9, 11, ELLERS LANE

Pair of semi-detached houses at 9 and 11 Ellers Lane, Auckley

These are a pair of semi-detached houses built in 1948. They were prefabricated in Sweden and shipped to England for erection on pre-prepared bases with services already provided.

The houses are constructed using timber framing, clad in prefabricated vertical tongue-and-groove timber panels of double thickness with insulation between. They have plain tile roofs and three brick chimney stacks serving the pair.

The layout follows a mirror-image rectangular plan. On the ground floor of each house are an entrance and stair hall, living room, kitchen, pantry, and bathroom. There are two attic bedrooms in each house. A single-storey outhouse wing is attached to the side of each property.

The west-facing entrance front has two central windows with replacement uPVC frames, flanked by single open porches with lean-to roofs supported on iron poles cased in timber. The entrance doors are half-glazed. The return walls have single two-light casement windows and single small pantry windows.

The east-facing garden fronts have two central windows. Number 11 retains its original tripartite casement window with four central lights flanked by two lights, while Number 9 has a uPVC replacement. Both windows are flanked on either side by additional windows—a two-light casement to Number 11 and a uPVC replacement to Number 9. Above these, each house has two two-light, flat-roofed raking dormer windows.

The outhouses on either side have inner entrance porches with red tile floors and three doors. These doors serve the kitchen and coal shed to the sides and the wash-house to the rear. The original ribbed doors include a square glazed light to the kitchen door.

Both houses retain their original plan form and room layout with original features. Number 11 retains virtually all its original interior features including built-in cupboards and wardrobes, doors, window catches, staircase, most fireplaces, and fitted shelves in the outhouse. Number 9 was not inspected internally.

These houses are survivors of a Government programme that brought 2,444 Swedish timber houses to Britain between 1945 and 1951. Based on traditional Swedish timber construction adapted to an English design, most were erected in rural areas due to the combustible nature of timber, mainly for agricultural labourers. Of the 2,444 Swedish prefabs erected, far fewer survive today, having been lost to deterioration caused by climate, alteration, or demolition. This almost untouched pair is therefore of particular historical interest as a rare physical record of the social and economic history of Britain immediately after the Second World War.