19th century estate cottages, Northend Cottages, Walden Road (EHER 82841)

A group of seven workers' cottages were built by Luke Grimson in 1873. They are arranged in a symmetrical group, with a terrace of three cottages in the centre flanked by a semi-detached pair. The central cottage is gabled to the road (west) and contains a datestone inscribed 1873; the semi-detached cottages have twin gables to the road, each containing a stone panel depicting either a rose or portcullis and all the gables have decorative barge boarding. Single-storey monopitch extensions have been built to the outer sides of the rear elevation, constructed in red brick laid in a Flemish bond after 1921.

NRHE data transfer: A group of seven workers’ cottages were built by Luke Grimson in 1873. They are arranged in a symmetrical group, with a terrace of three cottages in the centre flanked by a semi-detached pair. The central cottage is gabled to the road (west) and contains a datestone inscribed 1873; the semi-detached cottages have twin gables to the road, each containing a stone panel depicting either a rose or portcullis and all the gables have decorative barge boarding. The houses are constructed from red brick in Flemish bond with yellow brick surrounds and quoins and a red brick plinth, whilst the semi-detached cottages have additional yellow brick banding at first floor level. The roofs are covered with concrete pantiles and the timber casement windows have segmental heads and stone sills. The semi detached cottages each have a timber porch to the outer western corners, with a tall lancet style window in the apex of the side gables and a window in the house-style below this. A red brick ridge stack rises from the centre of the roof, each stack with six grouped shafts. The rear elevations each have a single gabled dormer with barge boarding placed either side of the central party wall. Single-storey monopitch extensions have been built to the outer sides of the rear elevation, constructed in red brick laid in a Flemish bond after 1921 (from the Ordnance Survey evidence). These extensions have kept the overall character of the cottages by using yellow brick quoins. The central group of three cottages is largely symmetrical, with a round oculus window set in the gables to light the roof space. Again, single-storey monopitch extensions have been built to the rear, with space between each one, but there is no evidence for dormer windows. There are two ridge stacks – one above each party wall, the northern stack consisting of a group of six shafts whilst the southern one seems to have been rebuilt and has only four shafts. Behind the cottages is a series of red brick outbuildings in Flemish bond with pantile roofs. These follow the general arrangement of the cottages being a central row of three flanked by semi-detached blocks. In front of the cottages is a low flint and brick retaining wall with curved coping. The cottages were some of the first of the estate's new building to be affected by the 'Erection of Buildings in England under the several Improvement Companies' Acts of 1861 which set a number of conditions for the design of new buildings or alterations to existing ones, not least that three bedrooms were to be provided in each cottage; although two bedrooms were allowed if several houses were being built and some of the labourers didn't have families. Construction was facilitated by the loan of £1185.6.3. by the Land Improvement Company. <1>