Newhouse Farm Stanford Rivers Essex Heritage Statement

Heritage Statement June 2015

Built Heritage Consultancy

Outline statement

Newhouse Farm Stanford Rivers Essex

Heritage Statement

May 2015

Contents 1.0 Introduction 5 2.0 Understanding 6 3.0 Significance 18 4.0 Policies 22 5.0 Assessment of Proposals 25 6.0 Conclusion 28 7.0 Sources 29

This report is for the sole use of the person/organisation to whom it is addressed. It may not be used or referred to in whole or in part by anyone else without the express agreement of the Built Heritage Consultancy. The Built Heritage Consultancy does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from any unauthorised use of this report.

The Built Heritage Consultancy Limited is registered in England, number 7314300. Registered office: 5 The Chambers, Vineyard, Abingdon, OX14 3PX.

1.0 Introduction

The Built Heritage Consultancy has been commissioned to produce an assessment of Newhouse Farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings to support applications for listed building consent and planning permission by the owners. Pre-application discussions have already been initiated with officers from Epping Forest District Council.

The proposals consist of the replacement of the existing canopy adjoining the outbuilding immediately to the west of the farmhouse with a new structure similar in dimensions with a glazed wall to create a sitting and dining area. One of the outbuildings is to be converted to a kitchen. The existing passageway between the outbuildings and end wall of the farmhouse is to be enclosed to provide a covered link.

This Heritage Statement summarises our research and sets out the historic development of Newhouse Farm. It then assesses the significance of the listed and curtilage-listed buildings. Finally the Statement sets out the applicable heritage planning policies, describes the proposed scheme, and evaluates the appropriateness of the proposals in heritage terms. This Statement will provide the Local Authority with sufficient information to determine the application, in accordance with paragraph 129 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

This Statement has been written by Edmund Harris and James Weeks, based on a site visit and archival research in May 2015.

Relevant designations

Newhouse Farmhouse is a single Grade II-listed building (List Entry Number: 1337505). The adjacent outbuildings are not mentioned in the list description but, given their age and historical association with the farmhouse, qualify as curtilage listed. The site lies within the setting of a listed barn to the north (List Entry Number: 1168884).

The site does not have any archaeological designation.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 5 2.0 Understanding 2.1 Historic development of Stanford Rivers

Recorded in the Domesday Book, the village of Stanford Rivers is located due east of Epping and northwest of Brentwood in southwest Essex. The village is denucleated and made up of several settlements and farmsteads scattered widely over the large, roughly triangular-shaped parish. The most populous of these settlements is the hamlet of Toot Hill. To its southeast is a smaller centre – the settlement that actually bears the name of the parish – where the medieval church of St Margaret of Antioch and Stanford Hall, one of the former manors in the village, is located. Despite its proximity to outer suburban London and major transport arteries such as the M25 and M11 the parish is still rural and consists mainly of agricultural land. Newhouse Farm stands about three quarters of a mile away from the church on the west side of Mutton Row, a lane leading north from Stanford Rivers to Greensted Road, which connects Chipping Ongar with Greensted-juxta-Ongar and Greensted Green.

The location of Newhouse Farm (indicated by orange arrow) relative to neighbouring settlements (Streetmap)

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 6 2.2 Historic development of Newhouse Farm

The south front of Newhouse Farm facing the garden: the outshot wrapping round the west and north side of the house is the black, weatherboarded section to the left; the area of closely spaced vertical studs corresponds approximately to the rebuilt hall and service wing of the late 16th/early 17th century; beyond is the late medieval former high end and the later outshot facing onto Mutton Row.

