St Mary's (Charlton Kings) conservation area

Designated by Cheltenham Borough Council on 2 October 1989, its boundary was revised on 3 September 2001. The area covers around 12 hectares.

Character summary

Church Street, Charlton KingsSt Mary's has two distinctive character areas within it. The first character area comprises the older part of Charlton Kings, around St Mary's Church which has a strong historic village character. This older part developed substantially in the 16th century. The second character area comprises turn of the 19th - 20th century red brick houses along Copt Elm Road , Lyefield Road East and Lyefield Road West.


St Marys Church, Church StreetThe area has retained its village character and qualities through the visual dominance of historically and architecturally important buildings, the retention of their attractive settings and many historic plot boundaries. This character is particularly evident around St Mary's Church. The red brick houses along Copt Elm Road , Lyefield Road East and Lyefield Road West form a visually distinctive group, which contribute to establishing the identity of the conservation area.

Charlton Kings has rich historic and archaeological interest, containing three of Cheltenham's six scheduled ancient monuments. The conservation area itself contains one of these three scheduled ancient monuments, this being the Churchyard cross in St Mary's Churchyard.

A supplementary planning document (SPD) has been produced for St Mary's (Charlton Kings)conservation area. It was adopted by the council on 29 June 2009. The SPD outlines the special character that warrants its designation as a conservation area and a management plan provides a framework for future development control and enhancement of this area. The SPD will be used as a material consideration in determining planning and related applications. It replaces supplementary planning guidance produced in 2003.

View a map of St Mary's (Charlton Kings) conservation area.