Appraisal no 4 Ealing Green Conservation area ... - Ealing Council

Appraisal no 4 

Ealing Green 

Conservation area 

Location 

The conservation area stretches from the south end of St Mary’s Road north to the 

junction of Ealing Green with Bond Street and High Street, then west along Mattock 

Lane as far as its junction with Churchfield and Somerset Roads, including 

Culmington Road and the open space of Walpole Park. 

Designation details 

The conservation area was designated in 1969, and extended in 1982 and 1992. A 

Policy and Design Guide for Shopfronts and Advertisements in the conservation area 

was published in 1984. 

History 

Ealing was already a large village by the late eighteenth century, stretching from the 

old centre around the parish church northward towards the hamlet of Haven Green 

close to the main Uxbridge Road. To the south west was a smaller settlement known 

as Little Ealing, and to the west another small settlement known as Ealing Dean with 

its centre at the west end of Mattock Lane. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Ealing became a popular rural retreat 

for the aristocratic and wealthy. However, apart from Sir John Soane’s Pitshanger 

Manor, few of the once numerous country seats survive. The development that 

followed the arrival of the railways (the GWR in 1838 and the Metropolitan District 

Line in 1879) saw Ealing transformed from village to suburb, becoming a UDC in 

1894 and a borough in 1901. The local surveyor and architect, Charles Jones, was a 

major figure in the development of Ealing, being responsible not only for the layout 

of the streets and their services but also for all the major civic buildings. 

Special interest 

The conservation area can be broken down into three main sub-areas. 

The first sub-area takes in the whole length of St Mary’s Road and Ealing Green, 

running north-south from Bond Street and Pitshanger Manor to St Mary’s Church. 

The second sub-area includes Mattock Lane and the roads at its western end. The 

third sub-area is the important open space of Walpole Park. 

St Mary’s Road is a gently curving street of considerable townscape value, combining 

changing views and the open space of the Green with its large trees, with a mix of 

buildings of architectural and historic interest throughout its varied length. At the 

north end, Bond Street is a good example of Edwardian commercial streetscape (red 

brick with stone dressings), the view north being closed by the fine Edwardian 

elevation of New Broadway. Soane’s Pitshanger Manor faces onto the widest part of 

the Green, which is closed on its east side by a fine terrace of shops containing an

original chemist’s shop front and interior. Soane’s north-east gateway to Pitshanger 

Manor consists of a rubbed red brick arch with pilasters of knapped flint. To the 

south, facing the Green, are the main gates to the house and the War Memorial. The 

Green gradually narrows towards the south, and both sides of St Mary’s Road are 

lined with good examples of buildings from the eighteenth century onward, with the 

celebrated Ealing Studios on the west side. The road continues past good examples of 

Victorian villas, but the continuity of the middle section is interrupted by the larger 

scaled new buildings of the Thames Valley University campus, and the modern brickbuilt 

YMCA hostel. 

The road curves gently to the west as it approaches the junction with South Ealing 

Road and Church Lane, and the tower of Teulon’s St Mary’s Church is the major 

landmark. A scattering of attractive small houses remains near the church, and 

buildings of interest include the houses and cottages in Church Lane (nos 1, 15-17), St 

Mary’s Road (nos 72-74) and the Georgian terraces in St Mary’s Square. Westfield 

House (94 St Mary’s Road) is a grander late-Georgian house, whilst 1 Church Lane is 

a well preserved house dating from 1720. St Mary’s Place, approached through an 

archway, used to house the stables for the adjoining New Inn (originally a coaching 

inn). 

Mattock Lane links Ealing Green at its east end with the area around St John’s Church 

at its western end, and the north side is lined with large villas dating from 1860 

onwards, in stock brick with stucco trim, some having shallow gables with decorative 

brackets. The later versions have red brick and tile trim. At the west end of Mattock 

Lane a small group of earlier houses with stucco trim survives. Mattock Lane, 

Churchfield Road and Somerset Road all converge on the battlemented tower of St 

John’s Church, the area’s major landmark. 

Walpole Park was opened to the public in 1901, and the cedars on the west lawn date 

back to the eighteenth century as does the walled kitchen garden. The ornamental 

gardens were landscaped in 1800 by John Haverfield of Kew. The earlier serpentine 

lake was replaced as a sunken garden in the 1920s. At its north end is a picturesque 

bridge of flint and cyclopean masonry, designed by Soane in 1802, together with a 

number of sculptured stone fragments. The park is listed grade II by English Heritage 

on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. 

Listed buildings 

Pitshanger Manor (1770-1802) G Dance the Younger and Sir John Soane (grade I) 

Entrance archway and gates at Pitshanger Manor (1802) Sir John Soane (grade I) 

Bridge at northern end of Walpole Park (early c19) Sir John Soane (grade II*) 

Bench at northern end of Walpole Park (early c19) Sir John Soane (grade II) 

Lodge at Pitshanger Manor (early c19) (grade II) 

North boundary wall to Walpole Park fronting Mattock Lane (late c18) (grade II) 

Church of St Mary (1866-73) S S Teulon (grade II*) 

19-23 and 94 St Mary’s Road (grade II) 

1 and 15 Church Lane (grade II) 

Morgan House, Wrexham Lodge and Willow House, Ealing Green (grade II) 

St Mary’s House, Ealing Green (grade II) 

Gates and railings to St Mary’s House (grade II)

Pine Cottage and Thorpe Lodge, Ealing Green (grade II) 

Chemist’s shop, 22-22a The Green (grade II) 

Church of St John (1875) E H Horne (grade II) 

86 Mattock Lane (grade II)

EALING GREEN 

CONSERVATION AREA 

Character Appraisal 

DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION 

DECEMBER 2007

EALING GREEN CONSERVATION AREA 

CHARACTER APPRAISAL 

Ealing Green Conservation Area 


1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3 

1.1. THE DEFINITION AND PURPOSE OF CONSERVATION AREAS ..................................................................3 

1.2. THE PURPOSE AND STATUS OF THIS APPRAISAL.................................................................................3 

1.3. SUMMARY OF SPECIAL INTEREST .....................................................................................................5 

2. LOCATION AND SETTING...............................................................................................7 

2.1. LOCATION AND CONTEXT ................................................................................................................7 

2.2. GENERAL CHARACTER AND PLAN FORM............................................................................................7 

2.3. LANDSCAPE SETTING .....................................................................................................................8 

3. HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT AND ARCHAEOLOGY.........................................................8 

3.1. HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................................8 

3.2. ARCHAEOLOGY ...........................................................................................................................13 

4. SPATIAL ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................... 14 

4.1. THE CHARACTER AND INTER-RELATIONSHIP OF SPACES WITHIN THE AREA ..........................................14 

4.2. KEY VIEWS AND VISTAS ................................................................................................................16 

5. THE CHARACTER OF THE CONSERVATION AREA .................................................... 17 

5.1. CHARACTER AREAS AND THE QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURE ................................................................17 

5.1.1. Sub Area no 1: The Ealing Green and St Mary’s Road ......................................................18 

5.1.2. Sub Area no 2 Mattock Lane.............................................................................................23 

5.1.3. Sub Area no 3 Walpole Park ............................................................................................26 

5.2. KEY UNLISTED BUILDINGS .............................................................................................................27 

5.3. BUILDING MATERIALS AND LOCAL DETAILS ......................................................................................28 

5.4. CONTRIBUTION OF OPEN SPACES, TREES AND LANDSCAPE ...............................................................30 

5.5. THE EXTENT OF INTRUSION OR DAMAGE (NEGATIVE FACTORS) ........................................................31 

5.6. PUBLIC REALM AND STREET FURNITURE .........................................................................................33 

5.7. GENERAL CONDITION ...................................................................................................................33 

5.8. PROBLEMS, PRESSURES AND CAPACITY FOR CHANGE ......................................................................34 

6. SUGGESTED BOUNDARY CHANGES .......................................................................... 34 

7. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ........................................................................................ 34 

8. SUMMARY OF ISSUES .................................................................................................. 34 

9. PLANNING AND POLICY FRAMEWORK....................................................................... 35 

10. GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................... 38 

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................. 41 

12. APPENDIX - STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION............................................................ 42 

12.1. LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED .............................................................................................42 

12.2. EALING GREEN CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO STAKEHOLDERS ..............42 

Ealing Borough Council 2007 2

1. Introduction 

1.1. The definition and purpose of 

conservation areas 

According to Section 69 of the Town and Country 

Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 

1990, a Conservation Area (CA) is an “area of special 

architectural or historic interest the character and the 

appearance of which is desirable to preserve or 

enhance”. It is the duty of Local Authorities to designate 

such areas and to use their legal powers to safeguard 

and enhance the special qualities of these areas within 

the framework of controlled and positive management of 

change. 

1.2. The purpose and status of this 

appraisal 

Ealing Green CA was designated in 1969, and extended 

in 1982, in 1992 and 2004. A Policy Design Guide for 

Shopfronts and Advertisements in the CA was published 

in 1984. 

The scope of this appraisal is summarised in the 

following points: 

1. Assessment of the special interest of the 

architectural heritage of Ealing Green CA 

highlighting elements of special merit, which 

contribute to the character 

2. Assessment of the actions needed to protect 

and enhance the special qualities of the CA 

3. Assessment of the need to revise the 

boundaries of the CA 

This document replaces the existing appraisal published 

in 1999. However, it is not intended to be comprehensive 

in its scope and content. Omission of any specific 

building, space or feature or aspect of its appearance or 

character should not be taken to imply that they have no 

significance. 

The methodology of the CA Character Appraisal for 

Ealing Green follows the guidance provided by the 

Planning Policy guidelines 15: Planning and the Historic 

Environment (1994); the Guidance on Conservation Area 

Appraisals by English Heritage (2005); and the Guidance 

on Management of Conservation Areas by English 

Heritage (2005). 

The analysis has been conducted on the basis of visits to 

the area, the involvement of local associations, and with 

consultation of primary and secondary sources on the 

local history and architecture.

Ealing Borough Council 2007 



4 

Listed Buildings 

Locally Listed Buildings




1.3. Summary of special interest 

• Ealing Green CA is situated in the former historic 

County of Middlesex, in the central part of today’s 

London Borough of Ealing’s Borough. Ealing Green 

is part of Ealing Broadway and Walpole Wards. 

• The plan-form in the northern part of the CA is 

determined by the presence of the open spaces of 

Walpole Park and the Ealing Green and the roads in 

their immediate surrounding: Mattock Lane which 

flanks the northern side of Walpole Park and Ealing 

Green / Bond Street on the eastern side. The planform 

of the southern section of the CA is mainly 

determined by the main thoroughfare of St Mary’s 

Road and buildings aligned on either side. 

• The earliest settlement developed around the old 

Church of St Mary’s from the 12th century, south of 

the CA. 

• Three “Areas of Character” can be distinguished 

within the Ealing Green CA: 

1) The Ealing Green and St Mary’s Road, 

2) Mattock Lane 

3) Walpole Park. 

• The CA has a varied architectural heritage with 

buildings from the 18 th century onwards. With most 

buildings going back to the time when Ealing started 

to expand and flourish as one of London’s more 

desirable suburbs. Building types are residential, 

educational, parades of shops, religious buildings 

and public houses. 

• The three areas of character display different spatial 

relationships between buildings: Sub Area no 1 has 

developed gradually with buildings arranged in an 

informal layout following the line of streets or other 

properties boundaries, In Sub Area 2 buildings are 

more formally arranged as are the results of planned 

exercises. 

5




• Both in Sub Area 1 & 2 surviving remains of the 

Victorian and Edwardian architectural heritage have 

been spoiled in parts by later, poor quality 

developments or general neglect and poor 

maintenance. 

• Green spaces and trees along the streetline as well 

as trees and green fences around properties are an 

important part of the suburban and leafy character of 

the CA. 

• Mix of construction materials: 

o Stock and red brick laid in Flemish 

bond, stone dressing, Kentish ragstone 

and cast-iron details, low-pitch or 

hipped roofs covered with slates or flat 

tiles, stucco trimming and white painted 

timber sash windows are prevalent 

details. 

6




2. Location and setting 

2.1. Location and context 

Ealing Green CA is situated in the former historic County 

of Middlesex. The CA is divided between the Ward of 

Ealing Broadway and the Ward of Walpole in the London 

Borough of Ealing. 

Ealing Green CA is 4.64 Km 2 in area, and it is in the 

central part of the modern borough. The CA stretches 

from the south end of At Mary’s Road to the north of 

Ealing Green with Bond Street and High Street, then it 

extends westward along Mattock Lane as far as its 

junction with Churchfield and Somerset Roads, including 

Culmington Road and the open space of Walpole Park. 

Ealing Green CA bounds with Ealing Town Centre CA on 

its northern and western side. Ealing Town Centre CA 

has influenced the historical development of Ealing 

Green CA and it still provides its immediate setting. 

Ealing Broadway ward and Walpole ward of which Ealing 

Green CA is a part, have a population of 10,047 and 

12,688 respectively. 

