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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA IPSWICH URBAN CHARACTERISATION STUDY

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Page 1: CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA · 2019. 7. 30. · 3 Stoke Park and Maidenhall 3 Belstead Road In the 20th century, the area of former park and farmland was developed

CHANTRY, STOKE PARK ANDMAIDENHALLCHARACTER AREAIPSWICH URBAN CHARACTERISATION STUDY

Page 2: CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA · 2019. 7. 30. · 3 Stoke Park and Maidenhall 3 Belstead Road In the 20th century, the area of former park and farmland was developed

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

History 2

Transport and Access 5

Open Space 6

Biodiversity and Archaeology 7

Landform and Views 8

Urban Analysis 9

Character Sub Area Description –

Belstead Road 10

Character Sub Area Description – Stoke Park & Maidenhall 12

Character Sub Area Description – Chantry 14

Summary 17

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

INTRODUCTION 3

Chantry Green

Downside Close

The character area comprises one of Ipswich’s most popular residentialsuburbs, occupying the sweep of upland between the Orwell and theBelstead Brook. It divides into three character sub areas:

• Chantry• Stoke Park and Maidenhall• Belstead Road

In the 20th century, the area of former park and farmland was developedinto low density estates, designed around the garden settings of StokePark and The Chantry. Many mature parkland trees have been protectedand the slopes offer extensive views over Ipswich, the estuary andSuffolk countryside.

The general character of the area reflects the design aspirations of publichousebuilding in the middle decades of the 20th century; large, solidlybuilt semi detached and terraced housing with generous gardens,arranged around distributor roads and culs de sac with broad grassverges.

The topography, railway line and river tend to isolate the suburb from itsurban surroundings, but this is compensated for by efficient roadconnections, a good bus service and a location which enables therailway station and town centre to be reached on bike and foot.

The parkland trees and open spaces are the most characteristic historicfeatures, along with the Grade II listed Chantry and estate buildings.

The site of the mansion at Stoke Park has been redeveloped, but many of thefine Victorian and early 20th century villas along nearby Belstead Road survivealong with their mature garden settings. Further areas of open space andmature tree planting have been retained within the grounds of educationalinstitutions.

The Chantry, Stoke Park and Maidenhall urban characterisation area and sub-areas.

Imagery copyright Getmapping PLC

Page 4: CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA · 2019. 7. 30. · 3 Stoke Park and Maidenhall 3 Belstead Road In the 20th century, the area of former park and farmland was developed

CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

HISTORY 4

Belstead Brook c.1900

The Chantry area in 1938 (Ordnance Survey map)

History This area remained the most undevelopedpart of Ipswich’s rural hinterland until wellinto the 20th century. The ancient settlementof Stoke only started to expand across thelower slopes of Stoke Hill during theVictorian period, and the rapid growth ofresidential neighbourhoods seen elsewherein Ipswich was checked by the boundariesof the large estates at Stoke Park and TheChantry.

Early photographs give a good idea of thearea’s character. The image below is of theBelstead Brook around a century ago, in acompletely rural setting. Analysis of the tithemap for St Mary at Stoke parish shows thatin 1840 approximately 60% of the land wasused for arable farming, another 25% forpasture and the remainder for housing,gardens and parkland.

The relatively undisturbed landscape haspreserved some of the earliest evidence ofactivity in the Ipswich area. In the 1960s,during excavation works for housing, ahoard of solid gold torcs - Iron Age necklaceornaments, dating from around 75BC – werediscovered near the source of a springabove Belstead Brook.

Iron Age Torcs, found near Ellenbrook Drive.

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

HISTORY 5

Following the Reformation the former abbeylands were divided into private estates. Theowners continued to farm the land, for exampleAndrew Sulyard who built Gyppeswyk Hall in theearly 16th century (originally called New Place).Edmund Daundy, an Ipswich merchant,purchased the land which would become, in the18th century, The Chantry.

These projects were able to take advantage ofthe availability of land, the open views and thesprings – ideal for parkland with ornamentalwater features.

Peter Burrell, the 4th Baron Gwydyr, inheritedStoke Park in 1848. He invested large sums inboth the house and the remodelling of theextensive parklands. Although the house hasbeen lost, much of the mature tree planting onthe south east side of the character area hasbeen preserved.

