proposed development at howard town mill

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Glossop, high peak, derbyshire

HERITAGE ASSESSMENT

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PROPOSED Development AT HOWARD TOWN MILL, GLOSSOP: HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Page

GARRY MILLER historic building consultancy

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PROPOSED development at HOWARD TOWN MILL

GLOSSOP, HIGH PEAK, DERBYSHIRE

Heritage assessment, September 2015

GARRY MILLER Historic Building Consultancy

Crosby House, 412 Prescot Road, Eccleston Hill, St Helens, Lancashire WA10 3BT

Telephone: 01744 739675 [email protected]

© Garry Miller 2015



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Contents

1: Executive Summary 4 2: The Site 5

3: Planning Context 7

4: Historical Context 9 5: The Heritage Assets Affected 11

6: Assessment of Significance 17

7: Assessment of Impact 19

Appendix 1: Principal Source Material 23 Appendix 2: Garry Miller Historic Building Consultancy 23



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1: executive summary

This report supports proposed development at Howard Town Mill, Victoria Street, Glossop, in the borough of High Peak, Derbyshire. A former cotton spinning mill built in the mid-late 19th century, Howard Town Mill was converted to a retail, office and residential complex around 2005. Its buildings are undesignated, but lie within the Howard Town Conservation Area. The proposal seeks to amalgamate the last vacant units (numbers 6 and 7) at Howard Town Mill, along with change of use from class A1 to A3 and an extension and alterations. The principal heritage issue raised by the proposal is its impact upon the character, appearance and significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area, with a secondary issue being its impact upon the undesignated building itself. The scope and purpose of this assessment is, in accordance with national planning policies governing the historic environment, to identify the significance of these heritage assets and evaluate the proposal’s impact upon this significance. Howard Town Mill is the largest industrial structure surviving in Glossop town centre and is a prominent streetscene landmark. It is a product of the sweeping industrialization process which transformed Glossop from market town to manufacturing centre in the late 18th-early 19th century. Howard Town Mill comprises a five-storey former spinning mill along with a three-storey former warehouse block: the vacant units form part of the latter, and are located at the east end of the ground floor. Internally, they contain original cast iron columns supporting brick vaulted ceilings and are separated by a blockwork wall. Although undesignated, Howard Town Mill is of borough-wide importance for its intrinsic local architectural and historic interest along with its townscape contribution to the Howard Town Conservation Area and the setting of Glossop town centre’s three other conservation areas. The application units form part of the warehouse wing of the former mill and are therefore an integral part of the building and its significance. However their current vacant state, with boarded shop fronts, detracts from the appearance and character of the building along with that of the conservation area. The proposed works will secure their future of the last vacant units within the mill complex. The external alterations to the original building will be minimal and the proposed extension subservient in scale and harmonious in form, materials and appearance. Its location to the rear of the former warehouse block means its impact upon key views of the former mill complex will be minimal. Beyond, the extension will not be apparent in wider streetscene views. The proposal will therefore essentially preserve the character, appearance and significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area, and the character and significance of the undesignated Howard Town Mill. In summary, it is considered the proposal is therefore compliant with relevant national and local heritage policies and that consent should be granted. .



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2: THE SITE

The application building is part of the former Howard Town Mill complex at Victoria Street, Glossop, one of the principal towns of the borough of High Peak in Derbyshire. The mill lies in the heart of the town’s commercial centre, southeast of the main A57/Victoria Street/Norfolk Street crossroads. The buildings were converted to retail, office and residential use around 2005, with new development incorporated within the site. The application units are located at the east end of the ground floor of a former three-storey warehouse block attached to the original spinning mill. To the north stands a large car park in the centre of the site, while immediately to the south flows the Glossop Brook.

Map 1. Location plan showing the application building



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1. General view of the Howard Town Mill complex, looking west with the application units in the former warehouse indicated; the five-storey former spinning mill stands beyond

2. The entrance to the Howard Town Mill complex on Victoria Street



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3: PLANNING CONTEXT

3.1 The site The application relates to the vacant units 6 and 7 at Howard Town Mill. .

Figure 1. The application site, within the context of the Howard Town Mill complex

3.2 Designation Howard Town Mill is an undesignated building within the Howard Town Conservation Area, locally designated by High Peak Borough Council for its special architectural and historic interest and character.



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3.3 Proposed development Proposals are being submitted to High Peak Borough Council for the amalgamation and extension of existing floorspace at units 6 and 7 and change of use from classes A1 (retail) to A3 (sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises); along with associated external alterations, provision of an external seating area and associated works.

