Holdenhurst Village Conservation Area Appraisal - Bournemouth ...

10 Assessment of Existing Boundary
10.1 An important aspect of the appraisal
process is to assess whether or not the
existing Conservation Area boundary
should be revised. In response to this
and upon completion of the detailed
assessment of the significance of the
area it was considered that east and
west Holdenhurst were so closely linked
that it would be a natural progression
to combine the two Conservation Areas.
10.2 The original boundary of the two
separate Conservation Areas focused on
the buildings in determining character
as opposed to looking more widely at
the historical integrity and significance
of the landscape as a whole.
10.3 It was also decided to revise the north
east boundary of the conservation area,
to follow the Bournemouth Borough
boundary line, reflecting the fact that
a small area of Holdenhurst Village lies
within the Borough of Christchurch.
10.4 The adoption of this Appraisal
confirmed the revised boundary of the
conservation area and the boundary
changes are shown in Figure 15.
Extended Area 1
10.5 As well as there being close
connections between the two
residential clusters of properties today,
historically the two parts of the village
would have been interlinked. For
example, with the church to the east
and vicarage to the west.
10.6 The original Holdenhurst East boundary
was drawn up in the 1970s before the
Manor Farmyard development was
constructed. The boundary followed
the edges of various farm buildings that
have long since been demolished. As
Figure 15 demonstrates, the original
boundary ran straight through the
gardens of Manor Farm Barn, The
Goslings, Oak Tree Cottage, Bramleys
and The Old Farm. This resulted in a
slightly unusual situation whereby the
dwellings were in the Conservation
Area but the majority of the rear
gardens were excluded.
10.7 It is also considered important to
include landscape features beyond
the residential properties. Extending
the boundary beyond the Manor Farm
Development allows for the inclusion
of the remains of the watery landscape
that once assisted the farming
community in Holdenhurst. In the past
Holdenhurst regularly flooded and the
ditches of former streams (now cut
off) and ponds they fed are evident in
places.
10.8 The importance of the agricultural and
grazing land in and around the village
to the setting of the dwellings should
not be underestimated. The swathe
of fields contributes to a sense of
openness and facilitates views towards
the village from the urban fringes of
north Bournemouth.
10.9 The remaining field boundaries most
likely date to the Inclosure Act,
however the patchwork of fields could
contain a remnant of the medieval
open field system. Comparing the
aerial photo (Figure 3) with the historic
map of 1924 (Figure 7) it can be seen
that several of the fields have been
increased in size over the last century.
It was considered important to retain
the remaining field boundaries and to
this end it was a natural step to extend
the Conservation Area across the fields.
10.10 The Longbarrow Allotments were
established in Holdenhurst in 1999
following the sale of the land to
the Council from the Cooper Dean
Estate (with covenants). They form
an important community asset for
residents in the surrounding area.
The allotments are well used and
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Holdenhurst Village Conservation Area Appraisal - March 2014