Consultation - Draft Whittington Conservation Area Appraisal and proposed boundary extension

• A sinuous linear development of farms and cottages in a low-lying area of the Lune Valley, its rural setting provided by surrounding open fields and the adjacent parkland of the Whittington Hall estate.
• Small irregular fields of ‘Ancient Enclosure’ to the north and east of Whittington. Narrow field strips can be found to the east of Main Street, indicating the location of former common fields.
• A village of pre-conquest origins with the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle (scheduled monument), one of a chain of castles built along the Lune Valley, with a Norman and later church erected on the bailey. A large number of farmhouses dating from the Great Rebuilding of the later 1600s, many with dated lintel stones;
• Characterised by the prevalent use of local Millstone Grit for buildings and boundary walls, with slate roofing;
• A fine large Georgian Old Rectory, built in 1728, with possible earlier elements to the rear;
• A large Jacobethan country house, Whittington Hall (grade II*), by Kendal architect George Webster, set in extensive parkland, with lodges and other estate buildings forming part of the Conservation Area;
• A number of buildings by Lancaster architects Paley & Austin, including the fine former School and School House on Main Street (1875);

• Rev. William Carus Wilson, former rector of Whittington (1825-34) and energetic founder of charity schools for girls who established the Whittington School for Training Servants and Teachers in 1820. Four years later he founded the Clergy Daughters’ School in Cowan Bridge which the Brontë sisters famously attended. Both schools later removed to Casterton. He and the school are thought to have inspired Lowood and its headmaster, Mr Brocklehurst, from Jane Eyre (1847);
• Thomas Greene, builder of the present Whittington Hall, former MP for Lancaster, High Sheriff of Lancashire, Constable of Lancaster Castle and superintended the completion of Charles Barry’s new Palace of Westminster;
• William Sturgeon, electrical pioneer and inventor of the electro-magnetic motor; an essential component of most of our heavily relied upon electrical devices, was born in Whittington.

Boundary review and recommendations

It is proposed to extend the conservation area boundary to take in the gardens on the eastern side of Main Street. It is unusual to see a boundary cut through properties in this way. Further, many of the property boundaries still reflect the old field strip boundaries, which were identified through the Lancashire Historic Landscape Characterisation programme as ‘Ancient Enclosure’. These narrow field strips indicate the location of former common fields, provided close to the village on the low fertile ground. These small irregular former fields form part of the village’s historical narrative as well as providing the setting these C17-C19 houses and cottages, and the conservation area.

It is also proposed to include the open area between Low Hall Farm and the start of the built development of Main Street. This open land provides key views across rolling hills towards the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and forms part of the rural setting of this conservation area.

These suggested boundary changes can be seen on the map to the right of this page.