Description

MORETONHAMPSTEAD FORE STREET (south side),
SX 7586
Moretonhampstead
8/153 No. 18 The Chimes
-
GV II

House, originally the police house before police station opposite was built in
circa 1863.
Circa 1845, probably soon after the 1845 fire in Fore Street. Stuccoed, probably
granite rubble. Pyramidal slate roof bitumen coated and with lead rolls to hips.
Deep eaves with boarded soffits, moulded cornice and moulded cast iron gutter. 2
chimney stacks with rendered shafts, one rising from rear of left-hand roof slope
and the other on right-hand of rear slope.
Double depth plan with 2 principal front rooms, one on either side of central lobby
entrance formed by stairs in central passage and smaller rear rooms in overall
square plan. The left-hand front room was probably the police station leading to a
small cell in room behind. The right-hand front room was a livingroom with a
kitchen behind. Above the ground storey cell there is another cell.
2 storeys. Symmetrical 3-bay north front. Original 12-pane sashes in deep
reveals, centre first floor narrow window opening with C19 8-pane casement.
Central doorway with round-headed opening with plain wide raised architrave, semi-
circular fanlight with spiders-web glazing bars, the round central pane has stained
glass. Original 4-panel door with flush bottom panels.
Left (east) return side: 1 original 12-pane sash on each floor to right lighting
front rooms; left-hand wall unfenestrated.
Rear (south) elevation: asymmetrical fenestration, first floor with 2 original 9-
pane sashes and small 2-pane pivot window (former cell window) to right. Ground
floor: top opening light window (enlarged former cell window) to right, original
small 19-pane sash to left of centre, and plank door to left with small 2-pane
pivot window above to left. The west side is unfenestrated and abuts No. 16
(q.v.).
Interior: the plan is intact and it retains most of the original features including
panelled doors, straight stairs with simple balustrade at top with stick balusters.
The ground floor cell has a stone slab ceiling and the first floor cell retains its
heavy door and barred opening. The fireplaces in the front rooms have been opened
up recently (1985) and C20 chimneypieces installed. The rear kitchen fireplace
also opened.
This is an almost entirely complete mid C19 police house.

Listing NGR: SX7543286076

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26389443

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)