South Yorkshire Historic Environment Characterisation
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SOUTH YORKSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERISATION REVISED PROJECT DESIGN TH 18 FEBRUARY 2005 PREPARED BY: SOUTH YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES HOWDEN HOUSE 1 UNION STREET SHEFFIELD S1 2SH TEL: (0114) 203 7769 FAX: (0114) 273 5002 CONTENTS TABLES ..................................................................................................................3 FIGURES .................................................................................................................3 1 SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION.....................................................................4 2 BACKGROUND...............................................................................................4 2.1 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AREA ...............................................4 2.2 CONTEXT FOR CHARACTERISATION IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE..........................................6 2.2.1 Historic Landscape Characterisation 1994-2004.............................................6 2.2.2 Local Characterisation Initiatives...................................................................6 2.3 RATIONALE FOR THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERISATION ......7 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................8 3.1 OVERALL AIMS..............................................................................................8 3.2 KEY PROJECT AIMS.........................................................................................8 3.3 SUMMARY OF AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................9 4 PILOT STUDY AND SET-UP PHASE ................................................................12 4.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PILOT STUDY .......................................................12 4.1.1 Pilot Phase Aims.......................................................................................12 4.2 FACT FINDING .............................................................................................12 4.2.1 Characterisation projects ...........................................................................12 4.2.2 Software Training .....................................................................................12 4.2.3 Area Selection ..........................................................................................13 4.3 DATA COLLECTION AND DIGITISATION ...............................................................13 4.3.1 Area 1 .....................................................................................................13 4.3.2 Area 2 .....................................................................................................15 4.3.3 Area 3 .....................................................................................................16 4.3.4 Evaluation of Data Collection and Digitisation Phase......................................17 4.4 PILOT PHASE DISSEMINATION AND CONSULTATION................................................19 5 METHOD STATEMENT..................................................................................20 5.1 CHARACTERISATION AND MAPPING ...................................................................20 5.1.1 Broad Character Type................................................................................21 5.1.2 Attributes ................................................................................................22 5.1.3 Historic Environment Character Types .........................................................30 5.2 REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ...........................................................35 5.3 THE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES STAGE .............................................................37 5.4 REPORTING, DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH ......................................37 5.5 ARCHIVING AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DATABASE................................................38 1 6 RESOURCES & PROGRAMMING.....................................................................40 6.1 PERSONNEL ................................................................................................40 6.2 STEERING GROUP .........................................................................................40 6.3 ADVISORY GROUP ........................................................................................40 6.4 STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS ...............................................................................40 6.5 FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT.............................................................................41 6.6 PRODUCTS .................................................................................................41 6.7 TIMETABLE.................................................................................................41 6.8 HEALTH AND SAFETY ....................................................................................43 7 COSTINGS................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................45 ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY USED DURING THE PILOT STUDIES .............................................46 2 Tables 1 Average character unit size in Area 1 2 Average Character unit size in Area 2 3 Average Character unit size in Area 3 4 Approximate Average Polygon Sizes by Broad Type 5 Broad Character Types 6 Attributes 7 Historic Environment Character Types 8 Polygonisation Rates Figures 1 South Yorkshire Authority Areas 2 South Yorkshire Authority Areas with Countryside Character Areas 3 Pilot Areas 4 Pilot Area 1 5 Area 1 by Broad Type 6 Enclosed Land Character Types in Pilot Area 1 7 Urban Character Types in Thurlstone (pilot area 1) 8 Pilot Area 2 9 Area 2 by Broad Type 10 Pilot Area 2 Broad Types-1851 Time Slice 11 Norton Village (from pilot area 2) 20th century development pressures on Burgage Plots 12 Pilot Area 3. Rotherham Town Centre 13 Pilot Area 3. Rotherham Town Centre Shaded by Broad Type 14 Historic Environment Characterisation Project Gantt Chart 3 1 SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION There is now widespread recognition that the historic environment can make a significant contribution to regeneration, environmental sustainability and the quality of life. The Government has acknowledged this in its recent policy, statement The Historic Environment: a Force for our Future (DCMS/DTLR 2001). That statement also highlights ”characterisation” as an important instrument for ensuring that the potential contribution and needs of the historic environment are properly considered when new development is being planned. English Heritage has two major historic characterisation programmes under way at present. The first, (Historic Landscape Characterisation, or HLC), is mainly concerned with rural landscapes. The second, (Extensive Urban Survey, or EUS), is concerned with the archaeology, historic topography and built form of urban areas. Within both programmes, projects have been devised on a (post-1974) county basis, with the aim of achieving national coverage. Projects are carried out by county (or equivalent) archaeological services, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. The two approaches are now converging in urban areas, in particular within Metropolitan conurbations, as HLC approaches and aims are being adapted and combined with EUS methods. English Heritage are providing funding to the South Yorkshire Archaeology Service to undertake a Historic Environment Characterisation project for the areas covered by the unitary authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The project officers began work on the 2nd August 2004 and have now completed a pilot phase intended to develop and test a detailed characterisation methodology, tailored to the needs of this particular area. 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 Location and Description of the Project Area South Yorkshire (Figure 1) covers four administrative districts (Barnsley MBC, Doncaster MBC, Rotherham MBC and Sheffield CC) and covers approximately 160,000 hectares (roughly 70km east-west by 45 km north-south). The majority of the area was part of the former West Riding of Yorkshire, but includes small areas formerly in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The western fringe of South Yorkshire lies within the Peak District National Park, which has recently completed its own Historic Landscape Characterisation project (Barnatt et al, 2003). Largely rural until the industrial revolution, much of South Yorkshire has in fact remained as such, with several of South Yorkshire’s towns continuing as small market towns, e.g. Penistone, Tickhill and Bradfield. However, others, notably Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, expanded considerably – giving the predominantly urban character of South Yorkshire today. 4 The topography of South Yorkshire is diverse, ranging from the highlands of the edge of the Peak District National Park, to the low peat-lands of the edge of Lincolnshire/Humberside. The Countryside Commission’s Countryside Character volume 3 ‘Yorkshire and the Humber’ (1998) describes four main Character Areas within the study area: the Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe, the Notts/Derby/Yorks Coalfield, the Southern Magnesian Limestone and the Humberhead Levels. The report’s treatment of these areas (Figure 2) can be summarised as follows, from east to west: Humberhead Levels – This character area is similar to the low-lying Somerset Levels and the Fens. ‘Field trees and hedgerows are generally few and far between