Front cover of brochure

Overview - Conservation Areas in Coventry

Transcript from Coventry City Council 1979 brochure , with updates where needed.  

Introduction

In recent years it has been recognised that the parts of our city which we most cherish are not merely created by individual buildings of great architectural or historic value, but often consist of small streets or groups of buildings, greens and groups of trees.  While they may not contain buildings or features of outstanding importance, these areas have a distinct atmosphere which, in a century when pressures towards uniformity in our environment are ever increasing, is worthy of us all making special efforts to retain them.

Conservation Areas

Although legislation to protect individual buildings has been in force for many years, it was only in 1967 that an act of parliament was passed which imposed the duty on each local authority in the country to identify these special areas (to be termed Conservation Areas) and take positive measures to protect them.

Designation as a conservation area does not mean that development is prohibited and that no change can take place.  The intention is not to preserve an area as a museum piece.  In many cases new development may not only be inevitable but also desirable in order to maintain the viability of an area or to enhance its character.  Both buildings and areas of the city can only be properly conserved if they are able to play a full role in the life of the city, support sufficient economic activity and retain attractiveness as a place to live.  The basic tenet of conservation is that the best of the old should be retained and that the new should complement and support, rather than overwhelm and destroy.

Allesley Procedures for Designation Designation of conservation areas is essentially a local responsibility.  The procedure for designation is straightforward.  After a public meeting has been called and the views of the public received, a boundary has to be strictly defined for each area.  This is then advertised locally and in the London Gazette together with a brief description of the legal implications for affected parties.  The Secretary of State for the Environment is also notified although no confirmation is required. Putting Conservation into Effect The intention of the 1967 Civic Amenities Act was that conservation area designation would provide a framework within which the policies of the local authority would be directed towards the objectives of conservation.

The 1974 Civic Amenities Act introduced certain controls specific to designated Conservation Areas.  These extended the control of demolition, formerly restricted to statutorily listed buildings only, to all buildings within a conservation area and also made it obligatory to give the local authority 6 weeks' notice prior to the felling of or the carrying out of work on any tree within the conservation area with a trunk more than 3 inches in diameter at a height of 5 feet.  There are penalties for failing to comply with these statutory controls. Cook Street Gate Local authorities are encouraged to use their existing powers to further conservation objectives.  This involves the City Council requiring fully detailed applications for planning consent including specified materials and landscaping schemes within conservation areas; adopting design guides and control plans specific to conservation areas so that an established character is respected and complemented by new developments; taking a critical view of all planning applications and expecting a high standard of design and materials to complement the existing character and exercising stricter planning controls over uses and advertisements detrimental to the character of the area.  In addition the City Council advertises all planning applications for development within the conservation areas. The emphasis in conservation has consistently been, however, on positive work for enhancement rather than negative controls.  A considerable amount of enhancement work has been carried out in the City's Conservation Areas.  The following section mentions some of the more important enhancement works.  It will be seen that some of the greatest improvements within conservation areas have been a side benefit from major planning schemes.

Conservation in Coventry Areas Coventry City Council have designated 13 conservation areas (See map at end of this document for locations and table of names).  They are of widely varying character and extent, each being lent a distinctive atmosphere by virtue of a historic road layout, a dominant feature or a particular building type. Five of the conservation areas lie within the City Centre.  Three of these comprise the most complete surviving areas of the city centre as it was prior to the massive destruction and redevelopment of the twentieth century. The Hill Top area is centred on the Cathedral and Holy Trinity Churches and the surrounding cobbled lanes and well treed graveyards.  It has recently been designated as an outstanding conservation area by the Department of the Environment in recognition of its national importance.   Spon Street conservation area is centred on the Spon Street Town Scheme.  The gradual implementation of the town scheme will eventually result in a pedestrianised precinct of restored medieval buildings, and conservation area designation will serve to protect the surroundings of this important project.    Greyfriars Green conservation area has similarly seen great changes since its designation.  Major new road construction has been sensitively integrated into the area with the subsequent improvement and expansion of the green spaces which form the central feature of the area.   Lady Herbert's Garden  is centred on a relatively modern feature of the city which has become a much loved amenity.  The delightful 1930's garden laid out around the major surviving stretch of the city wall has, since designation, been considerably expanded, again in conjunction with major road development.   The fifth central conservation area - the area centred around High Street - forms the historic banking and commercial heart of the City.  The majority of buildings in this area are of pre-war construction richly detailed in the classical tradition with a scale which reflects their importance.   Park Cottage, East Avenue, Stoke Park Outside the central area, the first two areas represent formerly independent settlements now absorbed into the built up area of the city. Allesley, a typical Warwickshire village recently returned to relative peace by the construction of a bypass and containing many well kept houses and cottages of considerable age and character.   Stoke Green comprises a large green with fine trees and a leafy Victorian residential suburb of unique character and has been the subject of various small scale enhancement works.   Kenilworth Road conservation area is exceptional in deriving its character from trees rather than buildings.  In this magnificent approach to the city, protection of the trees and further planting are the primary objectives of conservation.   The London Road conservation area (including the Charterhouse) is again primarily a green area although containing some individual buildings of great importance.  The oldest part of the cemetery laid out by Joseph Paxton and now a mature landscape with many fine trees has been declared an outstanding conservation area by the Department of the Environment.   In contrast Chapelflelds conservation area is almost wholly comprised of buildings - modest two storey houses laid out in the 1850's for the city's watchmaking community, which, with several magnificent trees, produce a townscape of great attractiveness as well as historic interest.   Hawkesbury Junction, an historic canalside community, 'shared' with Nuneaton Borough Council, and much decayed prior to designation in 1976, since which time extensive enhancement work has been carried out.   Ivy Farm Lane is an area which maintains a strong rural character, a result of the building type and form, the street pattern and the landscape qualities.   Finally, Far Gosford Street with its amalgam of buildings from different periods, forms a microcosm of Coventry's development between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries which is not paralleled elsewhere. Buildings from most architectural periods between those dates are represented there.   All of the city's conservation areas are described in detail on individual pages on this web site.. Whose Responsibility? By virtue of the emphasis placed on quality of materials and workmanship and the need for great care to be taken in design and construction when working with old buildings, major conservation work can never be cheap.  The City Council resources available to spend on conservation have always been limited and have of necessity had to be concentrated on the most important and needy cases.  In most of the conservation areas City Council activity must be restricted to essential schemes with only a side benefit for conservation or modest small scale enhancement works.  This is consistent with the role of the City Council as a coordinating agent offering an overall protection to the area and a guarantee of consistency and impartiality in dealing with all applications for work within a conservation area.  Those living, working and intending to build within the conservation areas must inevitably bear a major responsibility for maintaining the environment. In the case of new development, good design is not necessarily expensive, and initial advice can readily be obtained from the City Development Directorate who can also advise on the requirements for planning permission and approval under the Building Regulations. THEREFORE, WHEN CONTEMPLATING ANY WORK IN CONSERVATION AREAS PLEASE CONTACT THE CITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORATE FOR ADVICE AND INFORMATION.   For Further information contact Coventry 7683 1265

Location of Conservation Areas within Coventry - 11, 12 and 13 (shown in Green) declared since 1980 

Key:
1	Allesley Village		6	Lady Herberts Garden		11	High Street
2	Kenilworth Road		7	Spon Street		12	Ivy Farm Lane
3	Stoke Green		8	Hawkesbury Junction		13	Far Gosford Street
4	Greyfriars Green		9	London Road
5	Hill Top		10	Chapelfields