On the extensive areas of land between theestates, mixed agricultural use continuedthroughout the 18th and 19th century. A numberof windmills were constructed, creatinglandmarks on the Ipswich skyline which can beseen in prints and paintings from the period.

In the 20th century, bequests transferred theseestates into public ownership. Ambitious housebuilding programmes, both before and after thesecond world war, took advantage of thetopography and mature parklands, creatingsome of Ipswich’s most attractive residentialsettings.

Construction of public housing began in the1930s with the estates off London and Hadleighroads. After the war, larger estates were laid outin the Chantry and Maidenhall areas.

The publicly funded and designed estates werelaid out following modern standards of publicspace provision, local services and transportconnnections. Generous open spaces werecreated, reflecting pre-war ideas about gardencity design. Roads were run around thecontours of the land and as many parkland treespreserved as possible. Housing areas wereserved by purpose designed district and localcentres.

Residential development has continued to thepresent day, in recent decades mostly privatesector construction.

The grounds of Broadwater House during the FirstWorld War when the house was being used as aconvalescent home.

Grading of farmland in preparation for the construction of phase1 of the Chantry housing estate (early 1950s)

Windmills were landmarks on the Ipswich skyline; 17 were visible in the 1830s of which 6 were in the Stoke area. The engraving, dated1843, shows two of the mills on Stoke Hill. The appearance of residential development wasn’t welcomed by everyone. On Stoke Hill themiller complained that nearby housing was robbing the wind from his sails!

Stoke Park. The mansion in the photograph was built in the 1830s by Lord Belstead on the site of an earlier house and demolished in themid 1920s.

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

HISTORY 6

Hawthorn Drive District Centre (late 1950s)

Robin Drive, Chantry (late 1950s)

Ellen Brook Green Local Centre 2015

Chantry Green 2015

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

TRANSPORT AND ACCESS 7

Much of the built environment andinfrastructure has been masterplanned fromscratch, reflecting the priorities of the postwardecades (a demand for family housing and thesocial and retail facilities required to servicethat need). The low density layout is served bya neighbourhood road network which is wellconnected to the surrounding primary routes,both for cars and bus services.The road design, which encourages highervehicle speeds, is less attractive forpedestrians and cyclists though a number ofparks and green spaces provide attractiveroutes for both. Compare, for instance,Birkfield Drive (development set back from theroadside, few junctions, higher speeds) withBelstead Road (shorter sightlines,development and mature trees closer to theroad edge, lower speeds).

© Crown Copyright and database right 2015. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100021566.

Kestrel Road - typical residential street with generous verges,though most streets lack the tree planting.

Birkfield Drive. The road is set within a broad landscaped striporiginally intended for a dual carriageway - it even has anunderpass.

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

OPEN SPACE 8

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2015.

BiodiversityThe south west area of Ipswich benefitsfrom good open space provisionincluding large parks on three of itsboundaries: Chantry Park in thenorth-west, Gippeswyk Park in thenorth-east and Bourne Park in thesouth-east. The southern boundary ismarked by Belstead Brook Park.

County Wildlife Sites within the area are:• Ashground Covert and Bobbits LaneMeadows (Stoke Park), with diversehabitats consisting of herb rich andrough grass meadows, fen, semi-naturalwoodland, seasonal wet woodland,scrub, hedgerow, reedbed, stream andponds.

• Bourne Park Reedbed (Stoke Park),which contains habitat includingreedbed with open areas of shallowwater and seasonal mud, and tall roughgrassland.

• Stoke Park Wood (Stoke Park), which ismixed woodland, scrub and historicgrassland.

• Chantry Park (in Chantry), thedesignated part of which contains wetand dry broadleaf woodland, scrub,species-rich rough grassland, and alake.

Just to the south of the character area,the rest of Belstead Brook Park includessignificant wildlife sites including SpringWood, Millennium Wood, Bobbits LaneMeadows and Kiln Meadow. This areaand the Belstead Brook itself arerenowned for wildlife and species include:otter, brown trout, water vole, dormouse,badger, slow worm, common lizard, grasssnake, and common toad.

Belstead Road and Birkfield Drive treebelts/verges are amongst the mostsignificant corridors for wildlife and help

define the well wooded and rich variedlandscape of this area. Areas of recentmeadow creation and tree planting alongBirkfield Drive have greatly enhanced thebiodiversity of the corridor.

Gardens play an important role inproviding wildlife habitat and links into theecological network. Any future reductionin the size or number of gardens couldresult in a net loss of biodiversity andreduced effectiveness of the ecologicalnetwork.

