High Street and Kings Road corner

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Crown copyright. All rights reserved Kennet District Council LA078328 2003

White Street and Salisbury Plain from across the valley of the High Street
High Street buildings nestle among the valley trees.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this Statement is to identify and record those special qualities of Easterton that make up its architectural and historic character. This is important in providing a sound basis for the Local
Plan policies and development decisions, as well as for the formulation of proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the character or appearance of the area. The Conservation Area was originally designated in 1985. This Statement is a review of the Easterton
Conservation Area and is intended for all those with an interest in the village, or undertaking work on the buildings, landscape, roads or public spaces. It is also essential reading for anyone contemplating development within the area. By drawing attention to the distinctive features of Easterton it is intended that its character will be protected and enhanced for the benefit of this and future generations.
Oak Lane climbs up the west valley side
The meadow to the west of High Street
The small village, population about 480, lies in the south western end of the Vale of Pewsey 6 miles south of Devizes and about 0.5 mile east of Market Lavington on the B3098 West Lavington to Urchfont Road.
Easterton is a typical spring-line parish, some 5.5 miles long by an average of about one mile wide, much of it on the chalk of Salisbury
Plain. There is a wide range of soil and substrata throughout. The village lies on low ground in the northern part of the parish on the
Greensand with alluvial gravels and clays of the brook with sandy light loamy soils on higher ground to the north. The south-eastern part of the village borders the Gault clay. The distribution of the different soil types has had a direct influence on the types of local agriculture.
Easterton lies
close to the northern scarp slope of Salisbury
Plain. It nestles in a steep sided wooded valley sloping up at the northern end beyond the church. A brook fed by the several springs in the village flows south beside the main street of generally small cottages and houses.

St Barnabas Church. Lych gate & lime tree path
Easterton Manor
The Drove. Woodbine Cottage
To the south White Street is developed predominantly on one side only with open land to the south. At a wide branch it narrows to climb eastwards through the village outskirts among trees and hedgerow conifers onto the Clays towards the arable slopes of Salisbury Plain.
Easterton was first mentioned in 1348 as a tything of Stepellavynton or
Market Lavington. Its name Esterton juxta Stepellavynton is a variation of Easton or an eastern farmstead. Until 1881 the population of Easterton was included with that of Market Lavington and was 384 but in 1951 after the addition of Eastcott it was 401. In medieval times it was also known as Easterton Gernon or Garnham after Robert
Gernon, lord of the manor of the eastern part of Lavington soon afterwards, to distinguish it from an adjoining manor held by Robert
Blund known as Easterton Kingside. Both were manors within the area of the village but neither supported its own manor house as the landlords lived elsewhere.
In 1591 the freehold of the manor of Easterton Garnham was owned by
William Calley of West Lavington and the manor of Easterton
Kingside by the Grubbes of Potterne.
Easterton Manor was built utilising part of a farmhouse of about 1570.
The east wing in timberframed construction was added in 1620. The
16 th
century Court Close Farm opposite was a farmstead of similar status to the former farmhouse on the Manor site.
From 1662 many of the bricks and roof tiles used in the village were made locally at ‘Brickell’ that later became the Broadway Brick and
Tile Co. Ltd which ceased manufacture in the 1950s.
Other important farmhouses included the present Royal Oak Inn,
Fairfield Farm and Willoughby’s in the 17 th
century. The latter though built in about 1620 was owned by Sir John Danvers 1646-1654 and occupied by the Merewether family it received its name from the
Willoughby’s who had interests in the house only from 1780 until
1821.
‘Kestrels’ in Oak Lane however was built as a residence in the early
18 th
century in the William and Mary style contemporary with
Urchfont Manor. The unusual name is likely to have been given to it by Benjamin Hayward a retired yeoman farmer and keen falconer who occupied it up to 1876.
There are reports of cloth-workers working from their homes during the 18 th
century and there were weavers’ cottages existing in the village but it is not certain which cottages these were or whether any survive.
The Anglican church of St Barnabas and a primary school were built in
1875. In 1971 a new school was built in Drove Lane and the village school demolished for road improvements. The Wesleyan Chapel was

