Summary
Former pair of cottages, now a single dwelling, early C19 with late-C20 and early-C21 alterations. Hammer-dressed stone, stone-slate roof.
Reasons for Designation
1 Stonelea Drive, originally known as 1 and 3 Delf Road, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it retains its overall form and vernacular character, and its origins as a pair of early C19 workers' cottages remain clearly readable;
* Date: it is an important survival of West Yorkshire vernacular architecture built before the construction of standardised terraces and back-to-backs in the latter part of the C19;
* Degree of survival: despite some later alteration it retains numerous original features, including a stone-slate roof, chimneystacks, and a barrel-vaulted basement.
History
1 Stonelea Drive originated as two cottages known as 1 and 3 Delf Road that underwent alteration and rebuilding works in the 1980s, and was converted into a single dwelling. The road name was also changed to Stonelea Drive in the late C20. The 1983 List description stated that the cottages were believed to be late C18 in date, but they probably date to the early C19.
Originally no. 3 incorporated a rear outshut, which appears from map evidence to have been converted into a separate dwelling in the early C20 known as no. 6 Delf Hill. The outshut was demolished in the late C20 and replaced by a kitchen extension on the same footprint.
Details
Former pair of cottages, now a single dwelling, early C19 with late-C20 and early-C21 alterations. Hammer-dressed stone, stone-slate roof. 2 storeys plus basement.
PLAN: although now comprising a single residence the building's twin-dwelling origins are still readable externally, with the former no. 1 Delf Road located at the south-west end of the building and the former no. 3 at the north-east end. A late C19 house is attached to the north-east gable end and is not included within the listing.
EXTERIOR: the window and door surrounds have been replaced and the windows contain late-C20/early-C21 glazing. Modern cement strap pointing has been used on all the elevations. The roof incorporates a ridge stack at each end, one of which has been rebuilt.
The 4-bay front (south-east) elevation has paired central doorways separated by a downpipe; the doorway to the left contains a late-C20 4-panel door with an integral fanlight, and that to the right (the former no. 3) has been converted into a window and has a new surround, with a utility services meter box inserted below. The outer bays each have 3-light mullioned windows to each floor, with an additional single window above the former entrance to no. 3.
The south-west gable end is largely blank, but has modern ventilators inserted to the gable apex. Due to the ground level sloping down from the front to the rear of the building there is a 2-light mullioned basement window on this side.
Attached to the rear (north-west) elevation in front of the part that originally formed no. 3 is a late-C20 1 1/2-storey lean-to extension*, which replaced an earlier outshut and is not of special interest. Set back to the right the rear wall of the building has a 3-light mullioned window to both the ground and first floors.
INTERIOR: internally there are two rooms on the ground floor separated by a stair flight that originally served only no. 1 (each cottage probably had a single room on each floor originally); the corresponding stair flight in the former no. 3 has been removed. Openings have been knocked through on both floors to interconnect the two cottages. Some exposed machine-cut timbers exist to the ground floor, along with a timber beam on the first floor of the former no. 3. There are late-C20 6-panel doors throughout. The SW ground-floor room has a rebuilt chimneybreast and a modern stone fireplace lintel that conceals the original, but damaged, lintel behind. The NE ground-floor room also has a rebuilt chimneybreast with a stone fireplace containing a modern stove. Double doors in the NW wall and a flight of stone steps lead down into the late-C20 lean-to*, which contains a modern kitchen and is not of special interest. The stair flight up to the first floor, which is located in the original no. 1, is enclosed and has late-C20 turned balusters on the landing. Both first-floor rooms have been subdivided to create landing areas, bathrooms, and an additional bedroom. The landing area in the former no. 3 provides access into the upper level of the lean-to*, which is not of special interest. The basement is located at the SW end of the building underneath the section that formed no. 1, and is accessed via a stair underneath the main stair, although the uppermost part of the stair has been altered and extended so that it is now accessed via an inserted doorway in the ground-floor room of the former no. 3. The basement consists of a single room with a stone-flag floor and a barrel-vaulted ceiling incorporating cast-iron hooks.
* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.
