� Knowing Your Place Heritage and Community-Led Planning in the Countryside u u INTRODUCTION England’s villages and hamlets have a long history, with beginnings in the distant past that we are still discovering. Many originate in the Middle Ages, but some have a longer story, starting with the Vikings, Saxons, Romans or Britons. Others were later, with many established to serve local industry. As English Heritage cannot always Most developed in a piecemeal way, some were planned, some shrank or were re-sited and others provide detailed commentary on individual Community-Led were abandoned. Some are compact and have grown up around a green or a square. Others have Plans, we offer this general advice a sprawling plan or are strung out along roads. Some parishes are dominated by one large village: note to help rural communities that are producing, reviewing or others have straggling clusters of hamlets and farmsteads. updating their plan. In doing so, we deal with current approaches to Whatever their origin and development, every village and parish today includes its own distinctive community planning, although we historic buildings, fascinating archaeological remains, and streetscapes and landscapes full of historic may offer additional advice on proposed Neighbourhood Plans information and character.This history helps to make each place unique and cherished in some way. in the future. When a community is planning its future, through a Community-Led Plan, it is important to Our guidance is designed to consider its past. By including their heritage in the plan, communities can really get to know the complement and add more detail on heritage to the community place in which they live.They can ensure it keeps its vitality, sense of identity and individuality. planning toolkit provided by They can choose the best ways for it to develop and grow.They can hand it on – as a place to Action with Communities in be proud of – to future generations. Rural England (ACRE) and other, more local, advice. ACRE’s toolkit should always This advice note deals with the incorporation of local heritage within plans that rural communities are provide the starting point for producing, reviewing or updating and focuses particularly on parish plans and village design statements. your plan and is available online at: www.acre.org.uk Should you English Heritage hopes this advice will ensure that Community-Led Plans harness the full power of the require further detailed advice on heritage issues, directions to community’s heritage.With only limited resources available for protecting and revitalising this heritage, English Heritage guidance on a local action is now required more than ever. wide range of topics and good practice case studies in Community-Led Planning are provided throughout this document. 1 � WHY INCLUDE HERITAGE? � When a community starts work on a Including heritage in your plan will: • Innovate Including heritage in your Community-Led Plan – such as a Parish plan is not about fossilising the village Plan,Village Design Statement, or similar • Inform The character of the place or preserving the parish ‘in aspic’. neighbourhood initiative – it is usually in which we live is rooted in its Knowledge of its history helps a thinking about its future. So why should heritage; it helps us understand what community understand how it has it worry about its past? makes a place distinctive, attractive and changed – sometimes dramatically – interesting to live in.The ‘shape’ and over time.This can stimulate ideas for Including heritage in a plan allows you ‘look’ of today’s settlement and its future actions and help to guide them. to effectively combine care for the surroundings – its pattern of roads, natural and the built environment with lanes, fields, woods, hedgerows and • Invigorate By encouraging sensitive community hopes and intentions for the buildings – has built up over centuries. and thoughtful change, by inspiring future. A good understanding of your Including heritage in your plan ensures design that responds to its surroundings local heritage can reveal forgotten links all these continue to tell the story of and by promoting the conversion to to the past. It can inspire and guide the parish and its people through time. new uses of redundant historic buildings, development and innovation as well heritage can contribute to the vitality of PART 1 as encouraging conservation. • Integrate Although the important the village and rural communities. It can of this advice note offers need to protect nature, including encourage investment, entrepreneurship, advice on gathering information Without an understanding of your species and habitats, is well understood, tourism and employment. heritage, well-intended recommendations little of England’s landscape is truly ‘wild’. PART 2 and actions could cause damage that Our landscapes were made by people • Involve Heritage belongs to all discusses recognising opportunities might be difficult or impossible to put working with nature. Important habitats of us and is at the core of our right. So it is important to