally laid slatestone garden wall abutting granite gate piers on Chapel Street.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Some of the higher status buildings include decorative features such as the ball finials on the gate piers outside Camelford House and the iron railings which surmount the low garden wall in front of Bridge House.

Picture 8.63 Granite gate piers with moulded cornices and ball finials outside Camelford House.

Picture 8.65 The distinctive camel weather vane surmounts the cupola of the Market House.

Picture 8.64 Nineteenth century iron railings in front of Bridge House with urn finials.

Other surviving historic elements of the townscape which enhance the character of the area include the clock and weathervane above the library, original shopfronts and signs, pumps, railings and cast iron brackets.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.68 Cast iron bracket on the western façade of Bush House.

Greenery and green space

In the main the centre of Camelford has a very hard landscape with the majority of buildings facing directly onto the street. There are however small gardens in front of some of the houses on Chapel Street, Picture 8.66 One of the towns historic pumps west of Market Place. Camelford House and Warmington House which has a large established yew tree, and there are trees either side of the library. Where the development is only one building deep, however, the countryside still permeates the town.

Picture 8.67 Decorative twentieth century railings outside Bush House.

Picture 8.69 Open fields still survive to the east of the Co-op car park.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal The significant green spaces however are away from the central area. Enfield Park if a significant open green area which incorporates a children’s play area and provides an amenity for the town. Although over eighty years old, some of the planting in the park still seems immature and the whole has a rather unfinished air.

Picture 8.70 Enfield Park is a significant open area Picture 8.72 The footpath leading via an ope from of green space within the town. Market Place to the river.

The fields to the east of the River Camel The riverside is a haven for wildlife close including Jackson’s Meadow are an to the town centre. important open area and a footpath and bridge links the fields to the centre of the town via an ope.

Picture 8.73 The River Camel flows close to the town centre to the rear of properties on Market Place. Picture 8.71 Jackson’s Meadow is an important local amenity and affords good views across the town.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Loss, intrusion and damage

Road signage and street-side clutter is not as dominating as in some other Cornish towns, but still undermines the quality of Camelford’s core streetscape. Only some of the street lighting is through tall galvanised highway standards; most is by individual lights discreetly attached to telegraph posts and buildings. Road markings are mainly those necessitated by pedestrian crossings. Picture 8.74 Surviving historic sash windows on There has been relatively little loss of Fore Street add character and quality to the historic fabric in the heart of Camelford building’s façade in contrast to the replacement during the second part of the 20th century, windows on the adjoining property. a period when there has been substantial development at the town’s edges. Principal Neutral Areas losses have been on Fore Street, especially between The Indian King and the Co-op, The design of the modern road bridge over but also short runs of dwellings (possibly the River Camel neither enhances nor including shops) on the west side. The new detracts from the area. The small area of houses opposite Indian King do not follow parking to the north of the library has an the traditional street line and do not address unresolved quality. the street with frontages to the rear or side. There has been some very recent reworking of disused buildings on Back Lane. A short terrace of 18th-century cottages east of Sleep’s on Victoria Road has also been lost. But in the main, central Camelford has good survival of buildings, even if there has been, as in most Cornish settlements, some replacement of original shop fronts, windows, doors and wall and roof finishes.

Picture 8.75 The car park to the north of the library is not a satisfactory space.

General condition and Buildings at Risk

Neglect of certain properties shows uneven levels of care of the historic fabric in this part of Camelford. Some structures

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal between Market Place and the river appear original medieval planted town dilapidated and other more visible buildings complex. in Fore Street are in poor condition. A The 1753 map of the town shows an detailed building condition survey was area called ‘The Clease or Fair Park’ carried out for the Conservation Area in – an irregular shaped open area with 2000 and identified three buildings in ‘very a sinuous lane crossing it, essentially bad condition’ and 31 buildings in ‘poor on the line of the present Clease Road. condition’ within this area. A small square pound (for holding trespassing livestock) was set immediately south of the road. Its shape gives the impression that the Fair Park had by 1753 been encroached upon in a piecemeal fashion, especially by buildings and enclosures on the eastern, Fore Street side. A field called Crooked Meadow at the top of Back Lane may also have been established on the northern part of the Park. The area was still largely open in 1841, though the pound had been removed; Picture 8.76 The rear elevations of buildings on it was re-located a little way down the Market Place show that repair work needs to be hill behind Fore Street by 1881. In carried out to the upper floors. 1843 the school was built on the fair ground’s southern part and by 1881 No 9 Fore Street is in urgent need or repair carriage works and barns had been and potentially could become a building at constructed near the eastern edge risk if repairs are not carried out in the near (now the Museum). Also by 1881 a future. number of small enclosures that were Fairground Area to be part of the more formal cattle market were in place and by 1907 As Camelford’s medieval fairground and fixed pens had been installed. A then the modern livestock market, this area dwelling had also been erected by then contributed greatly to the town’s economic to the south of Clease Lane where it and social life. The importance of this area exited from the fair ground area. is now increasingly difficult to appreciate as it has become somewhat fragmented and cluttered.

Historic Development

The 1260 charter made provision for an annual three day fair in the middle of July and the site of the early fair field was probably at the top of the two core medieval streets forming part of the

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal housing (Clease Meadows) to the south. A community centre, originally built in 1911 as a Drill Hall and Rifle Range, is now a focal point for this part of the Clease in the same way that the award-winning Museum is for the northern part. A valuable area of open ground, now mown grass, survives to the south-west of the Museum, but the character of this is compromised by the poor quality of design of adjacent bus shelter, signage, bins, etc. Picture 8.77 The former carriage works on the Downhill to the east a flat-roofed eastern edge of the fairground is now the award prefabricated building has been set up winning North Cornwall Museum and Gallery. above the former cattle market, now used as a skate-board park.

Picture 8.78 The side of the coachworks and western end of the former cattle market. Picture 8.79 At the southern end of the former fairground is an early twentieth century drill hall, All these developments had the effect now reused as a community centre. of fragmenting the former open space and twentieth century works, combined Activity & Use with the closure of the livestock market in 1967, have continued that process, The Clease has become a transition area leaving the area with a confused, between Camelford’s historic core and its unresolved, and under-appreciated air modern extensions on the higher land to - the latter reflected in only the the north-west and south-west. The area northern half being included in the is busy, with traffic using the car park and town’s Conservation Area. The gaining access to the housing estate, and western dwelling has been extended pedestrian traffic to the museum and to become a retirement home and the community centre. land to the south of Clease Lane has been made into a double car park divided by an access road to new

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Architecture and historic qualitites across the area are usually incomplete, there being ‘dead’ or invisible ground at the Surviving historic buildings are largely from lower edges when viewed from above. the nineteenth and twentieth century infilling of the area. The pound and a building shown at the southern edge of the area on the 1753 map have been lost and Clease Lane has been tarmacked. But the major loss has been through accretions reducing the fair ground’s open-ness.

The nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings set up around the edges of the Clease are two-storeyed and fairly plain, even the public buildings. Local shillet, granite and slate are the main materials, with some brick and terracotta detailing. Picture 8.81 Looking north east from the former cattle market apart from the roof of Indian Kings the historic core of Camelford lies hidden below.