Newhouse Farm is at least late medieval in origin as testified by the most ancient parts of the fabric, described below. The farmhouse stands on the south side of the old farmyard and it is possible that the timber-framed barn on the opposite side was originally built at about the same time and not, as stated in the list description, in the 18th century. For much of its history the farm was held partly in copyhold to the manors of Stanford Rivers, Traceys and Bellhouse. In 1623 the manor of Stanford Rivers was acquired by William, 2nd Baron Petre of Ingatestone Hall, whose family by 1628 came to own six out of the seven manors in the parish. It may have been they who instituted the major rebuild of the existing farmhouse carried out around this time. In 1726 Newhouse Farm was occupied by William Keepe, a local churchwarden, and at the time of the enclosure award, dated 1st March 1842, it was held and occupied by a Mr John Mott. According to a sales notice of 1859 the farm consisted of 62 acres and 28 perches of arable and grazing land. Some time after that it was held by the Millbank family and into the 1970s the land was farmed by them for dairy cattle. Between 1933 and 1970 the house was occupied by Miss Lucy Millbank who let a portion of the building as a separate cottage. It seems, however, from the 1873 and 1896 OS maps that the house had been divided into two separate dwellings of approximately equal size prior to Miss Milbank’s occupancy before being reconfigured as a large dwelling and smaller cottage by the time of the resurvey for the 1920 map. In the late 20th century Newhouse Farm ceased to be used for agriculture. The garden was enlarged by annexing land from the surrounding field and the barn was converted into a separate private residence.

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Newhouse Farm on the Stanford Rivers tithe map of 1839 (Essex Record Office)

The evolution of the farm

15th/16th centuries The oldest part of the surviving fabric is the eastern end of the house, i.e. the section of the two-storey portion nearest to Mutton Row. This originally formed part of a medieval hall and cross wing house, a common type encountered in the residences of yeoman farmers and gentry which is well attested in Essex. The following comments are necessarily somewhat hypothetical because of the fragmentary nature of the remains of this phase but the paradigm is fairly consistent and therefore these claims can be made with a reasonable degree of confidence. At the centre of the house would have been the hall, a large room aligned with the main axis of the building open internally to the roofspace. This would have been the main living and dining area, used by its occupants and their servants, and would have had a central open hearth with a vent in the roof to let out the smoke. At the east end there was a two-storey wing aligned at a right angle to the hall. It would probably have accommodated a parlour (i.e. a private living area) on the ground floor and a staircase to provide access to sleeping quarters on the first floor. This wing was occupied by the master of the house and his family and tended to have the most elaborate architectural treatment lavished on it, for which reason it was known as the high end. The opposite end of the house accommodated the kitchen, pantry, buttery and other service quarters, for which reason it was known as the low end. Sometimes this consisted of another cross wing, although what architectural form it took in this particular instance is now impossible to say.

The original hall and low end of the house have disappeared and been completely replaced. It seems that the house was originally entered from the north since on this side of the former cross wing there

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 8 are clear traces of a jetty, a feature that tended to be used for display on the principal aspect. Without a dendrochronological and an archaeological survey it is difficult to date precisely this part of the building or to establish whether the hall and cross wing house had any predecessors. All that can be said is that certain constructional features such as joists that are laid flat and the crown post roof (which survives in very fragmentary form in the attic of the former high end) imply a date range beginning in the late 14th or early 15th century and terminating around the middle of the 16th century. Probably the medieval Newhouse Farm was erected towards the end of this period.

Sketch plan showing the two main phases of construction of Newhouse Farm: the plans are aligned with the north elevation so west is to the right and east is to the left (Essex Historic Buildings Group)

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 9 17th century The historian W.G. Hoskins identified a major campaign of rebuilding of houses by almost all social classes both in urban and rural areas between about 1570 and 1640. This was driven by greater economic prosperity, a desire to improve living standards and changing fashions in architecture and design. Sometimes it was confined to modification of the existing fabric of an older house but sometimes it was more extensive, as was the case at Newhouse Farm where everything apart from the high end seems to have been demolished and rebuilt. The new fabric was timber-framed but incorporated a brick-built chimney-stack with fireplaces for the hall, kitchen and two of the first-floor rooms. The new hall was no longer open to the roof, instead having a flat ceiling with a chamber above. Although much of the fabric of the medieval high end was retained, external features that would have appeared antiquated were removed. The jetty was underbuilt and the roof was altered, the end gable that probably originally terminated the roof of the cross wing being converted to a hipped roof. The principal aspect of the house changed to the south elevation that now faces the garden. The chimney stack would have been flanked by an entrance lobby to the south and a staircase and bread oven to the north.

