A Landscape Strategy for Lancashire - Landscape Character Assessment

4. Lancashires Urban landscape types

Lancashires urban areas have grown rapidly in the last three hundred years although many may have origins deep in prehistory and physical and human influences have combined to dictate the siting and growth of settlements. Expansion, contraction, rebuilding and demolition have all left traces of past activity and it is possible in many towns to plot their development from evidence such as the type and style of buildings and the spatial arrangements of streets, roads and open spaces.(Figure 9).

4.1 Historic Core(1100 to 1800)

4.1.1 Urban Landscape Character

Today the Historic Urban Core is typically a relatively small, characterful area at the heart of Lancashires larger settlements. A historic church and market place are often sited at the central convergence point of the principal radial routes. Most Historic Urban Cores have a denser urban fabric than other parts of the town, with tall red brick or stone buildings and angular streets. There is a general lack of open space and vegetation, although market squares do survive in some towns. In some cases the historic core appears as an isolated island within later development. This may result from the demolition and re-planning of town centres, or from the fusion of isolated small towns by expansion of one or both settlements. Often the historic core is only visibly represented by the street pattern and property boundaries. Apart from churches and castles the earliest visible fabric are rare 16^th and 17^th century buildings, but typically the oldest buildings of the historic core are 18^th or 19^th century.

Overall, the most enduring feature of the Historic Urban Cores is the organic, winding arrangement of streets and alleys and the distinctive character of historic public buildings.

4.1.2 Evolution

It was not until the 12^th and 13^th centuries that many of the countys existing settlements expanded and took on the administrative functions previously carried out by the manors. Often settlements expanded around the markets which were held outside ancient and important churches. Although small by modern standards, these towns exerted a powerful influence over the surrounding countryside. A few towns in Lancashire, such as Ormskirk, may have resulted from deliberate planning in the Norman period but the majority developed in a piecemeal way.

By the end of the medieval period Lancashire had a developing urban system. Many areas were thinly populated, but industrialisation, long distance commerce and trade were becoming increasingly important and prompted in the gradual growth of certain settlements. Growth was often restricted by the impacts of war, epidemics and economics - the urban poor of industrial towns were often overcrowded in densely-packed yards and backlands which quickly degenerated into squalid slum areas. The more prosperous inhabitants preferred to move to the relative peace, quiet and cleanliness of the urban fringe.

By 1700 large towns were extending ever outwards along main roads and the spaces between developments were being infilled by landowners selling or leasing housing sites. It is interesting to note that until the 17^th century most urban buildings were timber framed, mirroring the black and white architecture evident today in Cheshire. During the second half of the 17^th century however the replacement of timber by stone and brick hastened as a result of war time devastation and by accidental fires which were an ever present danger. This resulted in the loss of many excellent pieces of Tudor architecture. Despite the preference for brick in many areas, particularly in the west of Lancashire, stone was quite often used for the construction of churches and large public buildings. A few churches date back to Norman times, but most have been substantially rebuilt, particularly in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

4.2 Industrial Age(1800-1930)

4.2.1 Urban Landscape Character

The planned development typical of Victorian and Edwardian residential areas is characterised by a unity of architectural character, with small red brick or stone built terraces in working class districts and larger brick or stone semi-detached villas in broad, tree-lined streets in areas dominated by middle class residents. The street pattern is rectilinear, on a regular grid. Prominent stone public buildings, built by wealthy patrons, large public parks, promenades and urban squares are landmarks in central districts. This period left a legacy of attractive urban areas, with a formal character.

Within this urban landscape type, squares, parks and to a certain degree, urban cemeteries, contribute significantly to the quality of life enjoyed by residents and workers. Many sites retain elements of their original design and planting; for some, however, neglect, vandalism and inadequate management has created a rather utilitarian appearance.

4.2.2 Evolution

The industrialisation of Lancashire was an astonishing phenomenon, noticeable in the countryside, but most dramatic in the development of the urban areas. The teeming squalor and the awesome scale of commerce was a fascinating attraction to visitors from around the world. There was enormous demographic change, with new industries attracting workers from the surrounding countryside on a scale not experienced before.

Cotton textile manufacture was arguably the most important of Lancashires industries. During the early phases of industrialisation, there was a shift from domestic production to factories. The Factory System, which operated from the 1790s, involved the separation of home and work. It led to the construction of massive factory complexes adjacent to long rows of rented terraces of stone or brick and slate which ran along cobbled axial roads. They were built by speculators and mill owners who were keen to keep close control of the workforce. These early Factory Houses were generally of poor quality; they were arranged back to back with no sanitation or yards. The Police Act of 1844 effectively ended poor quality back to back housing provision in Lancashires industrial towns and in the late 19^th century the mill terrace housing was built to a higher standard. For this reason there are few (if any) examples of back to back housing surviving in Lancashire today.

As a result of the Police Act, Victorian planned housing was often located along broad, drained streets. Most houses had four rooms and a privy/ashpit accessible by a back alley, or by ginnels between houses, for the removal of refuse. Despite a bleakly utilitarian appearance, standards were much higher than in previous decades. In the west and south of the county houses were predominantly of brick, parts of east Lancashire and in Lancaster, houses tended to be built of stone. It was also during the mid 19^th century that there was a real attempt to make proper provision for clean water. This resulted in the construction of massive reservoirs in the grit stone hills surrounding the valley towns.

The improved standard of living of the working classes and their relative affluence created a new fashion for taking vacations to escape the grime and toil by going to the seaside. Along the coast, resorts such as Blackpool, Morecambe and Lytham St Annes grew rapidly during the Victorian period. They were designed to cater for the recreational needs of thousands of visitors, eager to spend their disposable income. The most well known of these seaside resorts is Blackpool where relatively haphazard and unplanned growth contributed to its charm. The Winter Gardens (1878), Tower (1894), sea, beach piers and amusements catered for visitors needs and railways were the principal means of transporting thousands of holiday makers to and from their destination.

