Richard Ward, Conservation Officer with

Babergh District Council and Ruth Harris

of Suffolk County Council’s Planning

Department describe their attempts to find

an appropriate material to use on footpaths

and open spaces in Suffolk 'S village

conservation areas.

Suffolk has 150 conservation areas and

most of these are small villages with many

early timber-framed buildings. Paving

and hard modular materials are

inappropriate and yet ubiquitous black

top can seem dull and does little to

enhance the village scene.

The two authorities have jointly

carried out a number of highway

improvements and conservation

enhancement schemes which have

required a careful choice of suitable

surfacing materials. Recent schemes

include Lavenham Market Place (joint

winner of the 1989 Street Design

Competition), Kersey Village and

Ballingdon Street, Sudbury (highly

commended in the 1993 Street Design

Competition). All have been undertaken

primarily using one single material —

peashingle, applied as a surface dressing.

Peashingle was widely used in Suffolk

in the 1930s and early 1940s but became

unfashionable during the War and post-

War period. Recently, however, its

advantages have been rediscovered and it

is now being used to enhance some of the

most attractive and important

conservation areas in the country.

Peashingle was first re-introduced on the

Market Place, Lavenham, which lies in

the heart of one of East Anglia’s finest

medieval villages. It is dominated by a

number of fine timber-framed listed

buildings, the most important being the

Guild Hall of Corpus Christi of 1529, a

Grade I listed building. The Market Place

is visited by many thousands of visitors

each year and is the centre of village life.

For some 30 years, various organisations

and individuals have sought solutions for

the enhancement of the Market Place.

Fortunately, many of the more elaborate

proposals were rejected and, after

extensive public consultation, Babergh

District and Suffolk County Councils

finally carried out a very simple and

inexpensive scheme involving the use of 6

mm peashingle as a surface dressing.

Rows of granite setts demarcate the

principal parking areas and the main road

that crosses it. Environmentally, the

scheme was a resounding success but it

was not without technical problems:

(i) the work was carried out with poor

preparation and specifications;

(ii) an extremely hot period within

weeks of the work being completed

caused the tar binder to melt and seep

above the surface dressing, causing

considerable concern to local residents

and the retail outlets fronting onto the

Market Place.

These problems have subsequently

subsided, and lessons were learnt. One

thing was clear from the Lavenham

experience: the use of peashingle as a

surface dressing was a new and useful tool

for the Conservation Officer seeking the

right material for village conservation

areas.

SURFACE ENHANCEMENT IN

VILLAGE CONSERVATION AREAS

Above: Lavenham Marker Place. Below: Kersey. Top right: Baiingdon Street.

LAVENHAM MARKET PLACE

16

CONTEXT 41