A number of constructional features can be identified that support a date during the period of Hoskins’ “Great Rebuilding”, more precisely around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries: the clasped purlins (i.e. in the angle of the collar beam and rafter) and wind braces in the roof; the very broad elm floorboards in the room above the hall; the closely-spaced studs on the south elevation (probably exposed by the removal of some sort of cladding) with the braces on the inward side, hidden from view. Not long after the rebuilding the stairs on the north side of the chimney stack were extended upwards into the attic, a gable with a small window being built onto the wall plate to give light and headroom at the uppermost landing. Panelling and small cupboards were installed in the first-floor room between the south wall and flank of the chimney which opens off the chamber above the hall. The small, squarish proportions of the panels, characteristic of late 16th and early 17th work, suggest that they either appeared at the same time as or not long after the rebuilding. Probably the cupboards were for storing valuables and important documents, not wigs, as has been suggested, since these did not come into fashion until later on in the 17th century.

18th-19th centuries Various additional modifications were carried out in this period such as the subdivision of the former medieval parlour into rooms of unequal size. A fireplace and extra chimney stack were added to heat the smaller room and pine panelling – whose proportions suggest an 18th century date – was installed. During this period the bread oven on the north side of the kitchen fireplace was removed (the blocked arch can clearly be made out) and a replacement constructed in what had formerly been the entrance lobby, which was superseded by a new main entrance leading into the hall. The approximate location of the original door is marked by a patch of herringbone brick nogging. A porch was constructed to shelter the new entrance. Dormers were added to the roof to allow the attic to be used for extra accommodation. The tall shafts which may have once crowned the chimney stack were removed. A narrow outshot under a monopitch roof was added at the east end of the building nearest to Mutton Row.

The Outshot In the 18th or early 19th century an ‘L’-shaped outshot was added at the east end of the house, wrapping around the west wall and part of the north wall. Although it sits on a brick base it is timber-framed and

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 10 clad on the west side and its return to the south in weatherboarding, which probably originally was tarred, as is characteristic of Essex and Hertfordshire vernacular architecture. The north side is rendered and whitewashed to give it visual unity with the rest of that elevation. The roof has a single pitch, which rises to meet the wall of the house a little below the eaves, and is covered in handmade clay tiles. In the roofspace weatherboarding survives on what was formerly the external west wall of the house that it now adjoins. This was not generally used as a cladding material for domestic buildings until the 18th century, suggesting that the outshot appeared no earlier than then. Though it is difficult to be entirely sure about the date of its construction it seems to have been extant by the time the survey was carried out for the Tithe Map in 1839 since the outline of the house indicated on it shows the distinctive ‘notch’ on the north side formed by it and the north end of the former east cross wing.

The west elevation of the outshot

Rafters (mostly modern replacements) in the roofspace of the outshot; note on the left the weatherboarding of the formerly external west wall

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The lobby section of the outshot showing the modern outer door and older wallplate

The fabric of the outshot was altered in the 20th century. The roof timbers have been mostly replaced, as has the weatherboarding, which, the exception of four original wide boards with a waney edge, now consists wholly of modern, machine-cut timber painted black. The fenestration is entirely modern, consisting of wooden glazing units of standard design, some of which have fake leaded lights. Disturbance to the brickwork of the base shows that there was formerly an entrance in the centre of the west elevation but the existing entrance is offset to the south. The external door and doorway are entirely modern. The internal doorway contains a lot of new timber and timber which may have been relocated from elsewhere (one of the studs has mortise holes facing outwards). The inner door itself is of some antiquity but is probably not in its original position. The interior of the western half of the outshot has been subdivided by modern studwork partitions to form a porch, toilet and utility room and the fixtures and finishes are all recent.

The range extending west from the end of the farmhouse along the southern edge of the farmyard: the outshot of the farmhouse is to the right, in the middle is the canopy added to the store room, in the centre is the chimney of the boiler house extension, which itself is mostly hidden by the tree and planting.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 12 The Store Room To the west of the farmhouse is a range of outbuildings. These are part of a complex of single-storey structures of varying form lining the edge of the former farmyard and constituting a sort of quadrangle. That nearest the house is rectangular in plan and single-storey with a pitched roof of asymmetrical form covered in pantiles, one side of which has been extended outwards to form a sort of canopy above a paved area. The structure is timber framed – inside closely spaced studs with diagonal braces all of narrow scantling and waney edges are visible. It is difficult to ascertain what its original function may have been but the general form and location suggest that it was probably some sort of store room used for agricultural purposes. A building of approximately these dimensions is indicated in this location on the Tithe Map of 1839 and certainly a date prior to then is plausible for its construction, although by how many years the structure predates that survey is difficult to tell since in rural areas timber construction persisted for buildings of low prestige into the 19th century. The building has been considerably altered. The 1873 and 1896 OS maps imply that it was divided into two at this point. More recently, the weatherboarding has been entirely renewed in modern, machine-cut timber and the walls have been raised in height to create storage space at first floor level. The roof is completely modern: its northern slope is covered in modern, mass produced tiles and the southern slope has been extended outwards to form a canopy over a patio area, which is carried on timber posts.