The northern approach to the village
The large weeping willow by the brook in the valley garden of Well Cottage
Modernised 19 th
century cottages stand high on the steep valley side in the north of High Street
A public footpath passes between Well Cottage and ‘Homeleigh’ across the north of the valley
built in 1868 but closed in the mid 20 th century and converted to a dwelling.
Mains electricity was supplied to the village in 1927, mains water in
1952 and drainage connected to a public sewer in 1958.
Sheep and cattle were raised on Salisbury Plain. There was market gardening on the ‘Sands’, arable farming and cattle grazing on the ‘Clays’.
From 1868 fruit grown in the market gardens on the ‘Sands’ was made into preserves by Samuel Sanders. After his death in 1908 his employee Samuel Moore continued making jam at his home at
Woodbine Cottage. He expanded the business by investing in modern equipment to such an extent that the factory he founded employed more than 100 before it closed in 1989.
A single Neolithic worked flint has been recorded at Easterton Clay
Farm and two thumb pots and some sherds of Roman pottery found adjacent to Court Close Farm. The medieval village is thought to have centred on the foot of Kings Road and The Drove and included the area of the former jam factory.
The pattern of the main development in the High Street and White
Street generally follows the lower contours of two valleys.
The lanes descending into the valley from the west; Oak Lane, the Drove and
Kings Road are sparsely developed, the few cottages being set into the steep wooded Greensand banks. More recently development however has taken place on the Sands above the village.
The carriageway itself is generally on the east side of a characterful brook that flows down the centre of the valley floor and the older cottages are on the eastside where the steep valley side rises almost immediately behind them. Buildings on the west side include former farmhouses with more space about them.
North of the junction with Kings Road, where the valley is shallower the High Street climbs and veers away eastwards and the cottage gardens and the churchyard occupy both banks.
Modern bungalows lie on the west side where the 19 th
century village school once stood prior to the widening of the road.
The Church of St Barnabas was built soon after Easterton became a separate ecclesiastical parish from Market Lavington in 1874. Its vicarage known as Easterton House is situated off Kings Road on the
Sands. The main approach to the church, through a brick and timber lych gate, is a pleasant path overhung by lime trees. Close to the church ‘east’ end are several very significant trees that include two mature Holm oaks and a Robinia.
A feature of the northern upper end of the valley where a spring feeds the brook is the group of large mature trees and a most significant weeping willow overhanging the garden of Well Cottage. ‘Homeleigh’ is an adjacent cottage similarly sited in the valley beside the brook that also has lush green lawns, mature trees and hedges.

The 19th century former shop and post office
St Barnabas Church of 1875
St Barnabas Church. Detail of the porch
St Barnabas Church backs on to Kings Road
In the north of the High Street is a former shop of the mid 19 th
century that is now a motor repair business. The pentagonal bay windows and
Royal Mail box are significant on the east side of the High Street. With hipped low-pitched slate roofs over a double depth plan of red brick it appears all to be of the same build. However the house part against the bank is older, has casement windows and was originally covered by a thatched roof. In the shop section the glazing bar sashes survive only on the north side. Top hung casements have replaced the sashes at the front.
On the red brick street sidewall the painted Draper sign and an underlying sign are of historic interest and should not be painted over or cleaned away.
St Barnabas church of 1875 is mainly red brick banded in blue with red and yellow brick of the pointed arches to the porch doorway and lancet windows. It has freestone windowsills, plain buttresses and a tall saddleback bellcote. There are cogged brick eaves to the steep clay tiled roof that incorporate shallow triangular dormers two each side over the nave.
th
It is a simple gabled design of compatible brick and tile but with no special features.
Close behind the church is the single track lane of Kings Road.
Opposite the lower end of the brick churchyard wall a high concrete block retaining wall confines the lane as far as the corner where it turns and crosses the brook into High Street. There The Drove leads out of the Conservation Area up to Woodbine Cottage where it becomes a path between steep green and wooded banks.
The high wall and the vacant factory above, though not dominant in the
Conservation Area, do detract from the character of this part of the village. Opposite is the pump and dip in the brook.

Kings Road at the junction with High Street. Dead elms can be seen on the skyline.
Halstead Farmhouse
The Old Chapel of 1868 is now a dwelling
The structure is a 19 th
century iron pump, brickwork, iron railings and an inscription, now illegible. The edge is now mainly of concrete but it is nevertheless a feature of historic interest and listed Grade II.
Also listed is Halstead Farmhouse of the late 18 th
century in brick with a south lean-to and a dairy outbuilding facing King’s Road in painted greensand stone. From the north gable a 19 th
century single flue stack rises from an oven in the single storey lean-to. The house and buildings all have clay tile roofs and form a group around a small yard. The iron farm gate and wide verge contribute much to their rural character.
At the High Street corner the brook flows around a greensand rubble wall that built up forms the boundary to Halstead Farmhouse. The
of the brook and the timber footbridge are all of high environmental quality. Shrubs and trailing plants enhance the scene in the summer.
On the former rick-yard of Halstead Farm three recent houses share a single bridge to a rear garage court. This happily saves too many interruptions in the important roadside banks of the brook.
The recent houses have relatively shallow pitched roofs of 35 degrees and small chimney stacks that vary considerably from the 50 degree pitched roofs that supported the thatch so traditional in the village.

The wide grass verge beside the brook
The built-up frontage on the east side of High
Access to a public footpath through the frontage
The Holm Oak on the west side of High Street.
Tubular guard rails extend over the brook
A continuous built-up east side frontage commences at the north end with the Homestead a listed building with exposed timber frame of the
17 th
century. It was formerly thatched over a steep pitched roof with eaves at the present sill level of the upper floor windows.
Electricity and telephone overhead cables and poles here detract from the scene but the brook and its banks are particular assets to the
Conservation Area.
The row of east side cottages continues south standing on the back of a narrow pavement. The distance from the frontage and the bank of the stream essentially determine the width of the carriageway.
Most of the cottages in the east frontage are mid 19 th
century with slate roofs and casement windows although several of the late 19 th
century have sash windows and tiled roofs. Many are of brick that has been painted white in the last 50 years. This painting the overhead cables, poles and high TV aerial masts detract from the character of the street.
A pavement of almost urban character extends for the full length of the
High Street. Although the pavement may not enhance the rural character of the village it is nevertheless a fender against vehicles, a refuge for pedestrians and relatively unobtrusive.
At the rear the plots rise steeply and are bounded at the top by the rim of the valley side. There, several dead elm trees in the field hedgerow stand gaunt and grim against the skyline.
From the High Street a passage between cottages ascends a wooded footpath to the meadows above the valley. Via Goose Hill it leads to
Salisbury Plain about a mile away. A useful and pleasant short cut for pedestrians it should be maintained with other public footpaths as a sustainable alternative to motoring around by road.
On the west side access to the former Methodist Chapel, sold as a house in 1984, is via an unobtrusive bridge across the stream. However the wide concrete surface and ugly tubular rails of a recent bridge are not in-keeping with the character of the High Street.
Dominating the High Street is a splendid Holm Oak tree that together, with the copper beech tree by the Old Chapel complement the varying tones of the green taller trees and are a great asset to the street.

