Bryanston

            

Bryanston

Bryanston Parish covers 1,512 acres on mainly agricultural land to the West of the river Stour.  1,326 acres (87%) are in the ownership of the Crown Estate and a substantial portion of the remainder is owned by Bryanston School.  The Crown Estate rents two farms and 43 residential dwellings.  Council owned housing (Forum View) administered by Signpost Housing runs along the Cliff with now a substantial number of properties in private hands. ‘Old Bryanston’ village clustered below the Bryanston Club consists of old Portman estate cottages, some in private hands with most rented out by Crown Estates. A third segment of the village consists of cottages, mainly in private hands, along a short portion of Dorchester Hill close to Blandford town.

Residential development in the past 25 years, not including Bryanston School, has taken place along both sides of the Cliff in the ‘central’ part of the village. More recently, 2013/2014, 1 new infill development has been built in the grounds of ‘The Lookout’, at the Blandford end of New Road.

91% of residents questioned in 2012 for the Neighbourhood Plan felt that the environment of Bryanston was very important.

86% enjoyed the tranquillity.

71% didn’t want any more housing.

Layout

Bryanston village is a good example of Ribbon Development, with one cul-de-sac of bungalows and an arrangement of terraced dwellings and apartments in Portman Mews in the lower part of the village.

Fronts:  All dwellings front onto the road and are set-back. Portman Mews wrap around to the rear of the building.

Backs: All have secluded back gardens. Portman Mews, again, is the exception, with smaller gardens and access to a courtyard in the middle of the building.

There are approximately 178 dwellings in Bryanston.

Building, Character and Form

The older Portman houses are predominantly Victorian red brick, sash window style. The terraced houses are varied in size and are either privately owned or belong to the Crown Estate.

During the 1950’s a number of social houses and bungalows were built, very much in the style of the day.

 

Newer building has either reflected the Victorian style or, whilst still, generally being red brick, have a more modern style.

All dwellings have very adequate gardens, except the smaller houses/apartments of Portman Mews.

Materials

As already mentioned, most building is red brick, with slate tiling on the roof, although the newer more modern style houses have brown roof tiles. Some of the social housing is rendered and all have brown roof tiles.

Entrance

The main access into the village is from New Road. On both sides of the road there are attractive flint walls. There is a tricky double bend to be negotiated before entering the village proper.

The other access is through Bryanston School. As the village approaches, the well kept roads quickly deteriorate to pot holes and generally poorly maintained surface (Crown Estate responsibility).

Hard Space

Roads have a tarmacadam surface, although generally in very poor repair. Pavements, where there are any are also tarmacadam.

Most dwellings have a garage or at least a parking space on their property. The obvious exception to this is the terraced housing. Here, car owners jostle for a space on the road or encroach onto ‘green’ areas. However, there are several garages to rent behind the social housing. Generally the feeling of Bryanston residents, 85%, is that they have sufficient parking.

Landscape

Alongside pavements there are grass verges, interspersed with mature hawthorn trees, which have recently been added to with an additional 17 saplings.

Figures have been obtained from the 2012 Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire.