RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT KEY TO COVER PHOTOGRAPHS Front Cover All Saints’ Church, village pump and phone box, various architectural features. Back Cover Village Hall, All Saints’ Church spire, The Gables, various architectural features. Inside Front Cover Village pump, All Saints’ Church, Tankard Inn, various other features. Printed 2005 RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT Contents Consultation with Public and Rufforth interested Bodies Page 2 Why a Village Design Village Design Statement? Consultation on the Village Design Statement has taken place throughout Aim of the Village Design the process. Statement Statement Explanatory leaflets were circulated to all Location residents. A workshop was held to gather information, ideas and History photographs. Coffee mornings to invite discussion and comments took place. Page 3 Population and Employment These included exhibitions of materials collected. A display was mounted in the Landscape village shop. A viewing morning was organised to display the draft Village Flora and Fauna Design Statement, at which comments were noted and included in revision. Page 4 Settlement Patterns It is accepted that some points reflect Page 5 Residential Buildings aspirations of villagers, not all of which lie within the powers of the local planning Building Materials authority. Page 6 Rufforth Airfield This document has been accepted as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Amenities and Activities City of York Council’s emerging draft local plan on 23rd September 2004. Page 7 Roads, Paths and Infrastructure Page 8 -9 Maps PAGE 1 RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT Why a Village Design Statement? Formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire it Enclosures Acts Awards of 1795 “The purpose of the Village Design is now in North Yorkshire and apportioned land among the villagers Statement is to manage change …. its administered by the City of York Council. giving Rufforth its modern form. The Act concern is about how planned also awarded the village pond to be used development should be carried out so that as a watering place and the sand pit to be it is in harmony with its setting and used for the upkeep of highways. Owners contributes to the conservation, and where of the allotted lands were requested to possible, the enhancement of the local preserve and maintain the specific ancient environment” …. Countryside Commission pathways passing through their land, Booklet p 6. CCP 501 (now Countryside these paths being there before the Agency) farmsteads. Aim of the Village Design Statement In the late 19th and early 20th centuries The Rufforth Village Design Statement has the Middlewood family had great been prepared by local residents and is Aerial view of Rufforth influences on Rufforth. They rebuilt the supported by the Parish Council. It is Church, built the Village Institute (now hoped that it will influence design and History Village Hall), Rufforth Hall and two farms, development in the village. As a A settlement at what is now Rufforth East View and Hawthorn House in Supplementary Planning Guidance its existed from Saxon times. An entry in the distinctive style. They also gave Rufforth recommendations will be taken into Domesday Book deals with the land Manor to York diocese for use as a account when planning applications are ownership in Norman times. Modern vicarage. The Second World War saw the considered. It is also to raise awareness names such as Southfield, Lowfield and building of Rufforth Airfield, now mostly among local residents that small changes Noddery’s (North) Field are derived from returned to agriculture but still used by within “permitted development” such as, the medieval field system. gliding and microlight clubs. One former replacement windows, extensions, removal hangar is now a warehouse and of boundaries etc. can erode the character In the 18th century a large area to the distribution centre. of the village. east of Rufforth became part of the Harewood Estate, hence the name Listed Buildings within Rufforth parish; Location Harewood Whin for the Yorwaste refuse ● Church of All Saints, Grade II Rufforth lies in the Vale of York astride the disposal site. Also in the 18th century two ● Pear Tree Farm House, Main Street, B1224 York – Wetherby road. It is “cuts” or wide ditches, the Old and the Grade II approximately 5 miles from York, 8.5 miles New, drained Rufforth Ings to the west and ● Village Pump and Trough, Main Street, from Wetherby and 20 miles from Leeds. brought more land into cultivation. The Grade II PAGE 2 RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT Although the land is flat the open aspect DESIGN GUIDELINES 5 Maintain and improve facilities for the allows more distant views including the elderly such as the Village Hall; and 1 Recognise that Rufforth is an ancient White Horse at Kilburn about 20 miles new housing should accommodate the village and be aware of its past in away. needs of elderly