have sufficient – hedgerows, woodlands, orchards, sense of personal and community PART 3 understanding before you make commons and ponds – are also our identity.With its potential to discusses developing objectives these decisions. heritage, created by generations of accommodate new housing, reduce farmers and villagers. Community-Led carbon consumption, build skills and making recommendations Plans can bring together nature, and support jobs, it can provide landscape, heritage and community an excellent stimulus to community PART 4 aspirations far more effectively than action and bring people together. provides advice on presentation larger scale plans, such as Local of your plan Development Frameworks. APPENDICES provide advice on community questionnaries and useful links to further information 2 � 1 2 � HERITAGE ATTHE 3 4 5 HEART OF THE VILLAGE AND PARISH As well as providing spaces for homes, businesses and community use, your local heritage is fundamental to a sense of place, identity and shared history Figure 1: St Mary Magdalene, Caldecote Hertfordshire © Brijesh Patel Figure 2: Village store, Chiddingly, East Sussex © Ivor Berresford. Source: English Heritage. NMR Figure 3: Village hall, Blisland, Cornwall © Gill Cardy. Source: English Heritage.NMR 6 7 Figure 4: Village school in historic building, Burnsall,Yorkshire Dales National Park © Yorkshire Dales National Park Figure 5: War memorial, Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire © Jane Greatorex. Source: English Heritage.NMR Figure 6: Post Office, Lechlade, Gloucestershire © Michael Clarke. Source: English Heritage. NMR Figure 7: Square and Compass pub,Worth Matravers, Dorset © Tony Jerome, CAMRA 3 � PART 1 � GATHERING INFORMATION HOW MUCH INFORMATION It is important for those drafting the Further information on these plans DO YOU NEED? Community-Led Plan to discuss carefully is available on the Historic Environment at the outset how much detail is needed. Local Management (HELM) website at: When you are deciding how to use your In the rest of Part 1 we offer broad advice www.helm.org.uk/communityplanning heritage to develop a Community-Led on what could be included in a Parish and all are available in full on-line Plan, it is important to be clear about Plan or Village Design Statement as a (see Appendix 3) how much detail you need.You could series of bulleted actions. spend many years researching the ❖ heritage of one parish. So, to avoid Those with diamond-shaped bullets getting side tracked or bogged down are worth considering for all with unnecessary work, concentrate on Community-Led Plans including the purpose of your plan and be clear Parish Plans. about ‘what’ to include and ‘why’. ➢ Those with arrowed bullets are more English Heritage recommends that appropriate for plans focusing on the all Community-Led Plans address local built environment of your community, heritage, but the amount of detail you such as Village Design Statements. include will depend on your resources and the type of plan you want to When considering how to tackle produce. Parish Plans, for example, have heritage in your plan, a good starting a wide scope and focus on services so point is to look at plans completed they usually include less detail on heritage by other communities. Throughout this than a Village Design Statement.A design document we offer examples of plans statement considers the look, layout and that we believe are good models in their future development of the village (or all treatment of different aspects of heritage, settlements in the parish), so it will have whether it is in terms of landscape, a reasonable level of detail on your local archaeology or village design. Some of heritage. More information and greater these plans are exemplary in several detail may be required if your community’s different ways, but in our case studies ambition is to have its statement adopted we choose to highlight just one of these. as formal planning guidance, such as supplementary planning documents. 4 � � WHERE TO GET The Heritage Gateway can also direct you ADVICE AND GUIDANCE HERITAGE INFORMATION to your local Historic Environment Record As well as information about the historic (or HER).This is an important source, buildings and places in your parish, a lot IDENTIFYING LOCAL HERITAGE maintained by your district, borough, or of advice on how to look after local Information on your local heritage county council or National Park Authority. heritage is available on-line, or as free can be found in both national and It will generally have more comprehensive pamphlets. A good starting point is local records. A useful starting point information than the national records, the English Heritage web site at is the online Heritage Gateway at extending from individual finds and sites www.english-heritage.org.uk/ www.heritagegateway.org.uk to entire landscapes. Some HERs are publications. These publications This provides an initial and accessible on-line: for others you need are also available on the Historic easily-accessible set of local and national to contact the relevant council.