3.4 Heritage impact/relevant planning policies

The principal heritage issue raised by the proposal is its impact upon the character, appearance and significance (i.e. heritage interest and value) of the Howard Town Conservation Area. Its impact upon the significance of the undesignated former Howard Town Mill itself is a secondary issue. The application will therefore be determined in the context of relevant national and local planning policies governing the historic environment. The national context is established by Section 12 of the National Planning Policy Framework (Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment), which was published in March 2012 and sets out the Government’s planning polices for England and how they are expected to be applied. Locally, saved policies of the adopted High Peak Local Plan (March 2005), which has been saved by High Peak Borough Council as part of its emerging Local Development Framework, apply. The policy context is examined further in Section 7 of this report.

3.5 Scope and purpose of this report

Paragraph 128 of the National Planning Policy Framework states local planning authorities should require an applicant to describe the significance of the heritage assets affected, including the contribution made by their setting. The scope and purpose of this report is therefore to describe the significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area along with that of the undesignated former mill; and to evaluate how this will be affected by the proposal. It is to be read in conjunction with other documentation supporting the application.

3.6 Report structure This is as follows:

1. A brief review of the historical background (Section 4) and a description of the conservation area and the former mill as the affected heritage assets (Section 5)

2. An evaluation of their heritage significance (Section 5)

3. Analysis of the impact of the proposal upon this significance, with

reference to relevant planning policies (Section 6).



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4: HISTORICAL CONTEXT 4.1 The Glossop textile industry

Howard Town Mill is a monument to the industrialisation process which transformed Glossop from a rural community to textile manufacturing centre in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The original medieval settlement at Glossop was a market town a mile to the east of the present centre, and which by the early 17th century was a thriving domestic woollen spinning distrrict. In the second half of the 18th century its industry shifted to a factory-based system and generated the building of woollen and cotton mills along the valley of the Glossop Brook. In turn, the centre of town gravitated westwards to its present location close to the mills. This became known as ‘New Glossop’ or Howard Town after Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk, whose family held the manor of Glossop and were key figures in its industrial development. By the 1830’s, 46 mills had been built along the valley.

4.2 Howard Town Mill

The buildings date from the mid-late 19th century and originally covered 9.5 acres, although more than a third of the complex has now been demolished. The group was originally centred around a wide mill pond diverted from the Glossop Brook, but this was subsequently built over in the late 19th-early 20th century as the mapping of 1881 and 1919 shows (following page). The maps also demonstrate that amid the extensive mill complex a small outbuilding existed close to the site of the proposed extension at the rear of the former warehouse block.



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Map 2. Howard Town Mill depicted by the six-inch OS map of 1881, with earlier building close to the site of the proposed extension indicated

Map 3. The 1919 edition of the mapping shows how new buildings had been established on the site of the former mill pond



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5: the heritage assets AFFECTED 5.1 Howard Town Conservation Area

Designated in June 2003, Howard Town is one of four conservation areas in Glossop town centre, selected for their historical connections with Glossop textile industry and their unique mix of building styles. The Glossop Town Centre Conservation Areas Appraisal Supplementary Planning Document, adopted by High Peak Borough Council in March 2006, states Glossop’s origins as a centre for the cotton industry defines its present-day character. A mix of 19th century workers’ cottages, industrial mills and fine publicly-donated buildings are testimony of its development during a period where the textile industry dominated the local economy. The appraisal, which does not describe the areas individually because the town developed as a whole, states the key characteristic of Glossop as a mill town is a network of densely developed streets with terraces of workers housing sitting alongside large industrial complexes and with a thriving retail centre at its core. The townscape therefore presents great contrasts of scale, and one of its key defining characteristics is the sheer size of the surviving mills. Howard Town Mill is therefore one of the main elements of not just the Howard Town Conservation Area but of the town centre as a whole. In the wider context, the dramatic moorland landscape setting contributes greatly to the character of the conservation areas.

Map 3. Howard Town Conservation Area boundary with location of the application units indicated



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3. Looking south into Victoria Street across the High Street junction, showing the predominant Howard Town Mill buildings closing the view 5.2 Howard Town Mill

The Howard Town Mill complex is the focus of the Howard Town Conservation Area and, as the largest surviving element of Glossop’s industrial architecture, one of the town centre’s most prominent buildings. It consists of a main late 19th century five-storeyed spinning mill to the west of the site, fronting the east side of Victoria Street and whose tower is a notable streetscene landmark. The tower incorporates a former engine house with typical arched windows, and a former gatehouse and offices in Neoclassical style mark the entrance to the site. Attached to the spinning mill is a three-storey warehouse block, at the east end of which are located the vacant application units. The ground floor of the block is now in retail use, with apartments above. An adjoining pedestrian walkway and cycle shelter separates the former warehouse from a new two-storeyed development to the east, and leads to .the rear of the site and the Glossop Brook. Internally, the units, which are separated by a blockwork wall, each comprise a large space punctuated by a row of original cast iron columns supporting a brick-vaulted ceiling.