2.2. General character and plan form 

The plan-form in the northern part of the CA is 

determined by the presence of the open spaces of 

Walpole Park and the Ealing Green and the roads in their 

immediate surrounding: Mattock Lane which flanks the 

northern side of Walpole Park and Ealing Green / Bond 

Street on the eastern side. The plan-form of the southern 

section of the CA is mainly determined by the main 

thoroughfare of St Mary’s Road and buildings aligned on 

either side. On the western most end of Mattock Lane, 

Somerset Road, Churchfield Road and Culmington Road 

form a small residential enclave. 

The CA contains three clearly distinguished areas of 

character in terms of architectural language and uses. 

The first Sub Area takes in the whole length of St Mary’s 

Road and the Ealing Green, running north-south from 

Bond Street and Pitzhanger Manor to St Mary’s Church. 

The second Sub Area includes Mattock Lane and the 

Roads at its western end. The third Sub Area is the 

important open space of Walpole Park. With its high 

concentration of buildings of national and local 

importance, which include residential, religious and public 

buildings, as well designated shopfronts and open 

spaces, the CA offers a highly varied architectural 

heritage and sections of strong townscape value. 

7

2.3. Landscape setting 




Much of the land in the Ealing Parish is flat, rising gently 

from the Thames to reach 30m near the Uxbridge Road 

where Ealing Town Centre CA is located. The ridge of 

higher ground being at Castlebar Hill north-west of the 

CA and reaches Hanger Hill in the north-east of the CA. 

The southern part of the CA along St Mary’s Road 

slightly ascends the hill towards Ealing Green. In the 

northern section of the CA the land tends to be flat. 

Brickearth lies along Uxbridge Road just north of Ealing 

Green CA. Taplow gravel extends across the parish north 

of Gunnersbury park from Acton to the Brent except at 

Little Ealing, where a tongue of brickearth runs from 

Uxbridge Road. Farther south is more brickearth, with 

flood-plain gravel at Old Brentford and a strip of alluvium 

along the Thames and at the mouth of the Brent. 

3. Historic development and 

archaeology 

3.1. Historic development 

Ealing began as a straggling village around the Parish 

Church of St Mary’s since medieval times, from the 12 th 

century the original hamlet of Ealing was in fact made of 

a group of buildings clustered around St Mary’s Church. 

Ealing was already a large village by the late eighteenth 

century, stretching from the old centre around the parish 

church northward towards the hamlet of Haven Green 

close to the main Uxbridge Road. To the south west was 

a smaller settlement known as Little Ealing, and to the 

west another small settlement known as Ealing Dean 

with its centre at the west end of Mattock Lane. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Ealing 

became a popular rural retreat for the aristocratic and 

wealthy. However, apart from Sir John Soane’s 

Pitshanger Manor, few of the once numerous country 

seats survive. The development that followed the arrival 

of the railways (the GWR in 1838 and the Metropolitan 

District Line in 1879) saw Ealing transformed from village 

to suburb, becoming a UDC in 1894 and a borough in 

1901. The local surveyor and architect, Charles Jones, 

was a major figure in the development of Ealing, being 

responsible not only for the layout of the streets and their 

services but also for all the major civic buildings. 

1865 OS Map 

At the southern end of St Mary’s Road, the first OS Map 

already shows the small terraces facing onto St Mary’s 

Square and the semidetached cottages along the eastern 

side of South Ealing Road. The Church of St Mary 

appears in the same location. Westfield House is 

8 

St Mary’s Church, 1900c. 

St John’s Church, 1900c. 

Bond Street form Ealing Green, 1900c.




portrayed in more appropriate setting than today with 

garden on the western side. Semidetached along 

Ranelagh Road were already built. A row of terraces 

seemed to be in the place of the 1930s parade of shops 

opposite the Church (probably behind the 1930s 

appearance hide earlier structures). The New Inn is 

marked in its present location, although its current 

appearance is probably later. St Mary’s Place with its 

archway leading to the terraces is shown in its present 

form. The short row of terrace at No 95-96 is shown. 

The central part of the building that is now occupied by 

Ealing Mansion Court is shown. 

A substantial detached house is shown on the site 

today’s occupied by Marilea Court. The Castle Inn Public 

House is recorded in its present location. St Mary’s 

Vicarage (demolished in 1969) appears on the site that 

today is occupied by the Thames and Valley University. 

Nos 19-23 were already built, whilst the opposite site of 

St Mary’s Road in this stretch appears still free from 

buildings. At No 13, there is the sign of a Public House – 

this is today’s Red Lion Pub. St Mary’s Road 1-7 is 

shown on the eastern side of the road. On the western 

side is a substantial building – today The Lawns Flats. 

The former Ealing Studios’ offices – The White House – 

is shown. Immediately north to the White Hose the 

terrace of Morgan House, Wrexam Lodge and Willow 

House, is shown and also St Aidan and Thorpe and Pine 

Cottages. The Kingdome Hall is marked as “The National 

School of Girls”. Buildings on the eastern side of the 

Green already appear in their present location. The front 

part of the Telephone Exchange building is shown. 

Pitzhanger Manor is of course shown without its later 

extensions and it is recorded as “Manor House”. 

The eastern side of the Green seems already occupied 

by buildings arranged tightly on the eastern side – some 

of them would be replaced at the turn of the century. 

The Ashton House still occupies the northern part of the 

Green at the point were Bond Street would be opened in 

1905. Along Mattock Lane only no 1 west of Barney 

Pickles had already been built. Most of northern side of 

the road appears still free from buildings. Buildings start 

again westward only from 12 to 19. Raphael Cottage and 

Chapel are shown on the south side. 

Further south, St John’s Church had not yet been built 

(built in 1875). Semidetached cottages at nos 65-70 and 

semidetached villas at nos 53-69 Mattock Lane are 

shown. The West Ealing Baptist Church is shown. 

Somerset Road, Churchfield Road and Culmington Road 

were still to be created. The grounds south of Mattock 

Lane where still occupied by meadows. 

1890 OS Map 

No much changes can be recorded at the southern most 

end of St Mary’s Road in the 1890 OS Map, with the 

9 

Walpole Park, 1900c. 

Parade of shops at Ealing Green, 1900c. 

Pitzhanger Manor, 1900c.




exception of the opening of Beaconsfield Road on the 

west side and the erection of the terraces between no 47 

–63. On the grounds of St Mary’s Vicarage appears also 

St Mary’s Church House. Both buildings have now been 

demolished. 

Sunnyside Road had been opened on the west side of St 

Mary’s Road. 

The Park Road seems completely built up by 1890. The 

Lawn and annex Coach House are clearly marked. North 

of them is a building marked as “The Lodge” that later will 

be housing Ealing Studios’ Offices. Glastonbury House 

appears on the eastern side, later demolished and then 

replaced by “Glaston Court”. No substantial changes 

either side of the section of the Green around Ealing 

Church. No changes are recorded to Pitzhanger Manor. 

In the northern section of the CA Bond Street had not 

been opened yet and the area was still occupied by The 

Ashton House. The church of St John’s at the western 

end of Mattock Lane appears for the first time in the 

1890’s OS Map. Somerset Road, Churchfield Road and 

Culmington Road have been laid and appear mostly 

edified. 

1910 OS Map 

No substantial differences are recorded on the 1910 OS 

Map, apart from the general growth in density and the 

opening of Bond Street on the northern side of the 

Green. The Dane Lodge at the south western end of 

Mattock Lane was replaced by the King Edward 

Memorial Hospital. 

1930 OS Map 

On the 1930’s OS Map, one striking element is the 

intensification of building activity at the rear of the 

frontline of buildings along St Mary’s Road. Especially at 

the rear of the Telephone Exchange and Ealing Studios 

site. 

Although difficult to distinguish on the OS Maps 

sequence, Soane’s Pitzanger Manor and grounds had 

seen some changes during the time span covered by the 

4 OS Maps considered. In 1901, in fact, the building was 

sold to Ealing District Council and extended to become 

Ealing's Public Library. In 1938-40 the lending library 

block was replaced by a new building which was slightly 

larger. 

The library moved out in 1984 and in 1985 the restoration 

work began. The building opened to the public again in 

January 1987 as the London Borough of Ealing's main 

museum and the 'PM Gallery & House', showing 

contemporary art 1 

1 At the time of writing Pitzhanger Manor complex is being 

considered for a substantial regeneration scheme. For further 

10




details please see, Donald Insall Associates, Pitzhanger Manor 

Conservation Plan, July 2006 

11




12




3.2. Archaeology 

Ealing Green CA has a very strong archaeological 

significance. The Ealing Plan for the Environment 

identifies the area south of the Uxbridge Road in 

particular as “Area of Archaeological Interest (A11)”. 

Especially the area around St Mary’s Road was a moated 

site of Ealing Manor and a medieval settlement. St 

Mary’s Church was first recorded in 1130. The old 

Rectory House (1529) stood in the north. Widely spaced 

prehistoric find spots and one Roman occur in the area – 

which extends west to Culmington Road, east of 

Gunnersbury Avenue, north the Broadway and Ranelagh 

Road. 

13

4. Spatial analysis 




4.1. The character and interrelationship 

of spaces within the 

area 

The spatial character of the CA is strongly defined by the 

important open spaces of Walpole Park and of the Ealing 

Green in the heart of the CA, and by the main 

thoroughfare surrounding them. 

Within the CA, three main areas of character can be 

distinguished: The Green and St Mary’s Road, the 

residential area along Mattock Lane up to St John’s 

Church to the west, and Walpole Park. 

There are three main key points within the CA layout: 

The end of Mattock Lane around St John’s Church, the 

southern end of St Mary’s Road around St Mary’s Church 

and Ealing Green at the crossing of Mattock Lane, Bond 

Street and the Green. 

The Ealing Green is the geographical core of the CA and 

the visual link between the three sections of the CA that 

are branching out. 

Sub Area 1 is very varied in character. The plan-form of 

this section evolves around the Ealing Green, and streets 

branching out north and south. Bond Street on the 

northern side offers a very tight grain with a row of 

Edwardian buildings placed right along the edge of the 

street with very narrow forecourts. The main activity is 

retail arranged in terraces along either side of the road. 

Further south along the eastern side of the Green, 

commercial buildings and their shopfronts still provide a 

very tight and continues edge to the urban space. Here 

the height and roof-form of buildings offers a more varied 

parade as buildings have different styles and have been 

developed at different times. The setting of the shopping 

parade in this section is much more open as it is provided 

by the Green and the buildings aligned along the western 

side which offer a much more loose urban grain. On the 

western side in fact, is the open setting of Pitzhanger 

Manor. The western side of the Green in this section 

offers a rather loose grain: buildings are of substantial 

footprint and sit in generous plots. 

Further south the Green narrows and the grain of 

properties – especially on the eastern side becomes 

tighter again with early Victorian buildings of minute 

proportions (2/3 storey, 2/3 bay) yet, the substantial width 

of the street still provides a rather open feel. Buildings 

follow a rather informal alignment and layout as they 

have been built independently. 

14 

Walpole Park 

Walpole Park looking towards 

Mattock Lane, with the buildings 

along Uxbridge Road in the 

background. 

Mattock Lane 

Varied roofscape of 

buildings around the Green




The curvaceous aspect of the southern end of St Mary’s 

Road with the Church of St Mary’s closing the view south 

creates a townscape of valuable impact. 

Sub Area 2 -The plan-form of this section of the CA is 

mainly defined by Mattock Lane. Mattock Lane branches 

out of Ealing Green westward and reaches St John’s 

Church at its western-most end where it joints with a 

small residential enclave to the south, comprising 

Somerset Road, Churchfield Road and Culmington Road. 

The south side of Mattock Lane borders with Walpole 

Park that provides the setting for the properties along the 

northern side of the road. Properties in this section of the 

CA are from mid-late Victorian time. They offer a much 

more formal arrangement and display a coherent 

architectural language as they are the result of a planned 

residential exercise. Houses are detached or 

semidetached, 3/4 storey in height. Houses are well 

recessed from the streetline with wide front yards. Plots 

are substantial in size and have very regular form. 

The Church of St John’s and the properties around it 

have a slightly more informal arrangement. The Church is 

the main landmark of this section of the CA. 

Along Culmington Road there are a few later 

developments that have much larger footprints, this 

results in a less coherent and cohesive townscape. 

Sub Area 3 - Walpole Park 

Walpole Park and Pitzhanger Grounds occupy a 

substantial area to the west of the CA. Walpole Park 

creates a tranquil and restful episode within the bustling 

and traffic-led environment of the shopping streets 

around Ealing Green and Ealing Broadway. In addition it 

provides an open setting for the residential properties 

along Mattock Lane that can enjoy unobstructed views of 

the large expanse of the park. Together with Ealing 

Green and Lammas Park, Walpole Park is part of a wellused 

network of open spaces. 

15 

Curvaceous aspect of St Mary’s 

Road 

Roofscape along Mattock Lane 

Walpole Park




4.2. Key views and vistas 

The flat topography of the CA does not allow for any 

natural vantage point from which to obtain a 

comprehensive vista of the CA. 

