The clock at Clock House has stopped at 6:17, and is currently resting as the building undergoes another change.
In recent years there has been a Children’s Mental Health Clinic in the old stable yard,
and a rather splendid office with two entrances where the mansion once was.
There is now a planning application to turn the Grade II Listed buildings into flats (7 x one bedroom, 16 x two bedroom and 2 x three bedroom). It was originally a residence for the Tomkins Family built around 1720. The Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society has more details.
Viewing the comments on the planning application, there are worries that new residents can only get to their parking by the very narrow Winsmore Lane. Another issue is that there will only be 17 parking places for 25 flats. And another issue is that delivery vehicles, during re-development, will need to stop at the front iron gates on Ock Street – potentially causing hold ups.
Just to add that down Winsmore Lane another unused building has recently been sold and is likely to be developed. That could add to the pressure on Abingdon’s narrowest road.
There was an article in a daily newspaper recently about a campaign to stop Totnes going the way of other towns that have had most of their former commercial properties turned into housing with the resulting virtual closing down of the heart of communities. Largely led by greedy developers.
Abingdon is a long way down this route and perhaps too late to create the thriving heart and retail centre that a very large town like ours deserves.
The “shed” in Winsmore Lane has been sold with planning permission for development of a one bed house. The Clock House, which includes both the older front building , previously Lloyds Private Banking and NHS and the newer rear building, presently Lloyds, have a planning application for conversion into flats. This does not include a section of the car park which is not included in the proposal and could be sold off separately for development.
Victor & Simon, you both raise some very relevant points, 1, is how much more of the town centre can, or rather should, be given over to housing at the expense of destroying the retail space of our town? And 2, why is planning approval given to “developments”! or rather conversions from business premises to residential without complying to laid down regulations on car parking/ bedroom ratio’s?
I.e, the old Thames water building at the bottom of the Vineyard was given approval for residential flats (about 20) but not one has a parking space! Ditto above the Narrows the old post office offices have been converted into 10 flats, not one has a parking space!, ditto the withy king building in west St. Helens and so it goes on, the road I live on is full 24/7 of cars whose owners live in apartments in town that have no parking, one guy has 3 cars perminantly parked (dumped)!here because he lives in a one bed flat with no parking!
Not only that all these “residential” conversions are a major contribution to the towns traffic problems !
Peculiar that with our recent extension planning application a condition was set that we must provide 4 off-street parking spaces; 1 per bedroom. How many new build need to comply similarly?
Last Wednesday evening we went into Abingdon around 7pm, the plan was to park in West St Helens car park. It was full with 3-4 cars driving round and round to find a space. We ended up parking in West St Helens close to the Church.
If more apartments without parking spaces are approved, visitors to Abingdon will not be able to use the restaurants etc in the evenings
I have a solution, build a single story car park on top of the existing car park, similar to the temporary one they have put close to the Ice rink in Oxford. Easy, Quick and could be removed when the Bury St complex Car park is re designed.
Lack of imagination will stifle this town. There’s no coherent vision and jobsworth developers are just picking-off the best bits and commoditizing it. Look at the Old Gaol, which has been turned into ‘Torremolinos-on-Thames with a garish neon ‘portal’, perhaps to the ‘Funtime Abingdon Casino and Turkish Hair Salon’ in one of the still vacant restaurant units.
Most of the architects, etc in town don’t have their offices in buildings they built themselves … they prefer something more traditional and with taste. I don’t know how culpable West Waddy might be … but Cranbourne have found themselves a tasteful billet in Twickenham House.
It’s galling that developers are exploiting and destroying the notable buildings which made this town to disguise/front the intrinsic damage they are doing.
And The Vale is just fiddling while Abingdon is destroyed.
nb. In case anyone thinks the last sentence was a comment on dark deeds at The Vale I’d like to point out that I was referring to the expression, ‘Nero fiddling while Rome burned’. Oblique, I know, but that’s me.