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4. Looking into the site from the former engine house at the entrance

5. The warehouse block, with the vacant application units on the ground floor



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6. The pedestrian walkway separating the block containing the application units from adjoining new development to the east

7. Rear of the former warehouse, where the extension will be located



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8. Looking west from the rear of the warehouse towards the Glossop Brook

9. Looking east towards the adjoining new development



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10. Distant view from the east towards the site of the proposed extension .

11. Typical interior view of the vacant units



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6: ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 6.1 Rationale

Paragraph 129 of the National Planning Policy Framework states local planning authorities should identify and assess the particular significance of a heritage asset, including its setting, and take this into account when considering the impact of a proposal in order to avoid or minimize conflict between the asset’s conservation and any aspect of the proposal. Significance is defined in the NPPF Glossary as:

‘The value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. That interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset's physical presence, but also from its setting.’

The NPPF Glossary defines setting as:

The surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced. Its extent is not fixed and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate that significance or may be neutral.

As the affected heritage assets, the significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area and that of the undesignated Howard Town Mill must therefore first be established in order to evaluate the impact of the proposal.

6.2 Significance of the conservation area

Howard Town Mill Conservation Area is of borough-wide importance to High Peak as one of the four conservation area of Glossop town centre, which embody the town’s historic connections with the textile industry and its unique built heritage. Its character and appearance derives from a townscape which presents great contrasts of scale, with 19th century workers’ cottages sitting alongside mills of gigantic proportions and fine publicly-donated buildings, amid a wider moorland setting. Howard Town Mill is one of the defining industrial buildings of the conservation area and of the town centre as a whole.



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6.3 Significance of Howard Town Mill

Although undesignated, Howard Town Mill is of borough-wide importance both for its intrinsic local architectural and historic interest – as a substantial mid-late 19th century cotton spinning mill and the largest of the industrial structures surviving in Glossop town centre – and for its townscape contribution to the Howard Town Conservation Area, and the setting of the three other town centre conservation areas. The application units form part of the original warehouse wing of the mill and are therefore an integral part of the building and its significance. However their current vacant state, with boarded shop fronts, detracts from the appearance and character of the building along with that of the conservation area.



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7: Assessment of Impact 7.1 Objective

In the context of relevant planning policies (reviewed in 7.3 below), the impact of the proposed development will be considered in terms of:

• The principle of the change of use of the vacant property • The impact of the proposed external and internal works upon character,

appearance and significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area and the undesignated Howard Town Mill itself

7.2 Summary of the proposal

The proposed use of the new unit is A3 with existing shared parking to be used by customers and the operator’s delivery services. The existing units 6 and 7 would be combined, and a new extension provided at the rear. It will comprise one single new Pizza Express unit with covers to the front and outside and all ancillary accommodation to the rear in the extension. The proposal also incorporates a dedicated bin store area to the south-east of the mill adjacent to the existing Travelodge bin store.

7.3 Relevant policies

Sections 16 and 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 require local planning authorities to give special regard to the desirability of preserving a listed building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest. The proposal will therefore be considered in the context of relevant national and local policies governing the historic environment.

National policies are set out in Section 12 of the National Planning Policy Framework (Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment, March 2012). Paragraph 131 states that in determining applications, local planning authorities should take account of:

• The desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets, and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation

• The positive contribution that conservation of heritage assets can make to sustainable communities including their economic vitality, and



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• The desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness

Paragraph 132 states that ‘great weight’ should be given to the conservation of a designated heritage asset, and the more important the asset, the greater that weight should be; that significance can be lost through development within its setting; and that as heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification. Substantial harm to, or loss of, a Grade II listed building should be exceptional; substantial harm to or loss of designated heritage assets of the highest significance, including Grade II* buildings, wholly exceptional. Paragraph 133 states that where a proposal will lead to substantial harm to, or total loss of, the significance of a designated heritage asset, consent should be refused unless it can be demonstrated that the substantial harm is necessary to achieve substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm or loss, or all of the following apply:

• The nature of the heritage asset prevents all reasonable uses of the site; and • No viable use of the heritage asset itself can be found in the medium term

through appropriate marketing that will enable its conservation; and • Conservation by grant-funding or some form of charitable or public ownership

is demonstrably not possible; and • The harm or loss is outweighed by the benefits of bringing the site back into

use.