Views of Ealing Green 

From the southern end of the Bond Street and well into 

Ealing Green, the view of the ample stretch of the Green 

with the complex of Pitzhanger Manor in the background 

constitute the unique setting for this part of the CA. The 

Green provides a filter and a means of transition between 

the dense commercial core of the Broadway’s more 

urban character, and the domestic and calm character of 

the residential section of the CA along Mattock Lane. 

Views of Walpole Park 

Along Mattock Lane looking south as well as within the 

Walpole Park, views of the large expanse of the green 

surrounded by mature trees create a contrast with the 

bustling commercial character of the Ealing Green and 

Bond Street. 

Views along St Mary’s 

The shallow curve formed by St Mary’s Road southward 

and the slightly hilly topography creates a townscape 

punctuated by several landmark buildings, the Church of 

St Mary’s being the major one. The imposing architecture 

and the location at the southern most end of the Road at 

its junction with South Ealing Road makes the view of St 

Mary’s a focal point of this section of the CA. 

The narrow view of St Mary’s Place cottages through an 

archway opening on the west side of St Mary’s Road 

offers a very attractive piece of townscape. 

The well proportionate and finely detailed elevation of 

Westfield House viewed from South Ealing Road looking 

north is a pleasant closing element of the streetscape at 

the junction between South Ealing Road and St Mary’s 

Road. 

The view along Mattock Lane of the modular rhythm of 

the elevations and roofs of the properties that flank the 

northern side of the road is an intrinsic element of the 

character of the residential section of the CA. 

The views of St Johns Church at the western-most end of 

the Road is a focal point both for views along Mattock 

Lane looking west as well as for views from Somerset 

and Churchfield Road. 

16 

View of Pizhanger Manor from the 

Green 

View of the\Church of 

St Mary from St Mary’s Road 

Modular rhythm of the 

elevations along Mattock Lane 

View of St John’s Church 

from Mattock Lane

5. The character of the 

conservation area 




5.1. Character Areas and the quality 

of architecture 

This section has been subdivided to reflect the fact that 

the character of the CA changes within its boundary. 

The CA breaks down into two main areas of character. 

- Sub Area 1: The Ealing Green and St Mary’s Road 

- Sub Area 2: Mattock Lane 

- Sub Area 3: Walpole Park 

Sub Area 2 

Sub Area 3 

17 

Sub Area 1 

Listed Buildings 

Locally Listed Buildings




5.1.1. Sub Area no 1: The Ealing Green 

and St Mary’s Road 

Sub Area 1, evolving around Ealing Green, Bond Street 

and St Mary’s Road, offers a strongly varied architectural 

character. Small residential units, blocks of flats, 

religious, public and retail buildings contribute to a multiuse 

area, which functional diversity is reflected in the 

style and size of buildings and in the diverse contribution 

they make to the quality of the townscape. 

Bond Street opened in 1905/6 and is at the northern end 

of the Ealing Green. The street is a good example of 

Edwardian commercial streetscape - red bricks and stone 

dressing and prominent, pitched front gables defining the 

streetscape. The view to the north is closed by the fine 

Edwardian elevation of New Broadway. 

The Green is flanked by an attractive parade of shops on 

the east side and by Pitzhanger Manor on the west side. 

The shopfronts retain much of the original character with 

original corbels and pillars as well as in-keeping display 

windows. 

Most of the shopfronts are Locally Listed, only No 22 is 

Statutorily Listed (Grade II). No 22 The Green is in fact 

the most interesting example of shopfront in the parade 

along the road. It is a Chemist's shop with 

accommodation above (now separate). Dated 1902, the 

shop was re-ordered in 1924c. The three-storey, one-bay 

building is in brownish brick with ashlar dressings and 

tiled roof with crested ridge tiles and chimney on the 

right. The 1924 shop front is set within original surround, 

it has a recessed central door with overlight and 

tessellated pavement in front and is flanked by bowcorned 

windows which have black marble plinths, slender 

columns with bulbous bases and capitals, and transoms. 

The door and overlights have glazing bars forming 

lozenges. The surround has red marble pilasters on 

plinths supporting short paired columns with plain 

capitals; console brackets flank fascia and support 

cornice. The above two storeys have canted bay window 

with transuded 4-light windows. A date panel and coat of 

arms is placed between windows breaking the parapet 

above. The interior has much of the original decorations 

and fittings. The building is of special interest because of 

the quality and completeness of the shop fittings and 

shopfront. 

Soane’s Pitzhanger Manor complex (Listed, Grade I) 

faces onto the widest part of the Green which is closed 

on its east side by a fine terrace of shops containing an 

original front and interior. 

Soane’s north east gateway to Pitzhanger Manor 

consists of a rubbed red bricks arch with pilasters of 

knapped flints (Listed, Grade II*). To the south, facing 

18 

Edwardian buildings 

along Bond Street 

The Green with the parade 

of shops on the eastern side 

Shopfront at No 22 The Green 

Pitzhanger Manor




The Green, are the main gates to the house and the War 

Memorial (Listed, Grade II). 

The Lodge at Pitzhanger Manor at the north-east end of 

the park is an early 19th century single-storey building 

included for group value 

Further south, the broad tree-lined stretches of Ealing 

Green and St Mary’s Road still have a leisurely 

atmosphere and a few buildings to recall the period up to 

the mid 19 th century when Ealing was simply a village 

with some comfortable small country houses. 

The Green gradually narrows towards the south and 

becomes St Mary’s Road where both sides are lined with 

good examples of buildings from the 18th century 

onwards. 

St Mary’s Road is a gently curving street of considerable 

townscape value, combining changing views with a mix 

of buildings of architectural and historic value through its 

varied length. 

From Ealing Green to St Mary’s- West Side – (from 

north to south) 

Immediately south of Pitzhanger Manor is the imposing 

footprint of Ealing & West London College (Locally 

Listed). Proceeding southwards is St Mary’s Building - 

now Telephone Exchange - (Listed, Grade II), a good 

mid 18 th century house. The three-storey, with basement, 

five-bay (1:3:1) building is in brown brick with red 

dressings and rubbed flat arches. The entrance door is 

up 8 steps, it boasts architrave, carved moulded brackets 

and moulded hood. The top part of the elevation is 

defined by brick bands, parapet and central dentilled 

pediment. The building has two-storey wings right and 

left under hipped slate roofs. Railing and gates (Listed, 

Grade II) are in good wrought iron and are contemporary 

to the main building. Unfortunately the setting of this 

valuable architectural ensemble has been rather spoiled 

by other Telecom structures. 

Further south is Kingdome Hall and cottages at the 

rear (Locally Listed). The charming building was the 

former Girl’s School from 1861. It is a small, gabled, Ushaped 

group in polychrome brick with patterned tiled 

roof. With its articulate roofscape punctuated by 

numerous tall chimneystack, and its exuberant gothic 

style, it has a distinctive presence in the townscape and 

contributes to the somehow rustic feel of this stretch of 

the CA. 

The Welsh Cottage and Presbyterian Church (Locally 

Listed) of 1908 are hidden down an alley with pretty iron 

overthrow. 

Thorpe Lodge and Pine Cottage (Listed, Grade II) are 

semidetached houses dating from 1820c. The property is 

east-facing with Pine Cottage at the southern side. The 

3-storey (with one bay on each side) house is built in 

19 

St Mary’s Road 

St Mary’s Building 

Kingdome Hall 

Thorpe & Pine Cottage




purple brick with a central rendered pilaster strip and is 

covered by a slated hipped roof with central 

chimneystack. The Pine Cottage has an original roundarched 

doorway with fanlight and panelled door. Multipaned 

sash windows of the main elevation are finished 

with flat arches in Gauged yellow brick. The interior of the 

Pine Cottage is particularly significant as it retains most 

of its original feature (e.g. original pine panelling to 

partition walls) and original plan-form with the only 

exception of the extensions to the rear of the properties 

carried out at different times. 

Further south is St Aidan (Locally Listed), today a small 

stock brick house with red brick details at parapet level. 

Immediately after is an interesting and well preserved 

terrace consisting of Morgan House, Wrexham Lodge, 

Willow House (Listed, Grade II). The three late 18 th or 

early 19 th century houses are built in brown brick and are 

2-storey, with 7/2 double hung sashes in reveals, mainly 

without glazing bars. Ground floor windows have 

segmental sunk panels above, whilst first floor windows 

have segmental arches. Two porches of Roman Doric 

square piers on plinths define the entranceway. The 

terrace has a central brick modillion pediment on the 

main elevation and is covered by a slate roof. End 

houses project and have brick modillion cornices. 

The tight grain of small early cottages is interrupted by 

the celebrated Ealing Studios Offices – the White 

House (Listed, Grade II) – well set back from the 

streetline - and actual studios with the large foot print at 

the rear. Ealing Film Studios were first established in 

1902 and are the oldest surviving film studios in the 

country. The Ealing Studios partly incorporate e preexisting 

house (The West Lodge) on the site. The present 

sound stages were built in 1929-30 to the design of R. 

Atkinson. Ealing’s Golden Age under Sir Michael Balcon 

from 1938 to 1955 when the Georgian White House was 

used as the studios offices. Although a number of the 

original buildings have more recently been replaced by 

modern structures the sound stages and the White 

House remain with English Heritage Blue Plaque to Sir 

Balcon. 

The Lawn (flats) (Locally Listed) is clearly Victorian 

stock brick, 1-3-1 bays, with arched ground-floor 

windows, a parapet with Jacobean raised centre and 

coach house to match. 

No 36 St Mary’s Road – the Castle Inn Public House 

(Locally Listed) from 1832 was the meeting place for 

Ealing’s Court of Tenants. The 2-storey, 3 bays pub has 

very well detailed ground floor with good timber and 

leaded glass details. 

At the point where St Mary’s Road starts curving 

westward is the imposing presence of Ealing Court 

Mansions (Locally Listed). Built in 1867 in stock brick it 

was an industrial school. 

20 

Morgan House-Wrexham 

Lodge-Willow House 

Ealing Studios 

The Lawn 

The Castle Inn Public House




The architecture displays a conservative Georgian style, 

with 5-bays, 3-storey, flanked by two projecting much 

altered side wings. 

At this point of the road, right in the middle of The Green, 

opposite to No 60 St Mary’s Road is a stone Cattle 

Trough (Locally Listed). 

On the western side of St Mary’s Road branches St 

Mary’s Place, accessible through an archway. St Mary’s 

Place used to house the stables for the adjoining New 

Inn. The road is flanked by early Victorian properties 

(Locally Listed). The secluded setting and the sense of 

enclosure deriving from the layout of this space, makes 

this small ensemble a pleasant remain of the early 

townscape. The New Inn (Locally Listed), at no 62 St 

Mary’s Road was originally a coaching inn and it probably 

occupies the site of an 18 th century inn. 

From Ealing Green to St Mary’s- East Side – (from 

north to south) 

After the Finnegan’s Public House follow the Victoria 

Terraces from No 1-3 St Mary’s Road (Locally Listed), 

Ealing Church and Congregational Manse (Locally 

Listed) were designed by Charles Jones in 1859 in his 

typical Gothic style with rag-stone dressing. Their 

architectural form and material contribute to the diversity 

of the townscape in this section of the CA. 

At no 1 Grange Road (Locally Listed) is a fine Victorian 

House in stock brick with stucco trimming and ground 

floor canted bays. The house provides a pleasant setting 

for Ealing’s Drama School founded in 1966. 

No 13 St Mary’s Road (Locally Listed) is the Red Lion 

Pub – a mid 19 th century coaching inn that was popular 

with Ealing Studios’ workers. 

At Nos 19-21 St Mary’s Road – Ness house (Listed, 

Grade II) is an early Victorian semi-detached house, well 

set back from the streetline and still retaining its original 

boundary wall. 

At No 23 St Mary’s Road (Listed, Grade II) is a 1830s 

detached house with c1870 alterations. It is a yellow 

stock brick building with plain rendered bands and slated 

hipped roof with brick stacks. The house is 2 storeys and 

basement with slightly recessed extension to the left. 

Good Doric porch, with panelled door and overlight, in 

slightly recessed central bay. Flanking bays have ground 

floor canted bay windows with projecting cornices, added 

1870c; continuous band at impost level. 1st floor 6-pane 

sashes with continuous sill band. 

On the east side of St Mary’s Road branches The Park. 

The side street was laid out by Sydney Smirke from 

1847c., with five pairs of stuccoed, Italianate 

semidetached villas (Listed, Grade II), somewhat 

reminiscent of grander development in Kensington. 

21 

St Mary’s Place 

Ealing Court Mansions 

Ealing Church and Manse 

St Mary’s Road Nos 19-21




Past the Victorian Villas, the continuity of the middle 

section is interrupted by the larger scaled new buildings 

of the Thames Valley University campus and modern 

YMCA hostel. Thames Valley University’s main building 

is Locally Listed due to its connection with Lady Byron 

(1792-1860) who founded the co-operative school on the 

same site. 

Nos 33-35 St Mary’s Road (Locally Listed) offer good 

yet neglected examples of early shopfronts with 

decorative corbels. 

On the east side of St Mary’s Road branches Ranelagh 

Road, flanked by a row of early Victorian terraces 

(Locally Listed). 

