Hard Landscaping in Historic AreasIntroductionEast Hertfordshire is fortunate in its generally attractive environment. Streets, pavements and gardens provide the setting for historic buildings bit whereas the quality of a town's character depends on making the best of its own unique personality. The demands of traffic and safety require standard nationally imposed measures and these two worthy objectives can find themselves in conflict. By careful attention to detail and a sympathetic approach in principle, such conflicts can invariably be overcome to the benefit of all interests. Lessons have been learned from our own and other environmental improvement projects in historic areas carried out in the recent past. The purpose of this leaflet is to offer broad guidance, based on this experience, on the design of future enhancement schemes both public and private. IntroductionEast Hertfordshire is fortunate in its generally attractive environment. Streets, pavements and gardens provide the setting for historic buildings but whereas the quality of a town's character depends on making the best of its own unique personality, the demands of traffic and safety require standard nationally imposed measures and these two worthy objectives can find themselves in conflict. By careful attention to detail and a sympathetic approach in principle, such conflicts can invariably be overcome to the benefit of all interests. Lessons have been learned from our own and other environmental improvements projects in historic areas carried out recently. This information is particularly directed at engineers, landscape architects and statutory undertakers but is also of relevant to Parish Councils, Amenity Groups and members of the public carrying out development in any of the District's conservation areas of within the vicinity of any Listed Buildings. The advice aims to ensure that local character is strengthened by changes and to secure the proper preservation and, where necessary reinstatement of those key elements which reinforce what is distinctive about older areas. The Council intends to sustain its own programme of public townscape improvements, building on the start made in Hertford, Ware and Bishop's Stortford. Smaller but no less important environmental improvements can also be achieved by the private sector in association with new development or refurbishment in our historic areas as they have been in the past. Cumulatively, these works are, in the long term, just as important to the maintenance of our local character as the larger Local Authority works. HistoryUntil the mid eighteenth century the streets of the towns and villages of East Hertfordshire were constructed of rammed earth, gravel or cobbles often with a central drainage channel. The mud in winter on Hertfordshire roads was notorious and the main roads out to the country from London were rumoured to grow to as much as half a mile wide in places in winter as traffic spread out and tried to find a firm surface to travel on! Until the 1760's the onus lay on the individual occupiers of adjacent buildings to pave and cleanse the areas in front of their houses up to the middle of the street in towns and villages. After this time responsibility for roads transferred to commissioners with the power to levy rates so management became less hit and miss.The permanent surfacing of some roads began about this time. With its absence of locally quarried stone, it is likely that in East Hertfordshire, local gravel and cobbles, together with granite kerbs and setts imported from elsewhere predominated. Setts, used long ago to surface drives under carriage arches, can still be found, in Hertford, Ware and Bishop's Stortford. As well as looking very attractive, they are extremely functional and durable. Where they remain, setts, granite kerbs and stone paving should never be removed or discarded. Stone slabs, setts and brick paviours are still quite common in the back yards, paths and terraces of older properties. Gravel drives and carriage sweeps were and still are fashionable for grander buildings. These surfaces are both historically important and should be retained. It is interesting to note that almost all these traditional materials have only survived to any extent in "private" spaces. Tarmacadam and concrete swept through East Hertfordshire's urban areas last century and have predominated ever since. Setts can however turn up unexpectedly underneath the tarmac on occasions and good granite kerbs are still frequently to be found even in quite low key areas. Pebbles, readily available in Hertfordshire, were, and still are used, generally to fill in odd spaces but occasionally to create whole paths. Local bricks were too soft to last as long as paving but would certainly have been used in the past as they too were readily available. Blue engineering bricks were imported by railway to East Anglia from the 19th century but are not as common as paving surfaces in East Herts. Stone slab paving for footways would have arrived by the same means for use in town centres in the 19th century and some of this, of course, still survives although generally only in small areas and often in damaged form as heavier and faster cars and lorries took over from horse drawn traffic. Design in Public AreasThe total impact of any new street improvement scheme must be given careful consideration. The entire historic environment, the needs of pedestrians, the disabled and vehicles all have to be accommodated remembering that solutions which are purely traffic led have proved highly detrimental in historic and other towns in the recent past. The relationship between pavements, carriageways and buildings is subtle and makes a fundamental contribution to good townscape. As a general rule it should be preserved even where vehicles are being partly or fully excluded. The linear geometry gives interest and kerb shadow lines are often a crucial element which should be respected in a street scene. Arbitrary cross-overs, complex patterns, stripes in the form of road markings and wall to wall paving all at one level have been tried out in recent schemes and are now generally agreed not to be successful in historic areas where the quality and character of the buildings should predominate. Low key design solutions respecting and reinforcing the basic "bones" of the townscape on the other hand have been much more successful in producing a happy foil to the complexities of the buildings in most historic areas while not attempting to compete with them visually. Stone PavingWhen properly used, stone is invariably the best performing and most durable material. There are wide colour and textural variations within and between each piece which create an attractive and subtle backdrop for buildings and people. When wet these qualities are accentuated and stone mellows beautifully with age. Artificial stone or block paving can appear too regular and unyielding over large areas and its long term weathering can be very disappointing. Stone is more expensive initially but has a much longer life than its artificial alternatives. It also has good self-cleansing properties because of its fine grained composition unlike many artificial materials which show up stains and chewing gum marks only too clearly. In small awkward shaped corners granite setts or local pebbles provide an acceptable more flexible alternative to cutting large stone slabs to fit. Granite kerbs, often used in conjunction with granite sett drainage