# / . 4 % 8 4 - ! 2 # ( SUBDIVIDE BYELAW OR TERRACED HOUSING INTO PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT 4HE MAPPING IS ON A WHOLE TOWN BASIS SO TH CENTURY TYPES ARE INCLUDED AS ARE SEMI NATURAL TYPES SUCH AS 3ALTMARSH OR $UNES WHERE THEY FALL WITHIN THE URBAN AREA 4O DATE THE ,ANCASHIRE PROJECT TEAM HAS IDENTIFIED (ISTORIC 5RBAN #HARACTER TYPES 4HE NUMBER IS LIKELY TO INCREASE AS MORE TOWNS ARE ADDED TO THE SURVEY AND NEW TYPES ARE ENCOUNTERED 4HE TYPES ARE BY DEFINITION GENERIC IN THAT THEY MAY OCCUR IN ANY OF THE TOWNS STUDIED 4HIS PROVIDES AN ESSENTIAL STARTING POINT IN TERMS OF THE EVALUATION BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IT IS POSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY THE AMOUNT OF A PARTICULAR TYPE THAT EXISTS IN A SUB REGION %FFECTIVE POLICY AND INFORMED DECISION MAKING RESTS ON OBTAINING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXTENT AND RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THAT WHICH EXISTS 00' $#-3 $%42 P #LEARLY THE ABILITY TO MAP THE LOCATION AND QUANTITY OF THE COMMONPLACE AND THE LOCALLY DISTINCT MAKES A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THAT PROCESS 4O THIS THE ,ANCASHIRE TEAM HAS ADDED AN ASSESSMENT OF @COMPLETENESS THE EXTENT FOR EXAMPLE TO WHICH AN AREA OF 6ICTORIAN BYELAW MILL WORKERS HOUSING RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL ATTRIBUTES OF PERHAPS A CHURCH SCHOOL COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE PUB SHOPS URBAN PARK OR ASSOCIATED MILL AND @CONDITION OF BUILDINGS OR OF ASSOCIATED OPEN SPACES FOR EXAMPLE SUCH AS THE SURVIVAL OF COBBLED SURFACES 4HE OUTPUTS OF THE ,ANCASHIRE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE TECHNICAL REPORTS ON EACH OF THE TOWNS A GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FOR THE USE OF THE LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY AND A SUITE OF ')3 INFORMATION 4HE TECHNICAL REPORTS DESCRIBE THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN INCLUDING THE PRE URBAN INFLUENCES UPON THE TOWNSCAPE AND THE CURRENT HISTORIC URBAN CHARACTER 4HE EMPHASIS IS ALWAYS ON THE @HISTORIC DIMENSION TO CHARACTER n THE EXPLANATION AS TO WHEN BUILDING FORMS MATERIALS AND FUNCTIONS OCCUR AND THE HISTORICAL REASONS BEHIND CHANGE 4HE GUIDANCE DOCUMENT PROVIDES A DISTILLATION OF THE TECHNICAL REPORT SUMMARISING THE HISTORIC CHARACTER OF EACH TOWN AND LAYERING IT WITH A BROAD ASSESSMENT 4HE DOCUMENT CULMINATES IN A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDING PROPOSALS FOR THE CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF HISTORIC URBAN CHARACTER WHICH MAY BE TAKEN FORWARD DIRECTLY AS DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICY OR THROUGH SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE OR USED TO INFORM REGENERATION PROPOSALS 4HE #ORNWALL AND 3CILLY 5RBAN 3URVEY PROJECT IS ALSO USING CHARACTERISATION TO UNDERPIN DECISIONS REGARDING THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT (ERE #ORNWALL #OUNTY #OUNCIL S (ISTORIC %NVIRONMENT 3ERVICE IS INVESTIGATING HISTORIC TOWNS WITH FUNDING FROM /BJECTIVE AND 3OUTH 7EST 2$! AS WELL AS %NGLISH (ERITAGE !S THE FUNDING STREAMS INDICATE A PRIMARY FOCUS FOR THE PROJECT IS ON REGENERATION PLANNING WHERE CHARACTERISATION IS OFFERED AS A MEANS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT TO PROVIDE THE @BASIS FOR A POSITIVE APPROACH TO PLANNING FUTURE CHANGE WHICH WILL MAINTAIN AND REINFORCE THE HISTORIC CHARACTER AND INDIVIDUALITY OF EACH AREA 4HERE ARE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE ,ANCASHIRE 2EFERENCES %DE * WITH $ARLINGTON * ,ANCASHIRE (ISTORIC ,ANDSCAPE #HARACTERISATION 0ROGRAMME ,ANCASHIRE #OUNTY #OUNCIL REPORT !LSO AVAILABLE ON #$ 2/- $ARLINGTON * @-APPING ,ANCASHIRE S (ISTORIC ,ANDSCAPE IN &AIRCLOUGH '* AND 2IPPON 3 %DS %UROPE S #ULTURAL ,ANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE %!