Chartered Institute for Archaeologists 2022

P R O F E S S I O N A L A R C H A E O L O G Y | A G U I D E F O R C L I E N T S 2 0 2 2 3 3 C A S E S T U D I E S | B U I L D I N G S A R C H A E O L O G Y A N D D E V E L O P M E N T A strategic approach to adaptive reuse Jeremy Lake, MCIfA, MLI In addition to preparing illustrated and written records to different levels of specification, accredited buildings archaeologists are also well-placed to deliver high-level and strategic assessments of buildings in their landscape and historic context. In this instance, the National Trust has commissioned a rapid assessment of the historic character, significance and potential for change of its traditional farm buildings in the Peak District to inform options for adaptive reuse following Historic England’s advice on this. The first step, held at a workshop attended by the National Trust and the Peak District National Park Authority, was to identify any key issues and establish common ground including the criteria for assessing significance. There followed a rapid analysis of each site in its landscape setting and to then consider their significance in the context of the whole National Park. The staged approach for assessment follows that set out in Peak District National Park Farmsteads Assessment Framework and its accompanying guidance (www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/looking-after/living-and-working/ farmers-land-managers/historic-farmsteads-guidance). A high-level approach conducted by an accredited archaeologist was essential in this respect, as it ensured that the different phases of construction could be correctly identified and related to the historic character presented by the patterns of fieldscapes and other heritage assets in the landscapes around them. A second workshop then considered the results of this assessment, the capacity and potential for change of each site and the issues to inform the options for design. View of the farmstead from the west, showing the fragments of the early 20th-century shelter shed which has been retained as part of the scheme, and the main L-plan range to the right of the image. ©Jeremy Lake

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