Opportunities for enhancing thebiodiversity value of homes and gardensshould be promoted, e.g. swift and batfeatures, native tree and shrub planting,ponds and other water features, fencingwith gaps for hedgehogs and so on.Linear features that support the corridorfunctions will be most important,including hedgerows and ditches.

Stone Lodge Lane West water tower and resovoir

Clump Field

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

LANDFORM AND VIEWS 9

Landform and viewsThe elevated position creates good viewlines across Ipswich, the estuary and surrounding countryside, framed by mature tree planting.Modern housing development has helped protect some of the best views. The creation of new viewlines as well as the protection ofexisting views should be a development priority.

Viewsa Luther Road - view of Orwell

estuary b Halifax Road - view of

estuary and Orwell Bridge c Montgomery Road - view of

estuary and Orwell Bridged Fountains Road - view of

wooded farmland south ofBelstead Brook

e Fountains Road - view ofwooded farmland south ofBelstead Brook

f Girton Way - view of woodedfarmland south of BelsteadBrook

g Girton Way - view of woodedfarmland south of BelsteadBrook

h Sheldrake Drive - view ofwooded farmland south ofBelstead Brook

i Scrivener Drive - view ofopen countryside nearSproughton

j Hadleigh Road - townscapeview of Ipswich

k Lavenham Road -townscape view of Ipswich

I Shamrock Avenue/Cornflower Close -townscape view of westIpswich

m Pimpernel Road/LavenderHill - townscape view ofwest Ipswich

Landmark Buildings1 Halifax Primary School, Prince

of Wales Drive 2 Oakhill & Rockery, Oak Hill

Lane (Listed Grade II) 3 Goldrood House, Stables, Wall

and Gatepiers, Belstead Road(Listed Grade II)

4 St Josephs College, BelsteadRoad (Listed Grade II)

5 St Josephs College Lodge,Belstead Road (Listed GradeII)

6 Round Lodge, Belstead Road(Listed Grade II)

7 St Josephs College, BirkfieldDrive

8 Watertower, Stone Lodge West 9 Suffolk New Academy, Mallard

Way 10 St Francis C of E Church & St

Marys RC Church, HawthornDrive

11 Belstead Arms Public House,Bridgewater Road

12 The Chantry (Listed Grade II) 13 North Lodge & Entrance Gate

Piers, The Chantry, HadleighRoad (Grade II Listed)

14 Crane Hall, London Road(Grade II Listed)

15 Gippeswyk Hall (Grade IIlisted)

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2015.

Bridgewater Road

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

URBAN ANALYSIS 10

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2015.

Birkfield Drive. The traffic corridor creates a speeding hazard and uses up valuable space

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - BELSTEAD ROAD 11

Belstead Road is an important link between Stoke to thenorth and the parkland landscape of Stoke Park to thesouth. Large 19th and early 20th century properties andmature trees and garden boundaries are distinctivefeatures.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2015.

Imagery copyright Getmapping PLC.

The character sub-area is linear andfocussed on the Belstead Roadfrontage. It extends between therailway tunnel at its north end and thejunction with Girton Way. The roadwas developed in the 19th centuryand widened more recently toimprove vehicle access and connectwith the loop route along Stoke ParkDrive.

Belstead Road passes through themiddle of the former parkland oncebelonging to Stoke Park andenhanced in the 19th century byBaron Gwydyr. Many of the originaltrees have been retained andenhanced by planting in gardens. Themix of mature deciduous andornamental species creates visualenclosure along most of the road’slength, and individual specimens arelocal landmarks.

Townscape: Belstead Road. The street frontage is one of Ipswich’s mostattractive suburban settings, combining low density residential plots withthe grounds of larger institutional buildings.

Belstead Road

Goldrood House (Grade II listed)

Balmoral Close

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - BELSTEAD ROAD 12

The species mix includes trees typical of thePlateau Farmlands landscape character type.Some may be surviving hedgerow trees from theearlier agricultural landscape, but most are theresult of parkland planting.

The scale of tree planting dominates views alongBelstead Road, creating a distinctive tunneleffect in places and closing viewlines withindividual specimens.

There is a variety of edge types along the lengthof the road. In places, tree plantations have beenretained within mown grass swards, creatinglinear parkland strips. Although attractive, thestrips are edged with blank rear gardenperimeters with no overlooking frontage.

