- THE STUDY AREA IN ITS SETTING - The landscape and geology ...

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEW- THE STUDY AREA IN ITS SETTING -The landscape and geology of the Stroud area hasimpacted on the character of the settlementswhich populate the Study Area in a number ofways, from the types of building materials mosteasily sourced, to the types of industries thatdeveloped. The local topography forms asignificant component of views and vistas intoand out of the Study Area.page 26

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWTHE STUDY AREA IN ITS SETTING4.1 The landscape and geology of the Stroudarea has impacted on the character of thesettlements which populate the Study Areain a number of ways, from the types ofbuilding materials most easily sourced, tothe types of industries that developed. Thesurrounding landscape greatly influences thefirst impressions gained on approach toStroud and many of the IHCA’s othersettlements. The local topography forms asignificant component of views and vistasinto and out of the Study Area.4.2 An abundance of natural watercourses madethe Stroud Valleys ideal as the base formanufacturing and industry, as the flowingwater provided power for the mills. A goodclean water supply was also necessary forwashing the wool used in cloth production.Industrial development naturally occurredalong the valley bottoms, notably the FromeValley, where mills could also be close toprogressively improving transport links.4.3 Today, Stroud is at the centre of an extensivenetwork of road and rail links andwaterways. Many of the earliest roads thatserved the settlement ran along the tops ofthe hills, and their extreme steepness andmuddiness was a deterrent to much traffic.This certainly inhibited transport and tradelinks and rather isolated the early settlement.However, the 18 th and particularly the 19 thcenturies saw transport improvements,including the construction of two majorcanals, crucially linking the Severn estuarywith the navigable river Thames, plus anumber of major new turnpike roads whichran along the valley bottoms, many of whichreplaced existing hilltop routes.4.4 Many of the improvements to transportinfrastructure led to the intensification ofdevelopment along the valley bottoms.Often this was in quite distinct phases, as forexample with the masses of new 19 th centuryhousing which began lining the brand newmain roads. The arrival of the canal and,later, the railways, introduced easy access toa wider range of building materials, meaningthat the products of the local geologybecame subtly less evident in the buildingswhich sprang up.Left:An outcrop ofoolitic limestonein the AveningValley. Therubblestone andfreestone layerscan be clearlyseen.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 27

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWGEOLOGY4.5 Between about 185 and 140 million yearsago, during the Jurassic period, a vastlimestone belt was created, stretchingbetween Lincolnshire and the Dorset coast.The Cotswolds, a region of ambiguousboundaries, is usually held to constitute thehighest part of this belt, a plateau which risesfrom the east in Oxfordshire and descends ina dramatic escarpment to the west, withinsight of Stroud.4.6 During the Jurassic period, a shallow seacovered the area, in which a sequence ofsediments settled into alternating layers or‘strata’ of clay, sand and limestone. Althoughthe beds of sediment were each laid downon a virtually horizontal level, subsequentprocesses have resulted in shifts in theterrain, so that, in places, strata of quitediverse ages and substance have ended upnext to each other. The whole Cotswoldplateau has been tilted, so that the west hasrisen up, while the east has sunk. Erosionand climatic changes have also played theirpart in shaping the landscape.4.7 In the past, the whole Cotswold formationwas known as The Oolite, due to theprevalence of this form of limestonethroughout the region. Limestone, and inparticular oolitic limestone, is extremelypermeable, and where it meets beds ofimpervious clay, water is driven out in theform of springs. Hence the Cotswolds areriddled with streams and brooks as well asrivers. These have been highly active in theformation of the topography, carving deepand complex valleys into the ‘Oolite’plateau, a process which continues andmeans that the landscape is ever changing.4.8 Due to its porous nature, oolitic limestone is‘soft’ when it is newly extracted and may beeasily worked. The mass of oolite is in twobasic layers, separated by a narrow bed ofFullers Earth: the older, deeper layers beingknown as the ‘Inferior Oolite’ and the upperlayers as ‘Great Oolite’.4.9 The tilt of the Cotswolds means that thelower layers, the ‘Inferior Oolite’, areexposed along the western escarpment,where they are more easily accessible thanin the eastern Cotswolds. The hills encirclingStroud were particularly rich in good qualityLower Inferior Oolite stones, known bymasons as ‘Freestones’, due to the ease withwhich they can be cut and dressed. Amongthese is Lower Freestone, of which the finePainswick Stone is a variety, and LowerLimestone, the eldest of the strata, of whichthere is a large outcrop at Frocester Hill.Upper Freestone is of poorer quality, mostlyused for burning, to create lime mortars andplasters. At Stroud, though, it was sufficientlygood to be used for many of the town’s‘rock-faced’ rusticated buildings.4.10 The Severn Vale has been subject to verydifferent geological processes. Though alsoformed in the Jurassic period, later ages haveseen the geology of the Vale stronglyinfluenced by the River Severn and itssmaller tributaries, including the river Frome.4.11 The Vale is essentially a large flood plain.Successive floods and changes in the courseof the rivers have left the older, Lower Lias,rocks covered with alluvial silts, pebbles andclays, the residue of the materials found onthe riverbeds.4.12 Clay is predominant in the Severn Valebelow Stroud. Its impermeable intractablenature has meant that the river Frome hasnot formed deep narrow incisions into thelandscape, but has instead created a broadand shallow river valley.4.13 The clay has proved useful in lining thefloors of millponds and canals in the area. Itis also ideal for brick making, providing abuilding material in an area lacking anabundant supply of stone.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 28

