Conservation area - Holt's Field

National Grid reference: SS 5919088430

O.S. 1:10,000 sheet no.: SS 58 NE

Conservation area no.: CA:023

Notes:

The area consists of 30 dwellings occupying a gross area of some 5.6 acres (2.26 ha) or thereabouts. The site is situated to the south west of Manselfield Road in Murton.

The site is located in a secluded woodland setting close to Bishops Wood and the AONB boundary to the south.  The scale and character of the existing settlement is such that it does not present an intrusive element into the surrounding high quality landscape.

Access is obtained via an unmade road off Manselfield Road.

The site provides a fascinating insight into an era which is rapidly disappearing.  Whilst at one time there were many examples of this type of "plotland" development throughout the country most have now disappeared or have been redeveloped.  Consequently a unique part of the nation's built legacy has been virtually lost.  Holt's Field is a rare example of the very few areas which remain in their integrity.

Locally the site is insignificant in that it provides an example of how ordinary city dwellers in Swansea sought their escape to the fresh air and tranquillity of the countryside and coast.  It is also an example of the ordinary man's pursuit of "utopia" as an alternative to Ebenezer Howard's "Garden City" movement.

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