Heritage: Recording Historic Buildings
Martin Railton • 15 August 2019
The importance of recording historic buildings prior to conversion
The conversion of historic buildings presents an opportunity for historic building recording, which is undertaken in order to retrieve information about the building and its use over time, prior to development. A building need not be listed to be considered a 'heritage asset'. Historic building recording is therefore often a planning requirement for buildings present by the time of the First Edition Ordnance Survey or earlier maps.
This is certainly the case for historic farm buildings. The period 1750-1880 has been recognised as the most important period of farm building development in England. Historic building recording is therefore often required as a condition of planning consent, requiring a detailed survey by a professional archaeologist or historic buildings specialist. This may comprise a photographic survey and/or a measured survey of the building, sometimes supported by documentary research and detailed analysis of the building’s development and use over time.
This summer Eden Heritage has provided support to a number of farm developments by recording a variety of historic buildings including farm houses, barns, stables, cart sheds, pig sties, granaries, and shippons (cow houses). One site included a 19th century horse engine house or horse mill in a state of collapse, but still complete with the original power transmission mechanism and horse harnesses. This would have powered threshing machinery in the adjacent threshing barn. Horse engine houses were eventually made redundant by the introduction of steam-threshers, making it unusual to find an example surviving intact.
Each building survey undertaken will result in a detailed report. All of our historic building survey reports are made available through the county Historic Environment Records to aid future research. If you require a historic building survey, please contact Eden Heritage for a quotation.
Eden Heritage Ltd has delivered archaeology and heritage services to over 200 hundred project sites during the first five years and is looking forwards to another busy year in 2025. From Surrey in Southern England, up to Argyll and Bute in Scotland we've successfully delivered archaeology and heritage assessments, geophysical surveys, landscape surveys, historic building recording projects, archaeological evaluations, excavations and watching briefs across the UK. We've also helped to deliver several community archaeology projects during this time which have revealed new prehistoric, Roman and medieval evidence. Every project site is unique and reveals its own story about the past.
As part of a long-term plan for housing, the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have recently committed to a new era of regeneration, inner-city densification, and housing delivery across England. This includes the reuse of existing buildings and spaces for new purposes, and redeveloping brownfield sites. This brings with it challenges in terms of impacts to cultural heritage and archaeology in the form of listed buildings and historic sites within our urban centres and townscapes. Heritage Statements and Impact Assessments can help to negotiate the constraints of archaeology both below and above the ground. Eden Heritage Ltd has expertise in both urban and rural environments and can assist in meeting planning requirements relating to cultural heritage. We have recently provided support to urban developments in Carlisle, Lancaster, and Newcastle, in addition to rural developments across Cumbria and the North of England. Please get in touch for a free quotation if we can assist with your planning application or development.
Eden Heritage now occupies the ground floor office of the White House, one of the grandest houses of Appleby-in-Westmorland, located in the heart of the former County Town of Westmorland. The White House is an imposing 18th century Gothic style three-storey house and is a Grade II* listed building. It is unlike any other town house, with whitewashed elevations of multiple depressed ogee-headed windows and tracery, with a similarly styled main entrance. The history of the building is equally interesting and was once home to one of Appleby’s most notorious historical figures. The building occupies a single medieval burgage, running from the main street of Boroughgate eastwards to the River Eden, and it is depicted on plans of Appleby-in-Westmorland dating from 1754. In the same year the building was re-built by John Robinson, steward of the Lowther Estate, to make it ‘fit for a Gentleman’s family’. After moving into the White House, John Robinson gradually gained more influence in Appleby’s affairs, becoming mayor in 1760, MP for Westmorland in 1764, and in 1770 John was appointed Secretary to the Treasury. However, as an MP John Robinson was accused of bribing electors, and his accuser, unable to name him directly in Parliament, said “I could name him as soon as I could say Jack Robinson” popularising to the well-known saying. Following Mr Robinson’s departure in 1780 The White House was maintained by the Earls of Thanet and the Hothfield Family, being occupied by their agents in the North. By this time the property had expanded to incorporate three of the original medieval town burgages with garden terraces and summerhouses overlooking