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWTOPOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE4.14 The Industrial Heritage Study Area falls intotwo very distinct topographical areas. To thewest of Stroud, slicing through the Cotswoldescarpment, is the river valley of the lowerFrome. As the Frome flows towards theSevern, this becomes increasingly broad andshallow, the landscape flattening out to the‘Vale’.4.15 To the north, south and east of the StudyArea are the Stroud valleys. The IHCA runsalong two of the most populated of these:the Chalford valley, through which the upperFrome flows, and the Nailsworth valley,which carries the Nailsworth Stream. Thesevalleys are steep sided, gradually descendingfrom the high ground of the Wolds towardsthe Severn Vale. Both have several smallervalleys branching from them. Two of thesebranch valleys – Toadsmoor in the Chalfordvalley and Avening in the Nailsworth valley– are included in the IHCA Study Area.4.16 Most of the hillsides overlooking the lengthof the study area are capped with Commonland. The relationships between thelandscape, transport links and the builtenvironment can be best appreciated whenviewed from the heights ofMinchinhampton, Rodborough and SelsleyCommons.4.17 Beyond Dudbridge, much of the LowerFrome valley is predominately rural: quietlanes are surrounded by water-meadowscontaining networks of ditches and drainsbordered by pollarded willow and eldertrees. The land has a variety of uses fromorchards, pasture and arable fields tomanaged parkland with mature specimentrees.4.18 The lack of stone in the Severn Vale hasstrongly influenced the overall look of thearea. Fields are bounded by hedges andmany village gardens are enclosed with ironrailings or walls constructed from bricksmade locally.4.19 The flat nature of the countryside givesprominence to man made features. There isobvious dialogue between the scatteredsettlements, the church towers sometimesbeing visible from one village to another.Other features such as the Stroudwatercanal, which crosses the countryside on a‘causeway’ here, electricity pylons andWorld War II pillboxes also clearly impacton the landscape.4.20 The Vale is cut from north to south by theM5 motorway and the A38, which break thegeneral east-west orientation of the historicriver/road/canal transport infrastructure. Thisis very apparent when viewed from the highground of the escarpment. The sound of themotorway can be heard from time to time.4.21 Mills punctuate the length of the conservationarea in the lower Frome valley, most ofwhich are, or have been, linked to thehistoric transport routes. The sense ofisolation of the mills and their originalsetting is largely preserved. This isparticularly evident when they are viewedfrom the water meadows, where, as atBond’s, Beard’s and Upper Mills, the millsare within sight of each other.4.22 The width of the valley and good transportlinks have allowed the mills to expand; the two‘supermills’, Ebley and Stanley, are clearlyvisible from the hills in Stroud, up to threemiles away.4.23 The topography has also allowedcommunities to grow up on the lower slopesof the shallow valley, many of them directlyrelated to the historic industrial landscape:canal settlements, such as Newtown, 19 thcentury roadside development, and millrelated buildings, including rows of workers’cottages.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 29

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWAbove:Fields are often enclosed byhedges and ditches or by ironfences in the Vale, while drystonewalls are more common in thevalleys. Church towers are majorvertical landmarks in this flatlandscapeTop left:A view of the Severn Vale fromSelsley Common. Stanley Mill, oneof Stroud’s ‘supermills’ is visiblebottom right.Left:The Cotswold escarpment forms adistinctive backdrop to manyviews across the flat Valelandscape.Bottom left and below:Since the late-19 th century, themain roads have been underincreasing development pressure,with gaps between settlementsbeing infilled by housing orindustry, creating an impression oflinear or continuous settlement,which is at odds with the historicisolation of many mills and smallersettlement groups. The rhythmicpattern of settlement along theFrome watercourse is still evidentonce you get off-road though.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 30