On the southern end, St Mary’s Road curves gently to the 

west as it approaches the junction with south Ealing and 

Church Lane, and the Tower of Toulon’s St Mary’s 

Church is the Major landmark (Listed, Grade II). 

Designed in 1866-73 by SS Teulon, it is a robust 

composition in Romanesque style dominating the wide 

road junction. Brick and stone with tiled roofs are the 

construction materials. Thorne says that the church is 

actually a recasting of the church of 1739. The church 

has an austere interior with galleries on 3 sides and an 

open timber roof supported on iron columns. 

A scattering of attractive small houses remains near the 

church and buildings of interest include the houses and 

cottages in and around Church Lane 

No 2 Coningsby Road, is Locally Listed, whilst nos 1 

Church Lane is Listed, Grade II. The latter is a well 

preserved house dating from 1720. The cottage is in 

brown brick with red brick quoins to angles and to 

windows. The building is two storeys with attic, the 

fenestration consists of 3 double-hung sashes with flat 

arches in flush architraves. The entrance door has 

architrave and hood. 

No 15 Church Lane (Listed, Grade II) 

Probably from the 17 th century with two storeys, one bay 

with flanking entrance door right. Made from brick, with 

concrete tile roof and cemented chimney. The building 

features casement windows above a modern bow. 

Similarly nos 17 and 19 Church Lane (Locally Listed) 

also reflect this small early grain. 

St Mary’s Road nos 72-74 (Locally Listed) are 

detached, set back houses, with steep gables to the 

road, once they were part of an old workhouse built in 

1700c. 

On two sides of the little St Mary’s Square are modest 

Georgian terraces with the Fire Station from 1888. 

22 

Victorian Terrace along Ranelagh 

Road 

St Mary’s Square 

Westfield House




Their L–shaped setting around the little square offer a 

restful episode along the main road that in this section 

becomes particularly busy. 

Opposite to St Mary’s Square at no 94 St Mary’s Road at 

the bend of the Road is Westfield House a grander late 

Georgian house (Listed, Grade II): A 3-bay, 3-storey, 

brown brick house with iconic entrance porch, which is 

enclosed and surmounted by a pediment. Ground floor 

windows are set in semicircular arched recesses and first 

floor central windows are set in semicircular recesses as 

well. 

5.1.2. Sub Area no 2 Mattock Lane 

Mattock Lane was first built up during the 1860s on part 

of the Ashton House estate, and many of the grand old 

houses are still standing - although most have been 

converted into flats and bed-sits. 

Mattock Lane links Ealing Green at its east end with the 

area around St John’s Church at its western end. The 

north side is lined with large villas dating from 1860 

onwards. They are in stock brick with stucco trim, some 

having shallow gables with decorative brackets. The later 

versions have red brick and tile trim. At the west end of 

Mattock Lane a small group of earlier houses with stucco 

trim survives. Mattock Lane, Churchfiled Road and 

Somerset all converge on the battlement tower of St 

John’s Church, the area’s major landmark. 

Mattock Lane north side (east to west) 

At nos 2-3 is a semi-detached (Locally Listed) house. 

The 2-storey plus attic and half-basement is – like most 

houses in the road – built in yellow stock, with bold 

stucco trimming, canted basement and ground floor bay 

window. The 5-bay house has a projecting off-set bay on 

one side finished with a low pitch gable facing the road. 

Roof is in slates with projecting eves supported by 

brackets. Timber sashes are predominant joinery. On the 

eastern elevation of the house that faces the car-park the 

tiles facades of the Walpole Cinema had been attached. 

The cinema uses to be in Bond,Street but then it was 

closed and demolished in 1971. 

The following houses on the west from Nos 4 to 11 (all 

Locally Listed) are variation of this same type. The only 

difference between them being the way in which they are 

arranged as detached, semidetached or terraced (max 

3). 

At No 12 Questors Theatre (Locally Listed) breaks the 

consistent architectural language of the residential 

properties. The Questors Theatre with its simple yet crisp 

glazed elevation, is a welcome novelty in the streetscape. 

The theatre was one of the finest amateurs’ theatres in 

the country. The building has expanded from a redundant 

chapel into the playhouse we see today. 

23 

Nos 2-3 Mattock Lane 

No 9 Mattock Lane 

The Questors Theatre 

Later Victorian semi-detached 

on Mattock Lane – No 22




Immediately west of the Questors Theatre, the character 

and architectural language go back to the Victorian, 

residential properties that characterise the rest of the 

street. At No 13 The Clinic (Locally Listed) is a stock 

brick detached house boasting a very symmetrical 

composition with central steps leading to the entrance 

door and two ground floor canted bay-windows either 

side. The façade is finished with stuccoed brick quoins. 

Again up to no 20 are semidetached house that are a 

variation of the previous type. 

From no 22 to 27 properties (Locally Listed) are later 

and have more of an Edwardian character with red bricks 

details and red bricks boundary walls (when surviving) 

and piers with stone coping. 

No 29 detached (Locally Listed) 

Up to No 36 all houses are detached, standard 2-storey, 

3-bay, with off-set front gable and projecting bay window. 

No 37 and 39 terrace cottages (Locally Listed) have 

more of a unique and picturesque character. They are 

early Victorian cottages, no 37 with an unusual columned 

porch with rusticated brick columns and no 39 has a very 

well preserved and compact appearance framed by a 

substantial front garden with hedges. 

Mattock Lane south side (from east to west) 

Walpole Park flanks he southern side of Mattock Lane. 

No 86 St Raphael Cottage (Listed, Grade II) has two 

storeys built from yellow stock brick with slate roofs. The 

main block has 3 bays with the left one recessed. There 

is a stucco Doric porch in the left bay with columns and 

plain entablature and a narrow stucco band at first floor 

cill level along with a coped parapet. To the left is a 3 bay 

yellow stock brick wing with parapet. The left flank is 

rendered with simple Gothic style fenestration including 

quatrefoil windows to the first floor and two small attic 

windows with pointed arch set in the gable. There is a 

modern 2 bay wing on the right. 

Around St John’s Church 

St John’s Church (Listed, Grade II) is the major 

landmark of the area at the western end of Mattock Lane. 

It was built in 1875 by Edwin Henry Horne in yellow stock 

brick with gault brick and stone dressings in Early English 

style. 

Mattock Place Health Centre has been built on the site of 

the Dane Lodge, of which boundary brick wall and piers 

with cast iron railings still remain. 

Mattock Lane nos 65-70 (Locally Listed) are three 

pairs of semidetached Victorian cottages in stock brick 

with bold stucco trimming and hipped slate roof. Early 

timber sash with very fine glazing bars are still retained 

and add to the character of the architecture. 

24 

No 39 Mattock Lane 

St. Raphael Cottage, No 86 mattock 

Lane 

Mattock Lane Nos 65-70 

St John’s Church




Nos 53-60 Mattock Lane are semidetached (Locally 

Listed) Victorian villas. The three pairs of 2-storey plus 

basement, 4-bay houses have entrance doors on either 

side. The houses follow the curve of the road toward 

West Ealing effectively closing the view westward from 

the end of Mattock Lane. 

West Ealing Baptist Church (Locally Listed) on 

Chapel Road does not occupy a very prominent position 

within the streetscape and its setting seems very much 

altered. 

25 

Ealing Baptist Church




Somerset Road 

Has a stretch of well preserved Victorian villas still with 

their boundary treatments and front yards. No 7 to no 12 

detached (Locally Listed). The detached houses are in 

stock-bricks with stucco trimming, 2-storey, 3-bay, with 

central columned portico, and canted bay-windows on 

either side. Hipped roofs have eaves with brackets and 

are covered with slates. Original Victorian timber sashes 

are still retained and contribute to the character of the 

houses. 

No 1 is particularly interesting as it sits on a substantial 

triangular plot at the junction between Churchfield Road 

and Somerset Road. (Locally Listed). 

5.1.3. Sub Area no 3 Walpole Park 

The landscape at Pitzhanger has associations with 

important personalities. There are records of designed 

Park Land at this site since 1685. The existing structure 

and layout of the site, despite minor alterations, remains 

mostly unaltered since these early days. Around 

Pitzhanger the design of John Soane and John 

Havertfield are still very much perceivable and provide a 

good record of the Regency garden design. Major 

structural elements such as the garden walls, entrance 

archway and ornamental bridge are still in existence. The 

earlier serpentine lake was replaced with a sunken 

garden in 1920s. At its north end is a picturesque bridge 

of flint and cyclopean stone fragments. The bridge is 

Listed Grade II*. It is early 19 th century, built by Sir John 

Soane as an embellishment to his garden during his 

ownership of Pitzhanger Manor 1801-1811. The 3-arches 

bridge (the centre one being larger) is built of rubble, flint 

and dressed stone, in rustic classical style. The 

decorative features are on the parapet on one side only. 

Also at the northern end of the Park is an early 19 th 

century Portland stone bench with central grotesque 

mask. (Grade II, Listed) 

Along the north boundary of Walpole Park is a late 18 th 

century boundary wall fronting Mattock Lane from the 

entrance archway at Pitzhanger Manor to the public 

conveniences (Grade II, Listed). The wall is in stock 

brick with stone coping and it is about 10 ft high. 

Walpole Park is Listed Grade II by English Heritage on 

the Register of Parks and Gardens. 

26 

Cheltenam Villa 

Walpole Park – 

Mattock Lane entrance 

19 th century bridge at Walpole Park 

19 th century Portland Stone bench at 

Walpole Park




5.2. Key unlisted buildings 

A number of unlisted buildings in Ealing Green CA 

contribute positively to the character of the area despite 

not meeting the criteria for statutory or possibly local 

listing. They reflect the age, style and material of a 

substantial number of buildings in the CA and are a 

reminder of the gradual development of the settlement. 

The following buildings already mentioned in the previous 

sections are considered to be of positive contribution to 

the character of the CA. 

- Nos 1-7 St Mary’s Road 

- Elms Villas 

- Nos 76-88 St Mary’s Road,1930s parade of shops at 

junction of South Ealing Road with St Mary’s Road 

- Shopfront at No 56-58 St Mary’s Road 

- New Inn at No 62 St Mary’s Road 

- Houses along Culmington Road (from Nos 24 to 10 

and from 19 to 13 

- Houses along Churchfield Road on either side 

- The Clinic, No 87 Mattock Lane 

- Terraces and Fire Station in St Mary’s Square 

- Brick wall, railings of Mattock Lane Health Centre 

St Marys Road Nos 56-58 

27 

St Mary’s Road Nos 1-7 

Elms Villas 

1930s Parade of Shops at 

junction of St Mary’s Road 

with South Ealing Road 

Brick wall and railings 

of the Mattock Lane Health Centre




5.3. Building materials and local 

details 

Sub Area 1 – 

Red bricks and brown bricks, stone dressing, slates or 

flat tiles are predominant materials in the 

Victorian/Edwardian architectural heritage of the Sub 

Area 1 in the CA. 

In general, stock bricks or brown bricks are used for 

earlier properties – Pitzhanger Manor and Victorian Villas 

and earlier cottages along St Mary’s Road. Stock bricks 

are also used for secondary elevations of late Victorian 

Edwardian buildings. 

Kentish ragstone is the characteristic material used for 

churches and public buildings of the Victorian era. 

Early residential properties along The Green and St 

Mary’s Road are mainly in brown bricks, with some 

stucco trimming, and hipped slate roofs. 

White painted, timber sash, 2/2 or 1/1 are predominant. 

Wrought or cast iron railings or balustrades are present in 

some of the early-mid Victorian properties. 

Red bricks laid in Flemish bond, very prominent and 

highly decorative pointed gables (some with mock Tudor 

embellishments), very elaborate mouldings and/or stone 

string courses define façade patterns of many late 

Victorian/Edwardian properties along Bond Street, The 

Green. 

Some original mosaic or interlocking tiles paving along 

shop forecourts survive 

Some of the shopfronts retain decorative corbels and 

pillars and original windows’ configuration. 

Sub Area 2 

Prevalent building materials in the residential area of 

Mattock Lane, Somerset Road and Churchfield Road are 

yellow stock bricks laid in Flemish bond. Windows and 

doors in the mid/late Victorian properties have italianate 

stucco surrounds, some with classical decorative 

patterns. The original front yard treatments were a brick 

wall with stone coping and brick piers and simple castiron 

gates or privet hedges, unfortunately very few are 

left. (On the west side of Somerset Road boundary 

treatments are the best preserved.) 

Timber sash, 2/2 or 1/1 are predominant. Ground floor 

canted bay windows characterise a good number of 

residential late Victorian properties in the residential area. 

Some properties have projecting porches with columns. 

28 

Red bricks in Flemish Bond 

and stone dressing of 

Edwardian buildings in SA 2 

Brown bricks in Flemish bond 

and stuccoed porch in a late 

Georgian building of SA 1 

Bounduary treatment in Somerset 

Road. Low brick wall and piers and 

privet hedges




The traditional roof form is hipped or low pitch roofs, 

covered with flat tiles or slates – although not many 

properties still retain their original roofing materials. 