The store room from the south, showing the main entrance and door to the loft above

Exposed timbering inside the store room: note the original wall plate which no longer corresponds to the eaves level.

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The modern roof structure of the store room

The boiler house extension Further west is another outbuilding which is lower and narrower than the storehouse. Externally it has a certain superficial similarity because of the use of the same modern cladding materials. However, it is of modern construction internally – the roof timbers are machine-cut and nailed rather than jointed. A tall, narrow flue of Fletton-type bricks rises from one end, which has clearly been heightened at a later date. This is still in use as the vent for an oil-fired boiler housed in this area. This extension appears to be post-war in date. A structure is this location is first noted on the 1:2,500 OS map of 1972-3, although it is approximately square in plan, suggesting that it was either extended at a later date to enclose the former farmyard on this side or else replaced entirely.

The south elevation of the boiler house extension

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The interior of the boiler house extension

2.3 Historic maps

Newhouse Farm on the 1873 1:2,500 OS map

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 15 Newhouse Farm on the 1896 1:2,500 OS map

Newhouse Farm on the 1920 1:2,500 OS map

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 16

A contemporary satellite view of Newhouse Farm (Google Maps)

2.4 Plan showing building phases

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 17 3.0 Significance

3.1 Assessing significance

Assessing ‘significance’ is the means by which the cultural importance of a place and its component parts is identified and compared, both absolutely and relatively. The identification of areas and aspects of higher and lower significance, based on a thorough understanding of the site, enables proposals to be developed which safeguard and, where possible, enhance the character and cultural values of a place. The assessment is an essential step towards the identification of areas where greater or lesser amounts of change should be considered, as well as locations where change might enhance our understanding and appreciation of the site’s significance.

The significance of a ‘heritage asset’ is defined in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework as:

the value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. That interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting.

These interests are commonly defined as:

Archaeological interest: There will be archaeological interest in a heritage asset if it holds, or potentially may hold, evidence of past human activity worthy of expert investigation at some point. Heritage assets with archaeological interest are the primary source of evidence about the substance and evolution of places, and of the people and cultures that made them.

Architectural and Artistic Interest: These are the interests in the design and general aesthetics of a place. They can arise from conscious design or fortuitously from the way the heritage asset has evolved. More specifically, architectural interest is an interest in the art or science of the design, construction, craftsmanship and decoration of buildings and structures of all types. Artistic interest is an interest in other human creative skill, like sculpture.

Historic Interest: An interest in past lives and events (including pre-historic). Heritage assets can illustrate or be associated with them. Heritage assets with historic interest not only provide a material record of our nation’s history, but can also provide an emotional meaning for communities derived from their collective experience of a place and can symbolise wider values such as faith and cultural identity.

Historic England’s Conservation Principles (2008) includes a methodology for assessing significance by considering ‘heritage values’ which broadly align with the ‘interests’ of the NPPF.

These are arranged in four categories:

Evidential (or archaeological) value – the physical aspects of a building that yield evidence about its past.

Historical value – the extent to which the building is associated with or illustrative of historic events or people.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 18 Aesthetic (architectural / artistic) value – includes the importance of buildings or places for their design, visual, landscape and architectural qualities.

Communal value – includes the importance of buildings or places to societies and communities, including for local identity.

3.2 Newhouse Farmhouse, store and boiler-house extension

Archaeological Interest (Evidential value) The medieval and 16th/17th century fabric of the farmhouse has high evidential value as a useful source of evidence about local building techniques, principally carpentry and materials from important periods in the development of local vernacular architecture. This could be augmented through dendrochronological dating of the timbers and archaeological investigation to provide an exact chronology for the development of the site. The evidential value of the outshot is medium to low, since although it provides some information about vernacular construction, a substantial amount of original fabric has been replaced and its original function can no longer be discerned.

