Conservation Area: Harthill Conservation Area (039)

Harthill has an imposing setting, stamping its mark on the Broxton hillside with its wooded backcloth and the Sandstone Trail beyond. The buildings follow the topography and there is a tense relationship between the two. The village itself is rather bleak and austere. A good example of a model agricultural hamlet rebuilt in the 1840's on a medieval site, it has suffered from insensitive alterations, modern infill and the loss of the old hall.· The village is centred around a green, the three main built elements facing onto this. The early seventeenth century red sandstone rectangular church is the key element in the townscape. The school on the opposite side of the road, built in 1886, has managed to retain most of its original character and is a pleasant feature in the village-scape. The most striking elements however, are the estate houses which are solid and imposing in design. Despite unsympathetic alterations these have kept their form and are important in defining the overall character of the village. On the road out to the east there are some semi-detached workers cottages from the turn of the century which form a pleasant feature when entering the village from this point. Unfortunately there is an unsympathetic three storey house from the 1960s built opposite, at the end of the row of Victorian farm workers house. The built elements are drawn together by the sandstone walls and original cobbled floor-scape around the green. These are important features of the open space of the village and should be retained.