conservation area statement - Stroud District Council

THE SPACESCONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – CONSERVATION AREA NO. 16 – TOP OF TOWNOpen space takes two main forms within thissub-area:• Streets and roads• Private gardens and yards to the rear ofstreet-fronting buildingsThere is little public open space within thissub-area, examples being the wide pavementcreated by the junction of Nelson Street,Middle Street and Castle Street and the oldroad, now blocked off which formerly led fromMiddle Street to the Chapel in Chapel Street.The narrowness of many of the roads and sidestreets contributes to an over all human-scaledemphasis, few spaces being any broader thanthe height of the buildings lining them. Thespaces are well enclosed, with buildingsforming an almost continuous frontage alongmost streets.Motor traffic now flows through all of thehistoric streets. Having once formed part of theroute to Bisley, today it is used more forlocalised and domestic access.Though many buildings have small frontgarden plots which add to the colour diversityof the area, most private land is to the rear ofthe buildings and is concealed from view bysurrounding buildings and boundary walls.This renders their visual impact on the mainstreetscapes as minimal. However, these areasare more noticeable and important whenviewed from side streets and the mainpedestrian alleys, footpaths and vehicularaccesses between and behind the buildings.There is very little green space in the ‘OldTown’ sub-area, although the green of hills andtrees beyond the sub-area and the town centreare frequently visible from within. The numberof trees visible from the streets is limited andall are in private gardensWhere trees are to be found they are normallyin groups in older well-established largegardens, such as within the grounds of TheCastle, Spring Hill and Corbett House.The blacktopped highways dominate much ofthis area the harshness of the road, being afurther modern intervention, which is notstrictly in character with the majority of theOld Town. However, exceptions to this rulecan be found, for example to the front of thehouses on the south side of Whitehall, thegravel track with shrubby verge adds a pleasingbreak to the harshness of the hard surfaces.At the top of Castle Pitch, a small patch of theoriginal cobbled road surface is visible whichgives an important clue as to the historicappearance of this part of the ConservationArea.Path from Middle Street toChapel StreetEstablished trees are animportant focal pointrising above Field RoadPage - 20 -