the river and bowling green. In 1903 the building became the home of Dr Andrew Sprott, a respected physician who opened a consulting room in the ground floor office (now home to Eden Heritage). When the Hothfield Estate was eventually broken up in the 1950’s, Dr Peter Delap took possession and ran his practice from the house, while Dr Sprott's daughter Molley ran the Brownies from two of the summerhouses to the rear of the property. There was no waiting room for the surgery; the wide entrance hall served this purpose. This was frequently overcrowded, with people sitting all the way up the hall stairs. The White House was sold privately in the 1980s and was subsequently divided into flats and offices, but it continues to be a dominant landmark building in the centre of the town, being the tallest of the Appleby houses. Eden Heritage is pleased to be able to help write the next chapter of the building’s history and propose to open to the public as part of the Heritage Open Days festival. NB: The print of The White House is by the artist Chris Mouncey and is available with other works at The Courtyard Galley, Appleby
Geophysical survey is a rapid and cost-effective way of informing developers and land agents about potential buried archaeological remains within development sites, which are hidden from view. A survey can identify the potential risks to development from unexpected archaeological remains, and if undertaken at an early stage, can allow the flexibility to design out areas where dense and complex archaeology is present or to explore different route options. There are many types of development projects that can benefit from geophysical survey, including housing and commercial developments, road construction projects, mineral extraction sites, pipeline projects and renewable developments, such as wind and solar farms. In the long term undertaking a survey can save both time and money for developers in all sectors by reducing the risk of unexpected discoveries on a site. It can be especially effective if completed in combination with a constraints report or desk-based assessment. Eden Heritage has extensive experience of geophysical survey where it is often required to support planning applications or to inform master planning. It is particularly suitable for greenfield development sites to identify the locations of potential 'hidden' buried archaeological remains and can often be used to reduce the requirement for more costly archaeological trenches or excavations. The benefits of geophysical survey include: • Early identification of archaeology • Rapid & inexpensive method • Non-invasive, low-impact survey • Detects a wide range of features • Can provide a ‘map’ showing buried archaeology & other features Could a geophysical survey help provide information about your development site? Contact us for further information or a quotation for a geophysical survey
Brackenber Moor has been occupied from at least the Bronze Age period but recent archaeological investigations have revealed even earlier activity.
Cultural heritage assessments are required to support planning applications and developments where heritage assets or archaeology may be present.
Community archaeology project reveals medieval remains in Appleby-in-Westmorland
Now that the Lake District has been designated a World Heritage Site, planned development needs to be carefully considered in terms of balancing development requirements against the conservation of heritage and archaeology, in order to ensure that the park’s unique status is preserved for the future. Since the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) there has been a greater need to consider the impact of proposed new developments on heritage and archaeology in the UK. A Heritage Statement or Heritage Impact Assessment is often required to accompany a planning application in order to provide sufficient information to allow the Local Planning Authority to determine the application. The potential impacts on heritage significance need to be assessed for all designated heritage assets (e.g. listed buildings, scheduled monuments or conservation areas) and non-designated sites, including archaeological sites recorded in the Historic Environment Record (HER) and locally-listed buildings. In the Lake District there is now also a need to examine the possible impact of a proposed development on the Outstanding Universal Values of the World Heritage Site. This will usually involve a search of records and archives held for a locality, including historic maps and documents, and a site visit to identify the nature and significance of any physical remains. The potential visual impacts of a proposed development, including changes to setting and possible impacts to Outstanding Universal Values, will also need to be assessed. Each development site provides unique challenges in terms of meeting the needs of heritage and archaeology whilst also supporting new developments, but a professional heritage assessment can also help in terms of reducing impacts by feeding back into the design process. Eden Heritage looks forward to assisting our clients with their future projects.
The A66 is known to follow the course of the High Street Roman Road. In the Eden Valley archaeology and heritage are issues that need to be considered during the proposed improvements to the A66 trans-Pennine link between Scotch Corner and Penrith.
