The Motor House at Little Barford

Summary

A motor house with attached workshops and covered forecourt, likely to date to approximately 1910-1924.

Reasons for Designation

The Motor House at Little Barford, likely to date to approximately 1910-1924, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* For the building's technological interest, containing early elements of motor house design such as an inspection pit, washing shelter, and the rooms and workshops for a mechanic;

Historic interest:

* For the high degree of survival in the building's historic fabric;
* For its rarity as an early example of a purpose built motor house in a country house context.

Group value:

* For its strong functional relationship to the Coach House and Stables, and to the Manor House that form part of the manorial complex at Little Barford.

History

The village of Little Barford lies in the valley of the River Great Ouse. At the time of the Domesday survey (1086) Little Barford contained two manors. By the mid-C19 these had been combined to form a single manor held by the Alington family. The Rev’d John Alington became Rector of the church of St Denys in 1822, ultimately bringing both the manor and rectory under single ownership during his lifetime. On his death in 1863 a new rector was appointed. The new lord of the manor, William Alington, exchanged properties with the new rector and began reconstructing the old rectory as the new Manor House. The building was likely to have been designed by John Usher (1822-1904), who redesigned it as a house for a country gentleman.

Motor houses began to appear in England from around 1900. At many country houses these were adapted from existing stabling, although some (including this example at Little Barford) were new constructions. The date of the motor house at Little Barford is not known, though it is likely to date from at least the 1920s and could be earlier. Its covered forecourt for washing cars, inspection pit, and attached workshops are all indicative of a very early date for this type of building. Its gault brick construction with red brick details appears to have been deliberately chosen to match the architecture of the manor house, stables, and other estate buildings.

Details

A motor house with attached workshops and covered forecourt, likely to date to approximately 1910-1924.

MATERIALS

The building is constructed of gault brick laid in monk bond with an oak framed roof and forecourt. The roofs are covered in corrugated metal sheets.

PLAN

There are three key elements to the plan: the covered forecourt for washing cars, the garage itself which could house three cars, and attached to each of these are small workshop or ancillary areas used for the management and maintenance of the vehicles.

EXTERIOR

The motor house is a single storey structure. It comprises two parallel ranges, each with a picthed roof terminating in gabled ends covered in corrugated sheet metal.

The eastern range is four bays wide and two bays deep. The southern bays make up the sheltered forecourt, built of an oak frame with a king post roof. There is a brick paved floor, and a short wall on the south side. On the north side of the shelter is a brick-walled area with a doorway onto the forcecourt beneath a red brick lintel. There are three-light timber mullion windows on the east and north elevations of this brick-built block, each with arched red brick lintels.

The western range is four bays wide and one bay deep. It faces onto the forecourt with three wooden double-doors, each with strap hinges, and two glazed upper panels. The rest of the structure is brick built with red brick arches over the windows (one on the east and two on the west elevations) and doorway (at the left hand side of the south elevation).

INTERIOR

The garage has the largest interior volume, providing a clear open space for three cars beneath a king post roof structure. There is an inspection pit at the southern end of the garage, beneath a rudimentary hoist. The workshop on the south-side of the garage retains an original fitted workbench, and there are shelves one of the rooms ancillary to the north side of the forecourt.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, Nikolaus, O'Brien, Charles, The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough, (2014), 210

Other
1840 Tithe Map for the parish of Little Barford (with 1844 tithe apportionment details).
An outline assessment of structure and earthworks at Little Barford, Bedfordshire - Paul Stamper Heritage (September 2022)

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