By the mid 19^th century Lancashire had secured the great majority of the UKs cotton operatives and other industries were also showing rapid growth and sophistication. It was during the Victorian and Edwardian periods that the old traditions of a semi-rural lifestyle gave way to an acceptance of the disciplines of living and working in large units of industrial and urban society. Urban employers were keen to enlist the goodwill of their workforce; municipal improvement using public funding and private munificence was a key feature of the period. The emergent middle classes often held positions on local councils and they were also keen to express their power and good will. These factors combined to create a phase of urban transformation.

Many towns initiated major schemes of public works, including the provision of water and sanitation and the passing of new laws setting improved standards of housing. There were also symbolic gestures, such as the construction of town halls, churches, universities, schools, hospitals, libraries and art galleries. The architecture involved often reflected the tastes and aspirations of the patrons. A notable example is the Greek Revival Harris Museum and Library (1882-93) which dominates the Market Place in Preston. Public parks and urban squares are significant features of the period. These resulted from a mixture of commercial enterprise, paternalism, civic pride and philanthropy. The naturalistic elements of their designs provided clean green spaces for the deprived urban populations. Geometric elements offered an opportunity for leisurely promenading and for civic display and refinement.

Planned industrial housing usually took place on land on the fringes of existing built up areas and in areas where earlier poor quality housing had been demolished. Public parks and municipal stone buildings were located towards the centre of the towns and would have required the demolition of earlier buildings. On the edges of the towns, away from the factories and workers areas, the middle classes built themselves large family houses, arranged on airy, tree lined streets in suburbs. Suburban villas, quite often had large gardens, where the growing fashion for collecting exotic plants could be indulged. In the rapidly expanding tourist towns, a combination of terraces and higher quality housing was designed to accommodate workers, holiday makers, commuters and those retiring to the coast. Such development usually took place on farmland as these settlements grew outwards from their historic centres.

4.3 Suburban (1930 onwards)

4.3.1 Urban Landscape Character

This urban landscape type includes a wide variety of architectural styles and layouts. The majority of urban areas are characterised by a spacious pattern of street, low buildings, garages and gardens, although there are also examples of high-rise tower block estates, with communal amenity grassland and extensive parking.

Early suburban housing (1930-40) is typically semi-detached, built of brick and arranged in crescents and wide streets with large front and rear gardens. This type of older suburban housing often forms ribbon development along principal urban routes, with access to more recent housing estates behind. 1950s to 60s estates tend to have predominantly straight streets with some cul-de-sacs and with gardens and garages. Since the 1970s, housing development has been concentrated in relatively dense estates with cul-de-sac layouts, curved streets, small gardens and garages and are often a mixture of many different styles, frequently pastiches of old styles.

The use of many different materials, usually not of local origin and standardised architectural detailing of particular styles has resulted in a loss of regional identity; the same house designs recur across the whole country.

4.3.2 Evolution

Lancashires urban centres have experienced profound changes from the inter war period onwards. At the time of the First World War, many older industrial centres had reached their peak populations, although the combined impacts of suburbanisation and economic decline resulted in depopulation. This process was accelerated by deliberate decentralisation, a fundamental planning strategy between 1945 and 1975.

In urban areas local authorities had inherited, by modern standards, a legacy of sub-standard 19^th century housing and Lancashires local authorities were keen to clear the slums and to develop estates on the urban fringes. Suburbanisation during the 1930s and 40s created large areas of private and council housing in estates on the fringes of the towns.

After 1945 national house building programmes and the introduction of industrialised building methods were the catalyst for widespread inner-city redevelopment and the relocation of whole communities to the edges of towns. The new estates, which included a substantial element of high rise building, were sited on the edges of towns or in redeveloped urban centres. By the end of the 1960s this type of housing was already proving unpopular and incidents of slum clearance declined, to be replaced by rehabilitation and housing improvements.

The creation of overspill communities and new towns involved social engineering and planning on an enormous scale. The most celebrated example is that of Skelmersdale which was intended to take 70,000 people from Liverpool and regenerate a small mining town with severe unemployment problems. Although the town has proved a success the social and economic difficulties it has faced has limited the population to just over fifty five thousand. Another designation, the Central Lancashire New Town (1974), originally planned to link Preston, Leyland and Chorley into a city of half a million people. Although substantial industrial and housing areas were created, the result has been a series of expanded villages and new estates very closely linked by suburban ribbon development.

Many urban centres were transformed during this period by the combined effects of post war planning and commercial ambition. It is a common misconception that the clearance of urban centre buildings was the result of war time bombing. The undistinguished designs, which were often built of concrete during the 1960s and 70s, are conspicuous in many Lancashire towns. Such redevelopment was undertaken with little regard for the fine examples of 18^th and 19^th century architecture it was replacing, however some pioneering modern developments did take place, such as Preston Bus Station.

The 1980s saw an increasing appreciation of urban heritage and a new theme of urban planning has seen the use of traditional urban forms, sympathetic materials and reuse of old buildings. A notable example of this is the successful conversion of St. Marks church in Preston to flats.

The recent boom in house building is resulting in further expansion of the urban areas with the provision of new housing estates on the fringes of the towns and the development of brownfield sites in the inner urban areas.

A significant element of the urban and suburban scene are fragments of encapsulated countryside and other areas of informal open land, including land formerly developed but now re-vegetated either naturally or by design. These provide important wildlife habitats (unaffected by intensive agriculture) and recreational space for local residents. Their value may be enhanced when such areas form green corridors allowing movement of wildlife between urban areas and the surrounding countryside.