18 C O N T E X T 1 1 0 : J U LY 2 0 0 9 side extension of more modest width, or by altering the gable profile to resemble a narrower building with an attached rear lean-to. In terms of materials, the early guides accepted that stone, although ideal, was for the most part unaffordable. They recommended the better types of reconstructed stone walling or the locally produced Davieblock with its fragments of limestone embedded in a concrete matrix (something like a double two in dominos). Hardrow brand concrete tiles were considered an acceptable substitute for the area’s traditional stone slates. As the amount of new housing decreased, and the poor weathering and durability of these substitute materials became apparent, their popularity declined. Now applicants themselves want to build with natural stone from local quarries. Unfortunately, there is not yet a local supply of new stone slates. As in the 19th century, blue slate from outside the area is the second-best option. The current architectural cliché of exposed timber cladding sits unhappily with the Peak’s stone-building tradition. In sustainability terms, we recommend that materials should be either renewable or long-lasting. Recent new housing in Pilsley, a Chatsworth Estate village, has gritstone walling that has been used up to five times in the past 250 years. This leaves detailing as the main area of guidance still under the spotlight. Arguably it is the least critical of the three factors. Get the shape and materials right, and the design is well on the way to being approvable. Detailing is critical, though, in allowing a building to be an expression of its time. When traditional details are slavishly copied and all three factors of shape, materials and detailing are perfectly aligned with the vernacular, we simply recreate the past and de-value the original in the process. This has always been the Achilles’ heel of design guides: the temptation to see them as pattern books promoting an ultra-conservative approach that stymies the innovative as well as the nasty. A recent new house in Monyash could date from the 1890s rather than the 1990s. Only the trickle vents give it away. This is emphatically not what we should be aiming for. An 18th century cottage in Alstonefield whose front elevation has a length-to-height ratio of 2.7, or 2.25 if you omit the left-hand bay. Former mill offices at Wildboarclough, with a length-to-height ratio of 1.62, the golden section. A redesign offered by the planning board A bungalow proposal from the 1980s. Far right: A new house in Monyash: not what we should be aiming for
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