Historic Heritage
From HalesworthTownPlan
Contents |
References
Agencies
- English Heritage
- Suffolk County Council [archaeology]
- Waveney District Council [Conservation Areas]
- Halesworth Museum [conservation and education]
Publications and Sources
- Halesworth Conservation Area – Character Appraisal [Waveney District Council 2006]
- Halesworth Conservation Area – Management Proposals [Waveney District Council 2006]
- others to add
Present Situation
The Town
Halesworth is a small market town of ancient origins, of slow growth, where the medieval manorial plan, street pattern and property boundaries survive in the present layout of streets and boundaries. The parish church stands close to the manor gate which is adjacent to the market place.
The buildings in Steeple End, Market Place, London Road, Chediston Street and the Thoroughfare continue in their original use as shops, workshops and dwellings.
Built in the East Anglian vernacular they maintain their historic alignment, have preserved the ancient spaces, and reflect the medieval, Georgian and Victorian phases of development of the town. Off the main streets are yards once filled by small industries or with terraces of artisan housing and there are larger terraces built at the edge of the expanding town in the nineteenth century. There are purpose-built Victorian buildings for banks and fine multistory maltings, and the fashionable houses for merchants, maltsters and brewers, left as a legacy of the booming years of the nineteenth century. Also there are the vacant spaces of the demolished breweries, maltings and works which have left gaps in the urban grain of the historic settlement.
Landscape Setting
The town is situated on a slight prominence in the rising ground of the south side of the valley formed by the Town River, a tributary of the River Blyth. It is set in a gently undulating landscape whose appearance derives from its former use for arable and pasture. The rural river valley landscape is almost continuous from one side of the town centre to the other, in the town park to the east of the Thoroughfare and in Rectory Lane to the west. There are good views of the town at the river valley edge, from the south in London Road and from the north in Norwich Road where its varied traditional roofscape is visible, rising up towards and surmounted by the church tower. An historically important and attractive view of the town, across the water meadows of the Blyth from the east at Castle House, was blocked by the construction of the railway bridge, though the view may still be appreciated from the train.
The Origins and Histioric Development
Archaeological investigations in Halesworth have found evidence of human activity from 10,000 years ago, Stone Age man and his successors in the Iron Age finding the marshy banks of the Blyth a place where an existence could be sustained. While there was Roman activity in the area, with Roman settlements at Wenhaston and Chediston and roads from Dunwich to Caistor and Coddenham close by, as yet no Roman settlement has been discovered in Halesworth.
Modern Halesworth was founded in the Middle Saxon era, and by the eleventh century a settlement known as Healesurda (enclosure of a man called Haele) or Halesworde (corner of land with water on both sides) had been established on the east side of the ridge, between the two rivers. The location may have been a crossing place over the northern tributary of the River Blyth, and a place for beaching boats.
The Anglo-Norman settlement was in the area east of the parish church where there is evidence for craft and industrial activity and the continued use of the river bank for landing boats. The settlement grew around the top of the ridge where the church and manor house were located, and the remains of an eleventh century flint round tower were found at the west end of the nave during the restoration of the parish church in 1889. The manor house was located on or near the site of Church Farm, with the Market Place at its gate, where trackways to Chediston, Walpole and Bungay intersected. The settlement grew around the Market Place and the Thoroughfare. The buildings and land were planned and laid out in a regular pattern along the roads. Generally, the houses would have been impermanent structures of timber, mud and wattle. The historic medieval land boundaries of the various holdings may still reflect those of the Norman village, while the manor boundaries can be seen in present day administrative boundaries.
By the thirteenth century, Halesworth had developed into a small market town, a licence for Halesworth’s market and annual fair being granted in 1226. There is archaeological evidence for lead working, spinning and weaving in houses that were near the church. There is a reference in a document of 1380 to the ‘tenter field’, a place where woollen cloth is dried, which suggests that woollen cloth processing occurred in Halesworth. There is similar evidence in a document of 1375 for a meat market and the associated industry of tanning.
