C O N T E X T 1 4 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 7 39 CYLLENE GRIFFITHS A pigsty’s hidden history Small vernacular agricultural buildings in Wales, almost all unlisted, many at risk and often the subject of planning applications, may have more to tell us than meets the eye. Any historic environment professional who deals with casework will recognise that there are frequent and persistent applications for the conversion, alteration or demolition of the smaller agricultural buildings.This is especially true of those located in theWelsh landscape. The types of buildings we are considering are the pigsties, small barns, stables, dairies and other working buildings which were essential elements of the historic farmyard. The number of applications may be due to changes in agricultural practices, the selling off of rural holdings as residential properties, and perhaps a lack of understanding of whether these modest and seemingly insignificant buildings are important to our understanding of the historic landscape. Most of these buildings have no statutory protection, while others may be within the curtilage of a listed building, thereby requiring listed building consent for their alteration or demolition. It is virtually unknown for the smaller buildings to be listed in their own right, although larger barns or other agricultural buildings might be. It is widely asserted that these small vernacular agricultural buildings ‘may be as important as early, large or architecturally ambitious buildings (Cadw 2006) and that ‘in the built environment, just as with social history or material culture, what was typical of past generations is now becoming scarce’ (Cadw 2004). Not only do they contribute to landscape character or the setting of another historic building, but they also greatly enhance the significance and understanding of a traditional farmstead or rural site if they are retained. While the lack of understanding, recording and recognition of the importance of farmstead buildings is slowly being addressed, they remain a ‘vulnerable and relatively unprotected category of building’ (Scottish Executive Central Research Unit 2001). National legislation, policy and guidance require planning authorities to consider the impacts of planning applications on the setting of listed buildings as well as the potential impact of works to structures within their curtilage.Welsh Office Circular 61/98 states that when a building is listed, protection is also afforded to any structure within its curtilage built prior to 1948, and requires retrospective applications to be considered as if the works had not already been carried out.The same document also sets out the considerations which local planning authorities should address when considering applications relating to the substantial or total demolition of a listed building. These include the condition of the building; the adequacy of efforts made to retain the building in use; and the merits of alternative proposals. More recent advice from Planning Policy Wales 8th edition (2016) confirms that where a proposal affects a listed building or its setting, the primary material consideration is to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the special interest of the building or its setting, or any features of historic or architectural interest that it possesses. In my experience, overworked and under-resourced local authority planning and conservation officers generally need to prioritise their workload, meaning that some Coedtrewernau Mill and pigsty in 2009 (Photo: Powys County Council)
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