Description

HUSBORNE CRAWLEY TURNPIKE ROAD
SP 9535
12/36 Nos 15 to 17 (consecutive)
and detached outhouses to
22.1.86 the rear

GV II

Row of Bedford Estate cottages erected by the 7th Duke. Dated 1853. Red brick
laid in rat-trap bond. C20 tile roofs. Symmetrical one storey and attics
block. 4-bay facade, outer bays gabled, inner ones each with a gablet. Ground
floor has 2 3-light windows flanking 2 2-light windows. Attic has 4 2-light
windows. All are cast iron lattice casements under slightly cambered heads.
2 doorways to centre, under gabled hoods on curved brackets. No 15
has entrance in side elevation. Cogged eaves cornices. Red brick multiple
ridge stacks.

The 7th Duke of Bedford recognised the advantages of housing agricultural
labourers in comfortable dwellings. From the late 1840's onwards the emphasis
in Bedford Estate cottage building was on the utilitarian rather than the
Picturesque. The cottages are not only remarkable for the high quality of
construction at such an early date, but also represent an influential
contribution to the development of working class housing which culminated in
the garden cities and early council housing. The Dukes of Bedford built about
500 cottages in the locality between the 1840's and World War I. This block
typifies the plain but substantial dwellings of the earliest phase in this
building programme, and is similar to design no. 5 in the 7th Duke's Plans and
Elevations. The brickwork seems to be an early type of cavity walling (cf.
note by Charles Hacker in above work). This block is part of an important
linear grouping of estate cottages along a road which forms part of the
boundary of Woburn Park.

The (7th) Duke of Bedford:Plans and Elevations of Cottages for Agricultural
Labourers, London, 1850 (reprint of letter and plans sent 1849 to the Earl of
Chichester, President of the Royal Agricultural Society); The (11th) Duke of
Bedford: A Great Agricultural Estate, being the Story of the Origin and
Administration of Woburn and Thorney, London, 1897; Rev. C.H. Hartshorne: The
System of building Labourers' Cottages, pursued on the estates of His Grace the
Duke of Bedford n.d. but probably 1849.

Listing NGR: SP9576035256

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26451597

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)