Look at Romsey
Town Design Statement for Romsey
Woodley and Ganger
Prepared by a team of volunteers in the area under the auspices of the
Romsey and District Society.
Building Form and Materials
| The buildings in this part of Romsey are two-storey apart from the bungalows. The predominant shape of buildings is rectangular, although a few have small projections, usually either attached garages or conservatories and in one or two places attached sheds. The older houses along School Road and Braishfield Road have more complex shapes, either because garages or other extensions have been attached to the original building. Cedar Lawn has two curved bays on the front of the building that reach to the roof. |
Houses in Hunters Crescent
|
Detached house in School Road
|
Most of the terraced houses are modest in size. Some of the detached houses and, especially those in the triangle are larger than the terraced houses on the estates. |
Pitched roofs are normal. There are very few dormer windows or roof lights, and they are found mostly in the detached or older properties. Some houses have small porches with pitched roofs giving them a cottage feel. The garage blocks have flat roofs and ‘up and over’ doors.
Materials, Fenestration and Chimney Details
With two exceptions, all the houses are faced with brick. The Hunters Inn has painted brickwork and Cedar Lawn is rendered and painted. The older houses are built of the dark red brick that is typical of this part of Hampshire
| The newer buildings are faced with a variety of brick colours mostly being pinky-red or shades of yellow and light brown. There is virtually no decorative brick work anywhere in this area apart from the occasional brick arch over the windows on some of the older cottages. One or two houses in the triangle have flint panels. |
Brick facades in Dibben Walk
|
Shiplap in Ganger Road
|
Many of the houses in Woodley and Ganger have brickwork up to the roofline, with the same style and colour of bricks being used throughout the building. However a few have the upper half of the building faced with white uPVC shiplap. Examples can be seen in Ganger Road and Short Hill. Unusually in Romsey, very few houses have tile-hanging on the walls although there are examples in Hunters Crescent. |
| The older or larger houses have chimneys as well as do some in Woodley Close but these are all plain and unremarkable. |
Chimneys in Braishfield Road
|
Most of the windows have multiple panes of glass with opening sections. In the newer houses, the upper windows abut the rooflines. Where there are dormer windows and small pitched roof porches these are usually picked out with white barge boards, some of them decorated.
Design Recommendations
 |
Extensions to existing houses should match design and materials. |
Streets & Street Furniture
 Winchester Road (A3090) forms the southern edge of Woodley and Ganger. It has a tarmac footway with wide grass verges on either side. However where the footway joins School Road and Braishfield Road, pedestrians normally walk across the grass verge, and the grass has been worn away. The corner of School Road and Braishfield Road is also used in the same way.
There is no cut through from Hunters Crescent to the bus stop in Winchester Road opposite Halterworth Lane. Pedestrians have to use School Road to reach Winchester Road.
There are a number of footways enabling people to pass from one place to another without walking alongside roads. These vary from the wide area joining The Green to Hunters Crescent, where there are a few steps, to the narrow alleyway between houses in Footner Close or that which joins Woodley Close to Ganger Farm Lane which has high fences all along it.
Steps between Hunters Crescent
and The Green
|
A variety of footways
|
A variety of footways
|
A variety of footways
|
A variety of footways
|
The footways throughout the area show signs of neglect. As is true elsewhere, they have often been dug up and poorly restored. Surface drainage is not satisfactory everywhere. In particular there are problems along Braishfield Road where large puddles form and in North Close.
Paved area of Woodley Way
Bus stop by Woodley Way
|
There are footways on each side of Woodley Way and that nearest Braishfield Road is well surfaced with square paving stones which gives a good definition to the street scene. At the northern end of this path, the bus lay-by does not drain but a large puddle forms and the nearby path surface is cracked and broken. |
| Ganger Farm Lane is a wide road although a short one. It is cut short by the gate that marks the division between public road and private track. The public road is not particularly welcoming. |
Ganger Farm Road
|
Variety of fencing in Ganger Road
|
A number of the small pieces of grass are surrounded by low fences to prevent vehicles being driven onto them. These fences are made of concrete posts and tubular cross pieces. In the case of the barrier at the top of Woodley Close some of the posts are broken. |
| The eastern side of Woodley and Ganger is dominated by overhead high voltage electricity cables and their attendant pylons. These are much disliked and they spoil the rural feel of the area. |
Pylon behind Hunters Crescent
|
There are two seats by the green on the corner of School Road and Short Hill which make that corner friendly and welcoming
The Womens Institute Gate
|
There is a low fence and gate separating the village hall car park and the village green. Near this fence there is a metal gate facing School Road. It was erected by Woodley and Crampmoor Women’s Institute and is a particularly charming feature. |
| The entrance arrangements to Woodley Village Hall are confusing. The doorway is not immediately apparent because of the hedge, and the fence that screens the dustbins alongside School Road. To one side of the door is a fenced and paved area that was used by the now-departed play group. |
The entrance to Woodley Village Hall
|
There is a lengthy dropped kerb opposite the pedestrian entrance, and a shorter one by the vehicle entrance. At night it is difficult to see where to turn into the car park.
The car park is functional and tidy. Efforts are being made to enhance its appearance. The long fence along the north side will look better once the newly-planted climbing plants have become established. The fairly plain side of the hall is convenient rather than attractive.
The back gate to Woodley Village Hall
|
The high wooden fence and gates between the car park and The Green do nothing to enhance the southern end of the latter area. |
Design Recommendations
|
Provide proper footways where pedestrians cut across verges at road junctions. |
|
Consider using a more decorative form of barrier to protect the grass areas |
|
Relocate the electricity cables underground. |
|
Review the front of and approach to Woodley Village Hall. |
|
Review the appearance of Ganger Farm Road |
|
Consider the feasibility of making a footpath between Hunters Crescent and Winchester Road. |
|
