Bath and North East Somerset Planning Services South Stoke Conservation Area Appraisal Draft – May 2011 Contents Introduction 3 Summary of Special Interest 3 Assessment of Special Interest 4 Recommended Management Proposals and Boundary Changes 12 Community Involvement 14 Planning Policy Context 14 General Guidance 16 Further Reading 16 Glossary 16 Contact Details 17 Introduction South Stoke was identified as being The appraisal identifies elements of special architectural and historic which contribute to the character of interest and was designated a the area and those that detract from Conservation Area 21 July 1982. it. This provides the basis upon The extent of its boundary which to develop proposals for incorporates the main core of the preservation and enhancement. village. The preparation of the statement The Council has a duty to preserve also enables the local community to and enhance the character and partici¬pate in the identification of appearance of Conservation Areas features which are important to the in exer¬cising its planning powers, special character of the area in and to periodically reappraise the which they live. boundaries. This appraisal will be a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. Summary of Special Interest Unusual hillside location and Facades and roof ridges follow exceptional landscape setting on topographic contours the southern edge of the Prominent position of the Manor Cotswolds within the Cotswolds Farm which constitutes an early Area of Outstanding Natural farm complex with rare surviving Beauty late mediaeval agricultural Village built into the slope of a buildings valley overlooking the Cam valley A heritage anchored in a Saxon affording fine extensive vistas Charter of 961 unencumbered by large scale Prevalence of historic buildings modern development and boundary walls built of local Contribution of natural landscape Oolitic limestone including Parish features such as ancient Church of St James The Great of deciduous woodland and narrow Norman origin (and often steep) lanes lined with Interesting historic street furniture hedgerows and features including listed K6 Spring-line settlement resulting telephone kiosk, historic post from underlying geological box, character Proximity to Somersetshire Coal Small to medium irregular field Canal situated in the Cam Brook patterns with hedgerow valley below boundaries dating from Village pattern and grain that has mediaeval period undergone little change and Peaceful rural atmosphere with witnessed limited modern little intrusion from traffic despite development proximity to Bath Nucleated village form with Absence of street lighting, traffic central village green signage, adverts and footways Vibrant community aided by Strong archaeological presence centrally located parish church, and potential including the community hall and The Wansdyke 400 metres to the Packhorse Inn north, Roman villa sites and industrial heritage of the Somersetshire Coal Canal 3 Modern OS map of South Stoke Assessment of Special Interest Location and Setting deeply set with characteristic high interior of the Conservation Area The village and Parish name of banks that meander freely across that is otherwise hidden from view South Stoke derives from Old the floodplains of these valleys. and a link to the landscape beyond English meaning outlying farmstead They are also an important from where its landscape setting or hamlet, secondary settlement to contributor to local natural heritage and context can be viewed and the south. It is one of many small and biodiversity including fauna and understood. settlements to the south of Bath flora. that has been able to maintain its historic rural character and These steep river valleys provide a tranquillity despite its proximity to a striking landform on the southern busy urban centre. As the name most escarpment of the Cotswolds. suggests, it is located just to the The landscape has typically been south of the City of Bath on the side influenced by millennia of of a small but steep river valley agricultural activity and there is a typical of this area within the mixture of arable and pastoral land Cotswolds Area of Outstanding cover in roughly equal measure. The Natural Beauty. irregular field patterns tend to be small to medium in scale, with There are three main brooks that hedgerow boundaries. flow through these valleys: the Cam and Wellow brooks merge to form There are principally two public The village has a precipitous and the Midford brook, which is a footpaths within the Conservation dramatic south facing position tributary of the River Avon, and it is Area: one to the west that joins the the Cam that the settlement sits Limestone Link national trail and above. The landscape is another to the east that progresses considerably influenced and to the south. These paths offer an characterised by these small brooks interesting opportunity to view the 4 General Character and Plan Form atmosphere and character of the The absence of modern The village possesses a nucleated village. development on the perimeter and village green form with the route the way in which the village and the through bisected by the Green, Because of the position of the landscape opens out before you to which creates an interesting village, built onto the south facing the south as you enter from a narrow circuitous route that necessitates a slope of the valley, vistas are a key and enclosed entrance creates a slow passage through the village. and important element of the dramatic sense of arrival from the For the most part it has a compact character of the place and views north. The juxtaposition and close and close grained townscape with beyond the village are uninterrupted proximity of the village and city offers some substantial buildings set within by development of any kind. South an intriguing and interesting contrast. large grounds hidden from view by Stoke has miraculously retained its This, while not unique, is unusual for trees and general plant growth. The physical and emotional separation a settlement so close to a large route out of the village to the south and historical and architectural urban area but again is partly due to descending into the valley below is integrity despite its close proximity the village ‘having its back’ to Bath in remarkably steep and narrow to Bath, an aspect noted by Nikolaus being located on the side of a steep providing a sense of drama and Pevsner writing in the 1950s: escarpment within a different valley. atmosphere as one descends into the countryside beyond the village. ‘The happy sight of a village still Having entered the village it is easy entirely unsuburbanized, though only to forget that there is a bustling and two miles from the main station of a busy city within close proximity, such city’. is the particularly peaceful rural Landscape settlement having developed The underlying geology originates organically within the landscape and principally from the Jurassic period fitting into, and working with, its and is dominated by Oolitic contours, gradients and Limestone typical of the Cotswold geomorphology. This integration range however the layers can be with the landscape is further summarised thus in descending enhanced and augmented by the order: use of local limestone in the construction of the buildings Forest Marble including the Parish Church of St Great Oolite James the Great. Fuller’s Earth Inferior Oolite The surrounding landscape is also Midford Sands close grained with myriad patchwork of small irregular fields of South Stoke sits within the different shapes and sizes with Cotswold Area of Outstanding narrow steep sided lanes often Natural Beauty (AONB) and overhung with trees and lined with represents its southern most edge hedgerows. The surrounding fields, The Conservation Area has an and is in recognition of the enclosed by hedgerow boundaries, outstanding landscape setting within outstanding and special quality of have changed little since the the Cotswold AONB the landscape. It also provides a mediaeval and post mediaeval vitally important and crucial control periods having not been affected by for development that could be the rationalising endeavours of the potentially harmful to such a Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th sensitive area in terms of both its centuries. In the valley below the built and natural heritage. The settlement there is evidence of settlement is located just outside mediaeval, possibly earlier, the southern limits of the Bath enclosure of water meadows World Heritage Site but within its described as ‘rich, wet grassland’. immediate setting. There are also areas of ancient mixed deciduous woodland Despite its close proximity to the consisting typically of native species suburban fringes of Bath the village including ash and oak with willow The buildings are typically constructed feels entirely rural and distant from and alder lining the river banks. in local oolitic limestone the city. There is a feeling of a 5 Historic Development estate lands of South Stoke, known From the archaeological record (see then as Tottanstoc, to Bath Priory, a Archaeological Significance) that Benedictine monastery of the includes Bronze Age, Iron Age and ‘Church of the Blessed Peter at Roman pottery potsherds, including Bath’. The estate later developed Roman Samian Ware bowls, it into the manor and parish and appears that the site has been remained in the ownership of the occupied for thousands of years. Priory until the Dissolution at the The