The Bakehouse
Jubilee Cottages. Date stone AW Draper 1897
The projecting outhouse was a former bakehouse
The Royal Oak Inn 17 th
century, a former farmhouse
Lilac and Little Thatch cottages Late 18 th
century
The Bakehouse is unusually set back from the High Street in heavily wooded grounds. Massive trees grow up at the end of the garden in the sloping meadow behind.
Jubilee Cottages is a handsome terrace of four houses dated 1897 of 2storeys and generous attic rooms. Built of local red brick and clay tiles it has substantial chimney stacks and well-proportioned dormers.
There are footbridges to the small front gardens that have good iron railings to the brook. Guard rails fixed into a concrete kerb separate the brook from the traffic. Here the margin to the roadside is too narrow for a continuation of the green verge and hedgerow.
The Grange, reputedly once The Cow Inn, is set back from the street behind a high laurel hedge on the west bank of the brook. This hedge is such a substantial screen that with the Holm Oak these natural features eclipse the quite modest but listed late 18 th
century building in the street scene.
The Royal Oak Inn also stands back from the road in grounds that include a pleasant beer garden. The three-rail ranch style fence is unusual in the village but as an effective child-proof beer garden enclosure that can be easily maintained at an optimum height it is acceptable enough.
Its forecourt on the corner of Oak Lane and a yard behind provide car parking space.
The Inn is a 17 th
century building largely of Greensand rubble with a steep
‘long straw’ thatch. The most striking feature is its timber-framed front facing gable, of relatively narrow span, it rises from the ground floor door head to well above a small attic casement.
The black painted close studding of the gable is combined with red brick noggin, wavy corner braces and barge boards with a ridge pendant. At the side and rear single storey wings have rendered walls and clay pantiled roofs. The timber windows are a pleasing variety of casement patterns from the 19 th
to the mid 20 th
century.
The Inn is only slightly marred by the 20 th
century single storey slate lean-to at the front but more so by the large sign that now covers part of the timber framed gable wall. The traditional hanging pole sign and a curved board by the entrance are more than sufficient to advertise the building as a public house without partially obscuring its most appealing architectural feature.
On the opposite corner of Oak Lane are Lilac and Little Thatch cottages, not a pair, but under the same fully hipped thatched roof. The rear chimney is of brick but the walls appear to be mainly of greensand rubble. These are so heavily painted over that there may also be marlstone and brick. The cambered heads over most of the windows are formed of brick though some flat heads also suggest the odd timber or even concrete lintels.
The casements are of a consistent glazing bar pattern in two and three light combinations. All are entirely in keeping with the character of the original as is the small open fronted porch. Although slightly marred by the evergreen hedge and the dividing panel fence the cottages make a positive contribution to the rural character of the village.

The High Street. Mid 19 th
century ‘Downside’
The listed 17 th
century Old Forge and 20 th
century rear extensions.
The Old Post office. Early 20 th
century
The bus shelter and vacant site
‘Downside’, formerly two cottages is now one dwelling and positioned gable end to the pavement. It backs directly on to the public footpath passage behind and is almost entirely single aspect to the south. In the tradition of cottages the front door is approached through the main garden that is enclosed by a native hedge. It is picturesque and a welcome break from the usual parallel form of development in the
High Street. The substantial tiled roof, projecting gabled wing, generous eaves overhang and the matching but irregularly spaced casement windows with ridge chimneys combine to form an interesting traditional village house.
To the south, on the same eastern side, are modern houses set back behind front gardens with wide access and space for car parking.
Convenient as these may be, this pattern of development is very erosive of village character and should not be permitted to proliferate.
Also on the east side towards the southern end of the High Street the
‘Old Forge’ is a detached cottage dated 1619. It was originally of oneup-and one-down configuration with a baffle entry plan up to an original gable chimney. This stack is now central, a later right-hand cottage having been added, with a stack in the rear wall. The roof is hipped at the original end only, covered in clay tiles but pitched steeply for the original thatch. It is now only partly timber-framed with the walls almost entirely of brick rendered. To the rear a modern extension attached by an entrance link is of appropriate matching scale and traditional form with a quite grand hipped canted bay window and sashes.
It once had a range of single storey outbuildings that included the actual forge, now only a brick and tile shed on the frontage and a garage survive. This cottage with its extensions and outbuildings is nevertheless still significant to the historic character of the High Street.
On the site of some former garage sheds, there is one plot for redevelopment between the existing small village houses. The greensand bank of the valley side defines the rear of the shallow flat site although the plot extends higher up the slope to the tree line behind. The pattern of adjacent development suggests a frontage block with ridge parallel with and set back from the road. However an alternative form of development along the lines of ‘Downside’ might be more appropriate here.
The Old Post Office house, unusually for Easterton, is a fully hipped pyramid roofed square villa with a flat roof side extension and lean-to extensions incongruously added to the front. The smaller lean-to is a canted bay, the larger is a former shop extension. Adjoining is a gable fronted traditional 2-storey outhouse, formerly cycle shop premises now also converted fully to a dwelling. Both dwellings have steps up to ground floor levels above the pavement. A red Royal Mail box is built into a brick pier adjoining the garden retaining wall which supports a short native hedge.