The survival of the former fairground route in the form of Clease Road adds to the historic interest of the area. The head of Chapel Street is now defined by the twentieth century building on its western side giving the character of a modern road and the other streets in the area are modern.

Public Realm

Picture 8.80 One of the late nineteenth/early Public realm in this part of Camelford is twentieth century buildings that fringe the former fairground site. generally poor. Pavements are of concrete and tarmac and the boundaries that have Streetscape and views been inserted in the last 150 years are generally of a low standard – even the On the crest of a steep valley side, this area attractiveness of the local granite posts catches the wind and provides open views around the car parks is undermined by the out to the farmland around Camelford and use of tubular steel rails between them. As the higher tors of Bodmin Moor to the noted earlier, there seems to have been south. The ground falls away to the north little consideration of the impact of the and to the east, quite gently at first and then design and positioning of bus shelters, more steeply as Clease Lane runs down to rubbish bins, road salt bins and road Fore Street. The effect of this is that views signage. As a result these features contribute to the cluttering of the Character Area.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Greenery and green space High Street

The green in front of the museum is of great The southern gateway to Camelford, a historic importance as a surviving remnant varied and largely vernacular set of modest of the former open space of the fair ground. dwellings interspersed with small stores, shops and carriage entrances, most of them set right up to a busy road.

Historic Development

High Street is an essentially linear or ribbon development along the main road out of town to the south, in urban terms an extension of Fore Street beyond the pinch point at the Co-op. Most of the building is on the east side of the road, strongly suggestive that this was speculative development on Picture 8.82 This green is an important surviving the land of one of the town’s landlords; historic feature as it represents part of the former it is significant that historic sources fairground site. show the undeveloped land to the west of the road has usually been in Loss, intrusion and damage different ownership. A line of beech trees along the hedgeline that The major loss in this area has been its continues away to the south also has sense of open-ness, and there are few an air of urban design rather than clues left to its former role. typical farmland. These trees emphasise the gateway quality of this The public realm has been treated in a part of Camelford to travellers haphazard and uncoordinated way resulting approaching from the south. in unnecessarily high levels of clutter. A house on the corner with Clease The skateboarding area, whilst a good local Road bearing a mid seventeenth amenity has been poorly designed. century datestone (1648 - sadly partly obscured by a modern downpipe), Neutral Areas truncated at its northern end by the widening of the junction, indicates that The car park is bordered by a grass bank development immediately north of this and reused granite posts but the utilitarian Character Area is quite early. Most of tubular steel rails undermine its quality. the houses and buildings along High Street are shown on the 1753 map of General Condition and Buildings the town and many, while fairly plain, at Risk have distinctively early features such as massive stacks (some perhaps The buildings in this area are generally in seventeenth century) and uneven good condition. patterns of fenestration.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.83 Although the modern render gives this house the appearance of a later building its datestone indicates it was constructed in 1648.

Picture 8.85 The massive chimneystack could indicate the building below dates from the seventeenth century.

The street itself has had its alignment changed partway along, veering away slightly from the cottages which Picture 8.84 The cottages at the northern end of otherwise stand right on the roadside. High Street date from the eighteenth, or possibly This may date from the establishment event the seventeenth century. of the Turnpike in 1795; improvements to the road would have included some straightening. All the cottages are shown hard against the road on the 1753 map.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Architecture and historic qualities

Most of the dwellings along High Street are simple two-storey houses though there is considerable variety in size - some are double-fronted others one room wide. There is variety in the fenestration pattern with the Victorian buildings having standardised and symmetrical window patterns, and also the detailing.

Picture 8.86 The re-alignment of the road could date from the establishment of the Turnpike in 1795.

Although predominantly made up of conjoined dwellings, there are several stores, semi-industrial buildings, carriage arches through to rear yards, and shops. There were also two former inns, the Western and Volunteer, the former (now no.57) still open in 1907, but the latter replaced by that date by a Police Station. This mix of former Picture 8.87 The symmetrical façade of one of the uses still gives this area a distinctively Victorian houses along High Street contrasts with.. more workaday character than that of the purely residential development along Victoria Road (Character Area 4). The buildings are also generally earlier although there are several mid to late Victorian infill and replacement dwellings. In 1907 a sewage works was built down by the Camel on the site of the modern works.

Activity and use

This area is now predominantly residential Picture 8.88 The more irregular fenestration of although a few shops and other business earlier cottages still remain including a motorcycle shop, garage and an antiques store. There is an There are no front gardens, but many of almost constant stream of traffic at the front the houses have passages to rear yards of the houses, but this contrasts with the and gardens. quiet of gardens with open fields beyond to the rear.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.89 Passageway leading to rear yard off Picture 8.91 The fascia from an earlier shopfront High Street. has been preserved on the façade of No.9 High Street. In addition to the houses there are a number of outhouses, stores and Local details workshops. There is also evidence of earlier shops that have now converted to A few end terrace houses have either domestic use such as No 9 where the hipped or half-hipped roofs, but most are original shop fascia board is still in gabled. evidence. A good number of historic windows still survive and the majority of these are sashes. Most of the houses have plain flat facades but the motorcycle shop has a first floor oriel window inserted during the Victorian period.

Local and traditional building materials

Some walls are bare shillet, but more have been rendered or stuccoed, a few with decorative features, such as the hood mouldings on No.17 and the rusticated Picture 8.90 One of the historic stores along High Street. quoins on No 9. Roofs are all local rag slate where they have not been recently replaced with asbestos or similar modern materials and chimneys are mainly of brick except where they are the much more massive and earlier seventeenth or eighteenth century stone stacks (eg no.11).

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.92 Some of the houses on High Street Picture 8.94 View looking east from the garage. have not been rendered or painted and have facades of bare shillet. There are extensive views eastwards across the Camel to Roughtor, celebrated Where the walls have remained in the names of some of the houses (Mount un-rendered it is possible to see some View, Roughtor View) but less wide views houses have granite lintels, but some west where the ground continues to rise. buildings have wooden lintels. Also to the west is a modern industrial estate.

Views along the street itself are always incomplete as it bulges out near the centre (probably following the former top edge of a medieval field), closing off distant views along the row. Some of the later houses were also set back a bit further from the roadline, again making them less visible.

There is a peculiar sense of enclosure, with buildings tight against the road on one side, but fairly open on the other where much Picture 8.93 Wooden lintels on No. 45 High Street. less well organised modern development has been permitted. The stores and outhouses tend to be mainly exposed shillet with slate or replacement corrugated iron or asbestos roofs.

Streetscape and views

High Street is one of Camelford’s least steep streets, but by being on the crest of the valleyside and on the eastern edge of a rounded down, it is one of the town’s most exposed.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal remains of a wall constructed from massive slabs of vertical slate - another traditional garden boundary.

Picture 8.95 Looking south from High Street – The historic No 63 immediately abuts the countryside giving a very rural aspect to the southern side of the town. Picture 8.97 The traditional diagonally laid Public realm slatestone garden wall to No 63 High Street. The pavements in this area are modern tarmac with concrete kerbs but there is some evidence of earlier cobbles beneath the carriage arches.

