Numbers 20 To 22 And Detached Outhouses To The Rear

HUSBORNE CRAWLEY TURNPIKE ROAD SP 9535 12/37 Nos 20 to 22 (consecutive) and detached outhouses to 22.1.86 rear. GV II

Row of Bedford Estate cottages erected by the 7th Duke. Dated l852. Red brick laid in rat-trap bond. C20 tile roofs. One storey and attics. Originally formed a symmetrical block with No. 19, but no. 19 excluded from listing due to alterations, and extensions. Nos 20 to 22 have 3-bay facade, RH bay gabled, 2 LH bays with gablets. Ground floor has 2 2-light windows and one 3- light window, attic has 3 2-light windows. All are cast iron lattice casements. Nos 20 and 21 have paired doorways surmounted by gabled hoods with curved brackets and drop finials. Red brick multiple ridge stacks.

The 7th Duke of Bedford recognised the advantages of housing agricltural labourers in comfortable dwellings. From the late 1840's onwards the emphasis in Bedford Estate cottage building was on the utilitarian rather than the Picturesque. The cottages are not only remarkable for the high quality of construction at such an early date, but also represent an influential contribution to the development of working class housing which culminated in the garden cities and early council housing. The Dukes of Bedford built about 500 cottages in the locality between the 1840's and World War I. This block typifies the plain but substantial dwellings of the earliest phase in this building programme, and is similar to design no. 5 in the 7th Duke's Plans and Elevations. The brickwork seems to be an early type of cavity walling (cf. note by Charles Hacker in above work). This block is part of an important linear grouping of estate cottages along a road which forms part of the boundary of Woburn Park and is included for group value.

The (7th) Duke of Bedford:Plans and Elevations of Cottages for Agricultural Labourers, London, 1850 (reprint of letter and plans sent 1849 to the Earl of Chichester, President of the Royal Agricultural Society); The (11th) Duke of Bedford: A Great Agricultural Estate, being the Story of the Origin and Administration of Woburn and Thorney , London, 1897; Rev C.H. Hartshorne: The System of building Labourers' Cottages pursued on the estates of His Grace the Duke of Bedford n.d. but probably 1849.

Listing NGR: SP9577035290