On the western end of Mattock Lane are some late 

Victorian/Edwardian properties – some in yellow stock, 

some in red bricks – they have pitched roof with off-set 

projecting bay and front gable. 

In the residential enclave south of Mattock Lane, 

Culmington Road has a more Edwardian character. 

On the west side of the road high pitched roofs, red 

bricks, prominent gables with decorative bargeboard, 

decorative porches and terracotta tile embellishments 

seem to be the predominant architectural materials and 

details. On the east side of the road, houses are 

characterised by a projecting central bay finished with a 

decorative parapet. Detached houses are covered by 

hipped roofs with tiles. 

Italianate stucco surrounds and 

original timber sahes painted black 

Projecting gabled bay with 

decorative bargeboards and 

terracota decorations 

29 

Bold italianate stucco surrounds 

Red brick dressing and canted bay 

window of late Victorian properties 

along Mattock Lane. 

Pitched slates roofs with terracotta 

copingbargeboards and finials




5.4. Contribution of open spaces, 

trees and landscape 

The grounds at Pitzhanger Manor are a significant open 

space and are designated as Public Open Space; within 

Ealing’s UDP. This status recognises their value also for 

cultural and social activities. Together with Ealing Green 

and Lammas Park they form part of a larger network of 

green spaces that provide essential respire from the 

pressure of urban living, whether it be for recreation, an 

alternative pedestrian route or for al fresco lunches for 

office workers. The park is well used by the local 

community, and it acts as the focus of active recreation 

containing a playground and a bandstand. It very often 

hosts large community events such as the Summer 

Festival. The gardens of the Manor by contrast provide 

space for quiet contemplation. 

Walpole Park is also designated within Ealing’s UDP as 

Heritage Land, and this local designation is reflected in 

the Statutorily Designation of the park within English 

Heritage register of Historic Parks and Gardens. This 

designation implies that development that would have an 

adverse effect on the site, setting or enjoyment of any 

parts of its grounds will not normally be permitted 2 . 

The Ealing Green at the core of the CA provides the CA 

the visual setting for the central part of the CA and for the 

most significant building within the CA, Pitzhanger 

Manor. Ealing Green is listed as Ealing Borough’s Public 

Open Space; this status recognises the value of the open 

space also for cultural and social activities. 3 

The presence of healthy and mature broadleaved trees 

along the streets – both in Sub Area 1, 2 and 3 – is 

critical for the character of the CA and is intrinsic to the 

very historical image of Ealing as a green suburb. Trees 

along the New Broadway and the North side of the Mall 

are particularly significant. A particularly fine tree is 

placed in the pavement west of the Town Hall and some 

along Longfield Avenue on the edge of the CA which 

provide a screen between the CA and Perceval House. 

Also in the residential enclave, mature trees and green 

hedges complement the architecture and frame views 

within the CA. 

2 For more detailed information on Walpole Park and 

Pitzhanger Manor, see, Donald Insall Associates, Pitzhanger 

Manor Conservation Plan, July 2006 

3 UDP, Vol 1, p. 45, policy 3.4, Vol 2, p. 12 

30 

Walpole Park is the main green 

space within the CA 

Mature broadleaved trees along 

Mattock Lane




5.5. The extent of intrusion or damage 

(negative factors) 

Recent developments or later replacements of earlier 

buildings have had a detrimental impact on the CA. Poor 

architectural quality of recent building works that have 

come to replace high quality Victorian and Edwardian 

buildings ignore the character and quality of the earlier 

grain, thus creating fractures and visual gaps in the 

continuity of the streetscape. This results in a fragmented 

townscape in sections where fine Victorian and 

Edwardian remains have lost their original context and 

are flanked by later developments that are completely 

alien to their quality, architectural expression, scale, 

massing, façade rhythm and proportions. 

Amongst inappropriate developments within the CA, the 

following have been identified: 

- Ray Court at the northern end of Somerset Road. 

- Trend Court at No 17 Somerset Road 

- Kemseley Court, a 1930s much altered block of flats 

located on Rathgar Avenue just outside the CA - it 

closes the view southward from Somerset Road. 

- Lenan Court on Churchfield Road 

- Park View Lodge, Shenstone, Walpole Lodge all 

along Culmingtone Road (they also compromise 

views from Walpole Park westwards) 

- Marilea Court, St Mary’s Road 

- Glaston Court, St Mary’s Road 

The presence of gap sites used as over ground car 

parking space or single storey garages facing the 

highways destroys the continuity of the streetscape and 

creates undesirable fracture in the urban grain. Some 

examples are the garages west of Westfield House, the 

parking space adjacent to the West Ealing Baptist 

Church and between No 1 and No 5 South Ealing Road, 

single storey garages fronting the highway along 

Somerset Road. 

Later development at the rear of St Mary’s Building, at 

the rear of the Ealing & West London College and at the 

Ealing Studio site detract from the setting of Listed 

Buildings and the character of the streetscape. 

A number of other threats to the special character of the 

CA are due to inappropriate development or alterations of 

the original fabric or properties layout. 

The loss of front garden trees and fences together with 

loss of garden walls constitutes a threat to the area’s 

character. Boundary walls between properties were an 

important element of the character of the 19 th Century. 

However, large portions of original boundary walls and 

fences have been demolished and replaced 

inappropriately. 

31 

Trend Court in Somerset House 

Single storey garages facing 

Somerset Road 

Later poor quality boundary 

treatement and poorly managed 

property forecourt, detracting from 

the character of the CA and the 

setting of the listed church of St 

John 

Inappropriate porch 

replacement




This has resulted in a significant loss in definition of the 

streetscape and a loss of the original spatial hierarchy 

between public and private spaces within the CA. 

Later boundary walls have been executed with materials, 

design or technologies that are inappropriate with respect 

to their context. The thinning of trees and hedges along 

properties’ boundary also contributes to create an 

undistinguished and neglected feel. 

The CA is under a number of other threats that include: 

• Extensions that are disrupting the traditional 

spatial relationship between buildings 

• Bulky dormer windows at the rear, at the front and 

at the side of properties that disrupt the original 

proportions and character of historic properties as 

well as the roofscape of the CA. 

• Each house period identified within the CA 

displays a very distinct character reflected in the 

design and quality of the joinery. The loss of the 

traditional fenestration patterns together with later 

doorways where materials, design and decoration 

patterns are not in keeping with the character of 

the property are a major concern for the quality of 

the architecture in the CA. Inappropriate 

replacements weaken the finish of the houses 

and give them a bland look. 

Satellite dishes placed on main 

elevations create visual 

disturbance. 

32 

Oversized side and roof extensions 

which completely disrupt the 

original design of the house as well 

as the roofscape of the CA. 

Garage at No 96 St Mary’s Road 

disrupting the immediate setting of 

the Listed Westfield House and 

views of St Mary’s Church 

Bulky dormer flat roof extension 

spoil the views from St Mary’s 

Place




5.6. Public realm and street furniture 

Residents feel that the heritage lampposts along Mattock 

Lane and around Ealing are in keeping with the 

character of the area and of the right height. They 

constitute a positive complement to the architecture. 

Other types of very undistinguished and average quality 

lamppost coexist with heritage lamppost in the CA (e.g. 

new street lighting along St Mary’s Road, street lighting 

along The Park need repainting). Some coordination at 

least reflecting the areas of character should be sought. 

There are numerous traditional post-boxes in the CA, 

cast iron and painted bright red. 

Pavement paving materials are of a mix of tarmac, 

concrete slabs, concrete bricks, with granite kerbs. Apart 

from the general inconsistency in the surface treatments 

they are also not very well kept and therefore they do not 

constitute an adequate complement to the CA character 

nor to the setting of historic properties. Service boxes 

attract graffiti and make pavements narrow. Also clutter 

of metal posts for signs around Ealing Green, The Park 

and other streets within the CA. 

Bollards are scattered at various points in the CA. There 

is some discontinuity and inconsistency in their 

positioning and numbers. This creates an untidy and 

neglected feel in places. 

More well-designed litter bins would also assist in 

keeping the area tidy. 

Some original shopfronts still survive with original 

corbels, pilasters and windows. These play a 

fundamental role in defining the character of the CA. New 

shopfronts or new advertisements should aim to respect 

and follow the patterns of original remains 4 . 

5.7. General condition 

The overall condition of most of the fabric in the CA is 

sound, although the state of neglect of some properties 

front yards cluttered with fly tipping is a concern for the 

CA. Pavements in concrete or asphalt are in poor 

condition and could be improved by repaving with quality 

stone. 

Boundary treatments and properties’ front–yards should 

be better maintained. Also house fabric is not always in 

good state of repair. These issues are probably linked to 

the fact that most residential properties especially in Sub 

Area 2 have been converted into flats, this leads to very 

poor management of the communal areas. 

Walpole Park landscaping is in need of restoration. 

4 Please refer to, Ealing Green Conservation area – Policy 

Shopfront and Advertisements, October 1984, London Borough 

of Ealing- 

33 

Concrete slaps and tarmarc with 

granite kerbs are used as pavement 

materials 

Cast irom bollards are used in 

places along the Green and in 

sections of Mattock Lane 

Stucco finish in need of repair on 

historic properties 

Fly-tipping in properties’ front yards 

detracts from the CA character




5.8. Problems, pressures and capacity 

for change 

There is little capacity for major change within the CA. 

Over the course of the years all plots have been 

developed in a reasonably sensitive manner. Further 

intensification could detract from the traditional layout of 

properties, which has been identified as one of the 

elements of special interest. Identified gap sites or 

developments of poor quality could create opportunities 

for improvement or new high quality development. The 

proliferation of inappropriate roof developments should 

be stopped as it creates severe disturbance to the 

architectural and townscape quality of the CA. Further 

control of replacements in historic properties should be 

exerted as the latter are a harsh threat to the character of 

the area. 

6. Suggested boundary changes 

The Appraisal of the Ealing Green CA and of its 

immediate surrounds has shown no need to revise the 

extension of it boundary. Significant areas in the 

surroundings of the CA and part of its setting are already 

protected by the CA status (i.e. Ealing Town Centre CA). 

7. Community involvement 

In accordance with English Heritage guidance, the 

Council has involved key stakeholders during the 

appraisal process, a list of which is appended. This initial 

consultation process has been undertaken in a number of 

on site meetings with representatives of local amenity 

groups and in the form of a questionnaire sent to key 

stakeholders based in and around the CA. The 

questionnaire called for careful consideration and in 

some instances detailed responses. Due regard to the 

questionnaire responses has been paid in this text. 

8. Summary of issues 

• The state of neglect of some open/public spaces 

in the CA 

• Loss of front garden trees and fences 

• Loss of front yard walls to create parking for cars 

• The poor condition of some of the buildings in the 

CA. The general inappropriate design of recent 

developments: 

1. New boundary walls with inappropriate 

material and design with the addition of 

out of character decorative railings 

2. Changes to the fenestration 

3. Continuous porches 

4. Bulky dormers that disrupt the roofscape 

34




9. Planning and Policy framework 

A summary of the principal legislation and policy 

guidance applicable to Ealing Green CA is set out below: 

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) 

Act 1990 sets out the process of assessment, definition, 

or revision of boundaries and formulation of proposals for 

CAs as well as the identification and protection of Listed 

Buildings. Authorities are required to pay special 

attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the 

character or appearance of the CA, or in case of Listed 

Buildings, to have special regard for their preservation in 

the exercise of their powers under the Planning Acts. 

Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) Note 15, for local and 

other public authorities, property owners, developers, 

amenity bodies and public, sets out Government polices 

for the identification and protection of historic buildings, 

CAs, and other elements of the historic environment. 

Ealing Council’s Unitary Development Plan (UDP) or 

Local Development Framework (LDF) includes its 

statutory policies for implementing the Acts and apply the 

PPG. This Appraisal should be taken into account when 

considering planning or listed building applications within 

the Conservation Area. 

The prime objective of the relevant legislation and 

guidance is the preservation and/or enhancement of 

character or appearance of CAs. Any proposed 

developments which conflict with that objective should be 

normally expected to be refused. PPG 15 and local policy 

also support a presumption in favour of preservation of 

any buildings or objects which are considered to make a 

positive contribution to the character of a CA. At the 

same time, it is recognised the need to accommodate 

changes which respect or reinforce the character of the 

area in order to maintain its vitality. 

Many local planning policies – not only those for design 

and conservation – can affect the developments in a CA. 

For instance polices on sustainable development, 

meeting housing needs, affordable housing, landscape, 

biodiversity, energy efficiency, transport, people with 

disabilities, employment and town centres can all 

influence development and the quality of the environment 

in CA. However, policies concerned with design quality 

and character generally take greater importance in CAs. 