The buildings which make up the rest of the ensemble of Newhouse Farm have evidential value as a record of when the site was used for agricultural activity. The archaeological significance of the storehouse is low, however, since much original fabric has been lost and its precise original function cannot be identified. The evidential value of the boiler house extension is negligible since it appeared long after the main phases of construction from which its principal evidential value derives.

Any potential for evidential value relating to below-ground archaeology has not been assessed in this report.

Historical Interest Taken as a whole, Newhouse Farm has high historical significance as a record going back to at least the late Middle Ages of continuous human habitation and cultivation of the surrounding agricultural land, in a rural community extant since at least the time of the Domesday Book. Stanford Rivers is a dispersed settlement with several population centres and the farm testifies to that pattern of settlement and growth. Having been held for most of its life by three of the manors of Stanford Rivers the farm is of considerable value as an integral part of the manorial system that shaped and controlled the growth of rural English settlements. The two main phases of construction of the farmhouse demonstrate changes in patterns of living and testify to the economic prosperity of farming at these periods (something underscored by the fact that the house acquired four hearths when it was rebuilt), while the farm buildings testify to changes in agricultural practice and technology.

The farmhouse’s important role in the wider landscape and community, and the he detailed information that can be derived from an analysis of its development, means that its historical interest is high. That of the outshot and the store room is moderate: they clearly form part of the overarching historical record embodied by the farm, but their role was relatively minor and has been made less intelligible through the loss of much fabric. The historical interest of the boiler house extension is negligible.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 19 Architectural Interest The surviving ‘high end’ of the medieval farmhouse is of considerable interest as the remains of a distinct type that often formed the residence of prosperous individuals and, as such, were sometimes richly embellished. The late 16th/early 17th century rebuild did more to determine the present appearance of the house than any other phase in its construction history and can still be clearly identified. The different carpentry techniques and plan form demonstrate changing fashions and technological development. As a good example of a timber-framed house embodying substantial amounts of fabric contributed by two important periods in English domestic architecture the architectural interest of the farmhouse is high. Some of the later additions and alterations, like the 17th century panelling and cupboards in the strong room on the first floor and 18th century panelling in the drawing room on the ground floor, are reflective of national and local trends for ‘polite’ architecture. Their architectural interest is high.

Other aspects of the farmhouse, such as the outshots, are more utilitarian in character. They were constructed to fulfil a need and their architectural qualities are unconscious in that they stem from the wider local vernacular tradition rather than the dictates of fashion. They are primarily of interest for demonstrating the evolution of the house. The outshot at the west end of the house is an integral part of the farmhouse dating probably from the 18th or early 19th century. It has undergone numerous alterations although this is in the nature of vernacular structures and such changes can contribute to their character. The architectural significance of the outshot is therefore moderate, notwithstanding the unsympathetic replacement in the 20th century of some of the original fabric.

All this is also true of the store room, a farm building of the 18th or early 19th century embodying vernacular forms and construction techniques typical of modest utilitarian structures of the period. It therefore has moderate architectural value, despite the replacement of the original cladding material and raising and rebuilding of the room in the 20th century.

The boiler house extension is recent in date and any similarity with neighbouring historic buildings is superficial. Its architectural value is negligible.

Communal value Newhouse Farm was a functioning farm within living memory and descendants of a family that previously held the farm are still alive. However, the farmhouse and barn have been occupied as private residential properties for a substantial period following the cessation of agricultural activity, some of the traces of the site’s former function have been lost and so the farmhouse now has limited communal value aside from the importance of the view of the farm group from the main road which still evokes the historic importance of the farm as one of the focuses of village life.

Summary of significance The significance of Newhouse Farm derives principally from the farmhouse and the high amount of fabric remaining from the two main phases of its construction, which possesses high archaeological, historical and architectural interest and a certain amount of communal value. This is reflected in its Grade II listing, which recognises it as a nationally important building.

The western outshot has a moderate degree of significance as part of the building’s historical evolution, but its interior has been much altered and its cladding has largely been replaced, such that it is not particularly sensitive to future change that leaves its basic structure and form intact.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 20 The farm buildings have moderate evidential and historical value as a record of agricultural activity on the site but only in the case of the barn is that high enough and combined with sufficient architectural interest to merit national listing. The store room forms part of this historic group of farm buildings, but it has been much altered through the addition of a new upper section and roof, and the replacement of the window, door and cladding.