Paragraph 134 states that where a development proposal will lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset, this harm should be weighed against the public benefits of the proposal, including securing its optimum viable use. Regarding undesignated heritage assets, paragraph 135 states:

The effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application. In weighing applications that affect directly or indirectly non designated heritage assets, a balanced judgement will be required having regard to the scale of any harm or loss and the significance of the heritage asset.

Locally, the relevant policy is BC5 (Conservation Areas and Their Settings) of the adopted High Peak Local Plan, March 2005, which has been saved by High Peak Borough Council as part of their emerging Local Development Framework. This states:

Within Conservation Areas and their settings planning permission will be granted for development, including extensions, alterations and changes of use, provided that:

• The use, siting, scale, detailed design, external appearance and landscape treatment of the development will preserve or enhance the special architectural or historic character or appearance of the area; and

• Important buildings, open spaces, views, trees, walls and other natural and man-made features which positively contribute to the special architectural or historic character or appearance of the area will be protected from harmful development



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7.4 The proposed change of use The application units are the last vacant units of the site and the proposed change of use will secure their future as part of the undesignated former mill which is a defining component of the Howard Town Conservation Area.

7.5 Impact of the proposed works

The proposal will have minimal impact upon the existing mill building both in visual and fabric terms. Its front elevation will be fitted with two shopfront screens and a main door that will reflect the established configuration on the remainder of the mill. On the rear, the existing windows will be reused on the new extension. The latter will be a single-storey structure entirely subservient to the original warehouse wing and designed in a functional manner which maintains the industrial character of the original building. It will be faced in coursed gritstone to match the remainder of the complex. Internally, the columns and vaulted ceiling will be preserved. The proposed extension will be close to the site of the earlier building shown on the 1881 mapping (Map 2). Furthermore as it is located to the rear of the warehouse block its visibility will be limited, with only glimpses available from the centre of the mill complex, where the key near-distance views of the original buildings are obtained (e.g. Plate 1). In the wider streetscene views from Victoria Street and the town centre (Plates 2 and 3) the extension will not be visible, and thus the setting of the town centre’s three other conservation areas will be unaffected.

7.6 Conclusion

The proposed works will secure their future of the last vacant units within the mill complex. The external alterations to the original building will be minimal and the proposed extension subservient in scale and harmonious in form, materials and appearance. Its location to the rear of the former warehouse means its impact upon key near-distance views of the original mill complex will be minimal. Outside the complex, the extension will not be apparent in wider streetscene views. The proposal will therefore essentially preserve the character and appearance and significance of the Howard Town Conservation Area, and the character and significance of the undesignated Howard Town Mill. The wider setting of the three other Glossop town centre conservation areas will also be unaffected. In summary, the proposal is therefore compliant with national policy as expressed by with NPPF 131 and 132 and saved Local Plan policy BC5. It is therefore considered that consent for the proposal should be granted.



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Figure 2. Existing and proposed rear elevations of the former warehouse



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Appendix 1: PRINCIPAL SOURCE MATERIAL

Six-inch OS mapping, 1881 and 1919 High Peak Borough Council, Glossop Town Centre Conservation Areas Appraisal Supplementary Planning Document, adopted March 2006

APPENDIX 2: Garry Miller HISTORIC BUILDING CONSULTANCY

Garry Miller is an architectural historian who has spent more than 35 years studying buildings of town and countryside, in particular those of North West England. His career as a consultant began in the mid-1980s with the Preston-based Nigel Morgan Historic Building Consultancy, of which he became a partner in 1992 upon its rebranding as Datestone. In 1997 he was commissioned by the Heritage Trust for the North West, a buildings preservation trust based at Barrowford, Lancashire, to produce an in-depth regional study of vernacular houses in southwest Lancashire: the result, Historic Houses in Lancashire: The Douglas Valley, 1300-1770 was published in 2002. The book was described as ‘scholarship as its best’ by Country Life (June 2003), and ‘well analysed and presented’ in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society (Vol 48, 2004); and was widely cited in the 2006 Buildings of England volume on Liverpool and Southwest Lancashire. Extensive research on the houses of Georgian and Regency Liverpool has also been undertaken, with a view to future publication. Following the success of his Douglas Valley book, Garry Miller established his own consultancy, producing analytical and interpretive reports on historic buildings. His specialism are the heritage assessments required to support planning applications affecting the historic environment, and his area of operation encompasses the North West, Midlands and North Wales. Several local authorities have cited Garry Miller’s reports as examples of best practice, and on average his practice produces reports on more than 80 buildings or sites annually.

proposed development at howard town mill

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