Easterton Manor. The gabled rear wing and its upper floor windows are of the 16 th
century.
Court Close Farm of the 16 th
and 17 th
century
White Street. Rose Cottage of the mid 19 th
century
White Street. The 19 th
century Platts Farm house
Easterton Manor is an important listed building. Of larger scale than
Court Close Farmhouse, it is of 2 large storeys and an attic. The rear wing built against the hillside is of greensand stone built about 1570 with freestone mullioned casements. The timber framed front or east wing replaced an earlier structure in about 1620 but incorporates its original chimney breast.
Easterton Manor has steep pitched roofs with half-hipped ends that indicate that the roof covering for many years was thatch but is now of somewhat shiny machine-made clay plain tiles. The rear wing has two eaves chimneys, one on a greensand stone breast. Both have matching early 20 th
century tall brick stacks tied across to the roof ridge.
The large porch/lobby attached to the front gable is a recent extension.
The main outbuilding has been converted to a separate dwelling.
However the several fine trees, the grounds, the gates, gateways, laurel hedge and the brick frontage wall combine with the fine old house to make a large contribution to the Conservation Area.
WHITE STREET
Court Close Farm at the junction of White Street and High Street is very significant in the village scene. Occupying the corner on the High
Street there was once a row of cottages but only fragments remain of a timber frame and some of the cob wall. These however are in full view of the road.
The farmhouse is of 16 th
century origin of small scale, one storey and attic, built of timber frame on greensand rubble base walls. Of the three original bays, two are to the east side of the central stone chimney breast and one to the west. An oven was incorporated in the north side of the chimney breast. The bays to the east end were built with gables front and rear. The house was partitioned into cottages for many years during which time a further 19 th
century cottage was attached to the eastern end. All the accommodation is now connected internally.
The main roof is steeply pitched with a half hip facing west. Entirely thatched until 1979 it was tiled along with the 19 th
century 2-storey east extension that was already tiled over the shallow pitched roof.
Of the traditional farm outbuildings that remain, a long single storey brick and pantile shed is attached to the south east corner of the house.
There is a timber framed barn surviving with a steep pitch and a half hipped gable, once thatched it is now covered in corrugated iron. Other outbuildings are either lightly framed and boarded or of concrete block.
These are roofed with corrugated sheeting and in their general form also suggest that thatch was the original roofing throughout. The whole group surrounded by green pasture is strongly agricultural and retains the character of a rural farmstead despite its village location.
Meadows extend down to the street on the south side except for a wooded area of native plants and several conifers. This area emphasises the rural setting of the village and contributes to the character of the Conservation Area. The roadside bank might seem to offer a convenient place for additional car parking but its soft green edge is in character with the village and worthy of preservation. In addition it is reputed to have been the village ‘pound’.
Cottages in White Street have generally been extensively modernised with new fenestration, porch and side extensions and painted or rendered walls. ‘Rose Cottage’ was thatched but now has a slate roof and a modern rear extension. ‘Corner Cottage’ was built in part of its garden in the late 20 th
century. The former stable/outbuilding to
Athelstan House has been converted to a dwelling that retains an interesting building to enhance the street.

The wide branch in White Street to the Clays
White Street. Fairfield Farm The 17 th
century house
Fairfield Farm. The three parts of the house
The branch of White Street leading to Goose Hill
Several buildings of the 19 th
and early 20 th
century are traditional in form and materials and although altered do still retain some original elements of architectural or vernacular detail. As a group, the cottages form a pleasant row.
In addition the traditional greensand roadside wall is continuous as a front garden boundary wall and important to the character of White
Street contributing positively to the Conservation Area.
Platts Farm is the final house in the row from High Street and like its neighbours is a pleasant building of traditional form but of minimal local character having received mid 20 th
century alterations to the roof, eaves, chimneys, casement details and cement rendered walls.
Originally it may have been similar to the greensand painted cottages in the High Street.
In the yard at the rear of Platts Farm is a listed 18 th
century granary that is decaying and at risk.
Fairfield Farm is an interesting house that comprises three structures, a traditional farmyard and modern outbuildings.
The 17 th
century newel posts and balustrade to the stairs.
Top right. Fairfield Farm - The roof space showing the roof structures:-.
Original trusses and lower collars
Later rafters and upper collars.
Bottom right.
Original wall-plate, purlin, principal rafter, tie beam and partition.
The three buildings of the house form an ‘L’ shaped plan; the imposing early 17 th
century stone gabled house overlooks the forecourt in the road, a pair of 18 th
century timber framed thatched cottages and a 19 th century brick and tile converted granary. Remarkably the 17 th
century house retains its original internal layout plan on the main floor levels together with the original staircase and steps down into the 16 th
century cellar.
Buildings around the traditional yard adjoin a former dairy, milking parlour, open fronted byre and hay barns. It is the more modern outbuildings south east of the house and outside the Conservation Area that are in current agricultural use. The redundant milk churn stand still projects across the grass verge in White Street outside.

