23-27, Bedford Street

A row of cottages located at 23-27 Bedford Street, built in 1850 for the Seventh Duke of Bedford as part of the Bedford Estate. These cottages were designed to house agricultural labourers. They are constructed of red brick laid in a distinctive "rat-trap" bond, with 20th-century tile roofs.

The two-storied cottages are arranged in a U-shaped plan. The symmetrical street facade features four gables centrally. The ground floor has two three-light windows in the centre and two two-light windows in each of the outer bays. The first floor has one two-light window positioned beneath each gable. All windows have cast iron lattice casements set under slightly cambered heads. Red brick multiple ridge stacks are also present.

The Seventh Duke of Bedford sought to provide comfortable housing for agricultural workers, shifting the focus in cottage building away from picturesque designs towards practicality. These cottages demonstrate high-quality construction and represent an important contribution to the development of working-class housing, influencing later garden cities and council housing schemes. The Duke's estate built approximately 500 cottages locally between the late 1840s and World War I.

This group of cottages represents an early phase of this building program and is comparable to plans found in the Seventh Duke's "Plans and Elevations" and listed within the Eleventh Duke's "A Great Agricultural Estate." The brickwork is notable as an early example of cavity walling, as documented by Charles Hacker's notes in "Plans and Elevations."