Description

TL 00 SE ABBOTS LANGLEY THE RETREAT
King's Langley

3/64 Nos. 1-7 (inclusive)
Dickinson House

II

Seven almshouses. 1845 by W.H. Cooper for Booksellers' Provident
Institution on land provided by J. Dickinson, owner of nearby Home Park
paper mills (not listed). Red brick and plum brick on first floor with
stone dressings, part stuccoed and whitewashed. Slate roofs. Tudor
Revival Style. 1:3:1:3:1. 2 storeys. Central and end bays project, that
to centre further and taller with a shallow gable to front. Steps up to
entrance in porch with a four centred arch, chamfered with a hood mould,
octagonal brick corner piers with moulded caps and bases, coped parapet
stepped up to centre over a blank crest, moulded finials. Tall square
headed lights in returns of porch. Flanking taller square headed sashes
with four centred heads to each upper pane, hood moulds. First floor
central triple sash, upper panes similar, chamfered stone mullions and
surround, stone band at sill level, hood mould with ornamental carving.
Above a carved ribbon inscribed 'BOOKSELLERS PROVIDENT RETREAT'. Coped
parapet with apex finial. 2 stage diagonal buttresses, quoined with
finials. Returns of centre bay are rendered. Each 3 bay flanking block
has steps up to a smaller entrance porch, each leading to 2 doors with
top lights, four centred arches, hood moulds, brick kneelers to stone
coped parapets. Outer bays have paired 8 pane sashes in stone surrounds,
blind to centre on first floor. Stock brick plinth. Stone string course
at first floor sill level. Dentilled brick eaves. Outer bays have
similar double sashes but with hood moulds. Diagonal buttresses with
finials. Coped parapets. Cross axial stacks with stone quoins and
cornices between each section. Stuccoed and whitewashed 3 bay returns
with similar central entrance porches and blind openings, quatrefoil
panels in stone coped gables, diagonal buttresses also at rear angles.
To rear outer bays project. 2 storey gabled projection to rear centre.
Rear elevation has 16 pane sashes with slightly cambered, chamfered,
gauged brick heads. Interior not inspected.

Listing NGR: TL0813401667

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26393724

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

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)