Longfrey

Longfrey is a terrace of houses built around 1885 for employees of the gunpowder works in Chilworth. The building features a brick English bond plinth beneath tile-hung walls and has brick ridge stacks. The roofs are gabled and covered with plain tiles.

The terrace consists of five double-depth houses, arranged in a row. It stands two storeys high with an attic and showcases a Domestic Revival style. Each of the five matching gables has wavy bargeboards and pendant finials. The entrances are located on either side and in the middle of the central house. Currently, doorways remain only for the left-hand house and one from the right, both featuring gabled porches supported by timber posts with tile-hung tympanae and plank and batten doors. The original fenestration included 2-light mullion and transom casements with glazing bars in flush frames. The second and third windows from the left have been converted from former entrances, while the first-floor windows are smaller, with the central window being an oriel on brackets and attic windows with mullions. The right return has a 2-light window, and the left return features a full-height bay window. The rear includes single-storey outshuts on the west end and a large central mid-20th century extension with parapet walls. The eastern house has a rear gable, and there are two large stacks with cornices and a smaller one on the east.

Inside, two open fireplaces from the original cottages remain, while other features date from the 1920s when the building was converted into a single dwelling.

Historically, the Chilworth gunpowder mills operated from the early 17th century until their closure in 1920, making it a significant site in the history of the gunpowder industry in the UK. From 1885, the mills began producing smokeless powder under the management of a German company, Burbach, which invested in new facilities. This row of houses was built to accommodate the German foreman and employees, overlooking the surviving mill, and is noted as an unusually elaborate example of industrial housing.