The boiler house is a modern structure of no heritage value.

3.3 Setting and group value

Newhouse Farm still stands in a rural setting and is an integral part of the group of formerly agricultural buildings historically associated with it. Although this group has been extended and augmented over the course of several centuries the house still dominates the ensemble and forms its architectural centrepiece. The farmyard is the key part of the farmhouse’s setting, and the characters of the buildings facing onto the central yard are thus of great importance to the significance of the whole.

The setting to the south of the farmhouse is more modern in character, having been much altered in the 20th century through the creation of a much-extended garden for solely domestic use. The re- cladding of the store room and its expansion with an upper stage and large canopy has lessened the historic authenticity of its visual relationship to the main house. Meanwhile the construction of the boiler house has greatly extended the low built form that is visible in the southern, garden setting of the farmhouse. Due to the ways in which this part of the listed building’s setting has been altered it is of lesser value than the farmyard setting to the north, and has greater flexibility to accommodate appropriate change without harming the heritage value of the house or its setting.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 21 4.0 Legislation and Policies 4.1 Statutory Control

Listed buildings are subject to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, together with parts of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Section 7 of the 1990 Act provides that listed building consent is required for:

any works for the demolition of a listed building or for its alteration or extension in any manner which would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest …

Section 16(2) of the Act states that:

In considering whether to grant listed building consent for any works the local planning authority … shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.

With regard to applications for planning permission affecting the setting of listed buildings, Section 66 of the Act requires that:

in considering whether to grant planning permission for development that affects a listed building or its setting or whether to grant listed building consent, the local authority shall have special regard to the desirability of preserving a listed building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.

Since 1967 local authorities have been able to protect areas which are valued for their special architectural or historic interest, the character and appearance of which it is desirable to preserve and enhance, through the designation of conservation areas under the provisions of Sections 69 and 70 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Section 72 of the 1990 Act covers development in a conservation area:

In considering whether to grant planning permission with respect to any buildings or other land in a conservation area, the local planning authority shall pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area.

4.2 National Heritage Policy

National heritage policy governing the application of the primary legislation is contained within section 12 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, March 2012). Those parts of the historic environment that have significance because of their historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest, whether they are officially designated or not, are called heritage assets. Designated heritage assets are those defined by statute and include listed buildings and conservation areas.

Relevant sections of the NPPF are as follows:

126. Local planning authorities should set out in their Local Plan a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, including heritage assets most at risk

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 22 through neglect, decay or other threats. In doing so, they should recognise that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and conserve them in a manner appropriate to their significance. In developing this strategy, local planning authorities should take into account:

• the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; • the wider social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits that conservation of the historic environment can bring; • the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness; and • opportunities to draw on the contribution made by the historic environment to the character of a place.

128. In determining applications, local planning authorities should require an applicant to describe the significance of any heritage assets affected, including any contribution made by their setting. The level of detail should be proportionate to the assets’ importance and no more than is sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on their significance. [...]

129. Local planning authorities should identify and assess the particular significance of any heritage asset that may be affected by a proposal (including by development affecting the setting of a heritage asset) taking account of the available evidence and any necessary expertise. They should take this assessment into account when considering the impact of a proposal on a heritage asset, to avoid or minimise conflict between the heritage asset’s conservation and any aspect of the proposal.

131. In determining planning applications, local planning authorities should take account of:

• the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; • the positive contribution that conservation of heritage assets can make to sustainable communities including their economic vitality; and • the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness.

132. When considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation. The more important the asset, the greater the weight should be. Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage asset or development within its setting. As heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification. Substantial harm to or loss of a grade II listed building, park or garden should be exceptional. ...

133. Where a proposed development will lead to substantial harm to or total loss of significance of a designated heritage asset, local planning authorities should refuse consent, unless it can be demonstrated that the substantial harm or loss is necessary to achieve substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm or loss, or all of the following apply:

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 23 • the nature of the heritage asset prevents all reasonable uses of the site; and • no viable use of the heritage asset itself can be found in the medium term through appropriate marketing that will enable its conservation; and • conservation by grant-funding or some form of charitable or public ownership is demonstrably not possible; and • the harm or loss is outweighed by the benefit of bringing the site back into use.

