Brown's Golf Course Gazetteer

Appendix: Gazetteer

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area A – Clubhouse and White Course

2

March 2020

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

A – Clubhouse and White Course

Item:

Clubhouse

Location Ref:

A1

March 2020

Summary Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere

Key Features: •

Blue-glazed terracotta roof tiles.

Date:

•

Horizontal feather-edge timber cladding

•

Large, glazed conservatory-style café area

•

Late 20th century toilet block

•

Tarmac curtilage to south, east and west

Built c. 1931, rebuilt 1934 & ‘36 Shelter added 1937.

Toilet block added in late 1990s

Phases:

4 & 10

Use:

Café, golf hire, ice-cream, toilets

History and description The Clubhouse occupies a prominent position on the seafront just behind the 18-hole putting course – the White Course. The current building is the third iteration of a clubhouse on the site having been constructed in 1937, architect unknown. The decorative blue-glazed terracotta tiles on the steeply pitched roof give the building significant prominence in the landscape and a hint of more exotic climes. In contrast the timber cladding offers a rather modest, rustic appearance. The building has been in near constant use since its construction and is believed to have housed one of the pumps used in Operation PLUTO during WW2.

Significance / values Evidential:

High / Regional

Historical:

High / Regional

Aesthetic:

High / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Uncertain future of site restricts planning • Poor condition threatens continued use • Toilet block detracts from appearance • Lack of interpretation Policies • IW to commit to Brown’s future • Repair, enhance and interpret • Relocate toilet block

3

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

A – Clubhouse and White Course

Item:

Former ice-cream factory and store

Location Ref:

A2

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere

•

Modernist, art deco style

•

Internal courtyard

•

Path linking to Clubhouse

Date:

1938

Phases:

5

•

High ceiling with gantry

Use:

Office & artist studio/workshops

•

Views across Brown’s and Sandown Bay

History and description Constructed in 1938 at the same time as the neighbouring art-deco style Grand Hotel. Its purpose was to provide capacity for Brown’s to produce their own ice-cream for sale from the clubhouse café. Photos from the mid-20th century show the buildings in their prime with clean architectural lines, large decorative metal framed windows and use of glass block. The buildings were requisitioned by the military in 1942 and accommodated one of the PLUTO Pumps. The buildings were returned to the Kennedy’s after the war and ice-cream production continued until the 1970s after which time the buildings had a number of different uses. In 2012 the buildings took on new life as offices/artist studios.

Significance / values Evidential:

High / Regional

Historical:

High / Regional

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Uncertain future of site restricts planning • Lack of maintenance undermines appearance • Lack of interpretation Policies • IW to commit to Brown’s future • Reinstate ornaments • Repair, enhance and interpret

4

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

A – Clubhouse and Putting Green

Item:

18-hole ‘short’ Putting Course

Location Ref:

A3

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere

•

18 hole putting course – White Course

•

Evidence of lost sand hazards

•

Twin cascading fountains now planted

Date:

1931

Phases:

4

•

Path network follows original 1930s plan

Use:

Leisure

•

Views across Sandown Bay

History and description The White Course was laid out to Henry Cotton’s 1931 designs comprising 3 separate 6-hole courses. These did not prove popular and in 1932 the 3 courses were combined to make one 18hole course. A small portion of the course was lost c.1934 to make way for a new car-park and toilet block. However, the course remains in use today and whilst the sand hazards have been lost they remain as impressions in the landscape. Twin cascading fountains were introduced c. 19341936 and an extra ring finished with blue glazed tiles was added c. 1948. The fountains fell out of use in the 1970s. The path network was established when the site was first laid out and remains largely true to its original design.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Local

Historical:

Medium / Local

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Loss of sand hazards and fountain feature • Lack of maintenance threatening pathways • Unsympathetic signage / advertising Policies • Restore sand features and cascading fountains features.

• Improve maintenance of paths, rationalise signs and advertising, remove floodlights.

