GEOGRAPHICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-Medieval Period The shape of the village today derives from it’s agricultural and political past having evolved from the pattern and nature of land ownership; whilst four manors are mentioned in 1086, these are hard to trace in later years. The largest manorial jurisdiction was already divided by the 14th century by inheritance (later Scrope and Magdalen College); another was sold to the notorious Hacker family in 1591. Although some other freeholds are recorded in the 16th century and later, the other two manors seem to have lost their status and may always have been very small. This multiplicity of manor and free-holding has resulted in a number of large houses and their estates determining the layout of the village. Five large houses known between the 16th and 19th centuries represent later political and family changes. The Old Hall was the home and manor of the Hacker family. The manor site belonging to Magdalen College on College Street was already out of use by 1530; Burneham House, as the main tenanted farm of the estate, was a replacement for it and had been erected by 1548 on the adjacent site. The deserted manor site may have been the original pre-14th century manorial site before this manor was split. Both halves were managed by absentee landlords, the farm on the site of the later East Bridgford Hall holding the same status for the Scrope estate as Burneham House did for the Magdalen estate. The other two large houses, The Manor and Bridgford Hill date from the late 18th century, the first on land purchased out of the Scrope estate and the second built by the Rev Thomas Beaumont for himself when he let the existing Rectory out as a school. The development of the village owes much to the management of its agricultural estates, both jointly as a community and separately as large estates. The land was worked from the village, with large tenanted farms largely along College Street (also known as Farmers Street) and those working the land holding many of the smaller cottages end on to the road along Kneeton Road (also known as Cottagers Street). These divisions were not exclusive, there were cottagers elsewhere in the village and there were large houses on Kneeton Road (for instance the Hacker’s manor of the Old Hall), but the use of the streets was in the main different, and this is still reflected in the current plot shapes and sizes. No archaeological investigation of any of these older sites has taken place. Further discussion on the village landscape and buildings follows in later sections. Today the parish lies at the north eastern end of the Nottingham Green Belt that stretches on both sides of the river Trent; this has ensured that the village has developed mainly within its old boundaries and has remained clearly separated from surrounding settlements by fields. Whilst East Bridgford is relatively large compared to other villages nearby, of neighbouring settle- ments Bingham is the most significant. It has maintained its medieval market and was developed considerably in the 19th century by the Nottingham to Grantham rail line. At present Bingham is in the A52 development corridor. As a result it has been the focus for many services, banks, estate agents, retail outlets and industrial estates, it is also the location of the local state secondary school which serves East Bridgford. East Bridgford Village Design Statement February 2004 41 3. GEOGRAPHICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT Relevance of history and archaeology to East Bridgford today The Archaeological Section of Nottinghamshire County Council holds the county Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record (HBSMR), this includes a list of known GEOGRAPHICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL archaeological sites and historic buildings in the parish. As more research is undertaken as a AND HISTORICAL GUIDELINES result of the impact of development on underlying archaeology, more sites are added to their 1 The geographical and historical differences between East Bridgford records. The records for historic buildings includes those designated statutorily as Listed and other settlements in the area should be taken into account Buildings and those belonging to local lists which are felt to have local historical significance. when developments are planned in order to retain East Bridgford’s Constraint maps have been compiled by them and are consulted during planning applications. particular character (ENV7) Where there is considered to be an impact on the historic environment, recommendations are 2 The protection of designated Scheduled Ancient Monuments made by professional archaeologists as part of planning consultation procedures for should be supported (ENV6) conditions to be attached to any planning consents, and may require archaeological or historic 3 Sites of potential archaeological, historical or ecological interest building recording work to be undertaken as part of the planning process under the should be assessed and protected wherever possible. Sites where requirements of PPGs 15 and 16 (soon to be amalgamated into PPS16). there is evidence of old settlements are worthy of special consideration (ENV7) An Extensive Urban Survey of the parish has been commissioned as part of a county-wide 4 Pre application discussions with Conservation Officers and English Heritage/Nottinghamshire County Council project. This was a desk-top project Archaeologists should be encouraged covering most of the easily accessible information on archaeology and history in the parish. It has resulted in a report, now part of the HBSMR, containing maps which trace the 5 Old woodland and ancient hedgerows should be protected development of the village and note which areas are important in any particular period. This is (ENV11) relevant for reflecting the character of different areas of the village. Most of the village lies in 6 The water meadows to the north of the parish and the cliffs along the historic core, and much of this is within the current Conservation Area, but there are areas the north-east side of the River Trent should be conserved which are purely 19th and 20th century. It should be noted that this survey is still in draft form (ENV14) th and may need to be checked on the ground, some areas marked as 19 century, are, and 7 Ridge and furrow landscapes and historic pasture land and should th always have been, 20 century. In the absence of a Conservation Area appraisal all these be valued and retained where possible as historic landscape records are also available for consultation by the Conservation Section of Rushcliffe Borough (ENV12) Council when they consider development to Listed Buildings or within the Conservation Area. 8 Research agendas formulated by the County Archaeological The County Archaeology section is also responsible for formulating research agendas in Section should be encouraged to further the understanding of the liaison with English Heritage and other East Midlands academic and local government historic environment of the parish (ENV7) archaeologists whose aim is to further understand the historic environment both at a regional and local level in order to protect it at an appropriate level. 42 East Bridgford Village Design Statement February 2004 LANDSCAPE AND VILLAGE SETTING Landscape Setting East Bridgford lies on the northern edge of the Vale of Belvoir and is situated close to The parish has a number of green tracks that form part of the network of well-used Gunthorpe Bridge which is the only river crossing between Newark and Nottingham. It footpaths within the parish. Many of these have their origins in the medieval period and lies above the well-wooded cliffs defining the eastern bank of the River Trent in an area were used as routes out to the open fields which were farmed in strips by most of the of predominantly arable farmland. Small areas of former open arable field which were villagers. Others have even older origins, Bridgford Street, which is now a bridlepath, th enclosed as meadow fields in the 16 century, close to the south side of the village, formed a link from the Roman settlement at Margidunum on the Fosse Way to a show good examples of medieval ridge and furrow. This demonstrates that these have crossing point of the river; it was the forerunner to the present A6097. These tracks are been pasture for several hundred years, fossilising the remains of an agricultural system used regularly by local riders and walkers and are the focus for a number of local and which belongs to the pre-enclosure period and emphasising the agricultural character of visiting walking groups. the parish. It is in essence quite a hidden village; approaching views show a contained settlement defined by trees with the majority of post-war development within the earlier boundaries. From the west it lies beyond the highly visible river cliffs covered and topped with woodland that follow the river towards Radcliffe and Kneeton. Approaching from the north and east, the village itself can only be located as an area of trees until almost into the village, only the windmill and adjacent group of houses on the road to Kneeton can be seen as a landmark, but they appear as an isolated hamlet, with little hint of the larger village nearby. Approaching from the south, the site of the village is marked by the prominent windmill at the end of Millgate, and even here most of the rest of the village buildings are well screened by mature trees maintaining their privacy. Hedgerows grow along all approach roads with substantial grouping of mature indigenous trees, giving the impression that the countryside penetrates into the village, bringing natural features into the heart of the community and also providing a screen from outside. There are no harsh edges to development.