Picture 8.98 Slabs of slate form a boundary on land behind the garage.

The land behind the row of houses at the northern end of Fore Street has a row of Picture 8.96 Evidence of cobbles can be glimpsed slatestone pig houses built during the late beneath this carriage arch on High Street. nineteenth century.

At the southern end of High Street No 63 Greenery and green space has garden walls formed from alternate bands of diagonally laid slatestone - a The historic houses on High Street are traditional wall and field boundary in this nearly all built straight onto the road part of north Cornwall. An area of land to presenting a very hard landscape with only the north of the Garage is bordered by the No. 61 at the southern end having a front garden and No 63 having a side garden

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal adjacent to the road. However to the rear of most of the houses there are back gardens – either abutting the house or laid out in the form of allotments on the sloping ground to the east in the case of Nos 5 -15. These gardens behind Fore Street immediately abut the open fields leading down into the Camel River Valley and this open green prospect can be glimpsed where there are gaps in the building line.

Loss, intrusion and damage Picture 8.99 The Victorian horned sash windows on Some early buildings were replaced by this house on the High Street are in need of repair. Victorian ones, but the historic fabric has largely survived intact. Considering that the Victoria Road houses are immediately adjacent to a busy road, it is also surprising to see so many The eastern gateway into Camelford where nineteenth century sash windows still in the A39 passes between a farmstead and place. Most roof and wall coverings are also the top of a fine row of early nineteenth intact. century dwellings.

A few dormers and skylights have been Historic development introduced in recent years to light loft conversions The earliest development in this area took the form of a post-medieval Neutral areas farmstead at the junction of the lane to Tregoodwell, now called Dairy The garage whilst entirely in keeping with Cottage, just outside the current the mixed nature of use along this road is Conservation Area boundary. set back from the historic line of Other earlier development includes the development. detached house Culloden dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth General condition and Buildings century - formerly a small farmstead – at Risk which also lies just beyond the Conservation Area boundary. Opposite There are no buildings at risk in this area, Culloden in the eighteenth century was but inevitably the proximity to such a busy a turnpike tollhouse, which was highway has resulted in staining on some subsequently demolished to make way of the facades, and some buildings are in for the late Victorian detached house need of repair. now called the Countryman Guest House. The main development in this area occurred during the early nineteenth century when a fine row of cottages were built set back from the north side

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal of the road above terraced and sloping gardens. They share a build line but have varied forms and finishes suggesting they were speculative developments. Most were in place by 1841 as was the small Bible Christian chapel - its adjacent Sunday School was built in 1885. The Manse which also forms part of this group was built by 1881 (its attractive glazed porch being a twentieth century addition). There has been some later twentieth century residential infilling and Picture 8.100 The Old Manse, built in 1851 has extensions to the built-up area (again slatestone walls with granite dressings and a hipped largely to the north of the main road) slate roof are ongoing. The Bible Christian Chapel and Sunday Activity and use School are a delightful set-piece, the latter (1881) having squat granite pinnacles at Since the closure of the chapel and Sunday each end of the parapet that hides its School, and their conversion to domestic gabled roof. The Chapel itself (1841) has accommodation this area is now solely a hipped roof and the two are fronted by residential. Like Fore Street it is fairly noisy an enclosure surrounded by original railings due to the heavy use of the road. reached by a flight of five granite steps.

Architecture and historic qualities

This is an area with relatively modest and simple buildings using local materials, nevertheless the main row on the north side of Victoria Road displays considerable variety of form and finish, making it one of the most interesting residential streets in this part of Cornwall. The hipped roof and symmetrical façade of The Old Manse at the lower west end gives it the air of a comfortable house that might normally be expected to be detached, not tacked onto Picture 8.101 The former Bible Christian Chapel a line of relatively modest cottages. Its built in 1841 and adjoining Sunday School. neighbour, Chapel Cottage, probably the chapel’s original manse, is a narrow dwelling but still displays its former status through a ground-floor bay window.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal Picture 8.102 Nineteenth century cast iron railings Picture 8.103 No 19a projects dramatically from the with palmette finials outside the old chapel on row of cottages along Victoria Road. Victoria Road.

Most of the cottages further up Victoria Road are double fronted, but some have single ground floor windows. Many cottages are pairs with shared rooflines, but the Delabole rag slate roofs generally step up as the hill is climbed. Wall finishes are very mixed: many are bare shillet stone, others have plain stucco, but some have raised stucco decorative labels around openings and a few have dense coverings of white quartz chippings. Number 19a, built shortly before 1881, projects dramatically from the Picture 8.104 Cottages set close to the roadside at row, creating a strong architectural the eastern end of Victoria Road. punctuation mark and in many respects disturbing the row’s balance. It seems likely The Countryman Hotel (formerly that there is an interesting story behind its Sunnyside), a substantial double-fronted creation. Further up the street there are six dwelling with neat dormer windows, was cottages that are set forward of the others purpose built as a roadside hostelry. and have very narrow roadside gardens. Culloden House, opposite the entry to Trefrew Road, is a simple symmetrical farmhouse, but with an unusual round arched niche above the door. A surviving barn (recently converted) lies behind to the west.

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal aspects of the cottages’ character and may be considered a good example of modern sensitive design.

Public realm

The busy A39 that reuses Victoria Road is constrained by historic boundaries (field hedges to the south and garden walls to the north) and so is a simple two-way road on a single carriageway. Double yellow lines down both sides keep it clear of parked vehicles and there is space for a Picture 8.105 Culloden House was originally a farmhouse. modernised concrete-kerbed tarmac pavement on only the northern side. Local and traditional building materials Garden walls are mainly slatestone with slatestone, slate or quartz copings. Walling is mainly shillet and the roofs are Delabole slate. Chimneys are brick (some rendered) and ridge tiles are simple and usually red.

Streetscape and views

This area is on the A39 Camelford-Bude road and is in effect the eastern gateway into Camelford providing many travellers with their first impression of the town.

Victoria Road climbs east-north-east from the Camel Valley along the base of a gently Picture 8.106 Slatestone garden wall with quartz climbing side valley. As a result views are coping stones. not as extensive as might be expected. Buildings that face the road have been either terraced into the slope or step up with it. Views along the main row on the north side of Victoria Road are normally from below, the houses being part way up the slope of the valley. Consequently the cottages appear larger and more imposing than they otherwise might. The drama of the view has been somewhat spoilt by the projecting mass of number 19a. Beyond the row to the east is a well-designed row of modern housing that picks up on many

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal in this Character Area beyond the replacement of many windows and doors (especially on the row of cottages). Wall and roof coverings have not been replaced as much as in many other Cornish settlements.

General condition and Buildings at Risk

The buildings are generally in good condition and there are no buildings at risk. Picture 8.107 Edge bedded slatestone garden wall with slate copings.

Greenery and green space

Despite the heavy stream of traffic this road is far less urban in feel than High Street mainly due to the hedges on the southern side of the road bordering fields and the long front gardens on the northern side.