5

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

A – Clubhouse and White Course

Item:

Car Park

Location Ref:

A4

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

Early 2000s

Phases:

10

Use:

Car / bike park and storage

•

Car park laid to gravel

•

Open air storage area with timber fence

•

Views towards Brading Down and the Bay

•

Level access to Clubhouse café and White Course

History and description The car park was laid out in the early 2000s as part of the development that saw the construction of the Millennium Commission funded Dinosaur Isle Museum. The area is functional and well used facility with space for approximately 25 vehicles. Its condition is fair albeit with a number of pot holes at the entrance which could usefully be repaired. This area also contains a row of bike stands next to the toilet block, one of which appears to have been knocked by a car. As with the White Course, this area includes several redundant floodlight pylons. Several circular stand alongside the east side of the fenced storage area. The feather-edge fencing surrounding the storage area is in poor condition.

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Low / Local

Communal:

Low / Local

Risks • Dilapidated condition of car-park surface, storage area fencing and bike stands.

• Redundant floodlights Policies • Remove floodlighting.

• Repair surfaces and fencing.

• Consider introducing car / bike electric charging points.

6

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

A – Clubhouse and White Course

Item:

Pedestrian entrances

Location Ref:

A5

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1931 - 1934

Phases:

4

Use:

Gateways

•

Part of Cotton’s original site plans

•

Open, level access from Culver Parade

•

Welcome signage

•

Views north across the site and south across the Bay.

History and description The current arrangement of pedestrian entrances to the site remains largely as laid out in the early 1930s. The only significant change appears to be that the entrance on the south west corner of the site was moved a few metres to the west circa. 1934 to adjoin with the site’s new car-park on the western flank of the putting course. The low stone pillars which mark the entrance ways from Culver Parade first appear in historic photos from the late 1940s/early 1950s. Welcome signage is evident at the north-west and south-east entrances although this is rather limited it terms of information consistency of style. The images below show the south-west entrance now (left) and in the 1960s (right).

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Low / Local

Communal:

Low / Local

Risks • Inconsistent use of signage.

Policies • Enhance use of signage to reflect role as principal gateways to

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Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area B – Blue Course

8

March 2020

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

B – Blue Course

Item:

18-hole ‘long’ putting course - Blue Course

Location Ref:

B1

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1931 - 1935

Phases:

4

Use:

Leisure

•

18-hole par three putting course

•

Closely managed greens and fairways

•

Remnant bunkers / sand hazards

•

Views and vistas north and south

History and description This area is part of the original 5 acres of land acquired by Kennedy in 1931 and is remarkable for having been in near continuous use for 80 years. Cotton’s original designs saw two 3-par 9-hole putting courses laid out across this part of the landscape which was later converted to the 18-hole course evident today following extension and improvements to the site undertaken in 1933.

Cotton’s designs included a generous number of sand hazards/bunkers. Old postcards show these features extant in the 1960s. but have now grassed over. However, they remain as impressions in the landscape. Significantly many of the original 1930s metal tee markers on this course remain in use today.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Regional

Historical:

Medium / Regional

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Threat to continued use • Further erosion/loss of historic features – eg tee-markers and sand hazards Policies • Develop coherent strategy for the future operation and management and maintenance of the site

9

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

B – Blue Course

Item:

Shelterbelt of trees

Location Ref:

B2

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

c.1870

Phases:

3

Use:

Landscape feature

•

Wind shaped pines and oaks

•

Delineation between Blue Course and Red/Yellow Courses

History and description This belt of trees first appears on the 1898 six-inch OS map and roughly correspond with the line of War Department boundary stones. It is perhaps significant that Cotton elected to incorporate this belt of trees into his 1933 designs for Brown’s, using them to provide a natural separation between the Blue Course and the Red and Yellow Courses. Species present include Scots pine and oaks, all of which have been sculpted by the winds coming off the English Channel. Comparison of contemporary photos with images from the late-1930s indicate some loss of trees from this area over the last 80 years. It is not apparent that replanting has been undertaken whilst a regular mowing precludes successful natural regeneration.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Local

Historical:

Medium / Local

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

Medium / Local

Risks • Loss of trees and lack or replanting / natural regeneration Policies • Develop replanting

10

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

B – Blue Course

Item:

Maintenance Yard

Location Ref:

B3

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

21st century

Phases:

10

Use:

Maintenance

•

Metal maintenance shed

•

Yard enclosed by timber feather-edge fencing

History and description The maintenance yard and shed date from the early 21st century. They are functional yet unremarkable occupying a reasonably discreet plot set back from the main site on the western edge of the Blue Course.