134. Where a development proposal will lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset, this harm should be weighed against the public benefits of the proposal, including securing its optimum viable use.

135. The effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application. In weighing applications that affect directly or indirectly non designated heritage assets, a balanced judgement will be required having regard to the scale of any harm or loss and the significance of the heritage asset. 4.3 Local Heritage Policies

At present Epping Forest District Council has a mixture of policies from the Adopted 1998 Local Plan and the Adopted 2006 Local Plan Alterations in force. These are found in the Combined Local Plan 1998 and Alterations 2006 Policy Document (published February 2008). The relevant sections are as follows:

Policy GB2A: Development in the Green Belt Planning permission will not be granted for the use of land or the construction of new buildings or the change of use or extension of existing buildings in the Green Belt unless it is appropriate in that it is: (vi) A replacement for an existing dwelling and in accordance with policy GB15A; or (vii) A limited extension to an existing dwelling that is in accordance with policy GB14A.

Policy GB14A: Residential extensions Within the Green Belt, limited extensions (including conservatories) to existing dwellings may be permitted where: (i) The open character and appearance of the Green Belt will not be impaired; and (ii) The character and appearance of the buildings in their settings will be enhanced or not unduly harmed; and (iii) They will not result in disproportionate additions of more than 40%, up to a maximum of 50m2, over and above the total floorspace of the original building.

Policy HC10: Works to listed buildings The Council will not give consent for works to the interior or exterior of a listed building which could detract from its historic interest or architectural character and appearance.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 24 5.0 Assessment of Proposals 5.1 Outline of the proposals

The general aim of the proposed works is to create a new kitchen, dining and living area without any major intervention to the fabric of the listed farm building. This would be done by replacing the modern canopy over the patio area west of the house with a new extension that would also connect with the store room.

The Design and Access Statement sets out the works in detail but they are broadly as follows:

The Farmhouse

Exterior • Reconfigure entrance through outshot at west end of building in accordance with new floor levels. • Enclose passageway between outbuilding and outermost west wall of farm to create enclosed entrance area.

Interior • Relocate existing partition wall between toilet and utility room to allow toilet to be enlarged.

The Outbuilding • Removal of existing canopy over patio area. • Erection over patio of new structure. • Widening of existing entrance. • Conversion of interior to kitchen.

The following section examines the proposals in more detail and assesses their impact on the historic fabric and significance of the areas affected.

5.2 Assessment

5.2.1 The Farmhouse

Reconfigure entrance at west end of farmhouse and internal layout of outshot The modifications proposed to this section of the building are modest in scope and aimed at improving communication between the existing dining room and the area where the new accommodation is to be provided. Intervention to the historic fabric of the outshot will be minimal: although the outer doorway is to be widened slightly, the threshold dropped and the door removed these are clearly the product of recent alterations, while the internal partition walls that are to be moved and altered are modern stud and plasterboard structures. The existing toilet window that is to be blocked is located in an area that has been greatly altered in recent times. The impacts upon significant fabric and design features from these changes would be minimal.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 25 Enclose passageway between outbuilding and outermost west wall of farm to create enclosed entrance area This proposal will provide covered access between the farmhouse and new accommodation, allowing them to function together while avoiding any sense that both have been subsumed into a single whole. The door and end wall will be made of glass, preserving through-sightlines from the former farmyard to the garden. Both are set well back from the building line to front and rear to enable the older elements to remain fully legible as separate buildings. Meanwhile the roof is flat and meets the outshot at eaves level, so that it will read clearly as a contemporary insertion visually subservient to existing fabric. The existing entrance route to the farmhouse from the farmyard will be retained. The existing external finishes will also be retained and the roof made of glass so even after being enclosed the passageway will retain much of its existing character as an external space. The overall impact upon significant fabric would be minimal, whilst the appearance of the historic group of farm buildings would be retained.

5.2.2 The Store Room / new build

Removal of existing canopy over patio area This structure is a 20th century addition that is of negligible historical and architectural value. Its removal will not entail the loss of any significant fabric.

