Old Fox Cottage

Old Fox Cottage is an early 19th-century house, likely designed by George Fowler Jones, constructed from Magnesian limestone ashlar with a slate roof. It is built in a Tudor/Gothic style. The house is symmetrical and square, with two storeys plus a basement, arranged in three bays, and topped with a pyramidal roof. Tall, tripartite chimneys with moulded caps are situated at the corners.

The front elevation features a first-floor drip band and a hollow-moulded cornice leading to an embattled parapet. A central entrance is approached via nine steps to a shallow gabled porch with a moulded two-centred arch sheltering a similar arched inner doorway, which has a studded door. The basement is chamfered and adorned with mullioned two-light windows. Mullioned and transomed windows with hoodmoulds are positioned on either side of the entrance, and similar windows are present on the first floor, with a six-light mullioned and transomed window above the entrance. The first-floor windows have round heads to the upper lights. Window and door dressings are in a paler stone than the main walls, with small panes within each light. Single six-light windows matching those at the front are located on both return walls, on each floor. The rear elevation is similar to the front, apart from the porch, and features a stone plaque above the arched doorway inscribed DEUT/xx11.6. Rainwater heads are decorated with a stone beast rising from a coronet.

The house was likely built as a lodge for Bowcliffe Hall. The Lane Fox family of Bramham lived at Bowcliffe in the early to mid-19th century, which may explain the house’s name.

Old Fox Cottage is designated at Grade II for being a good example of a picturesque 19th-century cottage, exhibiting an eclectic mix of architectural styles and retaining a high level of detailing. The building remains completely unaltered externally, with its original footprint and all its features intact. Its early 19th-century date and its relationship to Bowcliffe Hall, a contemporary building it was built to serve as a lodge, further contribute to its special interest.