Ridgeway House
Willoughby’s. A house of the early 17 th
century.
The rear of Willoughby’s
The grounds and outbuildings of ‘Willoughby’s’
The roadside view of the house clearly shows how alterations have changed the upper storey from a steeply pitched main roof and two front facing gables as at Court Close Farm, but thatched, to the present shallow pitch covered in cedar shingles. A change from stone to cement render in the end gable shows the line of the original roof pitch.
More obvious are the plain sparsely framed infilling panels on both sides of the front gables.
Beyond Fairfield Farm White Street bears left, steepens and narrows between banks into a typical greensand sunken lane where on the south-side bank there is Ridgeway House. Once the dwelling of the tenant of the adjacent farm it was originally a cottage of one storey and attic, it is of timber frame built on a malmstone base. In the late 18th century it was lengthened and raised with brickwork replacing wattle panels. The steep pitched roof, completely raised with the walls, was th thatched but re-covered in the 20 th is listed and retains 18 lights and mid 19 th
century sashes.
century with double roman tiles. It
century iron framed casements with leaded
On the north side is ‘Willoughby’s’, named after a family who occupied and owned the house in the 18 th
and early 19 th
century, stands higher up the north bank and has an approach of steps extending down to the roadside wall. It stands in extensive grounds of terraced lawn and mature trees including the significant yew overhanging the lane.
The yew and walnut trees are particular assets.
The house is of similar construction to the stone based Fairfield Farm but is all of the same build and grander with an original full 2-storeys over the cellars. The ground floor and cellar windows are stone mullioned with hood moulds in the greensand rubble walls now brightly painted. In the timber-framed walls of the upper floor the windows are generally canted shallow oriels of four and five lights.
Carved brackets, one or two per oriel, support the sills. The eaves of the original thatch would once have overhung their dentilled hoods but with the roof now tiled sloping timber fascias cover them. In the interior most ceiling beams have bar stop chamfers. The layout plan has been altered and the original lobby entry doors front and rear are no longer the main entrances. The main entrance is now through the room in the original rear kitchen wing that faces the north garden court and drive.
Attached to the west of the house is a 20 th
century extension with a modern kitchen, additional bedrooms etc. This replicates the original exterior in scale, ground floor window design, roof pitch and single roman clay tiles but does detract from the beauty of the original house.

The side gable and rear of the Royal Oak Inn
Modern houses in Oak Lane. The Malthouse farm bungalow stands high on the tree covered bank
Oak Lane. ‘High View ‘ formerly Draper’s
Cottage, the Malthouse and Malthouse Cottage
‘New House’ towers over Oak Lane
To the east are some 18 th
century vernacular outbuildings of greensand rubble and clay tiles provide stabling, garaging etc. These are set well back into the rising ground with rear walls retaining the bank behind up to eaves level but opening at the front on to a gravel forecourt level with the house. There is a more modern garage lean-to in the return of the main greensand stone retaining wall forming the forecourt off
White Street.
OAK LANE
The side gable wall of the Royal Oak Inn is of unpainted greensand stone at lower level with the chimney of red brick. This brick is built out over the two casements on each side. The main gable on the front is repeated on the rear but continues on as a brick and tile 2-storey extension with a casement and loft hatch door. There is also a hipped roof single storey toilet block of brick and tile extending into the spacious yard. Backing on to the lane is a detached outbuilding of red brick plinth, corrugated roof and walls. It was one of a range of buildings that once fully enclosed the yard dug out of the valley side.
Oak Lane in early spring
From High Street, between the Royal Oak Inn and Little Thatch, Oak
Lane climbs the valley side from the level plots of two modern houses off to the south. The slope steepens sharply on both sides and trees and bushes cover the greensand banks that rise almost sheer to Malthouse
Farm bungalow set high up on the south west side.
Only where the gradient eases on the corner of the lane is there a small plot cut into the slope for a dwelling. This is the listed ‘High View’ formerly Draper’s Cottage a late 17 th
century thatched and painted malmstone cottage with brick chimneys. Attached to it are small pantiled extensions. A kitchen to the rear and a garage to the side complement the cottage. A skyline of trees on the hillside behind, the gravelled approach and native hedges to the front all enrich the roadside view.
Sharing the approach is the red brick Malthouse with the adjoining rendered Malthouse Cottage. An interesting range of thatched buildings probably of the 18 th
century and now rehabilitated with new windows in repaired walls and roof structure. The former is of fair faced brickwork on a high greensand rubble base. The front wall incorporates an interesting but modern semicircular enclosure. The upper cottage is more conventional with a floor level related more closely to the banked verge of the lane. The thatched roof flows over the curves and undulations of both cottage walls to follow the gradient of the lane.

