Heather Bank

Heather Bank is a large, circa 1900, L-shaped house built in the Art Nouveau style. The ground floor is constructed of red brick with stone dressings, while the upper portion is roughcast with half-timbered gable ends. The roof is steeply pitched and tiled, featuring dormers. The house is two storeys and has an attic, with an irregular plan. On the garden front, it has five bays. The windows are stone mullioned and transomed, with varied shapes and Art Nouveau leaded glazing, incorporating some coloured glass. Projecting corner bays are present on the ground floor, alongside smaller first-floor oriels. A back hall displays glazed tiles decorated with plant forms. A tall, red brick entrance tower rises above the building, featuring a battlemented parapet and a pyramidal roof. The building is of group value, partly due to its historical association as the residence of Marie Stopes, the palaeobotanist and advocate of family planning. She also gained local appreciation for purchasing the Golden Valley and donating it to the community as a permanent open space.