Lincoln Townscape Assessment    

Ermine East Estate

Inherited Character Area Statement    

     

June 2008  

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Table of Contents Page

Overview 2

Historical Development 2

Urban form 3

Views 5

Condition of Buildings and Streetscape 6

Use 6

Relationship to City and Surrounding Areas 6

Key Townscape Characteristics 6

Appendix 1: Character Area Attributes 8

Appendix 2: List of RAZs 9

Appendix 3: List of Monuments 10

Appendix 4: List of Ecological Sites 11

Appendix 5: Historical Components which influence the current character 12

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Overview The majority of the current townscape of the Ermine East Estate Character Area dates from the construction between around 1950 and 1972 of local authority housing. This has resulted in a largely uniform townscape. There is a street pattern of very curved, mainly residential streets that often loop back on themselves and with noticeably fewer cul-de-sacs than neighbouring Ermine West Character Area. Most of the housing was built in a Modernist-influenced style with little or no external decorative detailing, mainly in red or yellow brick. The housing is mainly two storey and semi-detached with some rows of two-storey houses, bungalows and three-storey apartment blocks. There is a pocket of distinctive bungalows in the south of the area around Aubourn Avenue that have a distinctive roofline.   The central green space in the character area, although not publicly accessible, is overlooked by houses. There are three groups of civic buildings, all set on their own plots back from the footway. It is very difficult to move across the area and there is only one road access in eastern, western and southern directions and no axial routes across the area. A common characteristic throughout the area are the footpaths that run along the front of buildings on the other side of a wide grass verge away from the road. There is a ‘village green’ style layout of houses in many places, e.g. Broxholme Gardens with the houses laid out around a central grassed space.   There are small-to-medium urban blocks, and many of these are curved, creating a lack of legibility with some irregularly-shaped large blocks along the northern boundary and in the centre of the locality. The area has no public, urban space. There are space leaks to the north of the area particularly from the areas of garaging along Laughton Way North and Welton Gardens. Streets are mainly overlooked although there are some passive backs of buildings along the northern boundary of the Character Area.

Historical Development Although the majority of the current townscape dates from the Post-War [1946-1966 AD] and Modern [1967-2007 AD] Periods, its character is also influenced by developments dating from the Roman era.   All the housing in the locality was built between 1950 and 1972 by the local authority as part of a national Post-War drive to improve housing standards and ease the shortage of affordable accommodation.

  Figure 1: All housing in the locality was built between 1950 and 1972 by the local authority in a Post-War drive to

provide housing. A feature of the townscape is the large numbers of footpaths running along the front of many buildings, separated from the road by wide grass verges

  Riseholme Road was named after the village of Riseholme. The road lies along the route of Ermine Street, a major Roman road linking Lincoln with London to the south and York to the north. The name Ermine Street was revived in the 18th or 19th century. Nettleham Road follows part of the route of a Roman road heading northeast from the city. The road has not been traced beyond

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3km from the city and may have had a ritual focus, possibly a link to a temple of the Romanised Celtic god Rigonemetos. The Roman aqueduct also ran in part along the line of Nettleham Road.   The first reference to Longdales Road is in 1803 although there are references from the 13th century to Langedales, and to Long dales Furlong from the 16th century. (Cameron (60)), and it is shown on the 1824 OS 1st edition map. Yarborough Crescent (then Road), which was laid out from 1880, joined on to Longdales Road, which was reconstructed in 1927-29.   In 1889, most of this Character Area consisted of fields that had been enclosed from the former common fields of the city