Oak Lane. The listed garden wall to ‘Kestrels’
‘Kestrels’ The south front
The Gardens at ‘Kestrels’
Sparrows 10 Oak Lane
High View and the Malthouse cottages make a particularly picturesque group in a context of woodland and hedgerow on the steep slopes of the lane and are particularly special to the Conservation Area.
‘New House’ is set up on the bank to the north side. Reached by a steep drive with a brick retaining wall it emphasises the physical difficulties to be overcome and the distinctive character that has evolved over generations in development of the lane.
Near the crest of Oak Lane stands ‘Kestrels’ a fine Grade II* listed building. It is a late 18 th
century house in its own grounds surrounded by contemporary high brick walls and gate piers also listed but Grade
II. A house of constructional quality in detailing and materials it has some architectural features similar to Urchfont Manor.
The original symmetrical south façade is of 2-storeys and attics of five bays with sash windows on each side of a fine stone door case. The six panel door stands several semi circular steps up from a formal paved and walled garden court with a circular fish pool and fountain. The walls of mellow red brick in Flemish bond have raised stone quoins with a continuous stone stringcourse at first floor. The elegant hipped roof has sprocketted eaves and is covered by stone tiles in diminishing courses. The gutters are carried on long wrought iron brackets over a timber moulded eaves cornice. The brick chimney has multiple flues in a cruciform plan.
The original ‘L’ shaped plan is extended to the west by a further two bays in the matching sash windows, brick and stone walls. The extension also infills the rear angle, has a flat roof and a very tall kitchen chimney stack.
The entire grounds are enclosed by old brick walls which to the south and against the lane to the east are partially retaining walls that support the site above the sloping hillside and elevate the garden for panoramic views of Salisbury Plain.
The garden walls, the coach-houses and the potting sheds built against them are also of red brick, the former also with hipped roofs covered in stone tiles.
The garden itself is divided into several rectangular walled or hedged enclosures connected by arched openings through areas of varied character with lawns, paved terraces and gravel walks, shrubs, fruit trees and planting beds in a composition of great environmental quality and cultivated natural beauty.

Public foot path No.1
12 Oak Lane. Late 19 th
century with sash windows
Opposite the gateway to Kestrel’s is ‘Sparrows’ at No.10 Oak Lane standing in a large garden at the top of the village. It is a late 19 th century villa set off the lane on the hillside facing south east. It is of brickwork with a Welsh slate roof. Originally symmetrical with two gables each side of a central main entrance both with a ground floor bays and a single lean-to kitchen at the rear there is now a two-storey side wing to the east end.
Immediately to the north of ‘Sparrows’ footpath No.1 leaves Oak lane to connect through to Kings Road via the 20 th
century housing estate at
Haywards Place. To the east this main footpath skirts the meadow in the centre of the village.
No.12 Oak Lane was probably originally built as outlying cottages for labourers working on The Sands in the late 19th century. Local tiles became available at about this time and these could be the original covering on a 40-degree gable roof and the typical single bar sash windows of the time. Now a single house the main rooms face south.
The walls are brick but now painted.
The meadow, west of High Street and east of the main public foot path, is an integral part of the Conservation Area and should not be developed.
The open space of the meadow on the valley slope west of the High Street is vital to the rural character of the village.

Exposed timber frame walls showing extensions upwards from a single storey & attic with steep pitched roof for thatch to 2 storeys and tiles.
Court Close Farm. Remnants of malmstone, timber framing, wattle and daub from the former cottages.
Fairfield Farm. The 16 th
century cellar window
‘Kestrels’ and coach house. Stone tile roofs and mellow red brickwork
Walls
Traditional building materials are those that have been found locally.
Common throughout the village is Greensand stone for roadside walls, plinth and gable walls to buildings. Also surviving is the inferior malmstone, flints and chalk in some buildings. The soft chalk in walls has usually been combined with lime, dung, straw, animal hair and flint gravel to make cob. Although once common in cottages, lesser agricultural buildings and boundary walls, no cob walls appear to have survived in the village.
Pre 18 th
century buildings are largely made with walls of timber frame particularly the upper storeys and this frame was filled in with hazel wattle. This was then daubed in a mix of lime, dung, hair, grit and stone dust or sand and lime rendered. The earliest are generally 16 th century frames that are close studded with small panels. Later economies in timber led to more widely spaced frames with larger panels. Today surviving exposed timber frames may be filled in with brick noggin. The bricks are painted or rendered to maintain the original lime rendered wattle and daub appearance.
From the early 18 th
century brick became the most common walling material. Prior to that it had been used sparingly for chimney stacks and plinth walls as it was neither found locally nor could be cheaply manufactured. A local clay pit opened near Market Lavington and bricks were first made there in the early 17 th
century. In the 19 th century it also made single roman tiles. ‘Kestrels’ is a fine example of a sophisticated design of brick house built in the late 18 th
century.
More typical is the extensive use of Greensand stone in early local prestige buildings. In these the stone was built up higher than mere plinths to enclose the full 2-storeys with attic gable walls at Easterton
Manor and the cellars, ground storey and end gable walls at Fairfield
Farm; also the cellars and ground storey at Willoughby’s and the ground floor and chimney gable walls at the Royal Oak Inn.
Freestone was used to make dressings for windows and doorways at the Manor and Willoughby’s.
Timber-framed close-studding was used for the upper storeys in all but the Manor. Facade gables were also raised in timber frame at Fairfield
Farm, Court Close Farm and the Royal Oak Inn.
Currently there is a type of modern makeover that includes the use of the ubiquitous white paint to ‘cover-all’ and smarten up. However it reduces even the most splendid natural stone wall to almost the same appearance as a utilitarian wall of uneven brick or concrete block rendered. Rarely is there a reason to do this except cosmetic. The paint is unlikely to exclude penetrating damp. Historically limewash was applied to timber frame and wattle walls but not to stone or brickwork.
If not repainted the effect will fade and the wall will again take on a mellow look.
Roofs
Traditionally all roofs in the village were thatched. Wheat straw was abundantly available from the arable farms in the parish. Agricultural labour was cheap enough to replace it as frequently as necessary. There was little need to seek alternatives. Long straw thatching rather than combed wheat reed would have been the local technique.
Only since the late 18 th century have alternative materials been in use.
The forest marble limestone stone tile roof of ‘Kestrels’ would have

