CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT - Stroud District Council

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CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT - Conservation Area No7: FRAMPTON ON SEVERN
The Spaces in Sub Area 5: The Canal
Open space takes seven main forms within this sub-area:
The Canal
The ‘neat’ towpath adjacent to houseboat moorings
The ’untamed’ towpath
Roads
Car parks
Yards
Manicured space
Unsurprisingly, this is a very linear sub- area. The Gloucester- Sharpness canal is raised on a causeway and this
slightly elevated position affords it fine views over the village to the east, but more particularly across the Severn to
the western hills opposite.
The water appears as a sharp, flat, highly engineered slice, cutting through the landscape, startling in its contrast with
the natural environment. Although the canal is rigidly contained in its hard edged channel, its appearance is slightly
softened by the grassy verges of its towpaths, and by the water- loving trees that line them.
The Gloucester- Sharpness is still actively used, not only by walkers on the towpaths, but also close to the bridges,
as moorings for houseboats. With their flower pots and bicycles, and neatly cut verges, they give their surroundings
a quaintly and eccentrically domestic appearance and add a very picturesque element to the scene.
At either end of the sub- area are wider pockets, containing the bridges and keepers’ houses, and, at Frampton wharf,
the early industrial buildings of the former Cadbury’s factory.
Stroud District Council