following the Parliamentary Enclosure Act of 1803. The city’s common fields may have been laid out as early as the 10th century. Following enclosure, new farms were established amidst fields laid out on the former common fields with the farmers as tenants of the City Council. Field boundaries can still be seen in the current townscape, e.g. the northern plot boundaries of 1-11 Rolleston Close and the western boundary of the allotments north of Longdales Road. The playing field on Longdales Road follows the boundary of a pre-1886 field and was in use as a playing field by 1938. The eastern and southern boundaries of Ermine Junior School also follow the lines of field boundaries. However, field boundaries tend to mark the edges of areas of housing development with little or no influence on the layout of streets and houses as happened elsewhere in the city, e.g. in the Monks Road neighbourhood. The northern and southern boundaries of the allotments in the north west of the area also follow the lines of field boundaries, as does the northern boundary of the Cathedral quarry.   The boundary between the field systems of Lincoln and Nettleham was marked by a feature, probably a ditch and bank known as Nettleham Mere, while the boundary between Lincoln and Riseholme Parish was situated approximately on the site of the Riseholme roundabout. The northern boundary of the Character Area follows that of the city from Riseholme Road to Westminster House.    The increased population led to the need for a number of civic and commercial buildings, located in three groups within the area. Ermine Community Infants School originally opened as Ermine Primary School (Infants). Planning approval was granted in 1953 but the school was not recorded on the 1956 OS map so must have been built at a later date. Ermine Junior School on Redbourne Drive opened as Ermine Primary School (Junior Mixed) in around 1956. Our Lady of Lincoln Catholic Primary School on Laughton Way opened in around 1960. Our Lady of Lincoln Roman Catholic Church, also on Laughton Way, was opened in 1964 with the presbytery and hall added in 1961. A new hall, club and Community Centre were added in 1980. St. John the Baptist Parish Church was built between 1961 and 1963 to a design by Sam Scorer. The adjoining hall served as church and hall from its construction in 1956 until 1963, and the vicarage dates from 1956. Lincoln Ermine United Reform Church was built around 1960 as Ermine Congregational Church but took its present name in 1978. The Lincoln Imp Public House opened in 1957. A number of shops were built at Lambeth House to serve the community.

Figure 2: St. John the Baptist Parish Church was built between 1961 and 1963 to a design by Sam Scorer

Urban form The townscape of Ermine East Estate Character Area has a unified appearance as most of the buildings were constructed during

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the same period and in the same Modernist-influenced architectural style. The area is made up of mainly residential streets and some cul-de-sacs, with trunk roads running north/south along both the eastern and western boundaries of the area. The streets are long and often loop back on themselves, making it difficult to move around the area. A feature of the townscape is the large numbers of footpaths running along the front of many buildings, separated from the road by wide grass verges. There are also a number of streets set round ‘village greens’ that combine with the many wide grass verges to give a green suburban appearance to the area. The sense of enclosure is, in the main, good for a suburban area with fairly continuous building lines, public/private boundaries and building height. However, there are some space leaks, for example around some of the apartment blocks and around the blocks of garages on the northern edge of the area. Although the urban blocks are mostly small, their curved shape limits permeability. There are mainly active frontages from the regularly-spaced doors and windows, although there are some areas that are not well overlooked, particularly along the northern boundary of the area. St. John the Baptist Parish Church is a landmark building within the Character Area.

  Figure 3: Broxholme Gardens, with its ‘Cornish’ houses, is one of a number of streets set around ‘village greens’ that

combine with the many wide grass verges to give a green suburban appearance to the area   The buildings in the area are mainly two-storey semi-detached houses and rows of houses with some bungalows and a number of three-storey apartment blocks. The houses are mainly single-fronted, built in red brick and have gabled roofs with brown pantiles. There is usually a large horizontal window at ground floor level with smaller horizontal or vertical windows above, often immediately below the slightly overhanging eaves. The bungalows are of the same style as the rest of the housing, although many are double-fronted and have bay windows and a tall central chimney. Most of the apartment blocks have an L-shaped plan although there are some U-shaped examples in the north east of the area. They are of yellow or brown brick with shallow pitched gabled roofs with brown pantiles and either small brick chimneys or no chimneys. Many of the apartment blocks have distinctive panelled concrete balconies at first-floor level while others have pastel-coloured rendered panels between the windows. There are also some examples of geometric projecting brick patterns. 

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  Figure 4: Many of the apartment blocks have distinctive panelled concrete balconies at first-floor level while others

have pastel-coloured rendered panels between the windows   There are some prefabricated ‘Cornish’ houses with brown pantile mansard roofs extending over the first floor set around ‘village greens’, e.g. Broxholme Gardens. There are also some distinctive modern detached bungalows in the south western corner of the area, with steeply pitched single pitched roofs and white wooden panelled detailing.

  Figure 5: Distinctive modern detached bungalows on Aubourn Avenue, with steep, single pitched roofs and white

wooden panelled detailing  

The wide grass verges, ‘village greens’ and large open space in the centre of the area give it a green suburban appearance although most of the open space is either inaccessible to the public or does not appear to be used for recreation. Streets and footways are of tarmac with concrete kerbs. There are many areas of uneven patched repair on both roads and footways. The area has high volumes of traffic along the trunk roads but the relative difficulty in moving through the area limits the amount of through traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian.

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Views There are limited views within the area, as the majority of houses face into the character area. Areas of open space, including greens and sport fields, offer wider views of the surrounding townscape, particularly for houses built around the edges.

Condition of Buildings and Streetscape Buildings and streetscape are generally in reasonable condition with large numbers of replacement doors and windows. There are many areas of patched repair on streets and pavements.