Picture 8.108 The hedges and trees on the southern side of Victoria Road give the area a pastoral character.

Loss, intrusion and damage

The 1753 map shows further rows of cottages along the south side of Victoria Road west of Culloden which have been replaced by bungalows. Otherwise there has been virtually no loss of historic fabric

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 9 Problems and pressures

Buildings unpleasant for pedestrians and threatening the historic fabric. Although there are still a number of Open public spaces in the centre of surviving historic buildings in the town, the town are limited. The small areas there are an increasing number of either side of the Market House are replacement windows in non-traditional currently devoted to the car either as materials of inappropriate design on parking or as a road junction. historic buildings in prominent The opeways provide great locations connectivity throughout the town, but Modern dormers and roof lights have it some cases appear neglected and been inserted into historic and highly under maintained. visible buildings. Paving and pavement furniture in Many shopfronts have been replaced Camelford has been subject to by standardised ones over the years. extensive repairs over the last twenty There are a number of vacant or years that have severely diminished under-used buildings – several shops the historic character. have vacant upper floors. Maintenance Street lighting is generally of a levels of these structures are standardised form and the streetscape especially low. is also affected to a degree by Some of the more informal workshops overhead wires. and outbuildings which contribute so The current down at heel condition of greatly to the character of the town are the Clease Road car park gives visitors in a poor state of repair. a poor first impression of Camelford. The sense of open-ness in the former Designations fairground area has been eroded over The drawing of the current the years. Conservation Area boundary only The design of the skateboarding area includes the northern half of the on the site of the old cattle market is historic former fair ground and omits poor. the important farmstead complexes at The A39 along Fore Street and Victoria Culloden and Dairy Cottage. Road are streets in an urban area, a There are some significant historic place where people live and walk buildings which are not listed including about – most of its surface and the seventeenth/eighteenth century roadside treatment however is that of cottages along High Street. a major highway. Garden and boundary walls are at risk Public Realm of being demolished for ‘off street’ parking The road (despite the recent installation of a pedestrian crossing) still continues to dominate the centre of the town compromising its character, making life difficult and

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal There are a number of dominant and inappropriately designed overhead cables Throughout the town there are poorly designed signs in the public realm and signage clutter

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 10 Recommendations

Buildings northern end of the town add Culloden and Dairy Cottage. Windows in buildings in sensitive and A review of the Listing of the town highly visible locations should be of should be carried out including traditional materials and design. consideration of the early cottages Historic windows should be repaired along Fore Street. where possible or replaced to match originals Public Realm Camelford has an admirable survival of original rag slate roofs which A distributor road, or by-pass, probably contributes greatly to the town’s to be located to the north and west of character. In order to preserve this the town, is currently proposed. This asset the insertion of further dormer and the imminent improvements to the windows, rooflights and the A30 on the Goss Moor (which should replacement of rag slate coverings reduce that lorry traffic currently using should be limited. the A39 to avoid the low bridge on the Support should continue to be given A30) should improve conditions in this to the Heritage Economic Character Area. However, the by-pass Regeneration Scheme (HERS) which will not be in place for some time. A set out to ensure that the fabric of the second pedestrian crossing, to be town centre is carefully repaired. The controlled by lights, currently proposed repair and reinstatement of historic for the lower part of Fore Street, shopfronts forms part of this scheme. should beneficially rationalise the When the HERS comes to an end vehicle-pedestrian relationship. Care consideration should be given to a should be taken to ensure that this Living Over the Shop Scheme (LOTS) scheme’s impact on fabric and that would encourage the reuse and character is minimised. Commercial repair of the upper stories of shops signage should reflect in its scale, ensuring their future maintenance and materials, colour and siting the improve security. sensitive nature of its surrounding Every effort should be made to retain historic environment. Fluorescent, the outhouses and stores along plastic or perspex signs should be Chapel Street, Fore Street and the avoided opeways, and to resist their removal Car parking to the south of the market or conversion. house should be removed providing that future use maintains the present Designations open character and does not dilute it through fussy design. Extend the Conservation Area to Sensitively repair and then maintain include the southern half of the the opeways. Retain as much of their fairground, including the former school, original surfaces and edgings as community hall and adjacent possible to ensure that they do not corrugated iron garage and at the lose their simple functionalist character

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal (work along these lines is planned as sympathetically to the historic part of the HERS programme). environment. The HERS intends to carry out an enhancement scheme from Market Place to the top of Fore Street using reclaimed, locally sourced granite slabs or setts and granite kerbs. A street lighting scheme is proposed as part of the HERS, which also intends to underground overhead lines. The Clease Road car park should be landscaped reusing the granite posts and with good quality co-ordinating signs and street furniture. Retain the open area that survives at the former fairground site and extend it by reducing unnecessary divisions and clutter, and relocating features such as the obtrusive and poorly designed bus shelter. Redesign the structures, fencing etc associated with the skateboard area. Enhance the public realm along the Fore Street and Victoria Road including pavement surfaces and kerbs, street lighting, roadside signage and road surface markings. Consideration should be given to serving an Article 4 Direction to control the demolition of walls and hedges, especially for the creation of hard standings Overhead cables should be appropriately sited in order to impact less on the surrounding historic and natural environment – the undergrounding of overhead cables in the centre of the town is to be carried out as part of the HERS. Reassess the current signage to ensure any redundant or over-scale signs are removed. New signage should be restricted to the minimum necessary, of good quality materials and design, and should be sited

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 11 Opportunities

The riverside walk should be better valued and maintained as an important local asset, and every effort should be made to retain the open areas of significance along the river in order to preserve the urban-rural definition. More could be done to present the town to a wider public via web sites and printed literature. The town trail could be expanded to include more of its historic and natural heritage. The long-distance paths between Camelford and the countryside could be improved

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal 1 Sources

Published sources

Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service, 2005, Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Camelford

Strategic, policy and programme documents

North Cornwall District Local Plan 1999

Historic maps

Tithe Map (1843)

Ordnance Survey 1st edn 1:2500 (1884)

Ordnance Survey 2nd edn 1:2500 (1907)

Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Record

Sites, Monuments and Buildings Record

1994 Historic Landscape Characterisation

Camelford Conservation Area Appraisal

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan

Endorsed August 2007

Contents dummy

1 Introduction 1

2 General guidance 2

Archaeology 2

Roofs 2

Walls 5

Joinery 6

Enclosure and space 9

Townscape features 11

3 Guidance by location 14

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan 1 Introduction

This Conservation Area Management Plan (CAMP) is intended to stand alongside the Character Appraisal. The structure relates directly to that document for easy cross-reference. Firstly there is general guidance on the conservation and enhancement of the key elements that contribute to the quality of the townscape. At the end of key sections is a list of best practice bullet points to aid retention of historic character and architectural quality. Secondly there is guidance and recommendation by location following the same order as the Appraisal.

It is hoped that the document will act as a reference for all who make decisions which may impact on the special character of Camelford – property owners, planners, developers, designers, local authorities and statutory undertakers. To this end it will be available via the internet and in print form through the library, Town Council etc.

