WHC is pleased to share that scheduled monument consent has been granted for works to a non-designated heritage asset (NDHA) within a scheduled monument.
The scheduled site is moated and within it sits an NDHA farmhouse, several unlisted farm buildings and a listed dovecote. The moat is thought to date from the 12th century and may have included a manor house at the time. The farmhouse is early 18th century, and the dovecote is late 18th century.
The farmhouse had been through numerous changes including being subdivided into two properties, change to its main entrance, internal alterations, new extensions built and removed, etc. As a result, it was a challenge to properly understand its history and evolution. There was some remaining original historic fabric including two inglenooks, flat faced balusters in the attic space, timber floors on upper levels, some timber framing and beams, etc.
The proposal was for alterations and extensions to the NDHA for which we wrote a historic impact assessment (HIA) report to accompany the planning application. We were pleased that the planning application was also approved.
Our work demonstrated that over the centuries the moated site had been disturbed numerous times. If there was a manor house within the moat, then its demolition took place. In addition, the site became a working farmstead and had seen numerous farm buildings, sheds, etc. come and go. There was also photographic evidence of previous extensions to the NDHA that had been built and removed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result, the new proposal had a reduced risk of disturbing the potential for archaeological finds as the area had already been disrupted before.
The moat was only scheduled in the year 2000, which means that any works that took place within the site prior to that date were done without the need for consent. We queried this in our report as the question of disturbing any archaeology may have already taken place many years ago. There are conditions associated with the SMC that will require archaeological interventions to ensure if there is any evidence or remains of the site's history that they will be properly recorded and dealt with.
Do you have any interesting heritage projects that could use our expertise on? If so, please get in touch.
Comments