Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Drayton Conservation Area

Drayton is a small village in the Welland valley set in the midst of agricultural land between the River Welland and the prominent hill on which Nevill Holt stands.

The Conservation Area embraces the area of the village around the village green together with the older part of the village along the road to Great Easton. Blocks of later development on the Great Easton Road and the Nevill Holt Road are excluded as the style of buildings does not contribute to the traditional feel of the village. The Conservation Area includes the traditional buildings around the green and along Hall Lane and the main street towards Great Easton. Visually the most dominant part of the Conservation Area is around the open space of the village green which gives cohesion to the settlement. From the Medbourne Road the entrance to this open area is sudden and is firmly defined by a former farmhouse and its agricultural buildings. These extend partially along one side of the triangular Green. Open roads run on each of the three sides of the green in whose centre is the tiny single cell Church of St. James.

On the north side of the green are cottages and earlier houses in stone and brick, on the east side the Plough Inn, a symmetrical building of the mid 20th Century, is in a prominent position. Behind the Plough Inn is an important open space in the centre of the horse shoe of roads of Main Street and Hall Lane linked by The Green. There are significant views across this space to Hall Lane. The trees around Hall Lane to the western side of the Conservation Area make an edge to the village area separating it from open countryside beyond.

A third area of open space lies within the bend of Main Street to the east. This area effectively separates the older core of the village from later development. Its stone wall aligns with the Maltings, a long stone building looking across towards Hall Lane.

The traditional buildings of Drayton are in ironstone with thatched roofs. Some thatch remains, others have been replaced by slate. Some roofs have been replaced by less sympathetic materials as such concrete tiles and corrugated iron. The walls of Drayton are of stone except for the high red brick walls of the 19th century Drayton House on the western edge of the settlement.

Drayton Conservation Area map