Wood Way And Chartist Cottage

A pair of semi-detached houses dating from 1846 to 1847, built for the Chartist Co-operative Land Company. The houses are constructed of stuccoed and roughcast brick, with Welsh slate roofs. They are arranged symmetrically with a 1:2:1 configuration and three gables facing the front, a design feature not typical of other Chartist settlements. A rebated strip separates slightly projecting central bays, and ground floor bay windows have been added. The first floor has two-light casements. A two-storey projection has been added to the left wing, and leaded light casements are present on the right wing. Gables over the centre and right have rectangular panels with sides extended downwards, a characteristic feature of O'Connorville. The houses have bargeboards, a plinth, and entrances on the returns. There are two bays with casements on the returns, and a stack on the right end. Axial ridge stack to the center, and a stack to the left ridge. The interior has not been inspected. These represent some of the best surviving examples of houses from O'Connorville, a settlement founded by Feargus O'Connor, a Chartist leader, as the first settlement under his Land Plan. Originally, a school and 35 cottages were built, each with 2 to 4 acres of land, representing an important development following Chartism and serving as a precursor to the Garden City movement.