Physical Influences
Geology
7.12.1
The lower slopes of the area are Lower Lias Clays with an outcrop
of White Lias stone below Day Crescent and Carrs Wood. Newton Road
follows the boundary of these two formations. The higher ground is
a mixture of rubbly Oolitic Limestone and foundered strata of lower
and middle Jurassic clay and limestone.
7.12.2
Twerton Round Hill, also known as High Barrow Hill, is largely
Fuller’s Earth rock capped by Oolitic Limestone.
Landform and Drainage Pattern
7.12.3
Most of the area is a north-facing slope rising 140m from the Avon
valley. On the west side of the area the Newton Brook valley cuts
through the main slope running out towards Newton St Loe creating a
steep west facing valley side. The area drops away sharply to the
southwest to the village of Englishcombe.
7.12.4
There are localised features such as Twerton Round Hill (141m) and
Slade Brook valley. These are due to softer and harder rocks
respectively.
7.12.5
The principally north facing slope drains towards the River Avon.
Newton Brook flowing north into the River Avon forms the catchment
for the western part of the area. Slade Brook flows from near the
top of Coronation Avenue to the River Avon. Much of this has now
been culverted.
Land Use and Buildings
Land Use
7.12.6
This is a residential area overlaid onto a much older landscape.
Twerton High Street forms the core of Twerton Village, formally
known as Twerton on Avon. The old village has been subsumed into
the city by large-scale housing development. The High Street
accommodates shops and services for the local area. Many of the
buildings have flats on upper floors.
7.12.7
The area includes a number of schools and open spaces to serve the
needs of the local population. Bath City Farm is a significant land
use situated on a prominent upper north-facing slope. Twerton
Football Club is a significant land use.
Building Form and Heights
7.12.8
Twerton High Street has a very urban character with continuous
frontages of two and three storey buildings.
7.12.9
The recent residential development is generally two storey
semi-detached houses to provide the space, light and air reflecting
the values of the time. However more recent housing development
from the mid and later C20 is terraced to increase densities.
7.12.10
The stands of Twerton football ground are visually prominent due to
form, height and materials.
Building Age
7.12.11
Twerton High Street is a strong reminder of the rural village that
it used to be. Buildings date from the C18. More recent insertions
have not been kind to the High Street.
7.12.12
Throughout the area there are individual and small groups of C19
housing. These relate to the historic roads and tracks that have
survived the comprehensive residential development. The area has
several good examples of mid C20 corporation housing that reflect
the Garden City principles and date from the “Homes for Heroes”
period of building.
7.12.13
Later housing developments clearly highlight the changing trends of
the C20, such as postwar prefabricated housing and post modern
housing on Long Valley Road.
Materials and Architectural Details
7.12.14
Twerton High Street and village remnants display a traditional
vernacular and generally have not been influenced by the fashions
of Bath. Rubble and ashlar are used for walls with clay pantiles
and slate roofs. Modern development on the High Street has been
insensitive using reconstituted stone and concrete tiles and often
relates poorly to the road.
7.12.15
Elsewhere the mid C20 developments display a strong design approach
to layout and elevations. The earliest estates such as The Oval
(1928) are built using natural Bath stone range work with dark
mortar and clay tiled roofs.
7.12.16
Later postwar developments use prefabricated methods due to
material shortages and pressing housing needs. The most distinctive
of these are the semi-detached Cornish Houses (so called because
they used Cornish china clay as aggregate in the prefabricated
panels) with mansard roofs around Day Crescent and Roundhill Park.
Panel type prefabricated housing can also be found in the Shaws Way
area, many of which have now been painted adding a splash of
colour.
7.12.17
The Cotswold Road area is a particularly distinctive area with
natural Bath stone houses in a stripped down modernist style.
7.12.18
From about 1960 onwards there is an obvious reduction in quality
with a move towards much higher densities and use of reconstituted
Bath stone but with no specific architectural approach.
7.12.19
The Long Valley Road development is a good example of high-density
residential development that follows the guidelines of PPG3 and the
Government’s emphasis on design quality.
Streets and Civic Spaces
Street Pattern
7.12.20
Twerton High Street is the remainder of the ancient high street of
the former village of Twerton.