Industry expanded during the fifteenth century, demonstrated by archaeological evidence for a pottery on land south of the Angel. The type of ware is associated with the ‘Sterff family’ who were active in Metfield, Weybread, Chediston and Wissett between 1485 and 1524.
In the sixteenth century, dairy farming and cattle production grew in economic importance. Robert Norton of Gothic House, London Road, exported cheese and other dairy products, which were more important to Halesworth’s economy than the manufacture of woollen cloth.
The sixteenth century saw the establishment of shoe making, saddle making and other industries associated with leather and cloth products. With increased prosperity came the construction of higher quality permanent houses, shops and workshops for the townspeople.
The survival of pre-reformation fabric in the buildings of Halesworth gives an indication of the extent of the settlement in the early sixteenth century. The sixteenth century saw growth in market towns in general, and in Halesworth substantial rebuilding and growth took place in Chediston Street, Market Place, London Road, and the Thoroughfare.
Economic growth continued in the seventeenth century and, although the wool export trade was declining in Suffolk, the market for linen yarn grew, as did the importance of the ‘St Luke’s Fair’ for trading in Suffolk Redpoll cattle, and Suffolk hard cheese. Even so, records show many vacant houses in Halesworth between 1662 and 1668 leading to the conclusion that re-use rather than new build during this period could be expected.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Halesworth was a prosperous and orderly market town, set on a low hill, surmounted by the church and set in lush water meadows. It was a mercantile centre for the surrounding prosperous dairy farms, and for small industries such as the spinning of linen yarn. Later in the century, Halesworth expanded rapidly from within, because of the increased efficiency of agriculture and improvements in communications with the Blyth Navigation between Halesworth and Southwold in 1761, and the opening of the Darsham-Halesworth-Bungay, and the Ipswich-Lowestoft-Southtown Turnpike Roads in 1786.
The improvement of the Blyth Navigation shaped eighteenth and nineteenth century Halesworth. Funded by the local landowners and merchants in 1759, it improved the accessibility of the producers of East Suffolk to the port at Southwold and, on the return trip, the availability of raw materials, including the importation of coal, iron and lime for malting, brewing, iron working and brick making in Halesworth. The improvements included a number of locks which deepened the river, and at Halesworth, the construction of a new canalised section called the New Cut { New Reach?]; also the quay and warehouses for unloading the wherries which could make the return trip to Southwold in two days.
Industrial scale malting and brewing began in the early years of the 18th-century when there were small maltings and breweries associated with the inns in the town.
Expansion in the industry was rapid in the early nineteenth century with the Halesworth Brewery, behind the Market Place, the Street Maltings, the Bridge Street Brewery between Bridge Street (now Quay Street) and the river, and the Riverside Maltings at the end of Angel Lane adjacent to the river. There are records of iron works, carriage works, brick yards, coal merchants, lime burning and other industries on the land between the river, Bridge Street and the Thoroughfare. The 1842 tithe map shows the road and river layout as it had evolved from medieval times and before the arrival of the railway in the middle of the century. Then Wisset Road was joined to Bridge Street, and Bridge Street extended to Bungay Road (now Station Road). London Road was then Pound Street, and Rectory Road was Mill Hill Street.
Halesworth appears to have expanded within itself, modernising the existing cottages and houses, and utilising the small streets or yards off the main roads for housing or industry. Rows of small terraced houses for artisans can be seen in Chediston Street and Pound Street, while numerous stores and workshops are evident on the rear land of properties in the Thoroughfare and Bridge Street. The maltsters, taking advantage of the railway, built large new maltings in 1890 in the station yard, and the New Cut Maltings in 1898.