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Low / Local

Communal:

Low / Local

Risks • Loss of rights to use yard and shed.

• Vandalism and theft.

Policies • Secure IWC commitment to Brown’s future use of this facility

11

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area C – Red and Yellow Courses

12

March 2020

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

C - Red and Yellows Courses

Item:

Two 9-hole Pitch and Putt Courses

Location Ref:

C1

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere

•

Cotton’s 1933 designs still evident

•

Closely managed grass giving way to scrubby

Date:

1933

Phases:

4

•

Views in all directions

Use:

Leisure

•

Glimpses of Lions in IW Zoo

hedgerows along the boundaries

History and description The Yellow and Red courses were laid out in early 1933 on the instructions of Henry Cotton.

Cotton returned to the site the site later in the year with his friend, professional golfer and trick shot specialist Joe Kirkwood to formally open the extension by playing an exhibition match in front of a large crowd. The condition of the sand bunkers / hazards has over the years deteriorated and they remain only as impressions in the landscape. The Yellow Course has shrunk slightly in size due to persistent flooding of the Area D. Boundaries hedgerows and trees have developed with relatively little management in the past decades and are now much more significant features than would historically have been the case.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Regional

Historical:

Medium / Regional

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Continued operation of courses • Loss of historic features • Encroachment of hedge line • Flooding Policies • Preparation and implementation of operating and management and maintenance plan.

13

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

C – Red and Yellow Courses

Item:

Isle of Wight Feature hole

Location Ref:

C2

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1933

Phases:

4

Use:

Leisure

•

Raised timber teeing-off hut with pitched roof

•

Green in shape of Isle of Wight with the Needles and chalk cliffs painted white, sitting within shallow moat, (former water hazard)

History and description This unique feature was constructed as part of Cotton’s 1933 designs for the extension to Brown’s and has survived remarkably intact and in play since then. It is the 8th hole of the Red Course and contributes significantly to the character of the site and is perhaps alongside the Clubhouse its most recognisable feature. The concrete moat / water feature that represented the sea surrounding the Island leaked persistently and was finally let to run dry in the 1970s. The chalk cliffs and Needles, painted white, remain extant, although the lighthouse (shown in the photo of 1935 below) has been lost. The hut is in a poor condition with failing roof and platform and is in need of immediate repair.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Regional

Historical:

Medium / Regional

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

High / Local

Risks • Dilapidated condition of teeing-off hut.

• Decay of concrete moat • Loss of features - lighthouse Policies • Repair teeing-off hut • Repair concrete moat and lighthouse feature • Celebrate heritage significance

14

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

C – Red and Yellow Courses

Item:

Former maintenance shed

Location Ref:

C3

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1933

Phases:

4

Use:

Storage / derelict

•

Large, derelict, asbestos-clad shed

•

Part of 1933/34 extension and improvement of Brown’s

History and description This building first appears on an aerial photograph of the site dating from c.1934 suggesting that its construction formed part of the 1933/34 extension and improvement of the site. It sits on the site’s northern boundary with the gardens of the former Grand Hotel. It was in fact the smaller of two buildings in this location. Certainly its most recent use has been as a maintenance/ storage shed and given its design and discreet position it is reasonable to assume this was also likely its original purpose. The current structure displays the effects of many years of neglect. Patch repairs of its corrugated sheet asbestos walls seems to have stopped some time ago and large holes are evident on all sides.

Significance / values Evidential:

Medium / Local

Historical:

Medium / Local

Aesthetic:

Low / Local

Communal:

Low / Local

Risks • Loss of historic building • Current condition detracts from site aesthetic and is potentially a safety hazard.

Policies • Demolish if no viable option for restoring and repurposing.

15

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area D – Power House Area

16

March 2020

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

D – Power House

Item:

Power House

Location Ref:

D1

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: Grade II In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1934. Extended 1942.

