Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Owston Conservation Area

Owston is a small village in open countryside with neither a central focal point nor a clear core. It consists of one principal winding road terminating in the east at a road T-junction with farmhouse facing up the street closing the view, and in the north with two farmsteads at the junction of the Newbold and Washdyke Roads. The Conservation Area embraces the land and buildings on either side of this road, expanding to incorporate the loop side road of Middle Road and in the north to include the land north of the Washdyke Road and west of the church which contain the earthwork remains of the former Augustinian Abbey, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The small truncated and spired church at the north west sits well away from the road amidst the trees of its churchyard. Built in ironstone it is set away from the houses and lies at the edge of the settlement adjacent to the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The chief characteristic of the Conservation Area is the diverse settlement along the street varying from cottages and farmsteads to substantial farmhouses. Of these, Manor Farm is most significant. It is a fine 18th century building of white limestone ashlar. Other buildings are in stone or brick with slate or Swithland slate roofs. Interspersed with older buildings are recently built houses and cottages in stone and brick. These harmonise with the existing in scale and materials and add to the mixture of building types and materials. The straggling nature of the village is emphasised by stretches of the Main Street bounded by stone walls having fields behind. In one of these, opposite Middle Road, the wall has been cusped to incorporate a squat cast-iron water pump of 1907.

Owston Conservation Area map