Sleapshyde Conservation Area Character Statement

Sleapshyde Conservation Area Character Statement August 2021 Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Designations and the NPPF 3 2.1 Conservation area 3 2.2 Statutory list 3 2.3 Local listing 3 2.4 Metropolitan green belt 3 3.0 Location and setting 4 4.0 Origins and development of the settlement 5 5.0 Architectural character 6 6.0 Landscape characteristics and trees 9 7.0 Significant views 10 8.0 Enhancement proposals and guidance 12 9.0 Summary 13 Appendices 14 9.1 Listed buildings 14 9.2 Existing locally listed buildings 14 Select bibliography 14 Sleapshyde 1 Conservation Area Character Statement Figure 1: Map of the Sleapshyde Conservation Area 1. 1.1 The Civic Amenities Act 1967 first empowered local planning authorities to make provision for the preservation and enhancement of areas of Introduction architectural and historic interest by designating them as conservation areas. The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 is the current legislation that provides for the designation of conservation areas. Section 72 of this act sets out the general duty to pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character and appearance of a conservation area. 1.2 Government policy is now contained in The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG). The Sleapshyde Conservation Area was designated in 1993. 1.3 Conservation should not be thought of solely as a process of preservation and an impediment to change. The designation of a conservation area represents an opportunity to formulate positive policies to improve and enhance its environmental quality and to ensure the successful integration of any development or redevelopment necessary for its continued success as a living and working community. The St. Albans District City and District Local Plan Review (DLPR) - adopted November 1994 - sets out the general principles which will be observed when dealing with applications for new development and redevelopment. 1.4 The aims of this Conservation Area Character Statement are to show the way in which the form of the conservation area has evolved and to assess its present character; to indicate the principles to be adopted in considering planning applications in the area; and to form a framework within which more detailed proposals may be formulated. Key Grade II listed buildings Locally listed buildings Conservation Area Boundary © Crown Copyright and database rights 2020 Ordnance Survey 100018953 Sleapshyde 2 Conservation Area Character Statement 2. Conservation Area Designations 2.1 The Sleapshyde Conservation Area was originally designated on the 31th March 1993. The boundary of the conservation area has not been subsequently altered. Statutory List (Listed Buildings) 2.2 ‘Listed buildings’ are buildings included on a list of “Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest” compiled by central Government. They are classed as ‘designated heritage assets’. Listed buildings within the Conservation Area are given in the Appendix. All parts of the buildings are normally protected under the main listing, this may include outbuildings within the curtilage of the listed building, dependant on certain criteria. Listed buildings should not be confused with ‘locally listed buildings’, which are designated by the local planning authority (St Albans City and District Council), in consultation with the public, local amenity societies. Local Listing 2.3 The Council considers those buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area should be designated ‘locally listed’. The NPPF classes locally listed buildings as one type of ‘non-designated heritage assets’. Whilst it encourages local authorities to draw up local lists, the NPPF allows for any building the Council considers a ‘non-designated heritage asset’ to have its significance taken into account in planning decisions, whether or not it is on a local list. At local level, Saved Policy 87 of the DLPR (1994) is relevant. Saved Policy 87 provides protection for buildings the Council considers ‘worthy of local listing’ at any time, whether or not a formal list has been drawn up. 2.4 Advice on assessing a building’s ‘significance’ is laid out in the NPPF; Historic England’s document ‘Conservation Principles’ (based on an asset’s evidential, historical, aesthetic or communal value); and most recently in Historic England’s ‘Local Heritage Listing – Advice Note 7’ published May 2016. This document emphasises the need for public consultation of the local list. It also states that “the absence of any particular heritage asset from the local list does not necessarily mean that it has no heritage value, simply that it does not The 1896 ordnance survey map indicates the limited change that has occurred in the conservation area currently meet the selection criteria or that it has yet to be identified”. 