To what extent has Bedstone undergone gentrification?

AS Level Geography Coursework Chris Fray

Firstly I feel it would be a very sensible idea to write down my definition of gentrification, as at the end of the day that is what this coursework is about.

“Conversion and renovation of redundant farm buildings into dwellings or different crafts by changing the structure (façade) of them to get it up to date, essentially modernisation. This is often done by wealthier people moving in from the outside community and results in a raise of the settlements’ socio-economic status, i.e. the community goes from a working class one into a middle class one due to people moving in. Also there is a change of a villages’ function\ purpose to its community.”

However, has Bedstone undergone gentrification at all? Yes, I feel it has and by quite a considerable degree. Using my definition above I will investigate the many factors involved to come to an intelligent decision.

Bedstone originated as an agricultural functioned village and the local area was covered with working farms. The population was also quite large, much more than it is today (at its highest in 1821 it was 165). This is backed by the variety of industry that was stationed here in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century. The village population was able to support a diary (1876- approx 1940’s), a school until the 1940’s, an inn until the 1930’s, a blacksmith and a carpenter. The village used to be a bustling agricultural village, which through time has slowly diminished. Numbers have fallen steadily to the present day and is only now are they starting to grow. Now the village is solely a residential functioned village with no shops, inn, school, carpenter, blacksmith or diary and there is only a few farms left and even they play a minor part in the villages’ output. Using my definition this is one sign that Bedstone has undergone gentrification and to a considerable degree.

Another clear sign that gentrification has happened in Bedstone is the movement of people into the village from the outside community. This is part of my definition of gentrification and has clearly happened here. Two of my graphs clearly portray this as well as showing the true extent of it. From one graph you can see that the majority of people have moved into the village in the last five years, 50% in fact. This shows the sudden influx of people into the village. Overall 62.5% of people have moved in the last ten years and only 17% of ...

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As mentioned before workers who did their jobs at the school, inn, and diary or on the farms populated Bedstone. Basically this was a working class village with every adult working. Things like retirement and pensions were neither heard of nor apparent at that time. However, as the village population diminished and the services went things changed. The population fell continually from 162 in 1891 to just 75 in 1961. However, soon retirement become part of culture, our country became wealthier and so did the people. We could afford two cars and to travel quit far distances to work. Therefore commuters and retired people began to settle in villages just like Bedstone. People who could work from home, another opportunity, which has become possibly in the late 20th century, followed these. Accumulated together they have colonized Bedstone and changed the whole structure, function and hierarchy of it. Mainly they have raised the socio-economic class of the village. Before it was a working class village now it has become a middle-class one, full of people who are retired or have well-paid jobs enabling them to stay in a village. You definitely would not see a labourer moving in now where it would be very common seventy years ago! This I feel is probably one of the clearest indications of the large degree of gentrification that has occurred here.

My final and irrefutable point is related to the first sentence in my definition. The main idea with gentrification is the conversion of redundant buildings and modernisation of them. In Bedstone most of the structures were farm buildings due to it being an agricultural centre. However, these have been converted by people moving in or by landowners so they are suitable to live in, which is gentrification in itself. Then the people modernise and carry on renovating these properties until they are happy. This is a clear sign of gentrification and has happened to a large scale in Bedstone. You only have to look at the many developments that have happened in the village. One example is at the bottom of the village where there used to be a handful of barns. These have been converted into spacious bungalows and a house. These houses were then bought by people from the outside community and then moved into. Since then people have made improvements (renovation) to them by for example added gardens, conservatories, porches, extra rooms etc. One brilliant named example of this is Geoffrey Huse, a flooring contractor from Lambister in Powys. He bought two of these barn conversions in August 2001. Since then he has taken residence in one of the bungalows adding a garden and gate whilst meanwhile renovating the second. He plans to rent out or sell the second bungalow in the future, however, at the moment he is improving it to make it more valuable. This is gentrification in a nutshell and he is setting the trend. Mr Ambrose, another relatively new resident of the village has told me of further developments around the village indicating further gentrification and growth of the village.

Unfortunately this further development will bring many problems with it, too numerous to mention and it is unclear what the future holds. However what is clear is that gentrification has happened in Bedstone and to a considerable degree, which hopefully has been shown. Bedstone has been through the whole process of gentrification of conversion and renovation of buildings, a rise in its socio-economic class, as well as a massive influx of people from the outside community. The trend is still going strong and I see no reason why the factors just mentioned won’t continue far into the future. We should ask ourselves however, what does the future hold for Bedstone?