The Art of Looking Back and Forward - at the Same Time
What Bolton Can Teach Us about Heritage-Led Regeneration
Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs all have their own character – and their own stories to tell. We’re taking a closer look at each of them and in the first stop on our tour, we’re in Bolton.
Nestled in the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is built on a proud industrial past. Like many towns across the North West, Bolton’s textile-powered economy was reshaped in the second half of the 20th century. Today, that legacy is still written into the fabric of the town, but now it’s being reinterpreted for the next chapter.
What is Heritage-Led Regeneration, Really?
It’s not just about saving historic buildings or preserving facades, though that work is vital. It’s about using the past as a catalyst for future growth. It’s understanding, and then reimagining, the places we’ve inherited. And it opens them up to new audiences and ensures they work for today’s communities. Heritage-led regeneration also raises big questions:
What exactly are we trying to preserve?
Who is it for?
Can we add something new without losing what made it special in the first place?
These are the questions planners, architects and developers must wrestle with every day – and Bolton is giving us plenty of good examples to draw on.
Why it Matters
Heritage matters because it reveals the stories of a place, sheds light on its unique culture and identity. And it has huge economic potential when embraced.
At its best, heritage-led regeneration isn’t about holding onto the past, but unearthing and celebrating stories, and anchoring change on something meaningful.
The data is clear: places with historic value have been shown to directly improve local economic outcomes, boost pride and visitor numbers. It’s good for our health, too.
When heritage-led regeneration is done properly, these assets can be the key to unlocking opportunities, new uses and stronger, healthier communities.
What Makes it Work: Three Ingredients for a Successful Approach
1. Understanding Context and Setting
Having special regard to preserving a listed building or its setting is a local planning authority’s statutory duty. But it’s not just about adhering to the rule of law: understanding the context – the story – behind a place is crucial to getting a place’s next chapter right.
Placefirst’s Central Street will deliver new homes as part of Bolton’s Croal Valley regeneration strategy. The site straddles the Deansgate Conservation Area boundary and is in the setting of multiple listed buildings, too. But rather than these assets being a hindrance, the developer saw an opportunity to enhance their setting. The officer report noted that:
“The care and attention given to layout and detailed design demonstrates an understanding of the history of the area.”
2. Opening Up Hidden Assets
Heritage doesn’t help anyone if it’s locked away. For heritage assets to enrich life, they must be experienced.
Moor Lane, a project we advised Step Places on in its joint venture with Bolton at Home, has helped open up public routes within the previously inaccessible, former bus station. It’s also opened up views through to some of the town’s key historic buildings: the Grade II listed Le Mans Crescent and Grade II* Town Hall.
Le Mans Crescent itself is a prime example of how heritage-led regeneration can improve access for communities. Purpose built to replace the Chadwick Museum, which had become too small for its growing collection, it was the beneficiary of important restoration works in recent years, reopening to the public in 2023.
Looking beyond the town centre, Horwich Locomotive Works was designated a conservation area in 2006 after recognition of its special historic interest. A management plan was drawn up soon after, and now, major new proposals have come forward that will open up the site, preserve the key historic elements and deliver new homes and employment spaces.
Illustrative masterplan of Rivington Chase development at Horwich Loco Works. Credit: Bellway
3. Respecting Local Character
Over recent decades high streets up and down the country have unwittingly assimilated in character. Embracing the heritage of a place puts paid to that downward trend, by celebrating what makes a place unique. Bill Grimsey, former retail boss turned high street campaigner, puts it best:
“In my generation as retailers, we successfully cloned every town in Britain so they all looked the same, but clearly that doesn’t work. All towns have a heritage and history and their reason for uniqueness needs to be brought to the fore.”
What Makes it Viable
Brownfield sites are inherently more complex. So how do we make these big visions happen?
Collaboration from the Start
There’s often a viability challenge to factor into the mix when working with heritage assets. That’s why collaboration from the outset – between developer, decision maker and Historic England – is crucial. Trade-offs will be inevitable so let’s be upfront about the challenges ahead.
Consultation with communities remind us to sense check: what are we really trying to preserve? Sometimes it’s not the old mill, it’s the old community hall where dances were held that matters most. It’s easy to assume that heritage means grand buildings and blue plaques. But for many people, it’s the places tied to memory, routine and culture.
A Clear Strategic Vision
An overarching vision – such as Bolton’s £1bn blueprint to transform the town centre – is key, too. A clear vision is key to a development framework because it demonstrates commitment and gives developers the confidence to back, and stick with, complex brownfield sites.
Bolton is reimagining its retail core, through the demolition of its 1970s shopping centre, Crompton Place, which is nestled right up against multiple conservation areas. It will embark on this task in collaboration with a development partner, which it is currently seeking.
Public Funding to Unlock Difficult Sites
Funding pots, such as the government’s Brownfield Housing Fund, are a crucial tool to unlocking sites. That’s demonstrated perfectly at Church Wharf. Fresh funding for this previously stalled site means that plans have now been lodged for 415 homes and a hotel within Bolton’s town centre.
Whose Heritage Are We Preserving?
Heritage-led regeneration is at its best when it recognises that places are shaped not just by architecture, but by stories. Embracing heritage is the right response to celebrating the local story.
Momentum is building in Bolton. Together, Bolton’s projects represent a mix of conservation, adaptive reuse and modern interventions. Across them all, the focus should be on seizing opportunities to deliver on the strategic objectives for the area, meet the needs of the people, and respond in a uniquely local way.
Regeneration doesn’t mean wiping the slate clean — it means writing a new chapter in the book.