Special character is derived from the overall effect of many components and is dependent for its survival on a great number of individuals making informed choices about the management of their own piece of the jigsaw. Some control may be applied by the Local Planning Authority through Article 4(2) directions – these bring certain types of permitted development, such as replacement of windows or roofs, under Council jurisdiction.

It is of fundamental importance that owners and contractors recognise that their actions can and do have a significant impact on the quality of Camelford. Good decisions and sympathetic works take more thought and often cost more; but the rewards are great and will be appreciated in decades to come by future generations.

Article 4(2) directions

Under Article 4 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995, a local authority may bring certain permitted development rights under their control. There are two routes to serving such notice – the more usual relates specifically to conservation areas and is covered by Article 4(2).

There are a range of works that may need to be the subject of an application after as Article 4(2) direction – the most usual are alterations to windows, doors, roofs, chimneys and the like. Controlling the removal of enclosure that may otherwise be vulnerable to alteration, or the painting of certain buildings, are other examples which may be relevant in Camelford.

If an LPA is minded to serve such notice they must specify the buildings that have frontages facing an identified location. That application needs to have been assessed and reasons for the Article 4 direction identified. The document and the Appraisal go some way to identifying issues and locations where Article 4(2) could be usefully employed to protect the special character of Camelford. It is, however, beyond the scope of this document to actually specify exact buildings and areas that need to be covered.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan 2 General guidance

This guidance must be considered in conjunction with the NCDC Design Guide, which may be viewed at Council offices.

Archaeology

The history and nature of Camelford means that there is archaeological potential virtually everywhere. Consequently any works that involve excavation may reveal interesting finds. Where work is subject to the planning process it will be considered within the context of the PPG 16 and may be subject to relevant conditions.

If private owners are carrying out work they should be alert to pieces of artifacts, wall footings and changes in the colour of the earth. If such finds are made they should contact the Council for advice. Significant finds ought to be recorded to add to our understanding of historic Camelford.

Statutory undertakers carrying out trench work ought to seek advice before starting and agree a watching brief where appropriate – for example if cable undergrounding is carried out

Where there are conditions attached to any planning, listed building or conservation area approval or any other relevant approval requiring archaeological investigation and recording then this work shall be funded by the applicant as it is not supplied by the local planning authority or County Council. Similarly outside the planning system any investigation will require funding.

Roofs

Detailed advice on roofing can be found in the NCDC guidance notes Camelford Heritage Guidance Number 1:Roofing.

The topography and development pattern of Camelford are such that the roofscape is of tremendous importance to the overall character of the place. There are so many sensitive views that they cannot all be identified, but the Appraisal highlights some of the principal ones.

Roofscape character is based on the quality and patina of the materials; the form, pitch and orientation of the roofs themselves. Sometimes there is order but most of the attractive roofscapes are more jumbled and dynamic – changing depending on the vantage point.

Chimneys punctuate the roofscape and other quality details, in the form of rainwater goods etc, add richness on closer inspection.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Slate

Slate is the prevailing roofing material and a good deal of locally sourced historic roofing slate is in evidence. There are fine examples of rag slate roofs and others using smaller slates but also in random widths and diminishing courses. In addition there a number of roofs constructed using the Delabole System which allowed the skilled slater to plan the gauge for battens once the slates had been sorted and stacked in various lengths giving an extremely even character and allowing for the use of smaller slate sizes..

Today there are a much wider variety of products available. Artificial slates should always be avoided as they inevitably cause serious harm to the quality of the roofscape. With natural slate being imported from Spain, South America and China, great care is needed when specifying real slate. Some of these are suitable replacements on non-prominent buildings or new-build, but they are never a satisfactory replacement for historic slate roofing. New slate ought to be fixed using nails – clips are usually specified to compensate for poor slate that splits when holed as using a correct lap will prevent windlift.

Owners of buildings with rag slate must be aware that the slate will actually have a lot of life left in it but may be suffering from nail rot. Opportunistic contractors will often offer such owners an amazingly cheap price to re-roof in artificial or imported slate, knowing that the rag or random slate they reclaim can be sold on or re-used on much more lucrative work elsewhere.

Chimneys

Loss of chimneys is nearly always detrimental to the character of the roofscape. It is seldom necessary and ought to be resisted. Repair or reconstruction must be the first aim unless there are extenuating circumstances such as serious structural concerns.

Alterations can rob chimneys of their distinctive character by the application of smooth, crisp render that hides stonework or flattens a pleasingly uneven substrate. Removal of drip slates and historic pots also detracts from the area.

Rainwater goods

Most of the historic rainwater goods in the town are cast iron. Traditional gutter profiles – mostly half round or ogee add to the appearance of individual buildings and collectively enrich whole streetscenes. With proper maintenance these items can offer good service for well over one hundred years. When replacement is needed there are plenty of suppliers of historic profiles - many are available factory finished and some in cast aluminium. Plastic is an inferior product which will not last as well or look as good – especially if it has a modern box profile. It doesn’t take paint well but unpainted it soon develops a coating of algae. Like other plastic building products, when it is replaced it has to go to landfill where it will not break down for centuries, so the environmental costs deserve consideration.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Ridges, hips, eaves and verges

Traditional ways of edging roofs are easily lost when roofing work is undertaken. Clay ridge tiles may be replaced by concrete, mitred slate or mortar fillet hips covered by tiles, box soffits replace open eaves or moulded fascias and slated or mortared verges can be lost to boards. All of these apparently slight changes have a cumulative impact that is far greater than each individual act would suggest.

Lead details such as hips ought to be retained and where lead flashings have never existed they should only be added if that can be executed with subtlety. All new leadwork must be treated with patination oil to prevent oxidisation and leaching. Mitred hips should where possible be retained.

Dormers and rooflights

In order to preserve Camelford’s admirable and highly visible roofscape, the insertion of dormer windows should only be agreed where they are well justified and on roofslopes where the visual impact will be minimal. They must always be based on traditional proportions and designs. Large box-like roof extensions inevitably harm the appearance of the roofscape and should be avoided.

For over a hundred and fifty years rooflights have been used in Camelford allowing the use of valuable roofspace and there are good modern interpretations of low profile metal units available. Where they can be inserted with little impact to townscape views, especially on screened or rear roofslopes, this is acceptable. The smallest unit needed should be used and it ought to be a quality metal unit with a slender frame. In groups or terraces neighbours should try to use rooflights that are complementary in their size, type and location.

Solar Panels

Whilst the District Council clearly would wish to promote sound, sustainable energy systems, the choice of such systems can seriously erode the historic integrity of listed and unlisted buildings in conservation areas. Therefore careful consideration should be given to their positioning to avoid compromising the character of the historic environment. Very often there are alternative locations away from the historic building where solar panels can be fitted. This may indeed result in such equipment being fixed to less sensitive buildings which are part of the curtilage. Alternatively there are less obtrusive solutions available such as ground source heat pumps. Although solar panels can be reversible they can be most damaging to historic roofscapes.

Roofing: A summary

Note and record detailing before starting works to enable reinstatement.