The grounds of St Joseph’s College have ahedgerow boundary which retains a sense of theareas original rural character. In places, however,the hedge blocks views of local landmarks, inparticular Goldrood House.

Along most of its length, Belstead Road isfronted by large detached houses set withinmature front gardens. Although set back fromthe road, the scale and architectural quality ofthe individual houses make a strong impressionon the streetscape, and frontages areattractively framed by mature tree planting.Gardens are usually enclosed by trimmedhedges, close boarded timber fences or brickwalls (in red or white brick, sometimes withdecorative details).

New development should complement both thestreet facing frontages and the green streetedge. Creation of extensive areas ofhardstanding for carparking, particularly with noenclosure, should be resisted.

2

Clockwise from above: Belstead Road, near Holyrood Close, near junction with Oak Hill Lane, near Sandringham Close, near junctionwith Stone Lodge Lane

Left: Lodge to St Joseph’s College (Grade II listed)

Below: Stables to Goldrood House (Grade II listed)

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - BELSTEAD ROAD 13

This is further reinforced by decorative details andfinishes, including carved masonry, mouldedterracotta panels and brickwork, decorativebargeboards and eaves.

Modern design should reflect the variety ofarchitectural form and function (within the typicaltwo storey scale) through massing and detail.

Brick is the most characteristic building material alongBelstead Road. The earliest buildings (first half of 19thcentury) tend to use Suffolk white brick or painted limebase render. Red brick appears in the later 19thcentury, sometimes mixed in decorative patterns withother clay types, eg white or blue. Moulded andcarved brickwork and decorative details are also used.

Brickwork is often used in front garden boundaries,either as full height walling or dwarf walls capped byclipped hedging or vertical timber boarding. Somewalls make use of simple pierced patterns. The designof garden boundaries is an important part of the localcharacter and should be reflected in developmentproposals.

The characteristic housing types along BelsteadRoad are either detached or semi detachedproperties, with good street frontage, originallyconstructed either side of the road andsurrounded by the parkland of Stoke Park. Theearliest buildings are picturesque single storeyentrance lodges to the larger estates, nowconverted into houses; alongside these are amix of 19th and 20th century house types,mostly two storey with attics.

The building designs are good examples offashionable residential types , ranging fromSuffolk white brick villas in a late classical styleto more asymmetric designs using a mix ofbuilding materials. The Arts and Crafts influenceis visible in some of the early 20th centuryhouses.

There is an emphasis on individualistic designsand an avoidance of repetitive or bland detailing;modern development should aim to reflect thisquality of design.

More recent housing design has been quitesuccessful in preserving the parkland treeplanting, but in many places has poor or nonexistent street frontage.

High quality detailing is a feature of olderproperties. The massing and form of residentialdesigns is enhanced through the use of windowbays, porches, dormers and other details, whichexpress the internal organisation of the layoutand create a hierarchy of form.

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - STOKE PARK & MAIDENHALL 14

Stoke Park and Maidenhall are residentialsuburbs occupying the south east and southwest facing slopes of Stoke Hill, on former 19thcentury parkland. Mature tree planting and viewsacross the estuary and Suffolk countryside aredistinctive features.

The area is a modern part of Ipswich whichmanages to retain visible links with the town’shistory and its rural setting. The distinctivetopography is an important part of this; theformer agricultural land slopes steeply in placestowards the Belstead Brook on its southernboundary and the Orwell estuary to the east. Springs emerge around the crown of theplateau, where gravel overlies clay, and flow downwards through valleys formed in thehill slope.

New development should continueto do this and (through imaginativebuilding and landscape design)add to the diversity of the builtenvironment in the area.

Modern development has beendesigned around the alternatingvalleys and ridges, creatingresidential enclaves with adistinctive combination of visualenclosure and outlook across thesurrounding landscape; PembrokeDrive for instance and CambridgeDrive/St Catherines Court. This isenhanced by the significantamount of mature tree planting,which frames views andemphasises the sense ofenclosure.

New development should continuethe principle of landscape -responsive design, and improvethe architectural diversity of thearea. Long term objectives shouldalso include the reestablishment,where possible, of the culvertedsprings as a visible feature,perhaps as part of a sustainableurban drainage scheme.

Townscape: Both public and private sector housing layouts have beensuccessful in protecting existing trees and responding to the topography andlandscape views.

