Electricity Generating House at Orchard House
ELECTRICITY GENERATING HOUSE AT ORCHARD HOUSE, 67 AND 69, HIGH STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1393086
- Date first listed:
- 14-Jan-2009
- List Entry Name:
- Electricity Generating House at Orchard House
- Statutory Address:
- ELECTRICITY GENERATING HOUSE AT ORCHARD HOUSE, 67 AND 69, HIGH STREET
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1393086
- Date first listed:
- 14-Jan-2009
- List Entry Name:
- Electricity Generating House at Orchard House
- Statutory Address 1:
- ELECTRICITY GENERATING HOUSE AT ORCHARD HOUSE, 67 AND 69, HIGH STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- ELECTRICITY GENERATING HOUSE AT ORCHARD HOUSE, 67 AND 69, HIGH STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Milton Keynes (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Olney
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 88867 51667
Reasons for Designation
The electricity generating house at Orchard House has been designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Its chapel-like form and attention to detail indicate the significance of its purpose; * it is a rare early surviving example of housing for a small private electricity generator; * it also has group value with the Grade II listed Orchard House, recommended for upgrading to Grade II*.
Details
OLNEY
1115/0/10003 HIGH STREET 14-JAN-09 67 AND 69 Electricity generating house at Orchar d House
GV II Electricity generator house, c.1904. Brick with stone dressings: steeply pitched corrugated iron roof.
EXTERIOR: The west gable end has stone dressings to quoins and openings, and horizontal bands of stone at regular intervals. Below the line of the eaves is a half glazed door, above which is a large pointed arched window with simple tracery in the top half. The south elevation has a long window in the west half, and there is another half glazed door at its east end.
INTERIOR: This is now used for storage. It has a planked partition wall and ceiling. The vestigial remains of electrical wiring survive.
HISTORY: Orchard House was converted from two C18 houses, Nos. 67 and 69 High Street, in 1904 for Joseph William Mann, the boot and shoe manufacturer, at that time Olney's largest employer; the architect was Alexander Ellis Anderson.
The 1882 Ordnance Survey map shows Nos. 67 and 69 High Street, soon to become Orchard House, behind which are a complex of garden boundaries and what appears tp have been an orchard. By 1900 Nos. 67 and 69 had become a single house, although AE Anderson's extensions had not yet been added, and the boundaries to the rear had been removed to form an open space for the new garden. This contains two small buildings, the Thatched Cottage and to the north of that another smaller building, apparently a greenhouse or conservatory. The 1882 OS map also shows a building in this position. This is approximately the location of the building which houses the electricity generator. This seems to have been in use in 1904, and Orchard House was the first dwelling in Olney to be provided with electricity.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The electricity generating house at Orchard House is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Its chapel like form and attention to detail indicate the significance of its purpose, and it is a rare early surviving example of housing for a private electricity generator. It also has group value with the Grade II* listed Orchard House.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 505764
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 26-Jun-2026 at 20:02:06.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.