This sets out the character, appearance and historic interest which together with the back drop of hills make up the distinctive identity of the village which future development should conserve and enhance. With a general absence of tall buildings and well screened by hills and woods, Pontesbury lies unobtrusively on the gentle southern slopes of the Rea Valley. It is a popular residential village with a wide range of services and a gateway to the Shropshire Hills Area of Natural Beauty.

The much appreciated rural feel of the village is sustained by ample green cover in the form of abundant hedges, trees, grass verges and the wooded slopes of Pontesford and Earl’s Hills. In the past Pontesbury has been an important local centre for defensive, strategic, religious and industrial reasons, each having left their mark on the present character of the village. The dramatically sited defences of the historic hillfort on the summit of Earl’s Hill – visible from parts of the village – remind us of the long human history of the area.

Strategic communications – protecting the Rea Valley route from Shrewsbury to mid Wales – may well explain the winding ‘ring road’ formed by Hall Bank, Chapel Street and Brookside as these roads follow the same alignment as the Saxon village defences. Likewise the Norman castle – now just a mound – reinforced Pontesbury’s strategic importance as well as defending the interests of the Normans.

Modern housing developments have largely obscured the long agricultural history of Pontesbury, hence the importance of the Old Rectory Barn and meadow land near the ford.

Industrial activity in the late 18^th and 19^th Centuries based on coal, lead and stone quarrying have left their mark on house buildings, boundary walls, non-conformist chapels and the large squatter settlement on Pontesbury Hill Road with its haphazard layout.

Today Pontesbury is a fairly compact settlement, much changed from the much smaller, loosely knit settlement of the 1950’s with its then wide open spaces and generously sized house plots, many of which have since been significantly reduced to the detriment of village character. Within the historic core and spine (along A488) and extending to Station Road and Pontesbury Hill Road there have been mainly small scale piecemeal development which has largely retained the unplanned, informal, varied character of a typical village with close proximity to open countryside. In order to retain the character of this part of the village it is essential that future development respects and not damages it.

However, most post 1950’s development has taken place in former fields now including Mount Way, Brook Road, Ashley Drive and Linley Avenue where larger scale development has resulted in a more planned, formal layout typical of its time with curving roads, crescents and cul– de- sacs but with less variety than along the older core and spine.

They share with the core, church tower views, rendered properties and chimneys but with more bungalows. Although attractive these estates lack local distinctiveness and are very similar to those found in suburbs of any town throughout England.

A special part of the character of the village is the area around the ford with its brook, footbridge, old buildings including the only known medieval survival (Plough Inn and Garage), meadow land and centuries old road. Little has changed here since an appeal inspector in the 1980’s found it ‘distinctly attractive’ where significant development would represent a serious loss to village amenity and character.

Development in both parts of the village since 1950 has resulted in a considerable reduction in views of the church tower and Pontesbury/Earl’s Hills and much less use of traditional local building materials including timber, stone and clay for brick making. Future building should make every effort to avoid further such losses.

Consultations with local residents have revealed that the essential feature of Pontesbury’s appearance is its variety in terms of building styles, windows, materials, architectural details, roof pitch, boundary treatment and layout.

        1. Building styles

These include a few timber framed buildings, attempts at ‘Georgian’ symmetry, Victorian buildings with contrasting brickwork, Arts and Crafts villas and modern highly glazed houses. Generally building styles have been conservative with very few examples of ambitious architecture.

        2. Window variety

Styles include traditional and modern casements, mullions, dormers, sashes, bays and fanlights. Shapes include square, rectangular, circular and round headed. Glazing is small or large panes, plate glass with glazing bars – thick or thin, straight or curved. Frames are made of wood, metal or UPVC. As the eyes of a building windows are crucial in providing beauty and interest.

        3. Materials

Stone – mainly in the form of rubble stone and often covered by render – was until the late 19^th century the most common building material. Today brick in different colours, texture and bonding is the dominant material. Timber framing –  once commonplace – is rarely in evidence on new buildings except for porches. Roofs were once handmade from local clays with a lesser incidence of slates but largely replaced in more recent developments by machine made synthetic tiles.

        4. Architectural details

These include vertical or horizontal strips of wood in gables, prominent brick details under eaves of front elevation, date and name stone inserts, patterned ridge tiles, decorative lintels and contrasting cills, decorative chimney stacks. Bricks were often used for heads of windows and doorways to provide architectural interest on otherwise simple stone buildings. In contrast many recent buildings lack interesting details.

        5. Boundary treatment

This varies from hedges, stone, brick, iron railings, wooden panels and fences

        6. Layout

Side streets and lanes soon curve away from the main road and long straight streets are avoided. Houses tend to be set back from the road by ample open or enclosed front gardens although many houses in the historic core are close to the road. The composite illustration on the cover and drawings of the architectural features repay careful study as they greatly assist in conveying the character and architectural variety of the village.