If traditional details are missing look to similar buildings for inspiration. Repair local historic rag, scantle and Delabole System slate roofs or re-use in situ.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Maintain or recreate authentic details to ridges, hips, eaves and verges. Repair chimneys and retain historic pot or cowl details. Repair or reinstate metal rainwater goods in traditional profiles. Avoid dormers unless there is strong justification. Only use rooflights and solar panels sensitively and consider impact on views.

Walls

The palette of materials used to construct and finish the buildings of Camelford is varied and they combine to form interesting elevations and streetscenes. The choice of materials and how they are used is usually indicative of the age of construction and the status of the building.

Great care and understanding is needed in the repair of all traditional materials in order to prolong their useful life and protect them from decay. Careful appraisal of prevalent materials in a particular locality ought to inform and inspire the designers of new buildings so that contemporary additions enrich the area.

Choice of colour is a matter of taste, but it is worth remembering that plain limewash was almost ubiquitous in the past and only natural pigments were available. Bolder colours like blues and greens were beyond the reach of all but the most wealthy; consequently these colours often seem unsuitable on humbler dwellings.

Stonework

The unifying factor of most buildings in Camelford is the use of local slate stone or shillet in construction. From the grandest buildings like the library, Market Place Chapel and Bush House through to the humblest nineteenth century outbuildings – all are built of slatestone.

Although most of the stone used in Camelford is durable, these walls are still vulnerable to damage if poorly treated. All stonework must be pointed using lime mortar that flexes with the walls and allows them to breathe. Pointing should also be flush or slightly recessed, especially on wider joints, and should never project in front of the faces. A well-graded sand free of ‘soft’ (or fine clayey) particles is best for most work.

Render

Render covers rubble stone on a variety of buildings. Traditionally this render was always lime based and that remains the only sensible choice as cement based renders are incompatible with all of these building types.

Generally speaking the finish of render is a reflection of the status of the building and/or its function. So functional buildings, humble cottages and the rear elevations of some higher status dwellings have roughcast or float finished render that follows the unevenness of the wall beneath. These renders were hand-thrown to achieve a better key and texture is derived from the coarse aggregate; modern ‘tyrolean’ type finishes take their texture

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan from cementitious droplets and have a fundamentally different character. Grander and more aspirational buildings have smooth render, sometimes fine stucco; these renders may be lined in imitation of ashlar stonework below. Considerable skill is needed to achieve this type of finish.

The coating of lime renders with modern masonry paint will trap moisture over time and can cause failure of the render. This is often interpreted as the failure of an inferior old fashioned product, but it is in fact the result of conflicting technologies. Where possible historic renders ought to be repaired and retained, with masonry paint removed using specialist stripping products. Limewash remains by far the best and most effective surface coating on old buildings, but it is pointless applying it over paint.

Slate hanging

Slate hanging does occur on a number of buildings in the town and where it exists it often reflects that there is a timber frame beneath. Occasionally it is seen on stone buildings in an exposed locations where penetrating damp has been a problem or on elevated side elevations of attached buildings where access is difficult and a durable, low maintenance solution was essential.

Brickwork

There are no historic buildings in Camelford constructed from brick (apart from the applied façade to N0. 29 Market Place), but it is used extensively on the later buildings in the form of lintels, decorative window surrounds and quoins. The use of lime mortars for repair is equally important for brickwork.

Walls: A summary

Traditional finishes should be repaired whenever possible, not replaced. Compatible materials and finishes are essential on historic walls. Authentic finishes should not be removed or covered. Where traditional finishes have been lost, sympathetic reinstatement is desirable. Limewash allows old walls to breathe; masonry paint traps moisture.

Joinery

Authentic joinery adds to the historic character and visual quality of any Conservation Area. The extent of survival is often indicative of the percentage of listed buildings; but also of the value local people place on the historic fabric of their town. Like many other places Camelford has a mix of original joinery and replacements, some sensitive but much that is poorly detailed.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan At present the replacement of windows and doors is not controlled on unlisted buildings. The Local Planning Authority (LPA) will consider Article 4(2)* directions to prevent harmful alterations in the future. It is always preferable, however, for owners to recognise that sensitive maintenance adds value to their own property and contributes to the sense of place.

Historic joinery ought to be seen as antique furniture that changes hands as part of a larger deal and can easily be overlooked. It only takes one inconsiderate owner to destroy the historic appearance of a building by ill-considered renovation; with property changing hands as frequently as it does today there is a steady stream of buildings whose luck has run out. There are few people who would throw a two hundred year old chair or table in a skip – their potential value is usually appreciated – yet it happens to windows and doors regularly. These artefacts are a finite resource that embodies the craftsmanship of earlier generations and records the materials and techniques they used.

Unless badly neglected over a long period of time, traditional joinery is rarely beyond repair. In many cases the timber used was so well sourced and seasoned that it is far more durable than any modern alternative. Detail may have been lost by years of painting but great care needs to be taken when stripping paint though as historic paints contained lead. If repair is not possible, replica replacement is the next best thing; though replacement requires the use of primary resources and energy that makes it a less sustainable option. The use of imported hardwood from unsustainable sources ought to be avoided and PVCu has significant ecological issues in production and disposal.

There is no product that is maintenance free. Timber needs painting every few years, but each time the result looks fresh and new. After a hundred years or more sash cords or hinges may need renewal; this is quite easily done and gives the unit a new lease of life. When modern opening mechanisms or double glazed units breakdown the answer is replacement of the whole unit – hence the piles of PVCu windows accumulating at recycling centres in the absence of satisfactory means of disposal.

Windows

Detailed advice on windows can be found in the NCDC guidance notes Camelford Heritage Guidance Number 2: Windows.

The size, type and design of the windows in an historic building reveal much about its age or development, its use and the status of its occupants in the past. Humbler buildings often have casement windows that vary in design according to age, use and local custom. Sash windows also vary in size and detail according to age and use. The enduring popularity of sash windows reflects their versatility in providing controlled ventilation.

The intrinsic value of the view through an historic window is appreciated by many sympathetic owners. They enjoy the elegance of the glazing bars and enthuse about the distortion and play of light in imperfect historic glass. With care, old glass can be salvaged and re-used; where it has been lost, modern equivalents can be sourced from specialist suppliers.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan When new windows are needed there are a number of issues to consider:-

Proportion and subdivision – The glazing pattern of the original windows ought to be retained, (or restored if lost), as that is a critical part of the whole building. It indicates the size of glass available or affordable at the time of construction. Mode of opening – The introduction of top hung or tilt-and-turn opening lights is always visually jarring and harmful to historic character. Overlapping ‘storm-seal’ type details are an entirely modern introduction and are unnecessary if flush units are properly made. Spring loaded sashes are an inferior replacement mechanism compared with properly weighted double-hung sashes. Glazing – Traditional glazing bar profiles, properly jointed and glazed with putty, (or glazing compound), rather than beading, will give a genuine appearance. Thermal insulation – Double glazing cannot be achieved within traditional multiple pane designs without bars being either much too thick or fake. Beading is nearly always added which further detracts from the appearance. Attempting to introduce double glazing into a traditional design usually means a small air gap that hugely reduces the insulation properties anyway. The use of shutters and/or insulated curtains can greatly reduce heat loss without the need for window replacement. Draught-proofing – The most significant heat loss through old windows is due to poor fitting and lack of draught-stripping. There are proprietary systems that retro-fit draught excluders and greatly reduce the amount of air changes and so heat loss. Sound insulation – In noisy locations people often replace windows with modern double glazed units to reduce the problem. In fact secondary glazing is more effective than double glazing and allows retention of traditional windows. Sills – Traditional sills should be retained unless beyond repair.

