Draft Bicester Conservation Area Appraisal November 2009

8. Established Character8.1 Land UseThe Conservation Area is based on thehistoric core, which comprises much of thecommercial focus of the town. SheepStreet and Market Square arepredominantly retail with some financialservices, restaurants and cafes. In thethree storey properties on Market Squaremany buildings appear to have residentialuse or financial services on the upperfloors . In Sheep Street where the buildingsare two storey most accommodate storagespace above.NIn several areas back land buildings offSheep Street have been brought intoproductive small scale retail and serviceuse. The Causeway contains a mixture ofretail, restaurant and residential uses buta number of buildings remain vacant.There are also a number of vacant retailunits on North Street, in Wesley Lane andin Crown Walk. At the top of Sheep Streetand in North Street restaurants and take–aways predominate. The remainder of theConservation Area is predominantlyresidential.Figure 13: Ground floor Land use plan0 100mBicester is still a vibrant commercial and retail area hosting a weekly market, monthlyfarmers market and annual fair. The development of Crown Walk in the 1980’s reinforcedthe retail offered without harm to the established street pattern. Proposed commercialdevelopment to the west of Sheep Street should further consolidate the commercialcentre.24