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

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26407859

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record