Description

RIDGMONT HIGH STREET
SP 9735
13/69 Nos 9 and 11
GV II

Pair of Bedford Estate cottages erected by the 8th Duke. Dated 1862. Mottled
pink brick with red brick dressings. Clay tile roofs. 2 storeyed compact
block with gables projecting from 2 principal elevations (S and E). These
gables each have a canted bay window to ground floor. Elsewhere windows are
of 2 lights under gauged brick flat heads. First floor window to S elevation
RH block is beneath a gablet. All contain cast iron lattice casements.
Entrances are within angles formed by projecting gables. Plank doors
sheltered by porches with gauged brick round-headed arches. Deep eaves and
verges have moulded drop finials. Red brick multiple ridge stack.
The 7th Duke of Bedford and his successors recognised the advantages of
housing agricultural workers in comfortable dwellings. From the late 1840's
onwards the emphasis in Bedford Estate cottage building was on the utilitarian
rather than the Picturesque. For labourers' cottages of such an early date the
quality of construction is remarkably high. The cottages can be seen as an
influential contribution to the development of working class housing, which
culminated in the garden cities and early council housing. The Dukes of
Bedford constructed roughly 500 cottages in the locality between the late
1840's and World War I. This pair of cottages is similar in designs in 7th
Duke's Plans and Elevations. The increased use of ornament like that
suggested in plan 7 is due to the building's siting near an entrance lodge to
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 Earl 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 apparently 1849.

Listing NGR: SP9736835782

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26407866

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

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair