Chapter 9 APfENDfX A In search of the identity of Kirby Hill Introduction particular, but also the closer settlements of Langthorpe and Milby, is in fact a complex local The village of Kirby Hill lies about a mile north of issue and part of the reason for carrying out the the North Yorkshire market tovvn of Borough­ work that will be described in this chapter. There bridge. It sits on a shallow eminence surrounded is a powerful territorial streak at the heart of Kirby by agricultural land and enjoys long-range vie,,vs Hill's community and they value greatly their across attractive rural landscape, particularly sense of physical independence from neighbour­ north to the Hambleton Hills. Historically the ing settlements. The agricultural buffer that location occupied by the village is quite signifi­ surrounds the village's built core appears to cant. There has apparently been an established contribute significantly to the feeling that Kirby community there from before Saxon times and Hill is a village in its own right. There is a strong parts of the village's All Saints church can be desire to maintain this physical independence aced back to this period. The main road through against probably well founded fears that the village, now Leeming Lane, was once the route Boroughbridge might eventually expand further of the Great North Road from London to Scotland north, threatening to bridge the rural divide. This but now the bulk of traffic flow is carried past the is considered thoroughly undesirable because village on the Al(M) about half a mile to the west. villagers worry that it ,,vill compromise the iden­ Once a mainly agricultural village characterised tity and individuality of Kirby Hill and lead to its by a clustering of several farms, only one now subjugation as a mere satellite to the larger remains and the past 30 years has seen a succes­ Borough bridge. sion of residential developments that have Walking around the village, looking at the transformed Kirby Hill's appearance and objects and features that contribute to its visual expanded its population to about 390. Apart from character, relatively little seems evident to distin­ a pub, church, farm and primary school Kirby Hill guish Kirby Hill's identity as an independent is entirely residential, although there is a popula­ village, apart from being surrounded by fields. At tion of homeworkers, and since there are no shops first sight Kirby Hill wou]d prima facie appear to in the village, people are dependent, locally, on be a rather unremarkable place, much of it having provision available in Boroughbridge or larger a fairly suburban appearance. A number of resi­ towns such as Ripon and Harrogate. The relation­ dents interviewed during the project highlighted ship between Kirby Hill and Boroughbridge in that although they thought of Kirby Hill as a -..-=.:'..:.a ge. it actually had very few physical features usually involves drawing out details of the settle­ -;::.t they associated with typical North Yorkshire ment pattern, the character of its landscape .--:;~ages. It has 110 clearly defined village core, for setting, building styles, open spaces and wildlife . ::x.2._ple. no explicit village green, no village for exampl~he general idea is to present infor­ s~ops. nowhere for the kids to play, and has mation as seen through the eyes of the village :;:ifihaps suffered a loss of any significant sense of community so that it gives a picture of \-Vhat is ·;:amacular. Modern day Kirby Hill has evolved to important about the village from their perspec­ :JeCome a collection of residential developments, tive. A lot of emphasis ·was given to the village's most of them cul-de-sacs ·with their backs to the historical significance and to the objects and \-illage, contributing little to its visual quality or buildings still in existence that evidence this. sense of cohesion. In 30 years the original agricul­ Kirby Hill's landscape setting, its agricultural t -~al village character has been overwhelmed to context and the distant views across the country­ such an extent that ·what remains of Kirby Hill's side, along with the contribution of some green proud historical character and its vernacular is spaces, street trees and fields to wildlife diversity now dispersed and manifest in a fow older all make very positive contributions to the cottages, houses, the church and farm buildings village. 1-dthin a background of suburban-like residential There were more challenging issues however. -'--"ie\'elopment engendering little o"t>vious sense of Among these included a significant lack of clarity place. about exactly where Kirby Hill started and So, exactly what identity does Kirby Hill have finished. Looking at a map of the village Kirby that its residents feel the need to protect so vora­ Hill appears as a clearly defined, loosely "L" ciously? The need to explore this question has shaped settlement smrounded by fields. However, gradually evolved in the collective consciousness historical meandering of the political boundaries of the village in recent years as a consequence of between Kirby Hill and Langthorpe in particular, threatened development, not in Boroughbridge, seems to have generated a diversity of local views but in fact to the north of Kirby Hill alongside the about which buildings to the west of Leeming A1(M) motorway. In 1996, a planning application L~ne arc perceived in Kirby Hill and which are was presented to Harrogate Borough Council for a not. This, coupled with variations in opinion motorway service station just north of the Ripon about whether the surrounding fields are "in" the Road junction. The anticipated impact of this village or "out", makes understanding where the proposal galvanised local opinion to such an village boundaries are far from straightforward. It '--"':.:tent that at one protest event numbers turned appeared that the content of the village was more out that exceeded the entire village population. a matter of individual perception than physical This brought into sharp focus the need for the evidence. Another potentially problematic aspect Parish Council to consider verv., carefullv., the was what to make of the predominant and eclectic options available that would help it respond effec­ mix of relatively recent residential development. tirnly to any future development plans it deemed It was apparent to the VOS Steering Committee to be undesirable. that Kirby Hill's identity and character would be In consultation with Harrogate Borough difficult to define. Furthermore, without being Council Planning Department, members of the able to do this, identifying the way to sensitively Parish Council decided to produce a Village protect the village would be potentially problem­ Design Statement (VDS). This is a document that atic as for 30 years it had been ravaged by gfres voice to local opinion about what is valu­ development that contributed little to the visual able and important about the village so that this appeal of the village and at the same time weak­ can be taken into account when assessing the ened what visual coherence Kirby Hill might have suitability of planning applications that would once had. affect the village. Developing a VDS requires the But if Kirby Hill's identity and character is collecting and collating of information about the hard to express positively in terms of clear ~pecial and unique qualities of the village. Il boundaries and distinguished architecture, it is 2. In search of the identity of Kirby Hill much easier to do through the strong sense of perceptions, organised around themes that ·would community and social cohesion evident in much focus on, for example: what was special and of the resident population. Most experience important about the village and what its distinc­ village life positively and although, with some tive identity was; where there were neighbour­ notable exceptions, this is not generally manifest hoods in the village and what were its significant in tangible physical "village-ness", Kirby Hill is places; and, where the village started and finished nonetheless much loved and treasured by its (Figure 9.1). inhabitants. This form of village identity resides The overarching purpose of revealing Kirby in the individual and collective lives and habits Hill's experiential landscape was essentially of its people. It is a hidden dimension of village twofold. First was lo explore patterns of routine order that cannot necessarily be visualised in experience implicit in the way village inhabitants physical form, but is nevertheless valuable and used and felt about the outdoor environment and, highly sensitive to change. Another challenge is crucially, reveal their spatial configuration and then to find ways to articulate this in a form that characteristics. The second was to give voice to '---' might help development contr9l mechanisms aspects of village life that contributed to the avoid damaging the community and possibly, apparently strong sense of community and social more positively, take decisions that might actu­ cohesion, and to do this in such a way as to be ally nurture and enhance it. able to identify components of the village's physi­ cal and spatial fabric that sustained it. Achieving this would require extensive public consultation The role of experiential landscape to build up layers of individual place perception into a collective view. Practicality inevitably The mapping techniques developed in experien­ played a role in the number and demographic of tial landscape seemed ideally suited to help make villagers that eventually participated in the explicit some of the less tangible, but crucially process and clearly the conclusions drawn from important, aspects of routine village life that the analysis must be approached with due caution seemed to be contributing so much to the sense of as a consequence.