ABSTRACT
The centres of historic towns are undoubtedly of considerable significance, being places where change is most readily evident to most people, and many have been designated as conservation areas relatively early (Jones and Larkham 1993). Yet a similar importance should also be accorded to the considerable areas of well-established residential areas. To date, rather less attention has been paid to residential conservation areas than to urban centres. This may be caused by the relatively low number of areas designated specifically as residential conservation areas: Pearce et al. (1990: xxiii) note only 618 conservation areas occurring within urban areas but outside the town centre (about one-tenth of the then total number of designated areas), and two out of three of these comprise only small portions of the town. Admittedly, some of the core designations extend beyond the commercial centre to include adjoining residential areas. This suggests that the residential areas that have officially been designated vary considerably in size, character and location.