Doors

Doors are just as vulnerable to insensitive replacement as windows. The conservation principles summarised above can be applied equally to doors. Most traditional door types allow for individual expression by painting and attractive ironmongery etc. Unfortunately many owners choose to express their individuality by replacing a serviceable vintage door with an off-the-peg unit in stained hardwood or PVCu.

Shopfronts

The survival of historic shopfronts around the town is a reminder of how economic activity, shopping and employment patterns have changed over the years. Although some are now redundant the memory of these local shops needs to be retained – adaptation may not always be easy but it is seldom impossible.

Regarding the surviving shops still in use there are a number of issues that can have a profound impact on the character of the place:-

Retention of features – There are many historic shopfronts in Camelford that have had original features removed or obscured. Reinstatement or restoration of these can

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan make a frontage more attractive to customers and boost business as well as allowing the building to be seen at its best. Signage – There was a time when the emphasis was on quality, legibility and illustration of function. Somehow the approach to shop signage has slipped towards achieving the cheapest, largest, brightest and most prolific advertisement. Over large fascias draw attention in the wrong way and detract from neighbouring businesses. Design – New shopfronts and signage require planning permission and the LPA will expect these elements to be competently designed to suit their context. Shopkeepers cannot expect to go to a shopfitting contractor with a budget and expect that approach to achieve an acceptable outcome.

Joinery : A summary

Historic joinery items add character and quality to the town and ought to be retained and repaired if at all possible. When replacement is necessary, this ought to be in exact replica. Where joinery has been lost in the past and reinstatement is desirable, look at similar properties in the vicinity for inspiration. Design, mode of opening and colour of finish are the most important considerations on unlisted buildings.

Enclosure and space

In the past enclosure was about demarcation and also keeping out passing animals. The spaces generated by enclosure can be of considerable historic interest in their own right, especially where they have a strong association with a particular use eg graveyards, Enfield Park, the surviving remnant of fairground in front of the museum etc. Although the planning system rightly encourages the use of brownfield land and infill sites, there are gaps and spaces which deserve protection from development. Sometimes this may be due to specific historic associations with religious groups and the like; in other cases it may simply be the contribution a green space or garden makes to the streetscene and the setting of significant buildings. The potential significance of any space must be fully considered if development proposals are made. The desirability of preserving or enhancing the conservation area is the fundamental judgement that must be applied; in many cases this will mean that a space is integral to the special character of the place and there should be a strong presumption in favour of protection.

Historic enclosure is threatened with change by the desire for greater privacy – leading to the addition of timber fence panels for example. Alternatively it may be removed to provide parking. Walls or other means of enclosure more than 1m high fronting a highway (and 2m elsewhere) cannot be demolished without Conservation Area Consent. New walls of those dimensions cannot be erected without Planning Permission.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan The tendency towards close-boarded fencing is one that is having a very tangible visual impact. Apart from being a characteristically modern approach, these fences are quite expensive, require regular maintenance over the years and make it difficult to establish planting due to overshadowing and wind damage. Timber fences also tend to be stained in eye-catching colours that are often unsympathetic to an historic setting.

Garden structures can also be jarring elements if poorly located, badly designed or brightly coloured.

Walls

Stone walls are the most common means of enclosure in the town. Appearance varies with age and function but the consistency of material gives a unity to the townscape that can be easily taken for granted. Dry stone banks with slatestone laid in vertical or chevron patterns can be found in the area. Mortared rubble stone walls are more commonplace and usually have simple copings of granite or spar.

For new enclosure in much of the town stone walling is likely to be the most suitable option, provided the height and style relates to any established local trend.

There are no historic brick walls in Camelford and brick should not be used on new work.

There are a few rendered but these should not be seen as justification for rendered block walls.

Railings

Whilst not abundant there is clear evidence that cast or wrought iron railings were historically a more significant element of the townscape than today. Like so many places, a lot of ironwork was removed during wartime.

There are some buildings and locations which would benefit considerably from the re-introduction of railings. As well as being attractive items in their own right they also offer definition to the streetscene and can be a real enhancement to some types of property. The most common application is on properties with a minimal front garden or yard; in these locations they offer demarcation without visual weight and avoid shading windows or planting.

Hedges

In the more rural parts of the town and where property adjoins farmland, hedges are characteristic. A mixed deciduous planting of hawthorn, field maple, hazel, holly, beech and other indigenous species is most traditional. Within a few years such a hedge can be laid to form a dense and effective boundary that is a wildlife resource that can draw insects, birds and small mammals into gardens.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Single species plantings of beech, yew, laurel or box may be appropriate in some circumstances but are not a practical solution for most places and they demand more maintenance than a rustic mixed hedge.

Modern coniferous hedges support little wildlife and can often be unattractive and not very neighbourly.

Hurdles

The traditional approach to fencing is making something of a comeback in recent years. Hazel hurdles would have been a familiar site in the past and can now be purchased in ready-made panels for quick and effective enclosure. Hazel and willow can also be bought bundled for the more enthusiastic person to weave their own fence.

As well as being made of more sustainable materials without chemical treatment and keeping an old craft alive, these fences are more permeable to wind making them less likely to blow over and allowing plants to establish more readily.

Garden structures

The siting of sheds, summerhouses, decking, gazebos or other structures should be sensitively located. If visible locations are unavoidable, good design and naturally painted materials should be used to make the structures less jarring.

Garden structures nearly always need planing permission within the curtilage of a listed building. There are also size restrictions for permitted development within the conservation area so it is wise to consult the LPA when considering such works.

Enclosure : A summary

Spaces, gardens and yards add to the special character of Camelford and ought to be retained if development would mean the loss of an historic and/or attractive element of the townscape. Retain historic enclosure wherever possible. If enclosure has been lost, consider the locality and use an appropriate replacement.

Townscape features

In addition to the buildings and walls that give Camelford its special character there are other items that make a significant contribution to the overall appearance. There are attractive items that need to be cherished and retained; others are in need of repair or enhancement.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Floorscape

The floorscape in Camelford at present is in a state of flux. A number of environmental schemes that have been carried out over the years have resulted in a haphazard and uncoordinated floorscape that detracts from the quality of the buildings it surrounds. There are some areas of good quality historic street surfacing especially in Chapel Street, in front of the Darlington Inn and along some of the opes. Properly recorded and understood these could form the basis for a locally distinctive design for enhancements in the public realm. The area around Market Place and lower Fore Street is already being targeted for enhancement as part of the HERS and it would be desirable if this area could be extended to include Victoria Road, High Street and the eastern end of Clease Road. However new paving should never be designed down to a fixed budget; it is better to do a small area to a high standard than to compromise over a larger area.

