Norrington Solar Farm Ltd Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment May 2017 Cultur al H eritag e Impact Assessment Norrington Sol ar F arm Ltd Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment Norrington Solar Farm Ltd Project No: B2281200 Document Title: Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment Document No.: NSF-CH01 Revision: V1 Date: May 2017 Client Name: Norrington Solar Farm Ltd Project Manager: Ewan Pringle Author: Robert J. McMorran Jacobs U.K. Limited 95 Bothwell Street Glasgow, UK G2 7HX +44 (0)141 243 8000 +44 (0)141 243 8757 www.jacobs.com © Copyright 2017 Jacobs U.K. Limited. The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Jacobs. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Jacobs constitutes an infringement of copyright. Limitation: This report has been prepared on behalf of, and for the exclusive use of Jacobs’ Client, and is subject to, and issued in accordance with, the provisions of the contract between Jacobs and the Client. Jacobs accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for, or in respect of, any use of, or reliance upon, this report by any third party. Document history and status Revision Date Description By Review Approved V1 11/05/17 Final draft for issue RM GT PM Norrington Solar Farm Ltd i Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Site Location ................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 The As-Built Development ........................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Scope of the Assessment ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. Legislation and Planning Policy Context ................................................................................................ 6 2.1 Legislation, Policy and Guidance ................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Historic England – Historic Environment Good Practice Advice in Planning: Note 3 ................................. 7 2.3 Local Policy ................................................................................................................................................. 8 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Desk-Based Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Professional Guidance .............................................................................................................................. 10 3.3 Assessment of Significance of Heritage Asset Impacts ............................................................................ 10 4. Historical Background ........................................................................................................................... 13 5. Baseline Conditions ................................................................................................................................ 15 5.1 Designated Heritage Assets ...................................................................................................................... 15 6. Impact Assessment ................................................................................................................................. 20 6.1 Assessment of Impacts on Listed Buildings .............................................................................................. 20 6.2 Grade I & II* Listed Buildings within 2km of the Development Site ........................................................... 20 6.3 Grade II Listed Buildings within 1km of the Development Site.................................................................. 24 6.4 Grade II Listed Buildings within Broughton Gifford Conservation Area .................................................... 25 6.5 Conservation Areas ................................................................................................................................... 27 6.6 Historic Parks and Gardens ...................................................................................................................... 27 7. Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 29 8. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 30 9. References ............................................................................................................................................... 31 Appendix A. Landscape Mitigation Detail Design ............................................................................................ 32 Norrington Solar Farm Ltd ii Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment Executive Summary A Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment has been undertaken by Jacobs of the existing Norrington Solar Farm (hereafter referred to as ‘Norrington Solar Farm’) on land at Norrington Lane, Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire. It accompanies a minor material amendment application in respect of planning permission W/12/02072/FUL. This report and heritage impact assessment was undertaken by Robert J. McMorran and is a Senior Archaeologist at Jacobs. He is a full Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA) and has over 15 years’ experience in the heritage sector. Additional contributions to the assessment were provided by Gareth Talbot (MCIfA), Principal Archaeologist at Jacobs who has over 17 years’ experience in the heritage sector. The application site is on land west of 198 Norrington Lane, Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, with grid reference ST 877648. The application site extends to land for the solar PV panel arrays and associated development such as invertors, substation, tracks and fencing. The site is located approximately 7km to the north-northeast of Trowbridge and c. 700m from the centre of Broughton Gifford. The solar farm lies within an area of gently sloping farmland consisting of four fields bounded by mature hedgerow interspersed with deciduous trees at an elevation of c. 50m AOD. The wider landscape is rural in character with significant areas of urbanisation identified, particularly evident 2.3km to the east-southeast at Melksham. The northern extent of Broughton Gifford Conservation Area skirts the southwestern development boundary. A previous Heritage Statement was submitted by Aardvark EM Ltd to Wiltshire Council in support of a planning application (Planning Application No. W/12/02072/FUL), within the same development boundary as the existing Norrington Solar Farm. This application was approved on 25th June 2013. However, the as-built design does not conform to the original approved plan. This assessment has been prepared to address the legislative and planning policy requirements covering the conservation and management of the historic environment focusing on designated heritage assets within 2km of the Norrington Solar Farm. This study area was chosen to encompass any heritage assets which may have the potential to be impacted by the development. The assessment has identified whether impacts have materially changed in comparison to the project for which consent was granted on 25th June 2013. Within the 2km study area 111 cultural heritage assets have been identified. These consist of Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II Listed Buildings. Additionally, two Conservation Areas and one Historic Park and Garden were identified. The Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment of the Norrington Solar Farm has identified non-significant adverse impacts on the settings of Gifford Hall, The Hayes and Broughton Gifford Conservation Area. The impacts identified and significance of them are the same or lower than those associated with the consented scheme, making them acceptable. These impacts are likely to be reduced further as the landscape planting at the southern boundary of the Norrington Solar Farm matures. Norrington Solar Farm Ltd Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment 1. Introduction Jacobs was commissioned by Norrington Solar Farm Limited to undertake a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment of the existing Norrington Solar Farm within land west of Norrington Lane (hereafter referred to as ‘the solar farm’), Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire SN12 8LR (NGR E387799 N164803). It accompanies a minor material amendment application in respect of planning permission W/12/02072/FUL. The requirement of the brief was to undertake a review of previous documentation submitted for the approved plan, to ascertain whether potential impacts on surrounding heritage assets have reduced or increased as a result of the now operational as-built development. 1.1 Site Location The application site is on land west of 198 Norrington Lane, Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, with grid reference ST 877648. The application site extends to land for the solar PV panel