Numbers 20 To 22 And Detached Outhouses To The Rear

Numbers 20 to 22 and the detached outhouses to the rear are a row of cottages built on the Hursborne Crawley Turnpike Road in 1852, commissioned by the 7th Duke of Bedford as part of his estate development. Constructed of red brick in a rat-trap bond, the cottages have 20th-century tile roofs. Originally forming a symmetrical block with number 19, number 19 has been excluded from the listing due to alterations and extensions. Numbers 20 to 22 present a three-bay facade; the right-hand bay is gabled, while the two left-hand bays have gablets. The ground floor has two two-light windows and one three-light window, and the attic has three two-light windows; all are cast iron lattice casements. Numbers 20 and 21 feature paired doorways topped by gabled hoods with curved brackets and drop finials. Red brick multiple ridge stacks are present.

The 7th Duke of Bedford aimed to provide comfortable dwellings for agricultural labourers, emphasizing practicality over picturesque design in the late 1840s. The cottages demonstrate a high quality of construction and represent a significant influence on the development of working-class housing, anticipating garden cities and early council housing. The Dukes of Bedford built approximately 500 cottages in the area between the 1840s and World War I. This block exemplifies the plain yet substantial construction of the earliest phase of this building program, resembling design number 5 in the 7th Duke's Plans and Elevations. The brickwork appears to be an early form of cavity wall construction, as noted by Charles Hacker. This block contributes to the group value of a linear arrangement of estate cottages alongside a road that forms part of the boundary of Woburn Park.