3 AND 4, WESTBURY

Reasons for Designation

Nos. 3-4 Westbury have been designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

* Despite C20 additions they are a good example of early-C19 estate workers' cottages given an effective picturesque architectural treatment * Their symmetrical and balanced design displays good quality craftsmanship using local materials * The interiors retain early-C19 features, such as plain winder stairs and batten doors and other joinery * As a planned group of cottages, they have a strong historic and visual relationship with Nos. 1-2 Westbury, an identical pair * They also have group value with the Grade I listed St Mary's Church to the south east.

Details

BRADFORD ABBAS

1611/0/10014 WESTBURY 11-DEC-09 (West side) 3 AND 4

GV II Pair of estate cottages. 1820s or 1830s with C20 additions. MATERIALS: Built in coursed local lias stone with ashlar dressings. It has a hipped slate roof and there are end stacks of stone with pairs of brick shafts that are set diagonally. The fenestration consists of inwardly opening metal casements with leaded-glass. The windows are set within stone mullioned, flat-headed surrounds with a hood-mould with square labels over. PLAN: Mirrored pair of two storey semi-detached cottages. The building is rectangular on plan with attached side ranges to the north and south that have each been incorporated into the cottages. Both cottages have been extended in the C20 with two storey extensions and conservatories to the rear and a single storey addition to the north side of the right hand cottage (No. 4). These later additions are not of special interest. EXTERIOR: The facade (east) is a symmetrical composition of four bays in a Tudor style. Each cottage has a central entrance with a deep stone lintel with four-centred arch and a vertical boarded door with strap hinges. Flanking the doors are two-light casements. There is a continuous stone string course and three matching windows to the first floor. Flanking the doors are two-light casements. There is a continuous stone string course and three matching windows to the first floor. The rear elevation is largely obscured by the late-C20 additions, although a mullioned window is visible to the first floor of the right hand cottage (No. 4). INTERIOR: The ground floor of each cottage was originally two rooms, but the dividing partition has been removed to create a single large room. Each retains a fireplace to the ground floor, though they have been rebuilt or renovated. The right hand cottage (No. 4) retains its winder stair; that to No. 3 has been replaced with a spiral staircase. The doors and other joinery are plain, and the first floor fireplaces have been blocked. The roof comprises king post trusses with V struts and a single row of staggered purlins, and is pegged. HISTORY: In the C19, many large landowners built accommodation for their estate workers. Nos. 3-4 and its neighbour, Nos. 1-2 Westbury, form a group of identical pairs of estate cottages that were built in the early C19 for the Marquis of Anglesey who held the estate of Bradford Abbas. They were constructed some time between 1825 and 1838 and are first depicted on a map of the parish dated 1838. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1888 shows the two pairs of cottages situated within a large plot of land of approximately 1.4ha; marked as allotment gardens on the second edition map (1903), although this has since been sub-divided into individual gardens. The cottages were part of the Bradford Abbas Estate until 1954. SOURCES: Eric Garrett, Bradford Abbas. The History of a Dorset Village,(1989), pp34, 207-08 Extract of Plan of Freehold Estates situated in the Parish of Bradford Abbas in the county of Dorset (1849)

REASON FOR DECISION: Nos. 3-4 Westbury are designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * Despite C20 additions they are a good example of early-C19 estate workers' cottages given an effective picturesque architectural treatment * Their symmetrical and balanced design displays good quality craftsmanship using local materials * The interiors retain early-C19 features, such as plain winder stairs and batten doors and other joinery * As a planned group of cottages, they have a strong historic and visual relationship with Nos. 3-4 Westbury, an identical pair * They also have group value with the Grade I listed St Mary's Church to the south east.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

507475

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Garrett, E, Bradford Abbas: The History of the Dorset Village, (1989), 207-208

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