channels form an appropriate edge of pavement detail or where additional strength is necessary. TrafficThe growing demands of traffic and the measures taken to cope with this produce their own visual clutter which can block out the individuality of a historic area. Sign posts, brackets, bollards, and yellow lines all to standard national design are placed in many historic areas, with no regard for surrounding buildings or character. Clutter can be reduced. Redundant posts and signs should be removed. Street lights can be fixed to buildings. One post can serve more than one function. Standard signage is being improved and some for instance can now be sensitively fixed to walls rather than to individual posts. The total effect of rationalising existing clutter in an enhancement scheme can by itself make a very significant improvement to the visual quality of an area. Traffic CalmingThe need to slow down town centre and village traffic - "traffic calming" - creates its own problems in historic areas. Speed tables, pinch points, chicanes and other popular means of slowing traffic can have a detrimental and over-complex effect on the appearance of historic streets and rural roads even when traditional materials are used. The speed constraint of traditional stone setts used traditionally in vehicular carriageways can be just as effective in slowing traffic and has the advantage of reinforcing simple historic character. The use of bollards to separate vehicles and pedestrians or deter "pavement parking" can also become very visually intrusive. This is particularly true where attempts to prevent vehicles from parking have produced "serried rows" of bollards which are historically, as well as visually, wholly inappropriate and a potential impediment to the disabled or partially sighted. Careful design with attention to detail and taking the operational use of the area into account will reduce bollards to a safe minimum so that they enhance rather than detract from a scheme. MaterialsIt is Council policy to use natural materials for the repair and extension of Listed Buildings, and for new buildings in conservation areas in East Hertfordshire. This approach recognises the attractive weathering qualities of natural materials and the often disappointing performance of artificial substitutes, as well as respecting historic continuity. The floor in historic areas deserves equal respect, and natural stone paving should be used where possible for pedestrian areas. Materials for use on carriageways present more of a problem. The original material, rammed earth, is not practical nowadays while granite setts give an excellent traditional appearance and slow traffic effectively, but are expensive to lay in large areas and their irregular surface can present walking difficulties for both the inform and the very young. In these circumstances it is often best to look for a low key solution. Re-surfacing in tarmacadam, perhaps with a rolled, bound-gravel top is much preferred to the introduction of synthetic modern block paving with its inflexible and over insistent bonding pattern. Particular attention is necessary however to all the edging details if tarmac is used, with granite kerbs and setts being most effective. Longer stretches can be divided by single rows of setts which provide some visual interest, deter vehicle speeds and minimise the visual disruption of subsequent repair "patching". Street FurnitureStreet furniture can create visual clutter in repaved areas and must be carefully designed into any schemes from an early stage. Traffic and directional signs should, wherever possible, be mounted on walls, bollards or lamp columns to minimise the number of posts. Non statutory signs - directional and information - should be grouped on one purpose designed post. Posts and poles for traffic signs can now be painted black rather than grey. Yellow lines can be particularly intrusive and should be avoided if possible or waivers sought. The imposition of a 20 mph maximum speed limit in traffic calmed areas means that yellow lines can be omitted completely together with most signage. Ensure that newly paved areas are not filled with unnecessary new street furniture. Planters, bins, benches, bicycle rails, bollards and advertisements all need very careful location and design co-ordination if visual clutter is to be avoided. Trees and plants can help to conceal eyesores but can be inappropriate in a hard formal townscape. Ensure that, when included, trees have enough space so that future lopping and pruning can be kept to a minimum and that suitable species are selected. Existing historic furniture, pillar boxes, telephone boxes, cattle troughs, milestones, memorials etc should be preserved in-situ - some of them are Statutorily Listed and it is an offence to remove or alter them without consent. Properly incorporated at design stage they can help minimise the need for new bollards and barriers. Private Sector EnhancementA significant amount of private environmental enhancement takes place in this District in historic areas. This usually relates to works in the garden or grounds of historic buildings or to works relating to new infill schemes in conservation areas. In either case their impact on an area's visual quality is great and design is just as important as the public works described in the previous sections. Many of the same rules apply particularly those relating to the use of appropriate traditional materials for hard surfacing. It is important, however, to bear the following additional points in mind in this context. Walls, statues, steps and railings are often Statutorily Listed in their own right in historic areas. Many others are protected by virtue of being in the curtilage of Listed Buildings or in conservation areas. Always seek advice of the Conservation Officers before altering them in any way. Works in Garden and Grounds of Historic BuildingsMost trees are protected in conservation areas and many, in the grounds of Listed Buildings, are covered by Tree Preservation Orders. Always check before lopping, topping or felling them. English Heritage has issued a Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. In East Hertfordshire the following parks or gardens are included:
These parks and surrounding areas are of national importance. Any significant works, particularly with regard to altering their layout should be discussed with the Conservation Officer. New Infill SchemesIn the case of new infill development garden walls, fences and railings make a significant visual impact in addition to the floorspace itself. Again the use of traditional materials, stock bricks, traditional iron railings and gates and traditional close boarded fencing is strongly recommended. Interwoven larch lap fences, "patio" concrete blocks, harsh modern brickwork or fancy modern ironwork used to define boundaries or as gates are not acceptable. These items are usually covered by condition on any planning consent in an historic area so you are strongly advised to discuss them with the Conservation Officer before starting work. Grant AidEast Hertfordshire District Council and English Heritage both give grants for environmental works in certain circumstances. These are aimed at works incorporating the principles and objectives set out in this leaflet. The Conservation Officer would be very happy to advise you if a project is eligible. How do you rate this information / service? |
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