Riseholme Campus

Description

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• Overview

  Riseholme Campus Character Area is largely composed of the campus of an agricultural college associated with the University of Lincoln set within the former parkland of the 18^th century Riseholme Hall. Located between the A15 and A46 roads leading north and northeast of Lincoln, the core of the campus has a variety of buildings dating from the Early Modern Era [1350-1750 AD] to the Modern Period [1967-2010 AD].

   

  There are traces of nearly 2000 years of occupation and use in the Character Area, the earliest of which is the A15 which follows the course of a Roman Military [60-90 AD] road. Many elements of the area’s medieval past survive including earthworks associated with the deserted medieval village of Riseholme, as well as later components including the 18^th century Riseholme Hall with its associated buildings and parkland, a 19^th century church along with field boundaries dating to the time of private enclosure of the land.

   

  Buildings at the core of the campus are large and are built in a variety of architectural styles, ranging from Georgian and Post-modern. The focal point of the campus is Riseholme Hall, a large stone built country house with associated stable blocks, walled garden and lodges, and St Mary’s church. The campus has been gradually enlarged since the beginning of the Modern Period with buildings of a similar scale, including accommodation blocks, lecture theatres and a library. Many buildings associated with the agricultural role of the college are functional in appearance (e.g. barns, glasshouses, stables). Further away from the core of the campus, the Old Rectory served the church and is contemporary with the use of Riseholme Hall as the Bishops’ palace. It is built of stock brick with stone lintels and decorated with Gothic styling. The building lies at an angle to Riseholme Lane.

   

  Elsewhere in the area, residential development has occurred along Riseholme Lane from the Post-War Period [1946-1966 AD]. Properties include 1 and 2 storey semi-detached and detached properties built either in small groups or individually. These occupy the centre front of medium sized rectangular plots some of which have been further developed with modern infill. The Post-War properties are constructed in a number of identifiable build units comprising pairs or more of semi-detached buildings, in contrast to infill developments which are modern detached buildings generally of a more individual design.

   

  Apart from the campus and residential buildings, the Character Area has large areas of managed grassland and woodland, formerly of the park. There is one area of native broad-leaved woodland, though the remainder is managed oak plantations.

   

  Low hawthorn hedges, grassland and wide lanes contribute to a low sense of enclosure throughout much of the Character Area. However, the sense of enclosure increases in areas of woodland and at the core of the campus, although building density and scale remains low.

   

  Views from the centre of the area northwards are terminated by areas of woodland, though open rural land lies beyond the plantations. There are wide ranging rural views to the south, which include Lincoln Cathedral, and create a visual connection to the city and provide a rural setting for the cathedral seen in approaches into the north of the city.

• Historical Development

  Early Modern Era [1350-1750 AD] and into the Modern Period [1967-2010 AD].

   

  Prehistoric activity has been recognised within the Character Area but has contributed little to the modern landscape, though the area would have been an important hunting and livestock grazing resource. The area was the site of settlement during the Roman Era and a burial mound of the period still lies to the north the Character Area. The area lies east of Ermine Street, now the A15, a major Roman Military [60-90 AD] road connecting London with Lincoln and on to York[1].

   

  During the High Medieval Era [850-1350 AD], the parish of Riseholme contained four manors and was a small but important settlement. The land was largely arable with some meadow around the stream, west and south of the hall, which was of sufficient strength to drive two water mills[2]. The numbers of manors had been reduced to three by the beginning of the 12^th century, one of which was held by Lincoln Cathedral[3].

   

  Kirkstead Abbey had established a grange at Riseholme, by the end of the 12^th century, as the area was an important resource for sheep grazing. The grange eventually passed to Barlings Abbey in whose hands it remained until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Earthworks of the grange lie to the east of the village earthworks, north of the Old Rectory[4].

   

  By the end of the High Medieval Period, the village of Riseholme was severely depopulated, partly due to the land being taken over by Kirkstead and Barlings for sheep grazing but also by disease, and continued to decline in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. It had fewer than 10 householders in 1428. By 1602, only one house remained standing and the church was described as ruinous[5]. Remains of the village are represented by a complex array of earthworks that includes the remains of houses, paddocks and the hollow-way of the street, which survive between the ornamental lake and Riseholme Lane. At the eastern end are earthworks of the monastic grange, which along with the village are a Scheduled Monument.

   

  The former grange and its land passed to the St Paul family of Snarford, who eventually bought the lay manor in 1610, consolidating the parish into a single ownership[6]. The Riseholme Estate was purchased in 1721 by the Chaplin family who built a small country house, elements of which survive within Riseholme Hall (e.g. the eastern part of the hall). The Hall was set within a landscaped park, that extended south to Riseholme Lane, which included an ornamental lake, created by damming the watercourse that was in existence by 1779, and this is still present within the Character Area. There was a formal arrangement of tree planting to the south and southeast of the lake[7].  Building material for the hall may have been obtained from a quarry within North Wood, some 150m north of Riseholme Hall, the position of which is still visible as earthworks.

