Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Hungarton Conservation Area

Hungarton is a fairly compact village situated on a south facing slope just below the Keyham/Baggrave Road and a ridgeline. Its houses line the Main Street, which is characterised by a series of right angle bends, and its adjoining roads. The village was wholly rebuilt in the 1760s and 70s for Sir Shuckborough Ashby  of Quenby Hall. It is this rebuilding which gives the village its special character. The entrance to the eighteenth century village is marked by long low flanking cottages on either side of two of its entrances (The Hollies and The Old Cottage on Main Street and Sunnyside and The Cottage on Barley Lees). These pairs are important to the plan of the village. The Black Boy public house marks the entrance to the village from the Keyham/ Baggrave Road. The other houses of the 1760s are farmhouses or substantial cottages. All these are in red brick in Flemish bond having lighter headers. This brickwork is characteristic of and special to Hungarton. These 1760/70s buildings are clearly dated with datestones and have an interesting variety of window treatment. Many of the original Swithland slates to the houses remain. The 1760s/70s buildings are now interspersed with others of all dates to the present.

The right angle bends result in a series of vistas with closing views - notably those of the Manor House seen upwards from Barley Lees and of Hope Farmhouse and the War Memorial from Main Street. In addition the views downwards along the roads from the Black Boy Public House and from the Manor House are significant as they emphasise the village houses and buildings with their roofs falling away on the downward slope.

There are a number of mature trees in the village which have Tree Preservation Orders on them, some singly - near the Black Boy Public House and the Manor House, others in groups as the Old Rectory Garden behind the War Memorial and the garden of the Paddocks at the other end of the Main Street. The maturity of the village landscape is emphasised by the trees. From a distance to the south the village appears as a cluster of trees out of which rises the spire of the Church of St. John the Baptist. The village once had many working farms within it; now the farmyard buildings have been converted to dwellings and the farmhouses are residential such as Hope Farmhouse (1772) and Sycamore Farmhouse (1769)

The very south of the village is now by the bridge across a small stream. Alongside is a small play area. Adjacent to it, but outside the conservation area is a Millennium Green. The Conservation Area extends northwards to include the Black Boy Public House on the road from Keyham to Baggrave. Although the front of the present building only dates from the mid 20th Century the rear appears to be contemporary with the eighteenth century village. It forms a definite entry to the village.

Hungarton Conservation Area map