occupants. all future developments. DESIGN GUIDELINES 2 Retain and maintain historic features Landscape (including the sandpit, pond, phone Rufforth lies within the York Green Belt. It 6 Any development should respect, box, village pump and pinfold). is a ribbon development village built on a maintain, or provide views through to sandy ridge in the middle of lower lying the open countryside and the White Population and Employment clay land, with a high water table. Before Horse. The population of Rufforth is it was drained the surrounding land was a 7 Preserve pattern of strip fields. approximately 560 which includes a cross marsh with areas of standing water. The section of all age groups. There is little countryside around Rufforth is mostly flat, Flora and Fauna open, agricultural land with many large full-time employment in the village, with The pattern of the old field systems is very fields. In contrast, small strip fields, once people commuting to York, Wetherby, apparent in the mature hedgerows around attached to individual small-holdings, Harrogate, Leeds and further afield. Small Rufforth. Native hedgerow species are remain apparent behind the village businesses providing local employment generally used, blackthorn and hawthorn properties. include: farms, the Tankard Inn, the shop/ are particularly noticeable in spring. The post office, the airfield, warehousing/ wide and largely uncut verges immediately distribution company and Harewood Whin adjacent to the village attract a wide waste disposal site. The primary school variety of insects, birds and mammals. also provides local employment. While there is little actual woodland around Rufforth there are many copses. DESIGN GUIDELINES The trees planted to screen Harewood 3 Encourage small businesses Whin refuse disposal facility are welcome appropriate to a village within the modern additions to the tree population. green belt. Native species are generally used. Notable trees are the Horse Chestnut in 4 The current bus service, adequate for the village garden, which has a Tree the most part, should be improved to Preservation Order. The Yews in the facilitate journeys to and from work. Strip fields school grounds are said to have been PAGE 3 RUFFORTH VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT planted because bodies from the battle of 26 homes. A similar pattern has followed from York is the old Pinfold used in the Marston Moor (1644) lie buried beneath. with Council built houses at Bradley past for holding stray livestock. Adjacent to Barn, Tawny and Little owls are often seen Crescent and the Avenue. Open the shop/post office at the south eastern hunting along the perimeters of the village countryside can be glimpsed between the end of the village is a small triangular and curlews frequent the meadows and houses. There are a few houses outside green with a seat. The village garden, airfield. Many other resident and visiting the main village envelope; these are facing the Chapel, has paths depicting the birds are seen and heard throughout the mostly farms or former farms. The village runway layout at Rufforth Airfield. This was village. Deer are seen on the village is therefore a compact area of housing a Millennium project The old village pump outskirts. To the north-west of the village surrounded by open countryside. Its and trough (listed) are also situated here. are the pond and sand pit (Sand Dyke boundaries are clearly defined at the The red GPO telephone box is a feature of Nature Reserve). south eastern end by playing fields and the village which should be preserved. the burial ground and at the north west by Outside the Church is another attractive DESIGN GUIDELINES the allotments. These allotments open area with seating. 8 Use native species in new planting developed from a scheme to give men schemes (e.g. Harewood Whin returning from the First World War a small DESIGN GUIDELINES plot of land on which to grow vegetables screening). 10 Any future residential and commercial and keep livestock. developments must retain the rural 9 Maintain the management regime character of Rufforth; they should be of uncut verges, for wildlife. small in scale and complement Settlement Patterns existing density. Rufforth has developed from a line of 11 Any development at periphery of the cottages and small-holdings into the street village should be of an appropriate village it is today. Gaps between the design and scale so as to not original houses on either side of the adversely affect the character of the B1224 have been filled in with newer setting and entrances to the village. houses. Small housing developments in farm yards and paddocks, once adjacent 12 All new buildings should be designed to the road, have created a number of Village garden in such a way as to promote crime culs-de-sac e.g.. Maythorpe, Church Farm prevention and ideally meet the Along the village main street (B1224) Close, Yew Tree Close and Milestone security requirements of the police there are a number of small, green, open Avenue.