Easterton Manor a 16 th
century south gable
‘Kestrels’ The fine 18 th
century front door, Bath stone porch hood, Greensand stone plinth and steps.
Willoughby’s. Oriel window with carved sill been one of the first imports from north Wiltshire. Welsh slate brought into the area by barge and wagon from nearby canal side wharfs would have first appeared at the beginning of the 19 th
century.
Soon afterwards the single roman clay tiles from Brickell would have joined the competition to provide a replacement for thatch. During the
20 th
century plain clay tiles from further east began to be transported into the area along with red bricks after the Brickell product ceased manufacture in 1920 and the several other small brick works in the area. First were the handmade variety from the small tileworks and then most recently mass-produced machine made clay tiles.
Windows - casements and sashes
The earliest windows are small casements. Some late 17 th
century iron framed and fixed leaded lights survive in 16 th
century stone surrounds at Easterton Manor. The opening light has an iron spring stay and is hung on pintles fixed directly into the stone. A cellar window at
Fairfield Farm is older. This has a heavy oak frame and mullions with iron bars but was probably shuttered rather than glazed being more for ventilation than light.
Casements continued to be the traditional type of window even though sashes were introduced in the 18 th
century into superior houses such as
‘Kestrels’ and are the type of window found in some 19th and early
20 th
century cottages and houses in the village today.
Wide casement windows were possible with combinations of fixed and opening lights set between load-bearing stone mullions as at
Willoughby’s. Fixed lights would be directly mortared into the stone.
Originally of small panes held together with lead cames, today large panes of glass have been installed instead to give more light.
More unusual are the oriel windows of Willoughby’s. These are casements, now each glazed with a single sheet glass but originally with leaded small panes set in a timber frame and structure that projects out beneath what was the wide eaves of the original thatched roof. Brackets fixed to the wall frame structure beneath support the window. On the front of the house these are carved in a variety of human heads. The sill of a window at the rear has a continuous serpentine carved moulding along its edge.
Early doors are vertically planked and in superior houses studded through with square headed forged nails into horizontal planking internally. In cottages and small houses the vertical external planks are ledged and braced internally held together with only a few nails hammered below the front surface. From the 18 th
century front doors to superior houses were panelled in usually not less than six panels.
Doors would not originally have included any glazing. This has commonly been introduced into upper panels in recent times. Only where ceilings are high were over-lights, sometimes in the shape of a fan, inserted above panelled doors.
Athelstan House is one of several cottages in White Street with modern casements and a section of the continuous roadside greensand stone garden retaining wall with steps through it to the front door.
Within the constraints of the District Local Plan there would seem to be limited areas of potential change and few development opportunities.

Athelstan House. Early 20 th
century. Casements
The vacant site in the High Street
Kings Road. The jam factory, ugly retaining and interesting listed village pump wall
Kings Road and the listed St Barnabas Church.
Here the pleasant rural character would be changed with the proposed access to the jam factory site.
There is a vacant site for redevelopment at No.4 High Street. Some variety could be introduced there to the sequence of alternate driveways and roof ridges parallel with street perhaps with a traditional gable end to the street along the lines of ‘Downside’ mentioned above.
The proposed house could be sited along the north boundary and dug into the east bank with its principal aspect to the south.
OPPORTUNITIES
The central meadow
The meadow to the west of the High Street is an open green space that is an asset to the centre of the village. Footpath no.1 is alongside and
Haywards Place adjoins. Although sloping it could, with grading, some terracing, etc. become an accessible amenity for the community as open space or a village green.
The character of Kings Road is of a rural lane, a single carriageway width defined by a steep grassy bank overhung by mature hedgerow trees. It has a soft edge without kerbs. Opposite is a continuous low mellow brick wall surrounding the churchyard of St Barnabas, a listed building all within the Conservation Area.
Planning Permission for the development of the factory site includes for proposed works of traffic calming and street lighting to improve highway safety in the adjacent length of Kings Road. For access the lane is proposed as a shared surface for pedestrians and motor traffic restricted by a speed limit of 20mph.
This limit would bring with it signage and changes to the surface that could detract from its existing rural character.
The works proposed in conjunction with the development should be of such sympathetic detail design as not to alter this character:-
1. Warning signs should be of minimum size only to be clear and
sited so as not to detract from the setting of any listed building.
2. The size and number of speed humps shall be the minimum.
and their appearance shall match the colour of the road surface.
. No kerbs shall be installed in association with the humps.
4. Street lighting should not require the lopping of the trees.
5. There should be no street lighting standards that interrupt views
of the church from the lane.
Alternative or additional site access to the jam factory site.
It may be possible to obviate any works to Kings Road altogether if an alternative safe pedestrian access were provided to the site from High
Street. This could be by the provision of a wide footpath on an easy grade either along the site boundary bank to The Drove or by modifying the retaining wall in Kings Road itself to incorporate a ramp and steps. The latter could be combined with some reconstruction of the retaining wall to include the replacement of the ugly facing.
At the foot of The Drove some concrete block and corrugated sheet sheds and the high concrete block retaining wall adjacent to the jam factory detract from a particularly pleasant corner of the village, see p.6.
The concrete block retaining wall and fence rails to the former jam factory site are an eyesore. The redevelopment of the site is an opportunity to enhance this feature as suggested above.

