Description

HUSBORNE CRAWLEY TURNPIKE ROAD
SP 9535
12/39 Nos 27 to 30 (consecutive)
and detached outnouses
22.1.86
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, surmounted by gabled hoods with curved brackets and
drop finials. Plank doors. Nos 27 and 30 have porches to side elevations.
Red brick multiple chimney stacks.

The 7th Duke of Bedford recognised the advantages of housing agricltural
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 remarkable for the high quality of construction
at such an early date. They 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). Nos 23 to 26 are 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); Tne (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: SP9579235372

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26407858

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas