Inspiration
The Estate’s ideas have been inspired by both the best architecture of North Yorkshire’s towns and villages, and by the principles of New Urbanism. We want to build a place that adopts the most successful features of our region’s historic settlements, while creating a place which meets the needs and challenges of the present day. We are not alone, and the results of this approach are bearing fruit at new towns and villages such as Tornagrain and Chapelton in Scotland, and Nansledan in Cornwall.
Many of these new communities are being developed by landowners like Escrick Park Estate, which have traditionally built homes and facilities to serve the needs of generations of local people.
Because of their deep and historic ties with their communities, these landowners are today well placed to make the long-term commitments needed to bring about beautiful, sustainable places where people want to live, work and relax: communities fit for the 21st century and beyond.
These communities provide for the day-to-day needs of their residents, with access to open space, health, leisure, retail and sporting facilities, and mean people do not need to rely on cars to make use of these amenities.
The Estate also has undertaken a wide-ranging study of settlements in the region, focusing on those with attractive urban forms, to help it draw up its masterplan.
Five settlements were identified as being particularly relevant: Northallerton, Malton, Market Weighton, Selby and Thirsk.
This study showed that there were a number of features which are characteristic of the local area:
Communities are often centred either around large squares or long high streets, which are home to historic market places.
Town squares tend to feature infill buildings, such as town halls or other civic landmarks, as well as market crosses and other memorials.
High streets are long and often widen to accommodate markets, and again feature town halls or a market cross, for example.
Buildings are usually Georgian in style as a result of an economic boom across the region during that period, with rectangular sash windows with white surrounds, symmetrical facades, chimney stacks and relatively little other ornamentation. Town centre buildings tend to be two or three storeys high.
Urban patterns are drawn largely from the medieval period with long, narrow plots clustered around central streets.
Most post-war growth, in homes and industry, has taken place at the periphery of towns, leaving the communities with strong and historic senses of place and character.
*Inspired images of Ripon, Bedale and Northallerton
The study also looked at the materials used in the construction of local communities.
It found:
Because the region has good access to high-quality clay, brick is often a dominant construction material. Early timber-face buildings have often been refaced in brick.
Bricks reflect the local geology and are usually brown or pale pink in colour. Victorian brick buildings can exhibit greater variety, using white and pale cream bricks in some cases.
The second most common building finish is render, coloured white, cream or in pale shades.
Stone is used sparingly, for prestigious focal points including churches, civic buildings and banks.
Roof materials are usually either natural clay pantiles or slate – Welsh grey and, rarely, Westmoreland green slate.
In most cases, historic road surfaces have been replaced with asphalt. However, cobblestones have been reinstated in some towns in market places and on high streets.