Imagery copyright Getmapping PLC.

Top: Downside Close (architect Birkin Haward)Above: Clumpfield (architect Barefoot and Giles)Left: Pembroke Close

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - STOKE PARK & MAIDENHALL 15

Tree planting is a mix of native species andornamental varieties, most surviving from theparkland and field boundaries of the formerStoke Park estate. Some individual specimensare large enough to form local landmarks.Bourne Park preserves a significant part ofBaron Gwydyr’s 19th century parkland layout,including individual trees and woodland setaround open grassland.

The native species mix includes Oak, HorseChestnut, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Broom andHazel. In lower lying areas, Crack Willow andAlder are more common. Estate owners mix avariety of exotics including varieties of Cedar,Pine, Spruce, Maple and Cypress.

The character of the area is residential. There isa small group of pre-WWII houses aroundBelstead Avenue, but the majority of estatebuilding took place in the postwar period. Thiswas initially public housing, extending into thearea south of Oak Hill Lane and successfullypreserving much of the tree planting in the area.

More open agricultural land was redeveloped inthe 1950s for the Maidenhall estate(Montgomery Road follows the line of a formerfield boundary). This has the characteristic lowdensity layout of post war housing developmentincluding broad streets with grassy verges and alocal centre laid out around a green.

Subsequent housing development on the upperslopes towards Belstead Road and aroundBourne Park is a mix of public and private sectorschemes built from the 1960s onwards. Thistends to be higher density than the earlierhousing and includes some innovative individualschemes, for instance the attractivelylandscaped Oaklee public housing estatedesigned by Birkin Haward.

District and local centres in the area are wellused: Ellenbrook Green in particular is asuccessful mix of businesses and open spaces.The retail store on Stoke Park Drive is popularbut poorly scaled in relation to its surroundings,and much less well integrated into its urbansetting.

More generally, the area lacks distinctivelandmark buildings or streetscape. Whilst newdevelopment should continue the tradition ofprotecting landscape views and mature trees,the possibility exists for a more imaginativeapproach to the scale and detailing ofdevelopment design. New schemes shouldcreate active road frontages and improve thevisual legibility of the route network.

Oakhill – the copper roofed belvedere of this 19th century houseis a local landmark.

Ellenbrook Green Local Centre

Cardiff Avenue Downside Close

Clump Field Birkfield Drive

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - CHANTRY 16

Chantry is a residential suburb on high groundbetween the Orwell and Belstead Brook. Low densitypublic and private housing, open space and viewsacross central Ipswich are distinctive features.Chantry Park is a Grade II registered historic parkand a conservation area.

The earliest buildings in the area are either alongsideor close to London and Hadleigh Roads, bothimportant routes into Ipswich. Crane Hall on LondonRoad is a Grade II listed 16th century farmhouse(now converted to offices). The 18th century mansionat The Chantry is set within extensive parkland, witha formal avenue of trees leading to London Roadand a listed gateway and lodge to Hadleigh Road.

Beyond the parkland, most of the areawas open agricultural land withscattered farmsteads reached downcountry tracks such as Sprites andStonelodge Lanes. The level siteassisted in the redevelopment of thesite for housing, and the area retains anexposed and largely treeless charactercompared to Stoke Park or Maidenhall.

The first public housing was laid outbetween Hadleigh Road and LondonRoad in the late 1920s, and continuedafter the war on a much larger scale tothe south of Chantry Park. Ipswich’shouse building programme in the 1950swas one of the largest in Europe.

The mid 19th century North Lodge and gatepiers ofChantry Park are a local landmark on Hadleigh Road.

Imagery copyright Getmapping PLC.

Chantry Park, south front

Townscape: Lavender hill Local Centre

Townscape: Chantry Green

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

CHARACTER SUB AREA - CHANTRY 17

Public space was planned from the start as anintegral part of the area’s development. Thegrounds of The Chantry were preserved in publicownership. Gippeswyk Park, formerly owned byGippeswyk Hall, is a less formal park laid out onlower ground alongside the railway line; thegreen edge is continued by allotments up toLondon Road. Smaller spaces such as ChantryGreen are integrated into the housing layout.

The areas of public housing are laid out around apurpose designed neighbourhood routenetwork. The first estate, between London andHadleigh Roads, is designed as a series of loopsoff an access road. The scale and character ofthe streets in this area is determined by gardens

fronting footpaths. Hedge planting and groupsof trees in back gardens provide a sense ofscale, and gardens are deep enough to allow foroff street parking.

