Covered and Vaulted Passages and 4 Underground Chambers West of Westrop House is a Grade II listed building in the Swindon local planning authority area, England. Passages, chambers. 1 related planning application.
Covered and Vaulted Passages and 4 Underground Chambers West of Westrop House
- WRENN ID
- open-ashlar-pine
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Swindon
- Constituency
- Swindon North MP: Will Stone (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Passages, chambers
- Address
- Covered and Vaulted Passages and 4 Underground Chambers West of Westrop House, Cricklade Road, Highworth, SN6 7BL
- OS grid reference
- SU 198 923
- Coordinates
- 51.62992, -1.71406
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Circa 1818, these stone passages and four underground chambers were constructed in Wiltshire for William Crowdy, the Lord of the Manor. The passages begin in a yard to the west of number 24 and within the garden of Westrop House. They feature painted brick barrel vaults. From the garden of Westrop House, an ice house and a garden chamber—formerly plastered—are accessed via curved, rock-lined passages, approached by a double entrance framed by a trelliswork. The entrances are constructed of sponge stone. A vaulted passage leads, in a serpentine manner, from the back yard of number 24 to a junction. One branch continues to a former stable yard, and another makes a further curved approach down to a possible secondary ice house. One branch is blocked. Vents are present in the vault. A further chamber— presumably a coal and fuel shed—is entered from the backyard of number 24, near the tunnel entrance. This is a plain vaulted chamber with a coal chute/vent. These passages, originally likely places of amusement for Squire Crowdy, have since acquired spiritual significance.
Local climate
Covered and Vaulted Passages and 4 Underground Chambers West of Westrop House receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 61% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 59% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 63% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 5 transactions since 2013
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Storage Chamber and Tunnel to Rear of Nos 20-21
- 2 Grottos to West of Warmley House
- 3 Wall with Entrance to Underground Ice House in Back Garden of Number 43 and Running Underneath Manor House Gardens
- 4 Westrop House and West Service Extension to Westrop House
- 5 Outbuilding to N. of The Cloister Hall
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