Description

KNUTSFORD

SJ77NE LEGH ROAD
792-1/2/86 (West side)
18/02/91 The Old Croft

GV II

House. Dated 1895. By John Brooke. For Richard Harding Watt
who added the tower in 1907 (to designs by W Longworth).
Flemish bond brickwork to ground floor, roughcast render above
and to tower, red plain tiled roof. Central entrance in main
range with cross wings each side, and tower added to north.
Principal rooms to rear, with entrance hall and stairs in
front, services in tower.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. Central doorway in heavy porch with
balustrading and leaded canopy. Name and date in relief
lettering over the door. 2-light casement window to its right,
and narrow lights to left. Tall stair window of 3-lights above
to left, and two 2-light casement windows to right. Regular
fenestration in left-hand gable, with single 3-light window
aligned on ground and first floor. Moulded tie-beam in apex.
Irregular fenestration in right-hand gable lighting service
stair, with windows of 1, 2 and 3 lights on ground, first and
attic storeys, unaligned. Upper windows all leaded casements
in moulded wood cases. Diagonal shafts to chimney to right,
further stack expressed in left-hand gable. Overhanging eaves
with bargeboards in gables. Tower of 1907 projects beyond, to
right. Small windows of 1 and 2 lights, unaligned, and
irregular stepped parapet in Mediterranean style.
Garden front similarly disposed, with central range and 2
flanking wings. Full-height canted bay window wrapped round
corner of right-hand wing, with gable over and struts carrying
bargeboards. This is matched by left-hand wing, which
terminates in paired gables over 6-light casement window to
first floor. Stepped parapet and animal leadwork rainwater
head suggest direct influence of Watt. Sun-room built out from
central range, with casement windows and part-glazed doors
linking it to main body of house.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORY: Richard Harding Watt (1842-1913) was an amateur
designer who transformed the townscape of Knutsford with a
series of eccentric buildings which are of considerable
interest and importance. He used professional architects to
put his ideas into practice. Legh Road contains a remarkable
series of his houses, of which the Old Croft is the most
restrained and conventional. The architect, John Brooke, whose
major work (with Edwin Hall) is the Manchester Royal

Infirmary, is of local significance.

Listing NGR: SJ7573777597

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26667950

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

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)