Barn conversion on the Cotswold escarpment

The brief

We were appointed to prepare a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment and a landscape mitigation strategy plan for the conversion of an agricultural barn to a single self-build dwelling at a farm near Chipping Campden. The barn sits within a former farmyard below Dover's Hill, on the Cotswold escarpment — one of the most visible and sensitive parts of the Cotswolds National Landscape, with panoramic views out across the vale below.

The scheme kept the barn's existing footprint and ridge height, so the question was not about new built mass but about change of character: would domestic windows, cladding, a veranda and garden activity erode the agricultural feel of the farm group or draw the eye in views from the escarpment?

The landscape and visual context

The site lies at around 164m AOD on the lower-mid slopes beneath Dover's Hill (around 230m AOD), within NCA 107 Cotswolds and the Escarpment landscape character type, in the Winchcombe to Dover's Hill escarpment character area. That landscape combines a steep, partly wooded scarp, beech hangers, calcareous grassland and hummocky lower slopes, with dramatic views west and north from the open upper slopes. The barn forms part of a semi-enclosed group of traditional and converted farm buildings, reached by a private lane, set among pasture, hedgerows and woodland belts.

The visual baseline used seven viewpoints photographed in November, representing winter conditions: the bridleway across Dover's Hill, the surrounding footpaths and byway, and Dover's Hill Road. Despite the elevated setting, topography, surrounding buildings and vegetation screen the barn from most of them.

Our approach

We concentrated on the barn's relationship with the farm group and on the escarpment views that matter most in the National Landscape. The assessment set out exactly what would change — untreated horizontal timber boarding over the blockwork, weathering to grey; domestic-scale windows on the long elevations; a covered veranda replacing a lean-to; a full-height glazed panel in the south gable — and tested whether these would read as an agricultural building that had been converted, consistent with its neighbours, or as a new suburban house. We also took account of the hedge laying, hedgerow planting and grant-funded woodland creation already under way on the farm.

Mitigation and design response

The landscape mitigation strategy plan retained the existing mature hedgerows on the boundaries and set out new native hedgerow and tree planting to reinforce the landscape framework around the barn, to be completed in the first planting season after construction. This works alongside the farm's own planting: a re-laid orchard hedge being kept at two metres, a new hedge along the footpath, and new woodland planned to the south and south west of the orchard. In the architecture, the restrained palette and the decision to keep the barn's simple, low, elongated form were central to keeping its agricultural character.

The outcome

At the NCA 107 scale the effect was neutral at both Year 1 and Year 10: there is no increase in footprint or height, and the barn remains visually recessive within its cluster. In the escarpment character area, effects were slight adverse at Year 1, reducing to neutral by Year 10 as planting established and the timber weathered; the site-level assessment followed the same pattern. Of the seven viewpoints, only one footpath view showed the barn clearly, with a slight adverse effect at Year 1 reducing to neutral. Brief glimpses from Dover's Hill Road were assessed the same way, and from the remaining five viewpoints the barn is fully screened. The assessment concluded that the conversion would avoid encroachment into open countryside and maintain the character and quality of the Cotswolds National Landscape. Planning permission was granted in August 2026.