Source/Archive record SEM8619 - Former Abbatoir Site, Porlock, Somerset: Heritage impact assessment

Solstice Heritage LLP was commissioned by Tout Ltd. to provide a desk-based Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) to accompany a planning application for residential development, within the village of Porlock, Somerset. Working to a standard methodology the direct and indirect effects (effects on setting) of the proposed development have been assessed in relation to all heritage assets lying within 2 km of the proposed development site. The site walkover and recorded HER and cartographic information for the site indicate a limited potential for the survival of buried archaeological remains related to medieval and post-medieval settlement, small-scale industry and agriculture. Due to the modern development and re-surfacing of the majority of the western half of the site, it is considered that such limited potential would be restricted to the relatively undeveloped eastern half of the proposed development area. Any such remains would be part of the general character of medieval and later activity within the study area and are of low significance. It is considered that the potential for remains earlier than the medieval period to exist is very low. The existing buildings on the site are considered to have no heritage value and, as such, no mitigation for their removal is considered appropriate. Of the sites assessed, there would be no effect on setting for the majority given the distance to the proposed development site, the lack of intervisibility due to intervening obstacles and local screening, and the fact that the proposed development does not disrupt the coherence of any groups of heritage assets where such spatial relationships form a component of their setting. No designated heritage assets are considered to be negatively affected in any way, and the removal of the existing poor-quality buildings is considered likely to result in a slight positive impact to the significance of the adjacent conservation area, given their general disrepair and lack of sensitive design and materials. Appropriate archaeological mitigation for the site could be a staged programme of archaeological evaluation, focussed primarily on the open areas within the eastern half of the site where no previous modern development has occurred.