The adopted UDP’s section on Urban Design includes 

policies dealing with: 

35




• Design of Development (4.1) 

• Mixed Use (4.2) 

• Landscaping, Tree Protection and Planting (4.5) 

• Statutory Listed Buildings (4.7) 

• Conservation Areas (4.8) 

• Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Interest 

Areas (4.9) 

• Commercial Frontage and Advertising Signs 

(4.10) 

Throughout the Urban Design section, references are 

made after each policy to further relevant documents and 

policies, including: 

• SPG 5: How to Prepare an Urban Design 

Statement 

• SGP 12: Greening Your Home 

• Ealing LA21: Keeping Your Front Garden Alive 

• PPG 15: Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas 

• PPG16: Archaeology and Planning 

• PPG 19: Outdoor Advertisement Control 

• “By Design - Urban Design in the Planning 

System: towards a better Practice”(CABE & 

DETR, 2000) 

• “By Design – Better Places to Live: A Companion 

Guide to PPG 3” (CABE, 2001) 

• The London Plan, Policy 4B.5, 4B10, 4B11, 4B12, 

4B14 

Policy 4.8 for CA states: 

• The Council will preserve or enhance the character 

and appearance of CAs and their setting. 

• New developments, built or otherwise within or 

adjacent to the CA, will be permitted provided that 

they are well related to the existing character of the 

area in terms of its historic and architectural quality 

and green setting. The Council requires that any 

development proposal adhere to the Council’s 

specific CA guidelines. 

• The council will refuse planning permission and CA 

consent for development of existing buildings, unless 

the proposed replacement development will preserve 

or enhance the character of the CA. Where 

appropriate, the Council will also make Article 4 

Directions that restrict development rights granted by 

the General Permitted Development Order. 

• It is the Council’s intention to create new and 

extended CAs in the Borough, in areas which merit 

this status, having regard to the individual quality of 

the area as a whole. 

36




The criteria for further designation or extension of 

CAs are sets out as: 

• The area concerned must be the setting for 

one or more of the following: 

1. Listed Buildings, or a group of buildings of 

good design from any period especially when 

they create an attractive townscape. 

2. Urban open spaces or historic village greens. 

3. Features of historic or archaeological interest 

including industrial or transport heritage. 

4. Landscape features including, water, trees, 

and gardens of value for their plant, wildlife or 

their amenity of the surrounding area. 

5. An historic street pattern. 

• The area should have some cohesion 

of character worthy of preservation. 

• The benefit of preserving that 

character must be considered to be 

greater than the loss of certain 

permitted development rights having 

regard to the financial and resource 

implications of such action. 

Detailed advice on policies contained in the UDP, on 

restrictions on Listed Buildings, residential and 

commercial properties in Conservation Areas, and for 

guidance on the procedure to apply for permission, 

can be obtained from the London Borough of Ealing, 

Planning and Surveying Services, Perceval House, 

14-16 Uxbridge Road, London, W5 2HL, Tel 020 

8825 6600, email: planning@ealing.gov.uk, or, 

alternatively, from the Council’s website at 

www.ealing.gov.uk. 

37

10. Glossary 




Ashlar hewn blocks of masonry neatened and laid in 

horizontal courses 

Arch the spanning of an opening by means other than a 

lintel. Most commonly arches are curved and made up of 

wedge shaped blocks. Numerous variations exist e.g. 

Blind, Triumphant, Vernacular 

Band an unmoulded, projecting string course, often 

delineating a floor/storey 

Bargeboards projecting boards set against the incline of 

the gable of a building 

Bay the vertical division of the exterior, (or interior) of a 

building marked by a window opening. They may be 

Round, (or Canted) or Square 

Bond style of laying Headers, (bricks laid with the long 

side at right angles to the face of a wall), and Stretchers, 

(bricks laid with the long side along the face of the wall), 

within masonry courses. Flemish Bond is where 

alternate Headers and Stretchers are used in the face of 

the wall. English Bond is where alternate courses of 

bricks in the facing wall are either Headers or Stretchers 

Buttress a mass of masonry or brickwork projecting from 

or built against a wall to give additional strength 

Capitals the top or head of a column, pier or pilaster, 

which relate to Classical architecture 

Casement window a window hinged vertically to open 

like a door 

Cladding an external covering applied to a structure for 

protective/aesthetic purposes 

Coade Stone an artificial cast stone used from the 

second half of the 18 th Century for decorative keystones 

Column an upright, often supporting, structure either, 

round, square or rectangular in form 

Coping a capping or covering found on top of a wall. 

They can be flat or sloping to discharge water 

Cornice a projecting, decorative moulding found along 

the top of a building refers to a cornice made up of a 

series of small square blocks Dentil Cornice 

38




Corbel a projecting block, usually stone, supporting a 

horizontal beam 

Course a continuous layer of stones or bricks found in a 

wall. Referred to as String, (horizontal) or Soldier 

(vertical) 

Cupola a dome that crowns a roof or turret 

Curtilage the available space attached to a property 

which forms a singular enclosure 

Door hood a projected moulding above an exterior door 

designed to through off the rain 

Dormer window a projecting window placed vertically in 

a sloping roof with a roof of its own 

Dressings a decorative feature made of stones, most 

commonly set around windows 

Eaves the underpart of a sloping roof overhanging a wall, 

(Oversailing), or flush with it 

Elevation the external wall or face of a building 

Façade commonly the front face of a building 

Fanlights a window, often semi-circular with radiating 

glazing panels, found over a door in Georgian buildings 

Fenestration the arrangement of windows in a building 

Finial a formal ornament, (usually in Fleur-de-Lis) at the 

top of a gable, pinnacle or canopy 

Footprint the total area over which a building is situated 

Gable the triangular upper part of a wall found at the end 

of a ridged roof 

Grain refers to the arrangement and size of buildings in 

the urban context 

Hardstanding an area of hard material used for parking 

cars within the cartilage, (often front garden space) of a 

house 

Hipped roof a shallowish pitch with sloping at the vertical 

ends 

Keystone central wedge-shaped stone at the crown of 

an arch 

Mortar mixture of cement, (or lime), sand and water laid 

between bricks as an adhesive 

39




Lintel a horizontal supporting element of timber, metal or 

stone found across the top of a door or window 

Mansard roof has a double slope where the lower part is 

steeper than the upper part 

Moulding a continuous projection or groove used 

decoratively to throw shadow or rain water off a wall 

Mullion a vertical element (glazing bar) that divides a 

window into two or more lights 

Pantile a roofing tile with a curved S shape designed to 

interlock 

Parapet a low wall used as a safety device where a drop 

or edge exists 

Pediment a low pitched Gable above a Portico 

Pier a solid vertical masonry support (or mass) found in 

buildings and walls 

Pilaster a shallow pier projecting slightly from a wall 

Pinnacle a small pyramidal or conical shaped crowing 

element 

Pitched roof the most common type. Gables exist at 

each end of the pitch 

Plinth the projecting base of a wall or column 

Pointing the exposed mortar finish to brick or masonry 

joints 

Polychromatic multi-coloured brickwork 

Portico a roofspace open or partly enclosed 

Quatrefoil a set of decorative openings, often leaf 

shaped cut into an arch 

Quoins dressed bricks found at the corners of buildings, 

usually laid so that the brick faces are alternately large 

and small 

Ragstone rubble masonry, rough building stones or 

flints, generally laid in irregular courses 

Recess space set back in a wall, often the setting for an 

entrance porch 

Render plaster or stucco applied to a wall 

40




Rooflight a window set flush into the slope of a roof 

Rusticated masonry cut in huge blocks, often in its 

original hewn state, that is normally found on the lower 

half of buildings 

Sash window a window that is double hung with wooden 

frames (sashes) that slide up and down with pulleys 

Sepulchre a recess with Tombchest designed to receive 

an effigy of Christ 

Sett paving slabs 

Sills the horizontal element found at the base of a 

window or door frame 

Stucco a form of plaster used internally or externally to 

decorate or protect 

Transom a horizontal bar of stone or wood across a 

window 

11. Bibliography 

English Heritage, Guidance on Conservation Area 

Management Plans, 2005 

English Heritage, Guidance on Conservation Area 

Appraisals, 2005 

Ealing Council, Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment, 

2004 

Pevsner, N., The Buildings of England. London 3: North 

West, 2002 

Hounsell, P., The Ealing Book, 2005 

Rogers, J. & Eden, R., Images of London- Ealing, 2004 

Pevsner, N., The Buildings of England. London 3: North 

West, 2002 

Ealing Library Service, Ealing In the 1930s& ‘40s, 1985 

A.A., Ealing and Brentford: a History of the county of 

Middlesex, 1982 

Ealing Library Service, Ealing as it was, 1980 

41




12. Appendix - Stakeholder 

consultation 

12.1. List of stakeholders consulted 

Ealing Civic Society 

Conservation Area Panel 

Ward Councillors for Walpole and Ealing Broadway 

12.2. Ealing Green Conservation 

Area Appraisal Questionnaire 

sent to stakeholders 

1. Please list any special qualities, distinctive 

features or areas, which you consider a positive 

contribution to the Conservation Area. 

2. Can you identify any key feature – within the built 

or natural environment – that you feel have been 

eroded over time? 

3. Can you identify any development that has taken 

place since designation, which you feel had a 

negative impact of the character of the 

conservation area? If yes, why? 

4. Can you identify any areas on the attached map 

that you consider should be included or excluded 

from the Conservation Area? Please give your 

reason. 

5. How effective do you consider the present 

controls over development to be? Please explain. 

6. Apart from the Listed Buildings within the 

Conservation Area, are there any buildings or 

structures that you consider are of architectural or 

historical significance? Please give details. 

7. Can you identify any open spaces, significant 

trees or hedges that you feel make a significant 

contribution to the special character of 

Conservation Area? Please list 

8. What would you say were the most significant 

views, vistas or panoramas, within, into or from 

the Conservation Area? Please give details. 

9. In your opinion, what impact does road traffic 

have upon the Conservation Area? 

42




10. Do you think there are any areas that would 

benefit from being car-free? If so please describe. 

11. Are the streets and public areas generally 

appealing and easy to use? Please comment. 

12. Do you think that street furniture in character with 

the Conservation Area? If not, what 

improvements could you suggest? 

13. Do you have any concerns about personal safety 

within the area? Please give details. 

14. Do you feel that sufficient Conservation Area 

direction exists to guide development proposals? 

Please give details. 

43


Management Plan 

EALING GREEN CONSERVATION AREA 

MANAGEMENT PLAN 

1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................2 

2. POLICY.............................................................................................................................2 

3. CONSERVATION AREA DESIGNATION..........................................................................4 

3.1. CHARACTER APPRAISALS ......................................... 4 

3.2. ARCHIVES AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PAST ........... 4 

4. DEVELOPMENT CONTROL.............................................................................................5 

4.1. PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPMENT CONTROL.................. 5 

5. PRESERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT..........................................................................7 

5.1. UNDERSTANDING THE ASSET .................................... 7 

5.2. MAINTAINING QUALITY.............................................. 8 

5.3. PRESERVE OR ENHANCE ........................................ 13 

5.4. ELEMENTS AT RISK ................................................ 14 

5.5. MONITORING AND REVIEW...................................... 18 

5.6. CONSERVATION STRATEGY AND PRACTICE .............. 18 

5.7. ARTICLE 4 DIRECTION CONSIDERATIONS FOR EALING 

GREEN CA........................................................................ 18 

6. CONSULTATION............................................................................................................ 19 


1. Introduction 



This plan sets out the local authority’s approach to 

managing the future of the Ealing Green CA. It is based 

on an appraisal of the character of the CA, the statutory 

planning policies affecting the area, the role of other local 

authority services in the area, and the requirements and 

aspirations of local people – both residents and 

businesses. 

It is very much a partnership document, ‘owned’ by all 

parties involved in producing it. This partnership 

approach means that the plan will be respected, and will 

be guided by the conduct of all the partners. 

2. Policy 

This Management Plan indicates how the policies in the 

Local Development Framework (LDF), along with other 

matters, will figure in the on-going management of the 

Ealing Green CA. It is not a planning policy document 

itself however, and it does not form part of the Local 

Development Framework (LDF). 

Ealing’s Local Development Framework comprises a 

series of documents. The following documents have a 

bearing on the Conservation Management Plan: 

• The ‘unitary development plan’ (UDP), 

also known as the Plan for the 

Environment. This contains the statutory 

policies for development in the CA and 

elsewhere in the borough. Volume one of 

the UDP has policies for all types of 

development. There is a specific policy on 

conservation in Chapter Four on Design 

(policy 4.8). Volume Two of the UDP 

shows sites and areas across the 

borough. The Ealing Green CA is 

indicated in Table 10.12 and Map 8 in 

volume two of the UDP. The UDP also has 

a “Proposals Map” which specifies the 

definitive boundary of the Ealing Green 

CA. It should also be noted that the UDP 

comprises the development plan for the 

borough along with the Mayor of London’s 

London Plan. For most purposes, the 

London Plan policies are reflected in the 

UDP, and there are cross-references to 

them in the UDP. 




• The series of supplementary planning 

guidance and supplementary planning 

documents provide more detailed 

guidance on how the statutory policies 

should be applied. These cover topics, 

sites and area. 

• The Local Development Scheme sets out 

the programme of work on future planning 

policy. This includes reference to a 

Supplementary Planning Document on 

Conservation, which is currently being 

prepared, and which will be subject to 

formal consultation in the autumn of 2007. 

In May of 2007, the Council’s preferred 

options for the planning of the borough will 

be published. 