7.12.21
The southern boundary to the area is formed by Whiteway Road which
is an historic route skirting the south side of the city. There are
also a number of other historic routes: Newton Road, The Hollow,
Mount Road and Englishcombe Lane.
7.12.22
The large-scale construction of housing from the mid C20 onwards
filled in the areas between the historic routes and except for Bath
City Farm land erased the historic field boundaries and features.
Initially these housing areas were laid out with a strong geometric
connected loop as in Haycombe Drive and The Oval. These layouts
were generally inward looking and the plan geometry is difficult to
appreciate on the ground. Later housing development was to higher
densities generally based on cul de sacs as typified by the
Kingsway area.
7.12.23
Subsequent partial infilling of the consciously planned open spaces
in the earlier housing areas has detracted from the original design
philosophy, particularly at Day Crescent.
Density and Degree of Enclosure
7.12.24
The historic core of Twerton is highly enclosed with two and three
storey buildings abutting the back of the pavements. This breaks
down in places with modern development set back from the road.
7.12.25
The Garden City and “Homes for Heroes” movements influenced the
early housing developments. They were built to low densities by
providing greens and garden space. These areas have a spacious feel
with houses set back from the roads, views between the houses and
generous open spaces. This visionary planning created a memorable
urban form.
7.12.26
More recent private and social housing developments have built to
higher densities and lower quality and consequently have not
created such memorable places.
Vitality and Tranquillity
7.12.27
Twerton High Street is a busy and vital place with a high degree of
pedestrian activity especially on market days. Football adds extra
life on match days.
7.12.28
With the exception of Twerton Hill Farm the remainder of the area
is residential and is therefore much quieter. The play areas in the
open spaces display signs of anti-social behaviour.
Materials
7.12.29
The predominant materials within the public realm are tarmac and
concrete with grass verges. Twerton High Street retains small
pockets of historic materials such as pennant kerbs.
7.12.30
Front boundary treatments are diverse, including open, informal
shrub planting, hedges, reconstituted stone walls and chain link
fences.
Influence of Vegetation and Open Space
Trees and Shrubs
7.12.31
Trees were planted as part of the consciously planned set pieces
and these now have a significant impact. The pollarded London
planes at The Oval add considerably to the local character and the
beech trees on Haycombe Drive are a major landscape feature that
can be seen on the skyline when looking west from the city
centre.
7.12.32
Trees and shrubs in private gardens make a considerable but
uncoordinated contribution to the character of the area.
Open Space
7.12.33
The geometric housing layouts have at their centre areas of open
space (Haycombe Drive, The Oval). However sometimes the housing
backs onto these areas and this doesn’t really make them safe and
attractive.
7.12.34
The area has a number of informal public spaces to serve local
needs, the most memorable of which is Twerton Round Hill from which
there are excellent views. Brick Fields recreation ground also
provides excellent views east across the city.
7.12.35
Bath City Farm on the north-facing slope overlooking the Avon
valley is a remnant of the historic field system. This undeveloped
area is of city- wide visual importance breaking up the Twerton
townscape. At night this area appears as a ‘pool of darkness’
surrounded by the Twerton street lights.
7.12.36
The area also includes Haycombe Cemetery which abuts the open
countryside.
Features, Landmarks and Views
7.12.37
The football ground stands are visually prominent. The floodlights
also have a significant impact especially when illuminated at
night.
7.12.38
The area has many views and panoramas along streets, from public
spaces, between buildings towards the C18 city and to the higher
undeveloped hillsides on the opposite side of the Avon valley.
There are a great many fine views across to the Georgian city gems
such as the Royal Crescent. However the housing layouts have not
been consciously designed around these views.
7.12.39
Except for St Michael and All Angels Church the area lacks
landmarks but is given identity by marked changes in housing
styles.
7.12.40
A group of large copper beech trees at Twerton Cemetery on Bellots
Road are very prominent in views from the south facing slopes of
the city.
Cultural Influences
Historic Uses
7.12.41
The area was largely agricultural with Twerton village at its
centre. Bath City Farm and surrounding open space is the only
remnant of the historic field system.