Phases:

4&6

Use:

Restoration Project

•

Timber clad single storey pavilion building

•

2 large Ruston engines and associated plant

•

6 x 3m high cylindrical water tanks

History and description The Power House was built in 1934/5 and equipped with electric generators to provide power to the golf course which was not then on the main grid. When requisitioned for the war effort in 1942 the building was extended and reinforced by the military. Its purpose was, it is thought, to house larger generators that could provide back-up power to the PLUTO Pumps housed in the Ice Cream Factory, Clubhouse and Granite Fort. After the war the building reverted to providing power to the course including for irrigation. It fell out of use around the turn of the century and was at risk of loss until the intervention of Arc, working as the Coastal Community Team, in 2015 and subsequently Men in Sheds who, are leading on repair of the machinery.

Significance / values Evidential:

High / National

Historical:

High / National

Aesthetic:

Medium / National

Communal:

High / National

Risks • Ownership • Future use of site • Vandalism • Loss of Men in Sheds restoration team Policies • Identify bespoke conservation plan for building • Investigate options for transfer of ownership

17

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

D – Power House area

Item:

Scrapes

Location Ref:

D2

Summary

March 2020

Key Features: •

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere

Two shallow ponds approx. 4sq.m in size fed by rain and floodwater

Date:

2017

Phases:

11

Use:

Wildlife habitat

•

A range of wetland wildlife

History and description Scrapes are shallow ponds of less than 1m depth which hold rain or flood water and which can provide invaluable food and refuges for a wide range of wildlife including damselflies, dragonflies and butterflies. These two scrapes were created by Arc / Artecology in 2017 to take advantage of the naturally wet part of Brown’s Yellow course which due to the poor drainage had been abandoned as a playable part of the course. As well as attracting a range of invertebrates and flora the scrapes add to the area’s features of interest for people visiting the Power House and for those making use of the adjacent Willow Walk.

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

Medium / Local

Risks • Future use / ownership of the site • Introduction of invasive non-native species • Infestation with rush and reed • Neglect Policies • Ensure features are incorporated into future management plans for the site.

18

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

D – Power House

Item:

Willow Walk

Location Ref:

D3

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

2017

Phases:

11

Use:

Leisure / Access

•

150m stretch of 1.5km Willow Walk

•

Views in each direction

•

Access to willow woodland and reedbeds

History and description The Willow Walk is a 1.5km route that circumvents Browns, snaking through the willow woodland that stands on its western edge and the reed bed beyond its northern boundary. The route was created in 2017 by Arc/Artecology and the IW Community Payback Team with funding from the Down to the Coast scheme. A couple of rustic benches on which walkers can rest and enjoy some quiet contemplation mark the route as it passes across Area D. Since construction it has gained popularity with dog walkers and is also a popular feature of Discovery Bay events and the Hullaballoo carnival event when the woodland section becomes ‘Lizzie’s Way’ as shown below.

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Medium / Local

Communal:

Medium / Local

Risks • Future use / ownership of the site • Vulnerable to neglect / loss • Misuse Policies • Ensure it is incorporated into future management plans for the wider estate

19

Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown

Conservation Management Plan – Gazetteer

Area:

D – Power House area

Item:

Former 9th hole of Yellow Course

Location Ref:

D4

Summary

March 2020

Key Features:

Designation: In IW UNESCO Biosphere Date:

1934

Phases:

4

Use:

Wetland habitat

•

Wetland

•

Encroaching reedbed

History and description The remaining land to the north and west of the Power House was historically used as the 9th hole of the Yellow Course and formed a part of Cotton’s designs for the 1933/34 expansion of the site.

However, persistent flooding in recent years coupled has forced its abandonment as a playable part of the course and is now managed for its habitat value. As the photo from the 1960s shown below right indicates this area has also been prone to flooding.

Significance / values Evidential:

Low / Local

Historical:

Low / Local

Aesthetic:

Low / Local

Communal:

Low / Local

Risks • Future use / ownership of the site • Introduction of invasive non-native species • Infestation with rush and reed • Neglect Policies • Ensure features are incorporated into future management plans for the site.

20