CH15 Thornton Hough Conservation Area Policy
In relation to Thornton Hough Conservation Area the principal planning objectives for the area will be to:
(i) retain a compact settlement pattern within the setting of the historic country estate;
(ii) preserve the consistency of scale, and the variety of design, building materials and architectural detailing of individual buildings and cottage terraces within the Area; and
(iii) preserve the settings of St. George's Church and All Saints Parish Church, as focal points within the Village.
Priority will be given to retaining the open character of Thornton Hough Recreation Ground in order to preserve the visual setting of the Village as viewed from Neston Road.
Reasoned justification :
11.46 Thornton Hough was designated a Conservation Area in April 1979. The boundary is drawn to reflect the compact settlement, built during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an "estate village" to house the employees of the Leverhulme Estate.
11.47 The character of the Area is largely determined by the scale, building materials and architectural detailing of buildings and terraces which comprise the Village, and which directly reflect the different phases of its development. The objective of Policy CH15 is, therefore, to retain the contrast between the areas of the Village developed by Joseph Hirst and those subsequently built by William Lever, and to preserve the visual richness which arises from the wide variety of design and architectural detailing they introduced.
11.48 While views into and out of the Village are not long or significant when approaching from Thornton Common Road, Manor Road or Raby Road, the view of the Village from Neston Road rising up the hill towards the focal points of St. George's Church and All Saints Parish Church, across the cricket ground with its thatched pavilion, presents a picture of the English rural ideal. Policy CH15, therefore, aims to preserve this distinctive view and the general picturesque setting of the village from this direction, by restricting new development within Thornton Hough Recreation Ground.