BUILDINGS

The church tower of St Denys remains the tallest structure in Ravensthorpe. There are some 37 individually listed structures in the village, including the K6 telephone kiosk, which was listed in 1990 (for further details contact the conservation officer at DDC). The majority of these structures are located in and around Church Hill and High Street. Other parts of the village are wholly, or predominantly, later twentieth century. The overall result is a wide variety of building types. For the character of distinct areas, please refer to the map in the centre pages.

This section focuses on locally distinctive building types and materials, which have given Ravensthorpe its specific identity.

 Height, scale and density

Generally the surviving older housing is of moderate proportion (1 ½ - 2 storeys). It is high in density with a strong sense of enclosure.

In contrast, more recent housing is characteristically set well back in its plot, and of moderate density (being mostly detached). However, in terms of scale, the newer housing is much larger due to increased modern storey heights and a tendency to extend into former roof space.

Mixture of sizes, styles and types

Some of the older properties have wide street frontages, but little depth. Others have been built sideways on, with a narrow gable end abutting the street. Many of this latter type have been lost in Ravensthorpe during this century. Certain houses are larger than the surrounding cottages, and are sometimes set slightly back, behind a boundary wall.

The more recent buildings have increasingly become similar to each other in size, style and type. Most are detached with four or more bedrooms, and many of the plots’ street front space is given over to large garages and areas of hard standing for car parking. There is little positive sense of enclosure, with small, or non-existent boundary walls, hedges or fences.

A large proportion of development in recent decades has consisted of detached, ‘executive’ housing. There is some imbalance in numbers between larger and smaller dwellings in Ravensthorpe.

Boundary walls

Many of the pre-twentieth century mud boundary walls are listed, and are an important feature of Ravensthorpe. Other fine walls include the redbrick examples along the churchyard’s southern boundary, and at No 2 Church Hill. See plan.

Locally distinctive materials

Ironstone, a local sandstone with a warm tone, has been used for most of Ravensthorpe’s larger buildings. It has also been used for many cottage and boundary wall plinths.

Brick became fashionable from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as is demonstrated by the brick wing added to the Old Vicarage which was constructed in ironstone. The local bricks are an orange-red and simple patterns, using vitrified dark blue or black headers, can be seen in many Ravensthorpe houses and walls.

Important local features include the number of cottages, barns and boundary walls constructed partly from cob. This was locally-dug clay-soil mixed together with other materials such as barley and then built up in horizontal layers, or ‘lifts’, on top of a stone or brick plinth. This material is long lasting, as long as it receives regular light maintenance.

Traditionally, many of Ravensthorpe’s roofs were of longstraw thatch, with flush ridges. Ravensthorpe now has only one example left (the village shop). From the 1850s, when corrugated metal became available and affordable, many failing thatched roofs were overlaid with this sheeting, and some are still covered with this today. Many of the cob boundary walls would have been protected by a thatch coping.

Building details

Ravensthorpe contains some unexpectedly fine details, such as the ashlar stone chimney and parapet kneelers on the roof of Hall’s Farmhouse, and the tall brick chimneys with rounded corners on The Cottage, Coton Road. See Plan.

Manor Farmhouse, Guilsborough Road, has a brick string course at first floor level, chequer-work brick walling and a fine, six-panelled front door with flat wooden hood.

BUILDING GUIDELINES

Traditions of local building can be the stimulus to new architecture of originality and imagination.

  • The keyword should be QUALITY in materials and design to avoid a ‘mass-produced’ look which can be seen anywhere in Britain today.
  • The colour, texture and patterns of long-standing locally distinctive materials such as ironstone, mud and chequer-work brick should be a source of inspiration for new buildings (the local orange-red brick colour has rarely been used in recent buildings).
  • Cob could be used for boundary walls and, possibly buildings. The material has good thermal properties.
  • Concrete block, rendered in a way sympathetic to the traditional local rural style would have at least a visual connection to existing rendered cob housing.
  • New buildings with thatched roofs have recently been constructed in the general vicinity.
  • In Ravensthorpe longstraw thatch with plain flush ridges is the traditional local type. Encouragement should be given to reinstate thatch, where appropriate.
  • If several new buildings are permitted on one site, variation in design and plan layout will help to avoid monotonous repetition of one house type
  • Where permission is granted for new housing on rising ground, extra care must be taken to ensure that the new building will not over-dominate its neighbours, or detract from village views
  • New development should not be allowed if it is too large in scale and massing for the plot.

Cars owned by residents living in older houses are generally either left on the street or in outbuildings to the side and rear of the house. Newer housing often has large garaging blocks to front or side.

  • Ravensthorpe’s typical settings and garden forms should be understood and large areas of hard surfacing at the front of houses avoided.
  • New-build garages should not obscure house fronts. New garages should relate to the house to which they belong and be in sympathy with surrounding property in terms of design, materials and construction. Parking areas should be located to the side or the rear, particularly in older sections of the village.
  • Boundary walls are important features in Ravensthorpe.
  • Any development should retain existing walls or keep alterations to a minimum.
  • New development in old sections of the village should be encouraged to include a sense of enclosure rather than open-plan front gardens.
  • New walls in older parts of the village should be built in a material sympathetic to that locality.
  • Existing older buildings should be maintained using original or sympathetic materials and details

Of particular importance to Ravensthorpe’s historic fabric:

  • Ironstone can erode rapidly. This process is quickened by repointing in hard cement mortars. Mortar must be weaker than the surrounding stonework and should be lime rather than cement based.
  • Cob structures need little, but regular maintenance. A wide eaves and a plinth kept clear from surrounding ground level and vegetation are crucial. Plinths and caps should not be covered by paint or render. Any render or paint applied must be ‘breathable’ to let water in and out safely. Earth and lime renders and a limewash over, are recommended. If alterations or extensions are planned to a cob structure owners are strongly advised to employ a professional experienced in building with mud.
  • Replacement doors and windows should retain the scale, detail and materials of original openings. Replacement of an old window or door should be a last resort when attempts at repair have conclusively failed.
  • Older brickwork should be retained in its original state, characteristically unpainted. Lime rather than cement based mortar should be used for any repointing.