Conservation Areas

The Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk team set our Heritage Stewards the target of surveying all of the places of worship in the county. We and our partners, including English Heritage who wanted the data to use in their national Heritage at Risk publications, were incredibly impressed by what was achieved.

Instead of resting on our laurels we decided to set another target. This one being the completion of 54 conservation area surveys by March. Conservation area surveys are viewed as difficult because of the size of area that a volunteer covers as well as some of the concepts involved. But, as with all the surveys, once one is done the initial fear factor disappears.

The staff were also anxious about carrying out their first conservation area surveys. For my first one I decided to survey Hough on the Hill in South Kesteven. This was because I knew the village well as I’d visited the pub and church on a few occasions and I'd also surveyed a number of assets in the village.

I began the survey by reading through the help notes. This familiarised myself with all of the concepts involved in the designation of conservation areas. It also allowed me to familiarise myself with a number of the things I needed to keep any eye out for e.g. excessive street furniture, modern materials etc.

Once armed with a map I walked up and down all of the streets and footpaths that criss-crossed the village taking numerous photos (of positive and negative factors) along the way. I took notes on some of the more significant negative factors and why I thought they might contribute to the conservation area being at risk. It took me about 1 ½ hours to complete the survey. On returning to the office I filled out the form in detail (questions such as how many listed buildings in the CA are much easier to answer when in front of a computer). I then entered my results onto the website (http://www.lincshar.org/Hough-on-the-Hill)

I judged the area not to be at risk despite the presence of uPVC on several houses (none of which were listed) and some excessive street clutter. I was very pleased to see in the village traditional boundaries being introduced as well as the presence of traditional cobbled pathways.

Unfortunately there are too many conservation areas in the country that are in serious decline. English Heritage report that out of the 80% of the conservation areas where data exists 6.6% are considered to be at risk. That percentage figure might seem low but it means that over 500 conservation areas are at risk. 23 of these are in Lincolnshire including some of the counties most important historic centres including: Lincoln cathedral and city centre, Boston, Horncastle and Grantham (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/Conservation_Areas_at_Risk/).

A challenging year ahead

It’s the start of another busy year for the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk team and our volunteers as we approach the final stage of the project.

The challenge this year is to get the remaining surveys completed, of which there are just under 4,000. We have no doubt that our volunteers will rise to the challenge to help us achieve this. Last year alone they submitted 3,500 heritage asset surveys and we have had an overwhelming response to our appeal for new volunteers to join us. The forthcoming training day in Sleaford is already oversubscribed and we have had to close the bookings, never fear though as there are plenty more chances for those interested to get involved!

We have no doubt that our volunteers will rise to the challenge.

The team will be working very hard to offer an action packed line up of events, take a look at what we have to offer;

·         Dr Matthew Godfrey will be re-running his popular How to read a parish Church talk

·         We’ll see the return of the hugely successful Hands on Heritage residential for young people

·         There will be chance to find out more about how to care for historic buildings at our Louth conservation day

·         The team will be continuing their work with St Francis Community Special School on their ‘Church Detectives’ project

·         We have three local heritage discovery days lined up in Spalding, Grantham and Lincoln

·         Students at Bishop Grosseteste University College will be learning about the project and helping us to complete surveys in the Lincoln area

·         We’ll be holding a number of volunteer catch up sessions around the county

·         Volunteers will have another opportunity to explore the estate at Belton with our Parks and Gardens event

·         And finally… the year will be rounded off with a Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk conference!

Join us at Ayscoughfee Hall for the Spalding Heritage Discovery Day. 

If you are interested if attending any of these events further details are available on our project website www.lincshar.org

We look forward to seeing you there!

Natalie, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Out with the Old, in with the New!

As we enter 2012 there are plenty of heritage-related topics to look back upon as well as to look forward to.

It’s heartening to learn that the general target set by the LHAR project for surveying all its Heritage Assets appears to be ‘on-target’. I recall first becoming a LHAR volunteer and can admit now to feeling a little sceptical about the enormous amount of surveys which were to be completed during the allocated period of the project. I began to realise the potential of a committed team of volunteers however, when last September the hundreds of “Places of Worship” surveys were all completed on time!

Volunteers surveyed all 592 of Lincolnshire's churches.

A theme I have returned to several times in my blog postings in 2011 is the subject of thefts from church property, specifically roofing lead and other valuable metal-ware. The subject remains an all too regular feature in the local and national media. An article that appeared in the Daily Telegraph this week reported that Ecclesiastical, the Church of England’s insurer, received 2,500 claims in 2011; the worst on record. Chelmsford, Essex had the unenviable honour of having the highest number of claims (90), Lincolnshire and Staffordshire were in joint second place, having submitted over 80 claims each. With a spokesperson for the insurer declaring the incidence of metal thefts as being ‘virtually endemic’, the problem shows no real signs of abating. Communities continue to take increasingly desperate measures to combat the problem including organising sleep-overs to keep watch for intruders. Another church committee have been advised to remove the roof lead on their church themselves, rather than leaving the buildings vulnerable to thieves! Locally and in the past month, a church in Gainsborough had 150 year old pieces of silver stolen. It’s just as well that moves appear to be afoot in central government to review the current legislation surrounding the custom and practice of cash transactions in the scrap metal industry. This may be at least one area where the easy off-loading of stolen goods can be addressed. Let’s hope that any changes are introduced promptly. In the meantime, those sufficiently concerned can log onto the following online petition to encourage urgent debate on the matter.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406

Lead theft from church roofs is a common problem in Lincolnshire. 

As Heritage Volunteer Stewards we are fortunate to be kept informed as to progress and future plans of the LHAR project through the monthly newsletter, compiled by the team based at Heckington. Receiving the newsletter each month by e-mail is a really effective means of communicating what the project has achieved so far as well as informing volunteers of other activities such as planned educational events, related to Lincolnshire’s heritage. Short reports about recent and proposed social events and a monthly photography competition all serve to keep the newsletter very much an interactive medium. As a footnote to 2011 then, and on behalf of all the Heritage Stewards, I’d like to thank the team for an informative and entertaining newsletter each month!


Colin, Heritage Steward