   

  Following the death of Robert Chaplin in 1839, the estate was sold to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and became the palace for the Bishop of Lincoln. The hall was remodelled by William Railton, the stables were altered and the park boundary expanded to the north of the hall. A new church was also built in 1850 by the architect SS Teulon. An 1864 map shows detail of the Bishop’s estate, including an extensive walled garden and landscaped areas as well as a number of the surrounding fields[8]. The northern and eastern boundary of this Character Area follows that of the Bishop’s estate. Much of the Estate’s agricultural lands lie outside of the Character Area, which mainly encompasses Riseholme Hall and its surrounding parkland. The areas noted on the 1864 map as ‘North Park’ (the managed grassland northeast of the hall) and ‘South Park’ (between the lake and Riseholme Lane) are still recognisable in the modern landscape (Figure 2). These originated as landscaped vistas for the hall providing views to the south and northeast.

   

   

  Figure 2 – The Character Area showing the historic development of Parkland and woodland

   

  The estate was put off for sale in 1887 and was eventually bought by Captain Thomas Wilson. Wilson had just taken over the Burton Hunt and built the kennels at Riseholme towards the end of the 19^th century[9] which still survive in the southeast part of the Character Area. Other surviving elements include a formal avenue of trees leading to the southeast within an expansion of parkland that had been established by Wilson prior to 1906. The avenue crosses Riseholme Lane and continues to the area’s boundary on the south. His son sold the estate to Lindsey County Council in 1946 for the purpose of establishing a farming institute. The estate was initially used for the training of ex-servicemen. It became the Lindsey College of Agriculture in 1966 until it merged with De Montfort University, Leicester, followed by the University of Lincoln, in which role it still serves at present. Apart from the hall, college buildings date from 1961 to the present day. To the west of the main campus buildings is Lawress Hall, the Inland Revenue Training Centre, which was completed in 1994.

  
  

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  [1] Margary 1973, 237

  [2] Foster and Longley 1976, 8/13; 24/2; 26/2, 19; 68/47

  [3] ibid. L3/1, 4, 19

  [4] Everson et al. 1991, 159

  [5] Beresford 1998, 361

  [6] ibid., 157

  [7] LAO 2 CRA 2/2/62

  [8] LAO Misc Don 1000/32

  [9] Monson and Collins 1906, 499

• Urban form

  Riseholme Campus Character Area is located north of Lincoln to the east of the A15 and northwest of the A46, both busy routes into the city of Lincoln. The area occupies gently undulating land either side of the shallow valley of a small watercourse, the Nettleham Beck, a tributary of the Barlings Eau and the River Witham.

   

  The centre of the Character Area is occupied by Riseholme Campus, which has at its core the 18^th century Riseholme Hall and associated estate buildings, around which a number of educational buildings have been constructed during the 20^th century. The campus is served by a network of narrow lanes which lead from main roads to the west (A15) and east (A46). Most roads throughout the area are generally straight in form, although are more sinuous around the buildings of the campus.

   

  Architectural styles of buildings within the campus vary from the Italianate Riseholme Hall of early 18^th century origin, to the plainer college buildings of the 1960s to present as well as a post-modern Rural Science Block. The scale of buildings within the campus tends to be large and they occupy poorly defined plots of land which together form the campus. The buildings are detached individual commissions built on the immediate grounds north and east of the hall.

   

   

  Figure 3 – Riseholme Hall, north façade

   

  A number of other buildings exist which relate to the Riseholme Hall estate and include a church, a former rectory, lodges and cottages. Stone buildings are more likely to be associated with the modelling of the estate for the Bishops of Lincoln, though there is an increased use of brick for buildings later in the 19^th century.

   

  Riseholme Hall and a separate stable block are both of 18^th century date. The hall was extensively refurbished in 1840 and its present form is seven bays wide by two storeys high stone building with a projecting range to the east and classical porticos to the south and north. There is a low solid-to-void ratio with large vertical wooden sash windows to the front, rear and west side. The hall has a number of decorative features, including engaged Doric columns to the porticos and there are rusticated quoins and a balustraded parapet.

   

  To the east of the hall, the 18^th century stable block, was also remodelled in an Italianate style during the 1840s. It has a central range of five bays width and two-storeys high with central square clock tower. There are flanking ranges of single storey height which along with a stone wall define a courtyard. The roofs have deep eaves with slate tiles.