Erection of new structure The new extension will be no higher than the existing canopy and the front wall will be set back from the building line of the main house, ensuring that it will appear visually subservient to the farmhouse. This was identified as the criterion for the acceptability of an extension in negotiations with Epping Forest DC’s conservation officer and the dimensions and scale of the initial version were reduced in response to pre-application discussions. The proposed extension will be wider than the existing canopy but this will affect only the western end in front of the boiler house, which is of negligible significance.

The massing of the new building would be slightly different to the present canopy, with a new roof ridge creating an asymmetrical M-profile. However the new part of the roof would be of a similar height to the existing store room roof, so that it would not be visible above it in views from the farmyard to the north. From ground level within the farmyard the new building is also unlikely to be prominent above the boiler house. The principal aspect of the extension will be fully visible only from the garden, which is a private space that has seen considerable change in the 20th century. S

The design of the roof and elevations of the new build would be modern, with painted stucco and large glazed panels on the walls, and a pre-coated metal roof. This will create a clear distinction between the old and new fabric, helping to preserve the integrity of the farmhouse and store room’s massing and appearance. The new materials would be simple and practical, reflecting the historic agricultural context of the site. To the south elevation, the new building’s glazed frontage would be screened by a series of timber posts supporting a brise-soleil, which has been introduced following pre-application discussions so as to harmonise the old and new parts.

Due to its secluded location, respectful plan form and massing, and sensitive integration with the existing fabric, the extension would conserve the significance of the listed building, the historic store room, and their wider setting. Through allowing the farmhouse to continue to evolve in response to

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 26 changing ways of life, the extension would form a suitably contextual part of the historic development of the site. It would have a negligible impact on the farmyard’s setting to the north, and would enhance the farmhouse’s setting to the south through its high-quality modern design.

Widening of existing entrance and conversion of interior to kitchen Converting the store room into a kitchen will require the removal of a small amount of historic fabric: a single timber stud on the west side of the doorway. Fortunately, this stud is the only one that is not lapped by the diagonal brace on this side of the wall, and is can therefore be removed without compromising the original structure. The interior of the store house was always functional rather than ‘polite’ and it has been much altered internally, with any elements associated with its former use having long disappeared. Installing modern kitchen units will not entail the removal of any original fixtures or fittings, and the installation of service runs would be a low-impact intervention. Overall, the alterations would have a relatively modest impact on the building’s significance, whilst ensuring its long-term conservation through providing it with a beneficial new use as a key part of the expanded domestic accommodation.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 27 6.0 Conclusion

The National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 129) requires local authorities to ensure that the particular significance of any heritage asset is properly assessed. This assessment has concisely described the character of the listed Newhouse Farm and adjacent outbuildings and summarised their significance. The special interest of the farmhouse lies in the surviving medieval timber-framed cross- wing and the fabric contributed by the major rebuild in the late 16th or early 17th century, as well as various alterations and additions made during the course of the following 200 years. While only the barn is separately listed, the surrounding vernacular buildings are important for group value, for forming the setting of the farmhouse and demonstrating the original function of the site.

The proposals preserve the special interest of these buildings. The alterations to the farmhouse are low-key and targeted at areas of lesser significance that have been changed in the past; they allow the accommodation to be improved with only minimal intervention to historic fabric. The conversion of the store house and erection of the link building and extension will provide it with a sustainable use for the future by turning it from ancillary accommodation into an integral part of the living space in daily use. The proposals have no impact on the setting of the neighbouring listed barn.

In summary the sensitive design of the proposals would ensure that the scheme delivers much- improved accommodation without notable impacts upon the significance of the site. The benefits of the scheme far outweigh any harm, and it therefore satisfies the relevant national and local heritage policies. Listed Building Consent can thus safely be granted.

Built Heritage Newhouse Farm, Stanford Rivers - Heritage Statement Consultancy 28 7.0 Sources

The sources below have been used in the preparation of this report.

Publications

Brown, R.J., English Farmhouses (London: Robert Hale, 1982)

Hoskins, W.J., The Making of the English Landscape (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978))

Scott, H.M., Stanford Rivers (Privately published, 1974)

Websites

National Heritage List for England – Newhouse Farm entry http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1337505

Victoria County History http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol4/pp208-210 (introduction to entry on Stanford Rivers) http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol4/pp210-216 (manors)