Description

HUSBORNE CRAWLEY TURNPIKE ROAD SP 9535 12/42 Nos 34 to 39 (consecutive) 22.1.86 and detacned outhouses GV II

Row of Bedford Estate cottages erected by the 7th Duke. Dated 1854. Red brick laid in rat-trap bond. C20 tile roofs. Symmetrical one storey and attics block. 6-bay facade, central and outer bays gabled. 2nd and 5th bays with gablets. Ground floor has 2 3-light windows flanking 4 2-light windows. Attic has 6 2-light windows. All are cast iron lattice casements under slightly cambered heads. 4 plank doors. All except no. 37 surmounted by gabled hoods with curved brackets and drop finials. Nos 34 and 39 have porches to side elevations. Red brick multiple chimney 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 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 tne 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 designs in the 7th Duke's Plans and Elevations. The brickwork is of interest as an early kind 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 and is included for group value.

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: SP9591635560

External Links

• Wikidata Q26407859

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Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)