   

   

  Figure 4 – The Stable Block

   

   

  Immediately east of the stable block is the 1850 church. Built of stone in a Victorian curvilinear Decorated style, it occupies the centre of a rectangular graveyard. The church is built on an artificial rectangular mound and the graveyard is surrounded by a stone wall.

   

  Figure 5 – St Mary’s Church

   

  To the south of the church lies the brick walled garden of the hall with a stone built garden house at the western end. The style of the house is broadly similar to the stable block with slate roofs and deep eaves. The walled garden has been incorporated into a range of educational workshops.

   

  The Old Rectory on Riseholme Lane is a large two-storey by 6 bay wide house dating to 1856, shortly after the construction of the church and also designed by Teulon. The building occupies a large plot and lies at an angle to Riseholme Lane. It is constructed of beige stock brick with stone lintels and Gothic motifs in red brick. The roof is half-hipped and punctuated by a number of large chimneys.

   

   

  Figure 6 – The Neo-Gothic Old Rectory

   

  The Kennels, lying in the southeast part of the Character Area, is a purpose built building comprising brick built kennels with pens, a barn and two adjoining cottages.

   

  The earliest 20^th century additions to the campus consist of a halls of residence (Wordsworth Hall), to the north of Riseholme Hall, dating to 1961. The residence is a three-storey neo-Georgian building with slate hipped roofs and projecting bay windows and porch to the ground floor. The lower floor is built of stone with the upper storeys of light brown and red brick. There are bay windows at ground floor level with steel framed casement windows to the upper storeys creating a moderately high solid-to-void ratio. The roof is hipped and of slate. Decoration consists of stone detailing, such as the carved heads of a rams and a bull above the porch.

   

  To the west of Wordsworth Hall is an octagonal lecture theatre (1968-70) with large vertical windows set between projecting buttresses. To the east lies Tennyson Hall, constructed in the 1970s in dark brown brick with windows set in vertical recessed panels and a circular stair tower at its southern end. Other 1970s buildings include the library and the Lindsey Centre.

   

  Further east are two modern L-shaped accommodation blocks of identical form. These are two-storey buildings of beige brick with hipped slate roofs and a medium solid-to-void ratio. There are decorative string courses in contrasting coloured brick and blind dormers.

   

  Lawress Hall is a large building occupying the west part of the campus, although is not part of the University of Lincoln, being the Inland Revenue Training Centre. It is a steel framed 4-storey high building clad in beige brick with large vertical windows, some of which extend to three-storeys in height. Despite its height, the squat nature of the building gives a horizontal emphasis to the structure. Roofs occur at two levels (i.e. between the 3^rd and 4^th floor and the top) which are hipped. Decoration includes the use of brick pilasters and artificial stone string courses and detailing.

   

   

  Figure 7 – Lawress Hall has decoration typical of the more recent buildings in the Character Area

   

  The most recent addition to the campus is the Rural Science Centre, a post-modern building of concrete and timber cladding. Large windows are located to the front of this property, otherwise it has a high solid-to-void ratio. There are further buildings to the east of this which are functional in nature and appearance (e.g. stables, barns and kennels).

   

   

  Figure 8 – The post-modern Rural Science Centre

   

  There are a number of residential properties located along the south side of Riseholme Lane which form a fringe to the estate in the southwest of the area. A number of Post-War [1945-1966 AD] build units are visible, particularly at the west end of the lane, but have been interspersed with new infill buildings. Many of the buildings face the campus and it is probable they once formed part of the estate associated with the hall. Two of the buildings (i.e. Nos. 2 and 5 Riseholme Lane) were former lodges to the estate although they are not similar in style to other estate buildings.

   

  The scale of properties is similar. Houses are detached or semi-detached and mainly 2 storeys high and between 2 and 5 bays in width. Properties are rectangular in plan with shallow projections to the front or side. The long axis of the houses is aligned parallel to the road. Properties face the road and are built to the centre front of medium to large rectangular plots.

   

  Buildings have a high solid-to-void ratio with small windows overlooking the road. Public/private boundaries are high and are generally hedged or fenced, creating a sense of privacy along roads. Projections include porches, garages and gabled bays either at the centre of a pair of semi-detached properties or to one side of detached bungalows.

   

  Buildings are built of load bearing brick in dark red or beige colour. Roofs are constructed from pantiles or modern concrete tiles. Ridgelines are parallel to the road and roofs can be pitched, hipped or half hipped and usually have a chimney. Buildings are generally plain in appearance.

   

  

  Figure 9 – Typical detached house along Riseholme Lane

   

  Most of the Character Area comprises open fields or woodland pertaining to the former parkland of the Riseholme estate which is still very evident throughout the Character Area. Fields are generally pasture of managed grassland and have been adapted from the former parkland to cater for horse eventing (e.g. the former North Park), golf course management or use by livestock (e.g. South Park). Field boundaries are often hedged but are sometimes divided into smaller plots using fencing of various materials. Many of the hedges contain mature deciduous trees planted at regular intervals along their lengths.