2.5 Within the St Albans District, ‘local lists’ have been mainly drawn up in conjunction with Conservation Area Character Statements, which are reviewed from time to time. 2.8 The existing locally listed buildings are given in the Appendices, along with those added through this Appraisal. It should be noted that any building or structure can be locally listed, e.g. a wall, post box, gate or railing. However, a structure physically attached to; or, within the curtilage, ancillary to, and dated pre 1 July 1948, of a statutory listed building is already protected by virtue of that listing, and would not normally be locally listed in its own right. Exceptions to this may be, for example outbuildings, where ‘double’ designation may occur. The statutory listing will always override a local listing in this instance. Metropolitan Green Belt 2.9 Sleapshyde is defined as a Green Belt Settlement, because it is set wholly within the Green Belt. As such any new development must meet national planning guidelines designed to protect the Green Belt. Sleapshyde 3 Conservation Area Character Statement 3. 3.1 Sleapshyde lies between St Albans and Hatfield, immediately north of Figure 2: Open space analysis map the A414 dual carriageway and close to the district boundary. To the north Location lies the Alban Way, the former railway line between St Albans and Hatfield. and Setting 3.2 The conservation area covers the eastern, historic core of the hamlet which is arranged along three lanes radiating from a central green. The former chapel and public house, formerly the only public buildings in the hamlet are located on the northern lane, set away from the central green. To the west of the conservation area boundary lies some mid-C20 housing, which is more suburban in character. 3.3 The wider setting of the conservation area is dominated by farmland to the north and east. Views of the Conservation Area’s agricultural setting are intermittent from the streetscene, which is relatively enclosed. 3.4 To the north and east of the conservation area there are large, flat fields flanked by hedgerows and trees, and there are some views out across the fields in this direction, particularly from the Plough, from where the District boundary which runs along a leafy byway is visible across the fields. The north-western part of the conservation area is visible from Smallford Lane to the west, from where properties can be seen set behind mature gardens. The western part of the conservation area is separated from the residential area to the west by a playing field. 3.5 The setting of Sleapshyde contributes substantially to the conservations areas significance. It contributes to the hamlet’s rural character and is an important part of its agricultural history. The surrounding farmland is also considered to be part of the setting for most of the designated and non- designated heritage assets within the conservation area. 3.6 The North Orbital Road lies to the immediate south of the Conservation Area. The woodland in the south of the Conservation Area plays an important role in characterising the area providing a green setting to the south and helps reduce the impact of the road noise and inter-visibility between the two. 3.7 The map analysis considered open space inside the conservation area boundary and where it formed its immediate context. Open space is defined as common land, farmland, countryside and recreational spaces (including school grounds, churchyards and cemeteries). Publicly accessible woodland is included within this definition. Private gardens and private car parks are excluded. Key Open Space Woodland Sparse Woodland Conservation Area Boundary © Crown Copyright and database rights 2020 Ordnance Survey 100018953 Sleapshyde 4 Conservation Area Character Statement 4. Origins 4.1 Slaep is the old English for slippery or watery place and Hyde was a late Saxon word for the size of land farmed by one peasant family which was and usually 120 acres. It is probable that the ‘hyde’ in this area is associated with development the Abbey policy of the late C11 and C12. This policy allowed clearings of 120 acres or more of formally forested land. The settlement is not mentioned of the in the doomsday book and therefore it is likely to originate from the 12th settlement century. 4.2 In the Middle Ages, Sleapshyde was a small hamlet in the large manorial estate of Park, belonging to St Albans Abbey. The first reference to Slape is in the Abbots of St Albans Court Book which recorded the Abbots official dealings with tenants including marriages, inheritances and fines. The first reference refers to Reginald of Slape exchanging land in the C13 and makes reference to Roger and Agnes Slape’s family from 1273 through to the late C14. 4.3 To the west of Sleapshyde, beyond Smallford Lane, the Abbey owned the fishing rights in Smallfordwater and there were occasional fines for poaching fish.

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