# /CCASIONAL 0APER &AIRCLOUGH '* @#ULTURAL ,ANDSCAPE AND 3PATIAL 0LANNING IN 'REEN , - AND "IDWELL 0 4 %DS (ERITAGE OF THE .ORTH 3EA 2EGION $ONHEAD &AIRCLOUGH '* ,AMBRICK ' -C.AB ! %DS 9ESTERDAY S7ORLD 4OMORROW S ,ANDSCAPE %NGLISH (ERITAGE ,ONDON *OHN $ARLINGTON IS TEAM LEADER SPECIALIST ADVISORY SERVICES WITH ,ANCASHIRE #OUNTY #OUNCIL S ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE AND #ORNWALL METHODOLOGIES WITH BOTH PROJECTS PROVIDING A NARRATIVE ON THE CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EACH TOWN AND AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BELOW GROUND ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL AS WELL AS PRESENTING CHARACTERISATIONS OF TODAY S URBAN AREA 7HERE THEY DIFFER IS IN THE SCALE AND RESOLUTION OF WORK IN THE FOCUS AND DETAIL OF ADVICE PROVIDED AND IN THE STARTING POINT FOR CHARACTERISATION 4HE ,ANCASHIRE PROJECT COVERS BOTH A GREATER NUMBER OF TOWNS AND A CONSIDERABLY LARGER URBAN EXTENT THAN THAT OF #ORNWALL BUT THE RESOLUTION OF THE PROJECT n THE @GRAIN OF CHARACTERISATION n IS CORRESPONDINGLY COARSER 7HEREAS THE ,ANCASHIRE PROJECT IS MORE CONCERNED WITH STRATEGIC LAND USE PLANNING AND POLICY THE #ORNWALL WORK IS MORE FOCUSED ON REGENERATION OPPORTUNITIES WITH RELATIVELY DETAILED ADVICE OFFERED ON INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER AREAS IN EACH TOWN RANGING FROM CREATING IDENTIFIED NEW PUBLIC ACCESS VANTAGE POINTS TO THE REPAIR AND REINSTATEMENT OF SPECIFIC LENGTHS OF RAILING 4HESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE COUCHED IN TERMS OF INFORMING FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING STRATEGIES RATHER THAN BEING PRESCRIPTIVE DESIGN GUIDES 0ERHAPS THE LARGEST DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF APPROACH HOWEVER IS IN PROJECTS STARTING POINT WITH THE WORK IN ,ANCASHIRE BEGINNING IN THE DEFINITION OF GENERIC HISTORIC CHARACTER TYPES WHICH ARE SUBSEQUENTLY SPLIT INTO UNIQUE HISTORIC URBAN CHARACTER AREAS 4HE HISTORIC URBAN TYPE @BYELAW TERRACED HOUSING FOR EXAMPLE IS FOUND ACROSS THE COUNTY BUT IN EACH LOCATION WHERE IT OCCURS FURTHER DESCRIPTION IS PROVIDED TO GENERATE UNIQUE DATASETS @7INDSOR 4ERRACE FOR EXAMPLE IS A HISTORIC URBAN CHARACTER AREA WITHIN THE @BYELAW TYPE 4HE #ORNWALL APPROACH GOES STRAIGHT TO DEFINING URBAN CHARACTER AREAS WHICH BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL UNIQUE MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO MAKE SUBREGIONAL COMPARISONS 4HESE VARIATIONS ARE SEEN AS A STRENGTH OF THE TECHNIQUE REFLECTING AMETHODOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY THAT ALLOWS DIFFERENT RESPONSES TO INDIVIDUAL PROJECT AIMS AS RECOMMENDED AT THE OUTSET IN &AIRCLOUGH ET AL 4HEY ARE HIGHLIGHTED TO ILLUSTRATE JUST SOME OF THE RANGE OF USES TO WHICH HISTORIC URBAN CHARACTERISATION MAY BE PUT DEPENDING UPON THE SCALE AND DESIRED APPLICATION $ESPITE THESE DIFFERENCES THE OVERALL PHILOSOPHY OF THE CHARACTER APPROACH WITHIN BOTH PROJECTS IS THE SAME n PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE BASE ON THE HISTORIC URBAN ENVIRONMENT DEFINING THE HISTORIC CHARACTER OF AND WITHIN TOWNS AND THROUGH THAT PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR THE REINFORCEMENT OF HISTORIC CHARACTER AND LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS #HARACTERISATION PROVIDES A TOOL TO FACILITATE INFORMED CONSERVATION BE IT AT A COUNTY LANDSCAPE SCALE AT THE SCALE OF AN INDIVIDUAL TOWN OR AT THAT OF A SPECIFIC CONSERVATION AREA )T WILL NOT REPLACE TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES OF IDENTIFYING AND APPRAISING BUILDINGS OR TOWNSCAPE n THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A NEED FOR BUILDING OR STRUCTURE SPECIFIC SURVEY AND POLICY n BUT IT DOES GENERATE A DIALOGUE WHERE NONE WAS POSSIBLE BEFORE !S SUCH CHARACTERISATION WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSERVATION PRACTITIONERS TO PROMOTE GREATER UNDERSTANDING AND POSITIVE CHANGE
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