   

  Areas of woodland are located north of Riseholme Hall. North Wood (or Riseholme Hall Wood) is semi-natural woodland with a range of tree species including oak and sycamore and is also a Site of Nature Conservation Importance. There is woodland to the east of the hall which was originally designed to frame a vista looking to the northeast. Other wooded areas are managed plantations that are cropped on a regular cycle and as a result contain fewer species of trees, of which oak predominates. Occasional smaller coverts exist which probably originated as screening (e.g. tree lines along Riseholme Lane).

   

  Managed lawns around the campus buildings, particularly Riseholme Hall, are occasionally planted with a variety of mature and semi-mature trees. Some date to when the grounds formed part of the parkland of the hall and these are interspersed with new avenues along footways and roads. Oak is present along with yew and birch.

   

  Roadways through the Character Area are made of tarmac and apart from Riseholme Lane serve the campus buildings. Footways are restricted to the areas between campus buildings and are of tarmac, red brick pavers and granite setts. There are also dedicated footpaths and bridleways to the north of the campus buildings.

• Views

  The Character Area is enclosed by trees to the north, east and west so views out of the Character Area in these directions are limited. There are wide ranging views over rural land to the south which includes prospects of the Cathedral. These views are enhanced by an avenue of trees to the southeast of the hall.

   

   

  Figure 10 – Lincoln Cathedral glimpsed through the avenue of trees

   

  Views within the Character Area are across open parkland and lakes punctuated slightly by the buildings of the campus.

• Condition of Buildings and Streetscape

  The buildings that form the campus are generally well maintained and in good condition. Significant parts of the Character Area are either managed grassland or woodland and are well maintained for that purpose.

• Use

  Many of the buildings in the Character Area form part of the Riseholme Campus of the University of Lincoln. As a result the area is heavily used during term time with a lot of pedestrian activity and students using the open spaces around buildings for recreation in good weather. Limited accommodation is provided for students and activity occurs in the evening as well.

   

  There are small areas of residential use along Riseholme Lane.

• Relationship to City and Surrounding Areas

  The Character Area is an educational facility, set within a rural envelope, located north of the city on the dip slope of the Lincoln escarpment. It is well connected to the city by the A15 Ermine Street and the A46 Wragby to Lincoln Road, though this connection is severed by the bypass which creates an impermeable boundary with the suburbs of Lincoln. It is an agricultural campus of the University of Lincoln.

   

  The Character Area is entirely surrounded by another Character Area (Riseholme Fields) which creates a strong open feel to the area as well as providing the rural foreground to the city. Areas of woodland also contribute to the rural hinterland of the city.

• Key Townscape Characteristics

  • Variety of educational buildings dating from the 18^th century to present at the core of the campus
  • Strong agricultural element relating to the use of the campus as an agricultural college
  • Residential housing along Riseholme Lane, the only road through the area
  • Some earlier historical elements survive including;
    • 18^th century country house, Riseholme Hall
    • 19^th century landscaped park with additional buildings (stables, walled garden, church, rectory and lodges)
    • Deserted medieval village of Riseholme and monastic grange
    • Field boundaries dating to the time of private enclosure
    • Quarry
  • Buildings generally have a horizontal emphasis throughout the Character Area
  • The campus has at its core the Italianate Riseholme Hall and stable block relating to the former use of the site as a country home
  • Other buildings associated with the Riseholme Hall estate include;
    • Stone built church in a Victorian Decorated style
    • Neo-Gothic former Rectory built of brick with a number of decorated features
    • Stone and brick built cottages and lodges
  • Campus buildings date from 1961 to the present day and are;
    • Medium to large, squat buildings occupying large plots
    • Built in a variety of architectural styles
    • Either plain or have limited decoration including contrasting brickwork, stone detailing
    • The campus also contains a number of functional agricultural buildings
  • Residential properties along Riseholme Lane consist of;
    • Single and 2 storey detached and semi-detached houses that occupy the centre front of medium sized plots
    • High public/private boundaries leading to passive frontages
    • A small number of identifiable build units
    • Buildings of red and beige load bearing brick
  • The campus and residential area are surrounded by fields and woodland
  • Fields are of managed grassland and are hedged or fenced
  • Established woodland and a small number of plantations lie to the north of the area
  • Streets are narrow lanes with no footways, apart from the core of the campus which is served by a number of footpaths connecting buildings of the campus
  • Footpaths and bridleways give access to the surrounding area
  • Hedges, grassland and wide lanes give an overall low sense of enclosure to the area
  • There are wide ranging views over agricultural land and also linear views along a tree lined avenue to Riseholme Hall