Colworth House is a Grade II* listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 7 May 1952. Country house. 1 related planning application.
Colworth House
- WRENN ID
- twelfth-mortar-hazel
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire MP: Richard Fuller (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 7 May 1952
- Type
- Country house
- Address
- Colworth House, Sharnbrook, MK44 1LQ
- OS grid reference
- SP 981 601
- Coordinates
- 52.23046, -0.56504
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Colworth House is a country house located in the Sharnbrook Colworth Estate, built between 1714 and 1720. The main wing is compact and features a three-storey design. The garden front has three bays, with ashlar quoins and a central bay that slightly projects forward, containing three windows. The side bays each have two windows. Above the central bay is a pediment from the 1770s, which displays the Lee motto and arms, along with a frieze that includes a patera and a dentil course. The second floor has segmental-headed windows, while the first and ground floors feature square-headed windows, with the ground floor windows being taller. All windows are sashes with glazing bars.
The house has replacement side wings from the 1770s, connected by single-storey link blocks. The left-hand side wing has three first-floor windows and two ground-floor windows, flanking a large square bay window. The right-hand side wing has four windows on each floor. At the far right is a pair of single-storey outbuildings with a central archway, resembling the archway at Twin Lodges. The interior of the main wing has mostly been converted for office use, but a neo-Rococo staircase from 1811 remains intact. The rear elevations were altered in the 1890s, and the outbuildings were constructed in 1811 and the 1890s. The building is constructed of coursed limestone and ashlar, with slate roofs.
Local climate
Colworth House sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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