• The Statement of Community Involvement 

sets out the Council’s commitments to 

community involvement in all aspects of 

town planning, including matters 

pertaining to the Ealing Green CA. 

• There are also other documents providing 

background information and monitoring 

data in the LDF. All published information 

on the Local Development Framework is 

on the Council’s web site at 

www.ealing.gov.uk/planpol 




3. Conservation Area designation 

Ealing Green is one of 29 (twenty-nine) of L.B. Ealing’s 

Conservation Areas (CAs) and it is managed, like the 

others, by the legal regulations of the Planning (Listed 

Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act, 1990. The 

Council operates its responsibilities under the Act to 

“preserve and enhance” the character of the CA. The 

Council will also undertake regular reviews of the area to 

monitor the quality of development and the effectiveness 

of its policies and guidance. 

3.1. Character appraisals 

The Council has completed a DRAFT Character 

Appraisal for the Ealing Green CA, of which this 

Management Plan is a further part. The Appraisal has 

been produced to describe and evaluate the special 

architectural and historic interest of the CA. The 

statement of character will provide a basis from which to 

evolve not only the making of development control 

decisions, but also for the informed framing of design 

guidance. The Appraisal is the basis for the direction of 

this Management Plan, identifying the elements of 

special interest of the Ealing Green CA that require 

attention or effort. The Appraisal also provides a valuable 

resource upon which to defend Appeals against refusal of 

planning permission. 

3.2. Archives and the importance of 

the past 

The CA contains a significant portion of historic fabric 

and evidence of this has been included in the Appraisal 

to demonstrate the evolution of the area, particularly over 

the past 200 years or so. 

The earliest settlement in the area was called “Yealing” 

and it developed around the old Church of St Mary, in the 

southern part of the CA. Archaeological evidence shows 

that parts of Ealing have been occupied for at least 7,000 

years The Appraisal deals with its evolution from this time 

up to the 21 st century. Historic maps of the late 19 th and 

20 th century demonstrate how a village grew up into a 

large and prosperous Victorian suburb along the main 

routes. Archival material, taken chiefly from the local 

sources maintained by L.B. Ealing, has been included in 

the Appraisal to provide a sense of historical depth and to 

illustrate the reality of Ealing’s past. Elements of this past 

may still be felt and understood, the CA in fact contains 

an unusually high number of buildings of historical and 

architectural interest (at local and national level) thus 

posing questions about their protection and enhancement 




of their setting as the development of sites and to existing 

property within the CA inevitably unfolds. 

4. Development control 

As a result of the demand for development, the character 

of the CA is under constant threat posed by 

unsympathetic, poorly designed and executed new 

buildings, extensions and alterations. Most of these are 

already controlled by existing legislation, administered by 

the Council’s professional officers. High quality 

development control plays an important part in managing 

changes to the CA. 

4.1. Principles for development control 

The Ealing Green CA and its immediate surroundings are 

under strong development pressure. Ealing acts as a 

very busy shopping centre for western Greater London, 

with its extensive range of high street shops, but also 

with a few small family businesses. Within the CA and 

facing the main streets are terraces or groups of 

buildings dating from the late 18 th century to the 1930s 

and beyond. These provide a wide variety of architectural 

styles and details. Nevertheless the poor quality of 

several 1950s, 1960s and later developments provide 

opportunities for new improvements. Modern shopfronts 

and signage in many cases spoil (especially along Bond 

Street) the overall appearance of many fine Victorian and 

Edwardian buildings. The residential stretches of the CA, 

although they do not offer opportunities for major 

developments, are under a lot of pressure for small-scale 

interventions to the residential properties. Sensitive and 

responsive management is required in order to cope with 

this pressure and the following principles will be adopted 

to guide the Council in its control of development: 

1) The Council will apply the principles, guidance 

and regulations outlined in the Planning (Listed 

Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and 

the broader guidance of Planning Policy 

Guidance Note 15 (PPG15) and any subsequent 

revisions or additions. 

2) The Council will apply the policies outlined in its 

Plan for the Environment, the Unitary 

Development Plan (UDP) as adopted in October 

2004, until such time as these policies are 

replaced by policies in the emerging Local 

Development Framework. 

3) The Council will require all planning applications 

to be supported by a Design and Access 

Statement. This should be a brief but thorough 

guide to the reasons for the development and 




how the design fulfils these, together with a 

statement concerning any access issues that may 

exist. 

Officers of the Council can provide assistance to 

applicants with more information and with 

examples on file of successful Design and Access 

Statements. 

4) A major requirement for any development 

proposal in a CA is quality, covering the design, 

materials, workmanship and execution. 

5) The Council will not dictate on the choice of 

architectural styles of any proposed new 

buildings, extensions or alterations but the 

position may be simply put as follows: 

OR 

• Contemporary and Modernist styles are 

entirely acceptable if they are high in 

quality and provided that they remain 

sympathetic in the context and towards 

the host building and/or other 

neighbouring buildings 

• Replicas of good, older buildings may be 

preferred provided that they are properly 

researched and high in quality. The 

design, scale, massing and detailing of 

such Traditionalist schemes should 

accurately replicate the contextual, local 

materials. 

6) The drawings through which proposals are 

submitted should clearly and competently 

demonstrate the intentions of the development, 

preferably being accompanied by photographs 

and anything else that can demonstrate the 

project’s aims. 

7) The Council will make use of technically 

experienced and qualified Officers in guiding the 

assessment and determination of all applications 

received. 

8) Applications for work in CAs must be 

accompanied by clear indications of the materials 

to be used in producing the external finish and 

architectural details of the proposed buildings. 

Actual samples of the materials should be 

submitted as part of the preparations of the 




scheme and/or in the course of beginning on-site 

building operations. 

9) Where possible, the Council recommends preapplication 

consultation. Planning Services and 

applicants may thus work jointly to produce 

schemes that are successful and high in quality. 

Experience has demonstrated that advance work 

of this sort is the most effective and efficient way 

of preparing applications. 

5. Preservation and 

enhancement 

5.1. Understanding the asset 

The Character Appraisal of which this 

Management Plan forms a part is central to 

understanding the Ealing Green CA and its future 

needs. As a result of the appraisal process, 

including the public consultation exercise, the 

aspects of the area that are under the most threat 

have been identified and a number of negative 

features, which need to be addressed in this 

Management Plan, identified. These are as 

follows: 

Spatial: 

• Busy traffic dominates the main roads and 

junctions, exasperated by the mainly 

cluttered pavements (Bond Street, The 

Green and St Mary’s Road) 

• Use of utilitarian materials such as 

concrete slabs, tarmac, average quality 

street furniture 

• Areas of very poor paving with disturbed 

street surfaces 

• Dominant street “clutter” e.g. service 

boxes, redundant railings, signage, 

bollards, etc. 

• Back land areas and gap sites that create 

fractures within the urban grain 

• Poor setting for some of the Listed 

Buildings: e.g. St John’s Church, Westfield 

House, St Mary’s Building. 

• Loss of front garden trees and fences 

Buildings: 

• Poor condition of some of the buildings in 

the CA 




• Poor quality later developments that are 

not sympathetic with earlier and valuable 

architectural remains 

• Poorly designed shopfronts and 

uncoordinated street furniture 

• Very poor quality shopfronts displaying the 

following negatives features: 

Over-deep fascias 

Garish colours 

Shopfronts in need of repair 

Dominant and poor quality lighting 

Unattractive signage 

 

• Poor quality extensions and alterations 

generally 

• Satellite dishes on many front elevations 

• Many buildings in need of repair and 

require restoration of lost architectural 

features such as cornicing, windows, and 

doors 

• Demolition of original boundary 

treatments. 

• Replacement of early boundary treatments 

with new walls of inappropriate design and 

materials 

• Conversion to hardstanding of front yard 

especially in Mattock Lane 

• Poor quality roofing materials, have 

replaced the original natural slate or tile 

roofs 

5.2. Maintaining quality 

The Council’s attention to quality in the Ealing Green CA 

will be maintained through its contribution to the following 

elements of development and alteration. 

1) Quality of applications 

In line with PPG15 the Council will not accept outline 

applications for proposals in CAs. Full applications will be 

required to be supported by properly drafted, accurate, 

scale drawings with plans, sections and elevations. In 

many cases for large schemes the Council will also 

expect analytical drawings, showing proposals in context, 

either through streetscape sections or three-dimensional 

images. 

2) Quality of materials 

The Council will, where possible, require that materials 

proposed are submitted as part of an application and not 

as a Condition. 


3) Details 



Where appropriate to aid in the assessment of an 

application, the Council may require the submission of 

large-scale construction detail drawings. This enables 

officers to check the quality of what is proposed and 

ensure that on site design is not left to the builder. 

4) Experienced persons 

The Council will always advise that applicants appoint 

both consultants and builders who have experience in 

historic building work. 

5) PVC-U (Unplasticised Poly Vinyl Chloride) in 

window frames and other architectural 

elements 

The Council has a well-founded preference for traditional, 

renewable materials and will therefore exercise its 

powers to advise and to insist, in cases where 

appropriate against the use of architectural elements and 

fenestration details in PVC-U or other manufactured 

substitutes. For buildings which are in commercial uses, 

or for flats, planning permission is usually required to 

install such windows and the Council can take 

enforcement action against any windows which have 

been installed without permission. For family houses, 

although there are currently few (if any) in the Ealing 

Green CA, the Council can also control the use of such 

modern details and materials through an Article 4 

Direction. More information is provided in section 5.7 – 

Article 4 Direction considerations for the Ealing Green 

CA. 

Plastic window frames and doors are not felt to be able to 

replicate the quality and appearance of original timber 

windows in CAs. Upvc is non-renewable and contributes 

to pollution. When used elsewhere on buildings, such as 

porches, barge-boards and conservatories it can have a 

negative effect upon visual appearance that should not 

be permitted in CAs. Depending on the individual 

circumstances, aluminium may not be considered an 

acceptable replacement for steel in window frames. 

Generally, the Council believes that it is the attention to 

detail and the specific concern about quality at all levels 

that will help to preserve or enhance the character and 

appearance of the Ealing Green CA. 




6) Alterations and extensions to roofs and their 

covering materials. 

The roofscape is an important element of the character 

of the CA. Any works whether for new buildings, 

extensions, alterations or the replacement of existing roof 

coverings, require planning permission to ensure that 

special care and attention is paid to the scale, the 

massing, the design and the materials employed. 

• Dormer windows 

Inset dormer windows will usually be accepted on the 

rear roof slopes but only rarely on the front or the side. 

They should not dominate the rood slope. 

Dormer windows should be of traditional design. A roof 

shape in keeping with the original profile is preferred but 

a flat roofed dormer may be necessary in smaller or 

shallower roofs, to allow 500mm to the ridge, valleys and 

hips. All dormer windows should be finished with 

moulded eaves, cornices and timber fascias. Where 

possible the window(s) of the dormer should align with 

the windows of the main house. 

There should be no tiling on the front elevation. 

• Roof extensions 

Roof extensions should be built within the existing roof 

slope: they should not be wrapped around two roof 

slopes, exceed the height of the ridge, or form a 

continuation of the wall below. Changing a hipped roof to 

a gable should be avoided. 

The ridge of the roof should not be raised to 

accommodate greater headroom: this will change the 

proportion of the house and may spoil the character and 

uniformity of the street scene. 

• Rooflights 

Rooflights will usually be acceptable on the rear roof 

slopes and on occasion on the sides. Any rooflight should 

be “conservation rooflight” which lie flat in the roof. 

• Tiles 

Tiles /slates should match the original in type, material 

and colour. Interlocking tiles are rarely appropriate. 

• Chimneys 

Chimneys are a particularly important element of the 

character of the Borough’s CAs and the Council has a 




clear preference for the retention of existing chimneys 

where they contribute positively to local character and for 

ensuring that new proposals that include chimneys are 

high in quality of design, materials and execution. 

Extensions 

The proliferation of unsightly and over-scale rear, side or 

roof extensions are regarded as detrimental to the 

historic environment of Ealing Green. They change the 

original relationship between buildings. For this reason, 

applications for extensions of this sort will be carefully 

considered and, where necessary for the preservation of 

local character, will be resisted. 

7) Brickwork 

The management of brickwork and the pointing of walls is 

a critical issue in preserving details in the Ealing Green 

CA. The Council will discourage the use of rendering, 

pebble dashing, painting and other new surfaces over 

existing original brick facades. 

8) Rear plots, outbuildings and boundaries 

Whilst most of the buildings in the residential stretches of 

the CA face onto the street, with concealed gardens and 

yards behind, a substantial number of properties are set 

back from the streetline with large front yards. The 

management of front yards is crucial both for the 

appearance a character of the street as well as for the 

architectural character of properties. 

Elsewhere in the existing CA the Council will ensure that 

the removal of existing traditional boundaries and 

gardens will be resisted and that proposals to replace or 

develop boundaries or front or side gardens will be 

appropriate in their materials and of high quality design 

that is compatible with the historic character of the CA. 

The removal of mature trees, unless dead, should not be 

permitted in order to create hardstandings. 

