Number 1 And Detached Outhouse

This is a cottage and detached outhouse, built in 1850 on the Bedford estate by the 7th Duke of Bedford. Constructed of red brick in a rat-trap bond, the building has 20th-century tile roofs. It is a compact, single-story structure with attics. The south-east elevation features a slightly projecting gable with a brick porch set within the angle. The gable has a two-light window on each floor. The main block has a single light window on the ground floor. All windows are cast iron lattice casements with slightly cambered heads. The porch has a four-centred archway. The south-west elevation is double-gabled, with a two-light lattice casement in each gable on each floor. The building has cogged eaves cornices and a red brick double ridge stack.

The 7th Duke of Bedford sought to provide comfortable housing for agricultural labourers, and from the late 1840s onwards, the emphasis in Bedford estate cottage building was on practicality rather than picturesque design. The cottages demonstrate a high quality of construction for the time and represent an early influence on working-class housing, eventually leading to the garden city and early council housing movements. Around 500 cottages were built by the Dukes of Bedford in the area between the 1840s and World War I. This cottage is typical of the plain but substantial dwellings built during the initial phase of this building program and is similar to designs found in the 7th Duke’s published Plans and Elevations. The brickwork is an early example of cavity walling.