18 and 20 Hillfoot Road

Summary

An early C17 vernacular cottage with a two-cell lobby entry plan form, constructed with elements of reused building material. Now sub-divided to form a pair of cottages and extended in C20.

Reasons for Designation

18 and 20 Hillfoot Road, built in the early C17 in the vernacular tradition, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for the survival of its multi-phased historic timber frame utilising fabric from the C17;
* for its construction utilising timber, wattle and daub, and brick, exhibiting local distinctiveness in its materials and craftsmanship;
* for the high proportion of survival of the C17 lobby entry plan form which remains largely unaltered.

Historic interest:

* as a largely complete cottage of relatively low status allowing a rare insight into the rural way of life in Bedfordshire in the early C17.

History

This vernacular cottage is set in the rural village of Shillington and is first clearly marked on the 1817 Enclosure Award Map for Shillington.

Constructed around the early C17, its timber frame and other historic fabric reveal a history of reconstruction and reuse and incorporates some reused material. It appears to have originated as a two-cell cottage with a lobby entry. The ground floor is arranged along the lines of the lobby entry plan type: the principal entrance accesses a lobby to one side of the chimney stack and would have led to each of the main rooms on either side, but entry is now blocked off to the crosswing. The precise sequence of development is unknown based on the accessible fabric. An outshot under a catslide roof could be contemporary with the main phase of building or could be a later phase. However, it appears to be present in the mid-C19 mapping. The staircase in number 18 may have been repositioned when the outshot was created. At some point the property was subdivided into two cottages and is mapped as such on the 1882 OS map. The 1882 OS map shows the building as two dwellings with farm outbuildings to the east which may have had an association with the cottages until the C20. The two cottages appear to have the same footprint on the 1951 Conveyance Map but had been extended by the late C20.

Details

An early C17 vernacular cottage with a two-cell lobby entry plan form, constructed with elements of reused building material. Now sub-divided to form a pair of cottages and extended in C20.

MATERIALS: elm timber frame with some surviving wattle and daub to the second floor and red brick laid in Flemish bond to the ground floor. Clay plain tile roof covering and a shared red brick ridge stack. The extension to the north of number 18 is black stained weatherboarding with a flat felt-covered roof. The extension to the east is rendered brick with a tile roof.

PLAN: originally a timber-framed house with two storeys and a cross-wing on a south-west alignment which is lower than that of the main building. The two-cell lobby entry plan form is still legible.

The property is now sub-divided into two cottages which share a red brick chimney stack. The cross-wing was largely extended in C20 with a single-storey link leading to a two-storey range. A single-storey flat roof extension has been added in the C20 to the rear of number 18 and wraps around the north-east corner.

EXTERIOR: the principal, south-east, elevation is red brick to the ground floor with timber framing and rough cast render infill to the first floor. It has a modern red brick and timber porch. Number 18 has two uPVC modern windows to the ground and first floor. The crosswing end is entirely covered in rough cast render with evidence of the brick surviving beneath and a tile string course. It also has a modern timber casement window, which are consistently used throughout number 20.

The south-west elevation is completely covered in rough cast render with no visible timber framing or brick. Number 20 has two pitched dormer windows to the attic with the easternmost dormer being larger.

The rear of both cottages is largely obscured by late-C20 extensions. The pitched roof is covered in traditional clay plain tiles and red brick ridge stack.

INTERIOR: the floor structure, first floor walls and crosswing all survive with their timber framing largely intact.

In number 18, the lobby is accessed via an early C21 porch. To the south-west wall in the main room the inglenook fireplace survives with the bresummer beam, although a modern brick insertion has been installed for a woodburning stove. The earlier fabric of this fireplace is in narrow red brick in stretcher bond, typical of the C16 or early C17. Running the length of the room is a substantial chamfered axial beam of elm. The axial beam terminates at the north-east wall which is red brick, laid in Flemish bond, with some modern repairs to the timbers. The north-west wall is timber and plaster; the midrail and studs below show signs that they have been reused. The south-east wall is plaster-covered brick with modern timbers nailed to the surface.

The kitchen is housed in the outshot which could be contemporary with the building or a later phase. Carpenters’ marks can be seen on the timbers inside the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen are the single-storey C20 extensions. The outshot still contains the staircase which winds tightly upwards to the first floor.

At first floor there is a ceiling at the level of the roof collars. Here there is evidence of wattle and daub infill-material. A large amount of timber framing survives but there has been some modern repair and intervention. The roof structure was not accessible but likely survives.

Number 20 largely consists of the crosswing and some of the attic space of Number 18. It was not subject to an internal inspection but from other available sources it is evident that the inglenook fireplace, bresummer beam and axial beams survive to the ground floor. To the first floor exposed timbers are evident in the walls and roof structure however a partition wall has been introduced to create two rooms.

Sources

Websites
22-H12 20 Hillfoot Road HISTORY 26.10.23.PDF, accessed 12/01/2024 from https://cbc.aifusion.io/planning/publicViewer.html?caseID=CB/23/03449/FULL

Other
'Heritage Asset Statement, 20 Hillfoot Road, Shillington, SG5 3NS', Robin Uff, Conservation and Design Consultant (December 2022).

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.