There was an exceptionally extensive garden, associated with No. 18 the Thoroughfare, that extended from the Thoroughfare to the south bank of the river, land which is now the ‘Thoroughfare shoppers’ car park’ and the Town Park. The Suffolk Directory of 1879, described the chief trades of the town as corn and malting carried on by Mr R W Burleigh, Messrs Croft & Flick and Mr F B Strathern, and sent to London by rail and river; the carriage works of Messrs S Smith & Co employing seventy hands, and the breweries of Messrs Croft & Flick and Mr F B Strathern, a large repository stock being held on every alternate Wednesday. In addition to the Parish Church there was a Baptist Chapel, a Primitive Methodist Chapel and a Congregational Chapel. There were the banks of Gurney & Co, London & Provincial, Lacons Youell and Co and also the Blything Hundred Savings Bank and a ‘penny bank’ in the Market Place. There was a thriving cattle market, and also a market hall (The Corn Hall) which held four hundred persons, in the yard of the Angel Hotel, which was also used as an assembly room and a court room. It was built in 1841 and demolished to make way for the relief road. There was a town-room in the Thoroughfare, near the church, and also ‘The Institute’, with a library with two hundred books and a recreation room.
In the twentieth century Halesworth slowly returned to the tranquillity of Georgian times. The river silted up, the Southwold Railway closed, the maltings became redundant, the breweries declined, the iron works and carriage works closed, and with changing agricultural practices Halesworth’s role as an agricultural market centre ceased with the closure of the cattle market.
Halesworth continued to grow with the slow migration of the rural population into the town, and the employment provided by ‘Howard Rotavators’. The town grew slowly outward with local authority housing off the Bungay Road and speculative housing to the east of London Road.
Latterly, expansion has been rapid, due to the attractiveness of the town and its countryside as a place to live, both for commuting and in retirement. The construction of Saxon Way and the Angel Link in 1991 made a significant impact on the character of the town centre and its setting to the east of the town, and to the integrity of the historic street pattern and historic boundaries, bringing much needed relief from ever increasing volumes of heavy traffic through the historic town centre.
The archaeological significance of the area including the identification of any scheduled monuments
There is evidence of human activity from 10,000 years ago and continuous settlement from the Middle Saxon era. The central area of Halesworth around the Market Place, the Parish Church and along the Thoroughfare, and the plots behind, where they remain undeveloped, are likely to have significant archaeological potential. Excavations on the site of the Angel Link and Barclays Bank have yielded evidence of Iron Age and medieval activity, including pottery making, and metal working. In addition there are numerous sites on the County Sites & Monuments Record relating to the town’s industrial history, indicating its importance in this regard. The totality of the town’s medieval and post-medieval archaeology is important because of the completeness of its preservation and evidence of the evolution of a small market town, and because there is good evidence of evolving industrial practice, including some surviving industrial maltings, from medieval times to the late nineteenth century.
Action Plan
The Conservation Area
Conservation Areas were introduced through the Civic Amenities Act in 1967. Conservation Areas are ‘areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’. The Halesworth Conservation Area was first designated in 1970 and amended and enlarged in 1979 and 1997. It covers the historic core of the Town; the Churchyard; Market Place and the Thoroughfare and then connected to these are London Road; Chediston Street; Rectory Street and Quay Street. [Map copyright?]
Designation as a Conservation Area is not intended to prevent new development or stifle the area’s economic life or potential, though the District Council will expect a high degree of attention to be paid to design, repair and maintenance in such areas and, when exercising planning powers, will pay special attention to the preservation and enhancement of the conservation area according to the policies for the built environment set out in the adopted Waveney District Local Plan of November 1996, the Interim Local Plan of May 2004 and the emerging Local Development Framework [LDF].
In recognition of these policies and in line with the requirements of the 1990 Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act, Waveney District Council will continue to formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the conservation area and consult the public on these proposals.
The Halesworth Conservation Area Management Plan [WDC 2006] details the following actions for the Conservation Area:
- The surfaces in the conservation area, particularly the perimeter streets, are looking tired, patched and worn, and an audit of their condition is recommended as a basis for a programme of enhancement.
- Boundary walls and railings, with pretty finials, are a feature of the conservation area.
- It is recommended that owners are encouraged to repair their walls and railings where necessary, and that reinstatement of railings is carried out with good quality replacements.