A number of service buildings and single storey garages, 

and a few unsympathetic later constructions detract from 

the general quality of the residential areas of the CA 

As opportunities for new improved development occur, 

the Council will seek to ensure that any new buildings 

“preserve or enhance” the CA and that where possible 

negative features are removed. 




Garden buildings should be small scale and sited 

discretely, taking care not to locate too near trees. They 

should be for ancillary garden use and comprise a single, 

modest-sized room. Timber is the most appropriate 

material to ensure they blend with the landscape. 

9) Shopfronts and signage 

A considerable number of buildings within the shopping 

thoroughfares of the CA are considered to be of local or 

national significance 1 . Shopfronts should attempt to 

follow the precedents set by those around them and the 

architecture of the building in which they sit. 

The Ealing Green CA retains large numbers of mostly 

modern shopfronts (Bond Street), while occasionally 

remnants of original, usually late 19 th century shopfronts 

remain(The Green). The Council has published a 

Shopfront Guidance leaflet which advocates the use of 

traditional materials and details, but this appears to have 

been largely ignored. Also many of the shopfronts have 

been installed for many years and the owners do not 

want to change them, so improvements can usually only 

be achieved through the planning process as properties 

change hands. Firm development control and possibly 

grant aid is required to ensure that the appearance of the 

CA is incrementally improved, and the Council will take 

enforcement action against owners of shops who install 

new shopfronts or who alter their existing shopfronts 

without planning permission. 

The Council will therefore pay special attention to 

applications to alter or develop these commercial 

frontages and will ensure that proposals are high in 

overall quality and make a positive contribution to the 

character and appearance of the CA. All changes will 

also have to adhere to the Council’s Shopfront Guidance 

leaflet. The Council will also look into updating the 

existing Shopfront Guidance to ensure that all shopfronts 

with the CA are included (e.g. shopfronts along Bond 

Street, the Parades of shops along St Mary’s Road and 

the at the and of Mattock Lane) 

10) Satellite Dishes and Telecommunication 

Installations. 

Satellite dishes are a common problem in many CAs. 

They disfigure the fronts of historic buildings and also 

cause a loss of historic character when fixed in locations 

1 Ealing’s Adopted Plan for the Environment, 2004, p.37 




that may be seen from within the streets and open 

spaces. 

In the Ealing Green CA satellite dishes are regarded by 

the Council as not being in character and therefore will 

only be acceptable when they cannot be easily seen from 

the streets or other public parts of the area. 

The rules governing satellite dishes in CAs are 

significantly tighter than outside such areas. These state 

that the installation of a satellite antenna on any building 

or structure within the curtilage of a family house in a CA 

is only permitted development if the following conditions 

are met: 

• The dish does not exceed 90 mm. in any 

dimension; 

• Not part of it must exceed the highest part of the 

roof; 

• It is not installed on a chimney; 

• It is not on a building exceeding 15 metres in 

height; 

• It is not on a wall or roof slope fronting a highway 

or footway; 

• It is located so its visual impact is minimised; 

• It is removed as soon as it is no longer required; 

and 

• There is not a dish already on the building or 

structure. 

Similarly, strict controls exist on commercial buildings 

and flats, and it is likely that planning permission will be 

needed for any satellite dish which is on the front 

elevation of a building, or a roof facing the highway. If in 

any doubt, please contact the Council’s relevant 

development control officer. 

Telecommunication installations are regarded as causing 

great potential harm to the historic character of the Ealing 

Green CA. The law governing the erection of masts and 

antennae is complex and whilst some companies have 

licences which allow some structures to be put up in CAs 

without planning permission, the legislation does allow for 

consultation with the local authority concerned before the 

work is put in hand. Further information can be found in 

the second edition of PPG8 Telecommunications. 

5.3. Preserve or enhance 

As outlined in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 

(PPG15) proposals for work with the historic environment 

and, in particular, within CAs must, as a minimum, 

preserve the character of the CA. 




The Council supports this standard as a basic 

requirement but will always encourage applicants and 

their agents to develop schemes that will actively 

enhance the character of the CA. In meeting these 

fundamental requirements the Council will require that 

proposals are demonstrably a faithful replication of the 

local historical precedent or a high quality contemporary 

building as described above in 3.1. 

5.4. Elements at risk 

As previously described in the Appraisal and summarised 

in section 5.1 of this document the quality of the Ealing 

Green CA has been damaged to a degree by a variety of 

factors including: 

1. Impact of the busy traffic and poor pedestrian 

movements 

2. Poor quality setting for the Listed Buildings 

3. Poor quality later developments 

4. Advertising and signage that is boldly designed, 

and that uses inappropriate modern materials 

making it visually dominant 

5. Uncoordinated streetfurniture 

6. Shopfronts that are badly detailed and in poor 

condition 

7. Satellite dishes on many elevations 

8. Loss of historic features on many of the buildings 

9. Buildings in need of repair and improvement 

10. Use of poor quality materials for roofs, windows 

and facing materials 

The Council regards it as important to improve these 

negative features and to ensure that actions are taken to 

positively preserve or enhance the Ealing Green CA in 

the following ways: 




Issue 1 : The Council’s Development Strategy for Ealing 

Centre 2 – in the Easier Movement and Transport section 

proposes the enhancement of public transport and the 

introduction of traffic calming measures to be 

implemented by 2012. 

The Council could in fact consider the installation of 

some traffic management measures to try and reduce the 

speed of through traffic along the main thoroughfares and 

other improvements to provide greater pedestrian priority. 

Issue 2-: The appraisal has identified several areas of 

back land and gap sites that create fractures within the 

urban grain and contribute to poor connectivity. Ealing’s 

UDP identifies most of those areas as “Development 

Sites” 3 . 

In particular Site No 55, including Ealing Studios, Ealing 

Hammersmith & West London Collage, St Mary’s House 

and BT building. 

The Site 55 includes: 

On the western edge of Ealing Green, within the 


Flanking Walpole Park to the west, Pitzhanger 

Manor to the north and Ealing Film 

Studios/University House to the south 

- Site 55 - Constraints 

Development should respect the open nature of 

adjoining land the architectural and historic 

importance of the area 

Retain educational use of the Ealing and West 

London College site 

St Mary’s House, used by BT, is listed as Grade I 

The whole site is within the Ealing Green 

Conservation Area and adjoins (and the northern 

part of the site) Metropolitan Open Land 

Must not impact on the Park, Pitzhanger Manor 

Rose Garden and the Manor itself as a Grade I 

listed building) is an historic area and must be 

respected 

The listed St Mary’s House could be enhanced 

by new development 

2 

Ealing Centre – A Strategy For Sustainable Improvement 

2002-2012. October 2002 

3 

Ealing Adopted Plan for the Environment, 2004, Vol 2, pp. 64, 

65 




Walpole Park - Grade II (English Heritage 

Register of Parks and Gardens) 

Potential to produce a comprehensive 

development site 

Enhancing the picturesque setting of Ealing 

Green 

Combining the sites should enable a higher 

density of development 

Opportunity to improve educational use possible 

joint-use with Thames Valley University 

Library/learning resources centre opportunity 

More efficient use of building space, (enabling TVU 

and Ealing Studios to collaborate to develop the 

media studies courses offered by TVU and Ealing 

and West London College and enterprise 

opportunities and facilities offered by Ealing studios) 

- Site 55 - Preferred Uses 

Cultural and creative industries (TV and film 

production) and offices; education; performance, 

museums; community facilities; public realm and 

some opportunity for restaurant/cafe 

EB3A: Ealing/Green/Ealing Tertiary College – 

refurbishment/redevelopment (retaining Ealing 

Green High School building and PO frontage). 

Improved education facilities combining use with 

Thames Valley University, possibly new public 

Central Library (as an alternative to Site EB1). 

Provide new road access south through site to 

Ealing Studios Media Village 

EB3B: Ealing Studios refurbishment of listed 

buildings and redevelopment of non-listed 

buildings to create media village comprising 

film/TV studios, offices, workshops, museum and 

performance space 

Development can take advantage of views over 

Walpole Park 

The Council will do its outmost to facilitate the 

redevelopment of these sites to ensure that they will 

achieve the desired improvement in terms of their 

townscape value, setting of Listed Buildings and the 

enhancement of the local character and identity 4 . 

Issue 3 -: Most of the later developments within Ealing 

Green CA that have been identified as detrimental within 

the Character Appraisal (see section 5.5, page 31 of 

4 

For further information, please refer to Planning Brief of Site 

55, of the Ealing’s UDP. 




Ealing Green Conservation Area Character Appraisal) 

they should be replaced with high quality developments. 

This will hopefully create not only an architectural 

environment of much higher quality but also provide a 

much more suitable setting for the valuable early 

architectural remains of Victorian and Edwardian times. 

Issue 4-5 -6: The stakeholders’ consultation responses 

suggest the reduction of street “clutter” (signage, 

bollards, railings, street lighting etc) and the use of more 

traditional materials. Also more coordinated street 

furniture would be welcome. 

The Council will need to consider these issues, including 

the possible improvement of the Listed Buildings within 

the context of the future development schemes 5 . 

Matters such as signage and advertising are already 

controlled through existing legislation. The Council will 

ensure that in future all such changes adhere to the 

Shopfront Guidance leaflet and other guidance contained 

within the UDP and subsequent documents. The 

provision of grants from the Council would help to ensure 

that local businesses improve their frontages. 

Issue 7: The control of satellite dishes has already been 

discussed in section 5.2 Maintaining quality. Usually 

planning permission is needed if the satellite dish is 

visible from the public highway and the Council will 

enforce against unauthorised dishes. 

Issue 8 and 10 See 5.2 Maintaining quality 

Issue 9: Several of the historic buildings in the existing 

CA are in need of some kind of improvement, e.g. 

replacement of UPVC windows, re-roofing in traditional 

materials, or repairs to details such as cornicing, eaves 

and verges. A grant scheme, such as the Townscape 

Heritage Initiative scheme, which is a partnership 

between the Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, 

could provide the funding for a range of improvements 

and repairs. Subject to the Council being able to provide 

match funding, and the support of English Heritage, a 

grant scheme would help to encourage local property 

owners to improve their buildings, including new 

shopfronts. 

5 In particular for Ptzhanger Manor and Grounds will be the 

subject of an application for a Heritage Lottery Grant for a 

conservation and regeneration scheme that aims to ensure the 

long life, use and maintenance of the Listed Structures. See, 

Donald Insall Associates, Pitzhanger Manor Conservation 

Plan, July 2006. 




5.5. Monitoring and Review 

The Council will review its CA Appraisals as part of a 

five-year programme of regular review and monitoring in 

compliance with policy reflecting the obligations imposed 

by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation 

Areas) Act 1990. 

5.6. Conservation Strategy and 

Practice 

Ealing Council is in the process of reviewing its 29 

designated CAs, some of which have in place Article 4 

Directions (A4D) where these are appropriate. To 

maintain all aspects of the “special character and 

appearance” of the 29 CAs, the Council will need to 

retain technical advisors specializing in the preservation 

and conservation of historic buildings, landscapes etc. A 

regular five-year cycle of study and review will also be 

needed to be maintained to assess and monitor the CAs 

with the aim of the preservation of the areas in the long 

term. Overall, the Ealing Green CA must be protected for 

both its residents and business owners, and a 

programme of improvements instigated to achieve its 

preservation and enhancement. 

5.7. Article 4 Direction considerations 

for Ealing Green CA 

When or after designating a CA, the Council can bring 

under planning control a number of changes to single 

family houses meaning that all significant changes or 

developments would require planning permission (called 

an Article 4 Direction – A4D). The majority if not all of the 

properties presently within the Shopping Area in the CA 

are in commercial uses or are used as offices, where 

such changes, including replacement windows (a 

particular problem in the CA) already require planning 

permission. However, the residential sections of the CA 

contain a number of terraced, single family dwellings 

where an A4D would ensure that the architectural interest 

of the buildings was not eroded by incremental, 

unsympathetic changes. 

The Council could consider if it is appropriate to propose 

the application of A4D in parts of the CA and for selected 

classes of developments. 




Subject to the classes of development selected, the 

adoption of an A4D could result in the requirement for 

planning permission to be obtained for all new windows 

and doors, extensions, porches, changes to the front 

elevation materials and roofs, and the creation of new 

driveways and vehicular hardstandings. 

The serving of an A4D on family houses, and stricter 

development control over incremental changes to 

commercial and flatted properties, will in time result in 

improvements to the visual appearance of the CA. 

In case the Council would consider proposing a selective 

Art4(2) in the CA. This intention will of course be subject 

to public consultation. 

6. Consultation 

The strength of the Ealing Green CA Appraisal and 

Management Plan relies on the knowledge and 

commitment of business owners, residents, and other 

key stakeholders. 

Both documents have been produced in partnership with 

members of the local community who have provided the 

authors of this work with the expert views and knowledge 

to help positively shape the future of the CA. Wider views 

will be sought in the lead up to adoption of both the 

Appraisal and Management Plan, and thereafter in every 

five-year period of review.

Appraisal no 4 Ealing Green Conservation area ... - Ealing Council

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?