Hawkshill Cottage and the Lodge

Hawkshill Cottage and The Lodge

A pair of lodge cottages dated 1882, built for Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, during his brief tenure of the Claremont Estate from 1879 to 1884. The buildings are constructed in red brick with gauged brick and stone dressings, and slate roofs.

The cottages form symmetrical semi-detached structures joined longitudinally. The main elevation facing Old Chestnut Avenue is articulated in three bays under a brick pediment. Set within a semicircular arch is a large brick crest inscribed CLAREMONT AD 1882, bearing the cipher LH for Leopold and Helen (his wife). Below this sits a blind arched recess with a gauged brick arch. Flanking the central bay on each storey are single small-paned horned sash windows. A continuous brick storey band runs across the front and side elevations, with a moulded brick entablature beneath broad stone copings to the pediment, which is flanked by freestanding moulded blocking courses.

The entrances are positioned in the return elevations, also arranged symmetrically in three bays. The north-west elevation (Hawkshill Cottage) features a central pedimented doorcase supported on slender panelled pilasters with a tall entablature, framing a four-panel door beneath a three-light overlight. To left and right are small-paned horned sash windows. At first floor are three pivot-hung small-paned windows. The south-east elevation (The Lodge) is identical but lacks a doorcase. The rear gable parapet has stone coping. Two axial chimney stacks carry moulded brick caps.

Each cottage contains two cells with a central stair and rear services. The Lodge interior retains a stair with turned balusters and ball finials with stick balusters; four-panel doors, some with glazed overlights; and a pair of fireplaces—the ground floor with timber surround and round-headed cast iron grate, the first floor with cast iron surround and similar grate with some replaced parts. Hawkshill Cottage was not inspected internally but is reported to retain its original plan form and fittings.

The Lodge has been extended to the rear and side; Hawkshill Cottage has been extended over the original rear services. Later twentieth-century and subsequent extensions are not of special interest.

The cottages mark the entrance to Old Chestnut Avenue, which was laid out by Prince Leopold, son of Queen Victoria, during his residence. The avenue's trees survive. The buildings stand on the fringe of the Claremont Estate landscape, registered Grade I, which contains outstanding early 18th-century structures and includes work by Vanbrugh, Kent, and Bridgeman, alongside later designs by Lancelot Brown (circa 1777) and Henry Holland. Other designated structures within the estate include Holland's lodges of 1777 at the entrance to Claremont Drive, the walled garden, and the early 18th-century ice house and ice house pond. Old Chestnut Avenue lies within the boundary of the registered landscape.