The later housing layouts are lower density withgrass verges to footpaths as well as frontgardens. These create a sense of space but thelack of tree planting and the damage to grassverges caused by vehicle parking hasundermined the appearance of some areas.

More recent housing south of Hawthorn Drive ishigher density, closer in appearance to thepre-war density pattern.

Clockwise from top Sprites Lane, Chantry Green, Pickwick Road, London Road allotments. Clockwise from top Robin Drive Cross section, St Joseph’s College architect Birkin Haward (locally listed), Sprites School.

The majority of housing in the Chantry area is 2storey, a mix of detached, semi detached andterraces of up to 4 units.

The original design of the earliest housing (late1920s, since modified) is quite experimental,with single aspect ground floor living spacesoverlooking large front gardens. Later designshave more conventional double aspect layouts,an approach continued in private housinglayouts from the 1960s onwards.

The area is bisected by London Road, animportant route into Ipswich which carries a highvolume of through traffic. Although this providesconvenient access to the town centre and to

edge of town shopping facilities at Copdock, itis a significant barrier to pedestrian movementbetween the housing area and Chantry Park.

The railway line to the north is also a constraintand vehicle access to the main housing area isrestricted to the London Road and AncasterRoad junctions.

The lack of landmark views, variety ofstreetscape or distinctive buildings in theChantry Green area undermines its legibility; aproblem that could be addressed through moreimaginative landscape design as well as theencouragement of distinctive or contrastingarchitectural styles in new development.

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CHANTRY, STOKE PARK AND MAIDENHALL CHARACTER AREA

18

BELSTEAD RD Some moderndevelopments lack streetfacing frontage and havevisually impermeableboundaries. This shouldbe avoided in futuredevelopment proposals.

Paving of front gardensfor vehicle hardstanding -where front of siteparking is unavoidable, aboundary treatmentshould be included whichreflects the character ofthe surrounding area.

Road junction designencourages higher drivingspeeds and reducesvisual quality in theimmediate vicinity, forinstance the junctionswith Stone Lodge Lane,Stoke Park Drive andGirton Way.

STOKE PARK &MAIDENHALLGreater contrast anddiversity is needed in thebuilt environment in orderto create landmarks andimprove placemaking.

New development shouldaddress road frontagesand open spacespositively; avoid blank

perimeter walls, inactivefrontages or unusedspace.

Parking problems whichare causing damage tograss verges should beaddressed, throughprotective planting orsimilar measures andprovision of small parkinglots carefully integratedinto the public realm.

District and local centresrequire public realminvestment (hard and softlandscaping) in order toimprove their setting.

Consideration should begiven to greater use ofshared surfaces withindistrict and local centres. Publicly owned vacantlots should be developedwhere possible.

Traffic volumes andspeeds should bereduced where possible,for instance through theintroduction of a 20mphspeed limit and othertraffic calming measures.Improve cycle lane andpedestrian access.Tarmac surfaces toconcrete slab roads havedeteriorated badly in

places and require repair.

Where possible, culvertedstreams should beuncovered and integratedinto the pattern of openspace.

CHANTRYThe lack of variety instreetscapes and housingunit designs should beaddressed througheyecatching andinnovative developmentdesign. The elevatedposition of the Chantryallows for the creation ofboth local and (whereappropriate) borough-wide landmarks.

The lack of street treeplanting should beaddressed wherepossible, to protect roadverges, add scale andvariety to the streetsceneand emphasise keyroutes and spaces.

New development shouldaddress road frontagesand open spacespositively; avoid blankperimeter walls, inactivefrontages or unusedspace. District and local centresrequire public realm

investment (hard and softlandscaping).Consideration should begiven to greater use ofshared surfaces withindistrict and local centres.

Traffic speeds andvolumes should bereduced where possible,for instance through theintroduction of a 20mphspeed limit and othertraffic calming measures.Improve cycle lane andpedestrian access.

Improve the design ofGippeswyk Park with newtree and shrub planting,and consider how its usecan be diversified.Parking problems whichare causing damage tograss verges should beaddressed throughprotective planting orsimilar measures andprovision of small parkinglots integrated into thepublic realm.

Tarmac surfaces toconcrete slab roads havedeteriorated badly inplaces and require repair.

SUMMARY