The Industrial Heritage Conservation Area (No. 29) was designated in September 1987, partially in response to a report produced by URBED (Urban and Economic Development Group) in 1986, which outlined the unique heritage of the Stroud Valleys and suggested ways in which it could be protected and might help in regenerating the area.
In November 1986, eight conservation areas were designated in Stroud District, centering on some of the most striking built elements of the Valleys’ industrial legacy. These were at:
URBED claimed that, in 1986, nowhere else in the country were there so many examples of mills from such an early period, surviving in a relatively complete condition. The eight designations in 1986 went some way to protecting this. But, in 1987, the concept emerged of a conservation area which would link these individual sites together, giving protection to a variety of further components and recognising the unique value of the industrial nature of the locality as a whole.
The Industrial Heritage Conservation Area (IHCA) was conceived as a linear conservation area, following the valleys of the River Frome and the Nailsworth Stream, extending to the east, west and south of Stroud. In addition to these watercourses, the course of the IHCA follows the various transport infrastructures, which developed over the 18th and 19th centuries. These were the ‘arteries’ of the locality and represented a new era in the industrial basis of the Stroud Valleys.
The linear conservation area does serve as a link between the various outstanding mill complexes, and has been termed a ‘string of pearls’. Yet the IHCA was designed to preserve not only the ‘set pieces’, but also the infrastructure and the context of Stroud’s industrial legacy.
The form, the patterns of development and settlement and the transport infrastructure are the context, which embodies the social, economic and cultural history of the Valleys. The IHCA represents the preservation of more than just the buildings.
The Industrial Heritage Conservation Area was groundbreaking in its time, in several respects. It was at the forefront of a growing recognition in Britain of the importance of industry in shaping the character and appearance of places. Industrial heritage has become increasingly accepted as a valid form of built heritage, even an asset, worthy of conservation.
The IHCA was unusual in its size, too. In its entirety, from east to west, the Industrial Heritage Conservation Area stretches almost 14˝ miles (approx. 23km) from Chalford to Saul. At Stroud, a branch extends south along the Nailsworth Valley to Longfords for almost 4˝ miles (over 7km). Yet the conservation area is extremely narrow in places and has an area of approximately 2.4 square miles or 6.3 square kilometres.
Since the original designation in 1987, the IHCA has been extended at several points:
As a result of the 2006-2008 review, some significant extensions and alterations to the conservation area boundaries were made in November 2008.
During the conservation area review, we looked we looked at the whole of the existing Industrial Heritage Conservation Area and the land immediately adjacent to it, to see if it is appropriate to amend the conservation area boundaries.
The Study Area for this review therefore extended beyond the boundaries of the Stroud Industrial Heritage Conservation Area. It included parts of seven other existing Conservation Areas, which, together with the IHCA, form the swathe of protected land associated with this historic industrial environment. These are:
Abutting the IHCA, and also partly covered by the Study Area for this review, are
Find out more about the conservation areas included in this review.
Part of this study area also crosses the District boundary into Cotswold District. The Daneway extension to the IHCA continues across the boundary, along the south side of the River Frome. Part of the Longford Mill complex also lies within Cotswold District. Both of these are relatively narrow slivers of land.
Although this review includes these areas as part of the study area, anything outside the Stroud District will of course be subject to separate Planning policies and controls, specific to Cotswold District Council. Hence, the Management proposals aspect of this Review should be disregarded in their respect. Instead, please contact:
The Conservation and Design Service
Directorate of Development and Heritage
Cotswold District Council
Trinity Road
Cirencester
Tel: 01285 623000
email: conservation@cotswold.gov.uk
web: www.cotswold.gov.uk