  Figure 6: Low level garages in fairly poor condition combined with patched tarmac roads are underused areas of the

townscape.

Use Mainly residential with some commercial and civic buildings serving the local community

Relationship to City and Surrounding Areas Residential estate located approximately 2km north of city centre. Relatively isolated and inward looking area with only two roads to the east, one to the south and one to the west. No connection to the north. Long curving streets and lack of axial routes make movement across the area difficult.

Key Townscape Characteristics •          Majority of current townscape dates from the 1950-1972 construction of local authority housing resulting in a largely uniform townscape •          Street pattern of very curved, mainly residential streets that often loop back on themselves and with noticeably fewer cul-de-sacs than

neighbouring Ermine West Character Area •          Housing in a Modernist-influenced style with little or no external decorative detailing, and mainly in red or yellow brick •          Mainly two-storey semi-detached housing with some rows of two-storey houses, bungalows and three-storey apartment blocks •          Pocket of distinctive bungalows in south of area around Auborn Avenue that have a distinctive roofline •          Central green space in locality which, although not publicly accessible, is overlooked by houses •          Three groups of civic buildings, set on their own plots back from the footway •          Very difficult to cross area and only one road access in east, west and southern directions and no axial routes across area •          Common characteristic is footpaths running along the front of buildings on the other side of a wide grass verge away from the road •          ‘Village-green’ style layout of houses in many places, e.g. Broxholme Gardens •          Small-to-medium urban blocks; however, many of these are curved creating a lack of legibility •          Some irregularly-shaped large blocks along the northern boundary and in the centre of the locality

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•          No public, urban space •          Space leaks to north of area particularly from areas of garaging along Laughton Way North and Welton Gardens •          Mainly overlooked streets, with some passive backs of buildings along northern boundary of Character Area

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Appendix 1: Character Area Attributes Character Area Type: Residential

Predominant Period: Post-war (1946 to 1966 AD)

Secondary Period: Modern (1967 to Current day)

Average Building Density: Medium

Location Type: Outer suburbs

Average Building Type: Terraced

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Appendix 2: List of RAZs ● Long distance roads ● Intermediate distance roads ● Humber Cross on Ermine Street ● Nettleham Mere and contiguous features ● The city's arable fields ● City's arable fields ● Middle Class house building between the Wars ● Long distance road routes ● Intermediate road routes ● Limestone uplands ● Legionary 'prata' and 'territorium' ● Roads beyond the Canabae ● Roads entering the city ● Area of centuriation around the city ● The aqueduct ● Central elements of former Roman city and Roman network ● Land around city potentially usable for settlement and agriculture ● Long distance roads ● Intermediate distance roads ● Humber Cross on Ermine Street ● Nettleham Mere and contiguous features ● Lincoln common fields

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Appendix 3: List of Monuments ● Our Lady of Lincoln Roman Catholic (Aided) Primary School, Laughton Way (53.248, -0.53) ● Police Station, Nettleham Rioad (53.246, -0.52) ● Coltons Buildings, Nettleham Road (53.246, -0.52) ● Our Lady of Lincoln Roman Catholic Church, Laughton Way (53.248, -0.52) ● Quarry, Nettleham Road (53.249, -0.52) ● St Johns House, Sudbrooke Drive (53.248, -0.53) ● Ermine Junior School, Redbourne Drive (53.250, -0.53) ● Ermine County Infants School, Hatcliffe Gardens (53.249, -0.53) ● Ermine United Reform Church, Sudbrooke Drive (53.248, -0.53) ● St John the Baptists Church Hall (53.248, -0.53) ● St John the Baptists Church vicarage (53.248, -0.53) ● St John the Baptists Church, Sudbrooke Drive (53.248, -0.53) ● Fosse Way at Nettleham Road (53.242, -0.53) ● Nettleham Road (53.238, -0.53) ● Lincoln Imp Public House, Blankney Crescent (53.251, -0.54) ● Longdales Road (53.245, -0.54) ● Riseholme Road (53.245, -0.54) ● Ermine Street (53.239, -0.54)

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Appendix 4: List of Ecological Sites ● Cathedral Quarry ● Land at Nettleham Road and Searby Road ● North of Ingleby Crescent

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Appendix 5: Historical Components which influence the current character

● Building Designed by Local Architect / Immediate post-war ● Church / Immediate post-war ● Field Boundary / Early Industrial ● Public House / Immediate post-war ● Road / Roman Military ● Road / Late Victorian/Edwardian ● Road / Inter-war ● School / Immediate post-war

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