Changing spaces making places
Case Study: Two contrasting place profiles
Lympstone, East Devon
- Is a small settlement on the East Bank of the river Exe estuary, 15km south of Exeter,
home to 1700 people
Natural characteristics;
- Occupies a small valley, cut through red breccia cliffs by the Wotton Brook river, on
the side of the Exe estuary
- Extensive mud flats extend into the estuary
- A small pebble beach runs along the foot of the cliff
History;
- The Saxons established Lympstone, having forced out the original Celtic inhabitants
from the region
- After the Norman conquest (1066), French families such as the de Traceys and the
de courtlands, owned Lympestone
- By the 13th century, Lympestone was one of a number of small ports operating under
the administration of Exeter (with both national and cross channel trading links)
- Ship building thrived in the 19th century, this eventually stopped as the size of the
ships increased
- 1840s, tourism began to pick up especially from wealthy families coming from Exeter
and East Devon, expanding the settlement (however it still remained a small village)
- 1861, the railway arrived, (time space compression allowed the shellfish industry
access to a wider market)
- During the 1900’s it started to become a dormitory settlement for Exeter
- 2003 the MET office moved to Exeter so provided more employment in the area
Demography (population structure);
Age
- Top heavy age structure (24% are 65+, UK average= 16%)
- Slightly higher than average 0-15yrs (19.8%, compared to the UK average= 18.9%)
Ethnicity
- The West country is relatively homogenous, as its dominated by agriculture and
tourism, that provided few jobs for immigrants in the 1960s and 70s (it is 98.9%
white)
- However, this is beginning to change as second and third generation migrants
assimilate socially and economically
,Socioeconomic profile;
- Over a third of employed residents are classified as being managers, directors, senior
officials or in professional jobs. Fuelled by both backwash from Exeter university, as
well as the MET office moving from Reading to Exeter in 2003 (at the time it was the
single biggest move of IT equipment across Europe)
- These both provide a strong economic stimulus to the region
- 47% of homes are owned (UK average= 30%)
- 6.6% council housing (UK average= 9.4%)
- Has pretty much equivalent representation of each social grade (AB, C1, C2) as the
rest of the UK
- Only 43% of residents classify themselves to have ‘’very good health’’, compared to
47% of the UK
- 9.4% claim universal credit, UK average= 13%
Cultural orientation;
- 60%+ are Christian
- Therefore, follow the well-established cultural calendar (Christmas, Easter, good
Friday etc)
Political characteristics;
- Parish council with 11 elected people serving the local government (deal with road
lighting, responsible for village halls, sports fields + playgrounds etc)
- Parish council powers are limited though, as both the district (East Devon) and
county (Devon) are above it
- Lympstone elects two district councillors and one county councillor
- Hugo Swire (Conservative) has been the MP for East Devon since 2001 (In the 2017
election he won 48% of the votes)
- Has been a strong conservative seat since the 1800’s
The built environment;
- Low value shops have been closed and converted into residencies
- New housing eg; on the cliff top on the villages periphery
- The heart of the village is however subject to strict planning rules
, Toxteth, Liverpool:
- An area in inner Liverpool, 1.5km South of the centre
Natural characteristics;
- Occupies undulating land, that rises up from the banks of the river Mersey
- The Mersey is fast flowing past Toxteth as its channel narrows before passing into
Liverpool bay
History;
- Saxons established a settlement in Toxteth, the Domesday survey of 1086 records it
as just one of a handful of villages along the Banks of the Mersey
- It was given to a knight, Roger of Pictou, after the Norman conquest
- King John took control of the area in the early 13th century, when it became part of
the royal hunting forest (it remained as a fenced off forest for around three hundred
years)
- Towards the end of the 16th century it began to be opened up for farming
- During the 17th century small scale industry developed (making use of water power
from the dammed stream), 1770’s saw the opening of several forges, a copper works
and a ceramics factory
- Flour milling and brewing industries opened to feed the rapidly growing population
- Initially Toxteth was developed into large villas for the middle classes, who wanted
to escape the polluted inner most suburbs, however over time cheap and poorly
constructed housing developed and epidemics of Typhoid and cholera spread.