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEW4.24 Much of the road corridor has been infilledwith modern industry and housing, althoughthe access routes to the mills and hillsidecommunities still remain. Leaving the mainroad at right angles, the lanes are carriedover the river and canal by the many redbrick accommodation bridges. The land thatslopes away below the canal to the south hasremained largely undeveloped.4.25 Whilst views of the bare grassland of theescarpment provide a constant conspicuousbackdrop to the south of the Study Area,Doverow Hill in Stonehouse heralds the startof the more wooded hillside to the north.The impact of this hillside, with its scatteredweaving settlements such as Randwick andRuscombe, becomes greater as the lowerFrome valley approaches Stroud. From thispoint, the conservation area is defined andchannelled between the steep slopes of theupper Frome valleys’ sides.4.26 The hillside urban expansion of Stroud townand the Victorian red brick suburb ofRodborough dominate the eastern view atthis end of the western leg of the IHCA. Thebowl of the valley at the foot of the hill atWallbridge forms the meeting point of theIHCA transport infrastructure and from here,the Chalford and Nailsworth valleys branchaway.4.27 Unlike the lower Frome valley, the Stroudvalley legs to the east and south of the StudyArea are dominated by their landscape. Thehills, which rise sharply on both sides of thevalleys, are largely hung with beech woodsinterspersed with steeply sloping pasturefields.4.28 Mills are found along the length of the Stroudvalleys’ in the Study Area. These do not havequite the same visual impact on thelandscape as those in the lower Frome valley,however their scale and tall chimneys providelandmarks in the valley bottoms.4.29 Victorian roadside development, the additionof ancillary buildings to the mills and recenthousing developments on former mill siteshave, to an extent, blurred the boundariesbetween valley floor settlements. Inparticular, growing development has led tothe loss of the historic open spaces betweenmills, diminishing their once distinctiveisolation.4.30 It is possible to regain some sense of themills’ former settings by following nearbyfootpaths. However, the mills in the ChalfordValley can be appreciated best from the train.From this vantage point they can be viewedat close quarters, and the height of therailway line above the valley bottom allowsan understanding of the mill complexes as awhole.4.31 With the exception of small enclaves foundat key crossing points such as Bowbridge,and 19 th century red brick roadsidedevelopment, historic domestic settlement inthe Stroud Valleys has been predominantly onthe sides of the hills, rather than the valleyfloors.4.32 The houses cluster along the spring line onthe hillsides, usually around the paths androads that once linked the mills to the mainroutes out of the valleys. Along the length ofthe southern and eastern legs of the StudyArea, it is possible to see a direct linkbetween the mills in the valley bottoms, thehomes of the people who worked in themand the routes connecting the two. Many millworkers’ hamlets have expanded into largevillages, such as Amberley, Woodchester andChalford. Others, such as Bagpath, haveremained small and relatively isolated.4.33 The settlements, generally built between the17 th and early 19 th centuries, are predominatelyconstructed from stone, as are the mills theyserved. Their position on the steep hillsides hasentailed the construction of terraces of drystone retaining walls to support houses andgardens. Road and rail embankments have alsobeen shored up with massive stone walls; thenatural landscape has been painstakinglyartificially shaped to allow habitation andtransport infrastructure.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 31

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWTop left and top right:St Mary’s Mill, Chalford, and DunkirkMill, Nailsworth. The valley bases arepredominantly left to industry andagriculture, while settlement historicallyclustered along the springlines, withweaving hamlets perched above themills they served. Tall mill chimneyspunctuate the rhythmic pattern of mills,dotted along the River Frome, theNailsworth Stream and the ToadsmoorBrook.The deciduous wooded valley slopesform a colourful backdrop to manyviews in the eastern and southern legsof the Study Area.Far right and below:The lower valley slopes have often beenpainstakingly shaped, with viaducts andterraces (often dry stone walls) allowingthe steep land to be colonised forsettlement or to carry ‘layers’ oftransport infrastructure.Bottom right:At the extremities of the Study Area arethe “secluded valleys” (Avening Valley,Toadsmoor Valley and the GoldenValley beyond Chalford), where thewindowing watercourses carve up theflat watermeadows, and settlement issparseAnalysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 32

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEW4.34 The narrow Stroud valley floors have dictatedthe positioning of the transport links. This isparticularly obvious in the Chalford valleywhere the river, canal, road and railway runparallel with each other and are visuallyconnected for much of the length of theIHCA.4.35 This provides a perfect snapshot of thetransport system’s evolution in the valleysover hundreds of years. In contrast, theToadsmoor and Avening valleys give anindication of a less industrialised age, theirmills being largely untouched by theinfluence of the canal and railway.4.37 Towards the heads of the valleys, thetransport links begin to diverge: the mainroads wind uphill towards the escarpmentplateau and, in the Chalford valley, therailway line disappears into the Sappertontunnel. Only the canal and river remainparallel by the time the IHCA reaches its endpoint at Sapperton.4.38 The juxtaposition of the narrow winding riverwith the straight line of the Thames andSevern canal provides a clear insight into thereasoning behind the first improvement oftransport communications in the Stroudvalleys.4.36 As the valleys thread away from the stretchesof industrial development between Stroudand Brimscombe, and Rodborough andNailsworth, they become steeper andnarrower. The landscape becomespredominately rural and more denselywooded. Settlements are small and scatteredand the remnants of mill sites retain theirhistoric isolation.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 33