Entrance Gateway and Flanking Lodges to Former Britannia Iron Works is a Grade II listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. Gateway, lodge. 7 related planning applications.

Entrance Gateway and Flanking Lodges to Former Britannia Iron Works

WRENN ID
patient-rood-poplar
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Bedford
Constituency
Bedford MP: Mohammad Yasin (Lab)
Country
England
Type
Gateway, lodge
Address
Entrance Gateway and Flanking Lodges to Former Britannia Iron Works, Kempston Road, MK42 9DJ
OS grid reference
TL 046 490
Coordinates
52.12995, -0.47256
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The entrance gateway and flanking lodges to the former Britannia Iron Works were built between 1857 and 1859 by Robert Palgrave. The structure is made of red brick with Portland stone dressings and is designed in the Italianate style. It features wooden gates with decorative ironwork, framed by rusticated stone jambs and a keyed stone semi-circular arch that includes raised lettering and circular spandrels. The dentilled imposts extend across raised brick piers, which have alternating stone quoining on the lower stages and keyed semi-circular arched Italianate lights on the upper stage. A bracketed cornice runs beneath the parapet, which is adorned with keyed stone round windows and topped with a stone dock cupola that has a domed roof covered in fish-scale slates. The flanking lodges, each consisting of one bay, have paired Italianate two-light windows and dentilled cornices that continue from the imposts of the gateway. The lodges also feature brick end stacks with stone cornices. Historically, the Britannia Iron Works were established by James and Frederick Howard to manufacture agricultural machinery, particularly ploughs.

Local climate

Entrance Gateway and Flanking Lodges to Former Britannia Iron Works sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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 — 7 applications
  • 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
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