Carriageways are blacktop and it is better to use this honest and established surfacing rather than introduce manufactured paviours or similar.

Seating

Due to the tight nature of the street pattern it is difficult to site seating in the centre of the town. However there has been a recent environmental scheme outside Enfield Park that has included a number of seats.

Opportunities for informal seating on steps, dwarf walls and the like should also be considered.

Signage

Business signage has been covered under shopfronts, but directional signage is also an issue in the town, for pedestrians as well as vehicles.

Given the nature of the town there are a lot of pedestrian routes and links – specifically via the opeways – that are not immediately apparent. A well designed system of signs would help visitors to make the get the best from their time in Camelford. Good quality traditional signs should be retained and could inform the style and materials of new signage.

The busy nature of the road such that it is difficult for drivers to attain speed in many locations. This is obviously beneficial for pedestrians, but it also means that directional road signs can be smaller and less assertive. There is also a need to avoid undue repetition of signs. It would be beneficial if parking control could be exercised without a plethora of yellow lines and signs.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan Planting

Trees and hedges are an important element of many significant views and their retention is often of considerable importance. Work to trees in conservation areas is controlled and owners or contractors must contact the LPA for advice before embarking on felling, topping or lopping works.

Decorative planting has its place in the public realm, but needs to be well planned and maintained to be a positive feature. On private land owners can enhance their little bit of the town with suitable planting – it can often be the finishing touch that makes a location really special.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan 3 Guidance by location

The ideas offered here are intended to provoke discussion and debate. It is hoped that many more ideas will arise from local groups and individuals for inclusion in future versions of this document. Some may be obvious, others may be out of the question for a variety of reasons; a few may take years to achieve. It is important, however, for any ideas that may enhance the town and its economic well-being to be aired and considered.

Proposals are rated as follows:-

*** High priority for action

** Medium priority

* Long term aim or possibility

At the end of the day though, it is crucial that any proposals that are taken forward have been the subject of open public consultation and enjoy broad support.

Medieval Camelford and the valley

This is the commercial heart of the town and also the site of many of its most prestigious buildings, it is also however bisected by the A39. The road, whilst bringing trade into the town centre causes a number of major detrimental effects on the area’s character including noise, pollution and constriction of pedestrian access. In addition it is the cause of a number of secondary issues including soiling and deterioration to the historic fabric, the replacement of original windows in an attempt to provide sound proofing and acts as a deterrent to visitors enjoying the historic buildings. i. *** Create a distributor road, or by-pass to reduce the amount of through traffic in the town centre. ii. ** Once the road is by-passed consider reducing the width of the carriageway in Market Place to encourage pedestrian activity and appreciation of the surrounding historic environment. iii. *** Whether the by-pass takes place or not the nature of the road should be re-assessed in order to make it more pedestrian friendly and less like a major highway devoted to the car. This should include new street lighting, signage, street markings and the under-grounding of cables all of which are due to take place under the HERS. iv. *** Retain the urban hierarchy in the uses of buildings. The workshops in Chapel Street should be retained and the pressure to convert them all to domestic use should be resisted. Likewise the outhouses and stores along the opeways should not be converted into residential use. v. *** Retain and value the open areas of significance along the river, especially the meadows south of the bridge which are more vulnerable than the managed area of Enfield Park.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan vi. * Review the use made of the spaces either side of the Market House. Consider removing the car parking to the south, provided that future use maintains the place’s open character and does not dilute iy through over-fussy design. vii. *** Sensitively repair and maintain the opeways. Retain as much of their original surfaces and edgings as possible to ensure that they do not lose their simple functionalist character. viii. ** Consider a LOTS scheme to promote the use of currently vacant and poorly maintained premises above shops. At the same time promote the repair and maintenance of rear elevations many of which are highly visible due to the opeways and inter-connecting streets. ix. ** Consider new railings to replace the utilitarian barriers outside the late eighteenth century shops between the bridge and Market Place. These buildings are highly visible and help to colour visitors’ first impressions of the town.

Fairground area

This is a quite heavily used part of the town as it accommodates the award winning North Cornwall Museum, one of the town’s two free car parks, a community centre and a skateboard park. Historically it contributed greatly to Camelford’s economic and social life. At present however neither its contemporary role as a centre for amenities nor its historic importance are reflected in the quality of the townscape. i. ** Celebrate the area’s historic importance. For example include in a re-issued town trail. ii. ** Extend the Conservation Area to include the southern half of the fair ground, including the former school, community hall and adjacent corrugated iron garage. iii. ** Retain the open area that survives, and extend it by reducing unnecessary divisions and clutter, and relocating features such as the obtrusive and poorly designed bus shelter. Redesign the structures, fencing etc associated with the skateboarding area. iv. ** Undertake a review of the public realm and signage and take opportunities to draw the area together again through careful unifying design of signs, street furniture etc.

High Street

Originally speculative development by landlords during the seventeenth and eighteenth century this area evolved into ribbon development associated with the road. As a consequence both domestic and commercial properties were built and this mixed economy continues today. The area includes a number of historically important buildings, but sadly alterations to combat the effects of the busy road –specifically replacement windows-has somewhat diminished its character over the years. i. ** Retain and maintain all the historic fabric, and celebrate it by including it within a reissued town trail. ii. ** Review and where appropriate and in character enhance the public realm on both sides of the road– this should include pavement surfaces and kerbs, street lighting, roadside signage, barriers and road surface markings.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan iii. (iii) * Review the Listing of this area of the town – specifically the seventeenth/eighteenth century buildings. iv. * Extend the current Conservation Area to include the historic buildings Nos 4-8 High Street and also redraw the boundary to include both sides of the road. v. *** There should be no infilling behind the buildings along the street front; the rear of the street is visible from across the valley, from College Road, and this important view is dominated by the relationship between these houses and the medieval derived field patterns with their tree lined hedges that run down the steep slope to the Camel. vi. *** Ensure the fine line of beeches along the hedge south of Fore Street are retained and kept in good condition.

Victoria Road

An area of mainly nineteenth century ribbon development this area has retained much of its historic character although the chapel and Sunday school have now been converted into domestic use. Because the buildings are mainly set back from the road above terraced and sloping gardens they have to a greater extent escaped the deleterious effects of heavy traffic. The recent development of terraced houses to the east is well designed and makes successful reference to the adjacent historic environment. i. ** Celebrate the flair and quality of the original design of buildings in this Character Area and also the extent of good survival and careful maintenance by including it in a reissued Town Trail. ii. ** Add Culloden and Dairy Cottage to the Camelford Conservation Area. iii. * Review the Listing of this area of the town – specifically the Bible Christian Chapel and Sunday School. iv. ** Review and where appropriate and in character enhance the public realm on both sides of the road– this should include pavement surfaces and kerbs, street lighting, roadside signage, and road surface markings.

Camelford Conservation Area Management Plan

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