Baldwins Gate and Madley Park Wood
Baldwins Gate with 317 dwellings, a primary school and 520 residents is the largest community in the Parish. It has a range of house types varying in design, materials, size, proportion and plot size from traditional Victorian houses to 1960's and more recent development at Chandlers Green and Waters
Edge. The materials, massing, scale and proportions of properties show such variation it is difficult to determine a specific design style, but basically the housing stock falls into four groups:
- Red and blue brick or rendered terrace and semi-detached houses with dark roof tiles built in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
- Red brick and rendered houses built between the Wars, mainly along A53.
- Post war individually designed houses and bungalows in Gateway, Sandyfields, Meadowfields and Appleton Drive built in the 1950s and 60s are of an open plan layout in a mixture of mellow brickwork, render and horizontal boarding and generally with lichen covered single-lap tiles. Most plots have wide frontages off tree-lined roads.
- Two modern developments, at Chandlers Green (50 dwellings) and Waters Edge (46 dwellings) built between 1997-99, are somewhat suburban and, therefore, unsympathetic in appearance. Both developments also include a small group of Housing Association dwellings, which complement the village scene.
 
Most of the houses in Madeley Park Wood were developed after the Second World War, mainly in the 1960s and 70s, off Park Wood Drive. The earlier and higher part of the estate consists of houses and bungalows on good size plots in a mixture of mellow bricks, render and some stonework and with mainly brown single-lap concrete tiles and some mono-pitch and flat roofs. Further down the Drive there is a group of detached houses built in reddish brown bricks, often rendered at first floor level, nearly all featuring oriel windows and lead roofs. The latest units at the lowest level are laid out as a conventional suburban estate on smaller plots, built in brownish red and fawn bricks, some rendered and with red or brown single-lap tiles.
Guidance Note 8: Baldwins Gate and Madley Park Wood
The external design and external appearance of all new developments, extensions or alterations to existing buildings must be in visual harmony with the character of the specific part of these villages in which the development is to be located. Provision should be made for landscaping including the preservation of existing trees and other features that contribute to and complement the character and appearance of the site.
 
Whitmore Heath
The housing at Whitmore Heath, formerly Whitmore Common, has developed within a mature landscape of trees and shrubs on rising ground overlooking the River Lea. There are about 67 individually designed
dwellings developed mainly since the 1950s, built on large plots, predominately in brick and plain clay tiles. The massing and proportions of properties tend to be generous, but there is considerable variation in design and style. It is difficult, therefore, to determine a consistent design and style that should be complemented by any new development, but any individual new houses should be built on large plots, but at the same time not harm the quality of the existing landscape.
Guidance Note 9: Whitmore Heath
All new developments, extensions or alterations to existing buildings must be in visual harmony with the character of the specific part of Whitmore Heath in which the development is to be located. Individual new houses should be built on large plots, but at the same time should not harm the quality of the existing landscape.
The Villages of Whitmore, Butterton & Acton
Whitmore Village is an estate village of great antiquity with records of settlement that goes back to the Domesday Book and beyond. It comprises 46 individual dwellings and includes some terraced houses built in the centre of the village. These houses are predominately two-storey, of cottage style with pitched roofs and chimneys, inset windows, white painted brickwork and dark plain clay tiles. Several are built close to the roadside where front gardens are short or absent and they have a clearly defined style. The village, developed by the Cavenagh-Mainwaring Family, also contains Whitmore Hall, (a Grade I listed building), St Mary's and All Saints Church (a Grade II*) and estate farms set in a parkland landscape.
Most of Whitmore Village is within the Conservation Area, designated in 1971 and the village and its surroundings lie within the Green Belt where there is a presumption against development. Conservation areas are of "special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance". The emphasis will be on control rather than prevention and the adaptation and conversion of buildings to allow the area to remain alive and prosperous, yet at the same time to ensure that any new development accords with its special architectural and visual qualities.
Butterton is a small rural hamlet of 39 individually designed dwellings with settlement dating back to the 15th Century and developed as an estate village by the Swinnerton-Pilkington Family in the 19th Century. The houses are predominately two-storey, of individual style and design, with pitched roofs and chimneys, inset windows, and built in soft red brick and plain clay tiles. Several of the older cottages have been altered and extended sympathetically with skilful use of matching materials.
Shutlanehead is a small rural settlement comprising 11 large houses and bungalows of different designs and mainly large gardens. Some of the dwellings are Victorian built in blue/brown brindled brickwork with dark plain clay tiles, pitched roofs and chimneys.
The Lymes is an even smaller settlement of 7 attractive dwellings comprising a farmhouse, 3 cottages and 3 houses converted from farm buildings, built in red brindled brickwork with dark plain clay tiles and pitched roofs. Some of the dwellings have stone window surrounds and one is a listed building.
Acton, dating from Saxon times and formerly part of the Whitmore Estate, is a small settlement of about 30 dwellings in a variety of cottage and house styles. The larger 20th Century houses generally have white or cream painted brickwork and the remainder are built in red/fawn/blue bricks with pitched roofs and mainly dark clay tiles; some have timber cladding.
Guidance Note 10 - The Villages of Whitmore, Butterton and Acton
All new developments, extensions or alterations to existing buildings must be in visual harmony with the character of the specific part of Whitmore, Butterton and Acton Villages in which the development is to be located. Individual new development should complement the quality of the existing landscape.
 
|