- Historic windows and doors make a significant contribution to the appearance of the buildings in the conservation area. It is recommended that the Article 4(2) Direction of the Planning Act remains in force over the conservation area, and is imposed onto the new extensions.
- Article 4(2) directions make further restrictions on permitted development rights to residential properties in conservation areas. Once these have been imposed in an area, it means that planning permission will be required to make any change of design or material to any part of the property facing a public thoroughfare. Because these controls are a removal of what would otherwise be ‘permitted development’, the planning application is free. Elevations of a property not visible from a public place are not affected and these enjoy the normal ‘permitted development’ rights for a conservation area.
- Chediston Street In some parts of Chediston Street, particularly on the south side, the yards have been substantially enlarged for residential development, and cottages built against the pavement edge have been lost, and particularly in the centre of the street there are gaps in the historic building line where the historic grain has been diluted with non-contextual twentieth century development. The general condition of the area is good though vulnerable to economic recession. Around the centre of the street, the built-up frontages are significantly interrupted, and it would be good to see the reinstatement of the building line along or set back a little from the back pavement edge.
- London Road There is mid-twentieth century, low density housing on the east side of London Road behind timber fencing which does not positively contribute to the character of the conservation area, and there is an opportunity here for soft landscaping to soften the visual impact of the fencing.
There is also an opportunity for minor repair and enhancement of the forecourts of the Rifle Hall and the Methodist Chapel.
- Station and quays There is an opportunity for the interpretation of the Blyth Navigation of 1759, and the repair of its relics in the Town Park. This could coincide with the redevelopment of the builders yard in Quay Street where the quay and the river could be made features of the redevelopment scheme. Here it is important that the new buildings do not turn their backs to the River. Also a management plan is desirable for the park which takes into account its historic interest and develops management regimes which cater for the present needs of the community, including the conservation of the cultural heritage and the protection of the natural environment.
- Town Centre Site There is a large gap in the historic core, left by the dissolution of the garden of Crabtree House and the demise of the nineteenth century industries between the Thoroughfare and the River. Following the construction of Saxon Way in 1991, these areas have been used for car parking, or for small warehouse trading. The consequence is a fragmentation of the historic grain of the area and the opening up of the backs of the Thoroughfare buildings into the public realm. Further redevelopment is planned, and a small supermarket has outline planning approval. It is essential here that the new building remains in scale and in character with the area. Also it will be desirable for the new buildings to make new spaces of a human scale compatible with the character of the area and that the buildings, now appearing fragmented and disordered at the rear of the Thoroughfare, are knitted back into a visually coherent design. A high standard of hard and soft landscaping will be necessary, including the boundary against Saxon Way.
- Shoppers’ car park The entrance from the shoppers’ car park via the arch into the Thoroughfare is of visual interest, though dominated by the disabled persons’ toilet and the parked cars jammed into the space. Consideration could be given to providing concessions to the property owners for car parking in the shoppers’ car park, and so freeing up the congested space for an enhancement of the area.
- Churchyard The churchyard has an air of pleasing decay about it, though some monuments are in need of repair, and at the time of survey, the vegetation was unkempt. A management plan is desirable, which reconciles the requirements of conserving the historic environment and wildlife, with the needs of the congregation and Halesworth visitors and residents.
- Angel Link The townscape is not yet fully recovered from the 1991 relief road changes, and the Angel Link still appears visually inappropriate, having introduced twentieth century highway geometry into and adjacent to a medieval street layout. A minor enhancement, probably one of introducing slow growing standard trees in the Angel Yard, or along the back line of the pavement, may help to visually reduce the street width to something more appropriate for the location.
- Opportunities for spot listing
- 144 Chediston Street
- 133 Chediston Street
- Gates and railings, 133 Chediston Street
- 35 and 36 London Road
- Rifle Hall, London Road
- 5-7 Station Road
- WWII pill box, Station Road
- Halesworth Station moving platforms
- 45 Thoroughfare