The rear of Halstead Farm. The vacant new house and ugly blockwork buildings.
Kings Road. The jam factory retaining wall
The corner of High Street and White Street
Platts Farm. The listed 17 th
century granary.
A valuable thatched former farm building.
The setting of some listed buildings is affected in the area include
Halstead Farm, The Homestead and the village pump.
Very prominent in views from the north are the ruinous remnants of an historic building at Court Close Farm. There is a section of timber framing and a crumbling length of malmstone and cob, the interior of a surviving gable and the rear wall of a cottage. The brick structure was its rear extension. The cottage was one of three that extended west across the High Street, once a narrow lane. (see Historical Map). The crumbling material could be cleared away without historic loss although the extension including the section of timber framing could be preserved. The existing hedge could be extended to grow high to screen the exposed concrete block partition wall.
The listed granary at Platts Farm is a building at risk. The structural timber frame has deteriorated so that the staddle stones no longer support the frame and its floor has collapsed to ground level. The whole structure has also racked back towards the rear. The thatched roof however is in good condition over the front and sides. The owner is responsible for its repair in a wind and rainproof condition.
There are several examples of inappropriate replacement windows to buildings in the village. Any windows proposed for replacement should be exact copies of the original in pattern and material. Rarely, if ever, can Upvc replacement windows be faithful copies of traditional timber patterns, nor can hinged windows be appropriate replacements for sliding sash windows.
The appearance of the village retains a very distinct character derived from its valley situation and the disposition and variety of its buildings.
The natural springs and the brook flowing the length of the High Street give rise to exceptionally green and wooded surroundings. This has historically been a characteristic of Easterton and is only threatened now by, neglect to replant after Dutch elm disease and to keep natural growth of the many other trees, hedges and shrubs in check.
The life of the village however began to change from the mid 20 th century. There is now little agricultural activity, the factory premises are closed and there is no longer a shop or a school off the High Street.
Most residents commute daily to work elsewhere and activities outside the home are only those at the distant school, the village hall, church, pub and a repair garage. These should be maintained for the vitality of the village or it will become a mere collection of houses similar to a suburb or a dormitory town.
Many outbuildings associated with traditional rural employment have been demolished, altered out of all recognition or are neglected. Care should be taken of all remaining traditional sheds and uses found for them.
The redevelopment of the jam factory site is an opportunity to reinstate local employment in the village. Physically the appearance of the site could be much improved but considerable skill would be necessary to prepare Kings Road for use as sole access to the site without detracting from its fine character as a rural lane.

An example of an outbuilding preserved by rebuilding that was perhaps too much of a change in design, materials and colour to be traditional.
The Drove. A typical hollow lane in the Greensand leads away from the Conservation Area.
There is a real threat to the appearance of the village from the painting of the greensand stone and red brick walls of so many traditional cottages and houses that they are transformed into a dull modern uniformity with no local identity.
THE PLANNING CONTEXT
The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 places a duty on local planning authorities to determine which parts of their area are "Areas of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance" and to designate them as Conservation Areas. The Act, and advice given in Planning Policy Guidance Note15 - Planning and the Historic
Environment, states that the local planning authority should formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of all
Conservation Areas and this assessment, published as the Easterton
Conservation Area Statement is part of the process .
This Conservation Area Statement was adopted by the Council as
Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) on 9 th
September 2003. The
SPG provides guidance on the interpretation and implementation of policies and proposals contained in the Local Plan.
Consultation procedures, consistent with advice contained in paragraph 4.7 of PPG15 – Planning and the Historic Environment , have been undertaken during the preparation of this Statement.
Paragraph 3.16 of PPG12 – Development Plans , also states that adequate consultation is a requirement for adoption of SPG. The
Council considers that the consultation undertaken meets with obligations set out in PPG12.
The Replacement Kennet Local Plan (March 2001) is at an advanced stage of preparation having been subject to two stages of Deposit and
Public Inquiry. This SPG provides detailed background information for the interpretation of policies contained in the Replacement Local Plan, particularly Policies PD1, HC24, HC32a, HH5, HH6, HH8, HH9, ED9,
ED11a, and HH12 .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Victoria County History
The Vale of Pewsey Dr John Chandler
Hidden Depths, Wiltshire Geology and Landscapes. Isobel Geddes
KDC Landscape Assessment Conservation Strategy
History and Development of Easterton Village. Sheila M Judge
CONSULTATIONS
Easterton Parish Council
The Council for the Protection of Rural England
Wiltshire Buildings Record
Wiltshire County Council
The Director of Environmental Services
The County Archaeologist
English Heritage
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Maps are reproduced from Ordnance Survey material with permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s
Stationery Office, Crown Copyright.
Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licenced to Kennet District Council.
Licence No. LA078328 2003.