(within 150 years Toxteth developed from a small rural community to an inner city suburb in
a metropolitan area)
Deindustrialisation and the Toxteth riots;
- Many residents in Toxteth were previously employed in the docks
- The ever increasing size of ships (due to containerisation) has led to movement of
the docks further and further away from Toxteth, eventually now into Liverpool’s
super port (Liverpool 2)
- This has led to a huge loss of jobs in the area and the subsequent poverty has been a
serious contributing factor to the Toxteth riots in 1981, as well as the nation-wide
recession and the social exclusion of the Black West Indian population
- The riots were between the black community vs the police
Demography;
- Majority of its resident are of working age (75% between 16-64, compared to the UK
average of 64%
- The large industrial area attracts migrants, 1800s a lot of Irish, after WW2 people
from our colonies (Hong Kong, West Africa, the Caribbean)
- Only 78% white
- 7% black, 5% Asian
Case Study: Two contrasting place profiles
Lympstone, East Devon
- Is a small settlement on the East Bank of the river Exe estuary, 15km south of Exeter,
home to 1700 people
Natural characteristics;
- Occupies a small valley, cut through red breccia cliffs by the Wotton Brook river, on
the side of the Exe estuary
- Extensive mud flats extend into the estuary
- A small pebble beach runs along the foot of the cliff
History;
- The Saxons established Lympstone, having forced out the original Celtic inhabitants
from the region
- After the Norman conquest (1066), French families such as the de Traceys and the
de courtlands, owned Lympestone
- By the 13th century, Lympestone was one of a number of small ports operating under
the administration of Exeter (with both national and cross channel trading links)
- Ship building thrived in the 19th century, this eventually stopped as the size of the
ships increased
- 1840s, tourism began to pick up especially from wealthy families coming from Exeter
and East Devon, expanding the settlement (however it still remained a small village)
- 1861, the railway arrived, (time space compression allowed the shellfish industry
access to a wider market)
- During the 1900’s it started to become a dormitory settlement for Exeter
- 2003 the MET office moved to Exeter so provided more employment in the area
Demography (population structure);
Age
- Top heavy age structure (24% are 65+, UK average= 16%)
- Slightly higher than average 0-15yrs (19.8%, compared to the UK average= 18.9%)
Ethnicity
- The West country is relatively homogenous, as its dominated by agriculture and
tourism, that provided few jobs for immigrants in the 1960s and 70s (it is 98.9%
white)
- However, this is beginning to change as second and third generation migrants
assimilate socially and economically
,Socioeconomic profile;
- Over a third of employed residents are classified as being managers, directors, senior
officials or in professional jobs. Fuelled by both backwash from Exeter university, as
well as the MET office moving from Reading to Exeter in 2003 (at the time it was the
single biggest move of IT equipment across Europe)
- These both provide a strong economic stimulus to the region
- 47% of homes are owned (UK average= 30%)
- 6.6% council housing (UK average= 9.4%)
- Has pretty much equivalent representation of each social grade (AB, C1, C2) as the
rest of the UK
- Only 43% of residents classify themselves to have ‘’very good health’’, compared to
47% of the UK
- 9.4% claim universal credit, UK average= 13%
Cultural orientation;
- 60%+ are Christian
- Therefore, follow the well-established cultural calendar (Christmas, Easter, good
Friday etc)
Political characteristics;
- Parish council with 11 elected people serving the local government (deal with road
lighting, responsible for village halls, sports fields + playgrounds etc)
- Parish council powers are limited though, as both the district (East Devon) and
county (Devon) are above it
- Lympstone elects two district councillors and one county councillor
- Hugo Swire (Conservative) has been the MP for East Devon since 2001 (In the 2017
election he won 48% of the votes)
- Has been a strong conservative seat since the 1800’s
The built environment;
- Low value shops have been closed and converted into residencies
- New housing eg; on the cliff top on the villages periphery
- The heart of the village is however subject to strict planning rules
, Toxteth, Liverpool:
- An area in inner Liverpool, 1.5km South of the centre
Natural characteristics;
- Occupies undulating land, that rises up from the banks of the river Mersey
- The Mersey is fast flowing past Toxteth as its channel narrows before passing into
Liverpool bay
History;
- Saxons established a settlement in Toxteth, the Domesday survey of 1086 records it
as just one of a handful of villages along the Banks of the Mersey
- It was given to a knight, Roger of Pictou, after the Norman conquest
- King John took control of the area in the early 13th century, when it became part of
the royal hunting forest (it remained as a fenced off forest for around three hundred
years)
- Towards the end of the 16th century it began to be opened up for farming
- During the 17th century small scale industry developed (making use of water power
from the dammed stream), 1770’s saw the opening of several forges, a copper works
and a ceramics factory
- Flour milling and brewing industries opened to feed the rapidly growing population
- Initially Toxteth was developed into large villas for the middle classes, who wanted
to escape the polluted inner most suburbs, however over time cheap and poorly
constructed housing developed and epidemics of Typhoid and cholera spread.
(within 150 years Toxteth developed from a small rural community to an inner city suburb in
a metropolitan area)
Deindustrialisation and the Toxteth riots;
- Many residents in Toxteth were previously employed in the docks
- The ever increasing size of ships (due to containerisation) has led to movement of
the docks further and further away from Toxteth, eventually now into Liverpool’s
super port (Liverpool 2)
- This has led to a huge loss of jobs in the area and the subsequent poverty has been a
serious contributing factor to the Toxteth riots in 1981, as well as the nation-wide
recession and the social exclusion of the Black West Indian population
- The riots were between the black community vs the police
Demography;
- Majority of its resident are of working age (75% between 16-64, compared to the UK
average of 64%
- The large industrial area attracts migrants, 1800s a lot of Irish, after WW2 people
from our colonies (Hong Kong, West Africa, the Caribbean)
- Only 78% white
- 7% black, 5% Asian
