Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

The Historic and Built Environment
• Changes in technology have made a range of
buildings redundant, such as mills, pumping
stations, maltings and other industrial
buildings. Rapid transport developments have
also led to redundant structures including
railway stations, bridges and a lighthouse.
St Neots is a market town whose economic base
declined over the years and has been replaced
by new employers based on the town’s periphery.
English Heritage and Huntingdonshire District
Council have been working since 1996 on
schemes to regenerate the town centre and lever
in private funding. The grade II listed Paines
Brewery was in poor repair and on the Buildings
at Risk register. It has now been sensitively
restored and converted for residential and retail
use, creating 25 dwelling units and 13 new jobs.
© English Heritage
18 The Regional Environment Strategy for The East of England
3.2 LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS AND
QUALITY IN THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
Historically, locally available building materials defined
the scale, size and form of most of the traditional
buildings that characterise the towns and villages
of the East of England. Traditional building skills
were passed down through generations. Craftsmen
educated in the local building tradition had an innate
understanding of the possibilities of local materials,
and an awareness of local details that distinguish
buildings in one part of the region from another.
These skills have largely been lost with the advent of
mass produced building materials and the loss of the
craft skills base. This has resulted in contemporary
construction bearing little or no relationship to the
environment in which it is located, and an overall
watering down and potentially complete loss of
regional distinctiveness.
Key Assets
Materials and Craftsmanship
Before railways, buildings used to be made from
locally available stone and other materials, which
in turn helped to define the building method used.
Distinctive regional architectural characteristics
developed based on differing local geology and
natural materials. This is particularly visible in the
East of England, where a wide variety of different
bedrock exists.
• Chalk – Found in the Chilterns and the west of
the region, and used as building stone and for
lime in plasters and mortars.
• Ironbound Sandstone - Carstone in Norfolk
gives a distinct and rich colour to buildings
in a defined area. Pebbles of carstone were
sometimes pressed into mortar joints, producing
distinctive ‘galleting’. A limestone belt adjoining
the region produces Barnack stone, characteristic
of parts of Cambridgeshire and churches
throughout the region.
• Flint - Very characteristic of Norfolk and Suffolk
and used in many decorative ways, as well as for
general walling.
• Clays - Produced unique brick types, due to
the variety of clays and firing methods. In
Bedfordshire, bricks have been produced since
Roman times until the present day. Clay
pantiles are especially characteristic of Norfolk
and Suffolk and were given a blue/black glaze
for prestige buildings. Plain tiles are characteristic
elsewhere.
• Oak - Abundant in Hertfordshire, Essex and
Suffolk where high standards of carpentry are
evident. In Essex the majority of pre-industrial
buildings in rural areas are timber framed.
• Thatch – Long straw thatch, from old varieties of
wheat, is the tradition in the south of the region. In
the north, water reed taken from the Fens, Broads
and marshes is used for thatching, using different
techniques to give very distinct appearances.
Reedbeds, such as these at Woodwalton Fen,
continue to be a source of reed for thatching
historic buildings. They also provide an important
habitat for wildlife.
© English Nature
The Historic and Built Environment
The building industry underwent a fundamental
change when easy transportation, using railways,
was made possible in the 19 th century. From this
time, building styles and methods of construction
were no longer as closely related to the local area.
The brick industry in Bedfordshire expanded greatly
and sent bricks to the whole country.
Townscape and High Quality Design
The built environment is part of our everyday
surroundings and well-designed urban environments
can make a real difference to the quality of our lives.
The Spirella building in Letchworth is an excellent
example of how a key historic building, which
became redundant from its original use, can
be turned into an economic asset. From semiderelict
corset factory to fully let, leading edge
office space, the grade II* listed building was
transformed through an £11m regeneration
project by Letchworth Garden City Heritage
Foundation. Voted ‘property innovation of the
year’ by Property Week magazine, Spirella is today
home to some 25 thriving businesses, which,
between them, employ some 400 staff within two
minutes walk of town centre shops and services.
© BJP Photograghy Ltd
The Regional Environment Strategy for The East of England
19