Kenilworth Neighbourhood Plan - Submission
Appendix A
Local Listing of Buildings – Policy KP15
This policy identifies those buildings and structures in the town that have local historic and/or architectural value, but have not yet warranted formal national listing status as 'non-designated heritage assets'. Their location is identified on Policies Map 5.4.
1 Crackley Cottages, Coventry Road – They look like Victorian or Edwardian railway cottages but were built for farm workers, hence their local nickname "Spud Row". A homogeneous group, like Oddibourne Terrace, but unlike the latter, not in a conservation area.
2 The Spring, Upper Spring Lane Built-in 1870 for Alexander Carter whose father had made his money in the Coventry textile industry. In the 20th century, it was the home of Jack Martin of Smirnoff vodka and Jack Daniels bourbon fame. His sister Helen Martin, who also lived at The Spring made large bequests to the University of Warwick and donated Parliament Piece to the Open Spaces Society. Like Crackley Hall. The Spring is an example of a 19th-century industrialist's residence. It has fine landscaped gardens noted for their azaleas and rhododendrons. There used to be several large houses of this type in Kenilworth. Nearly all of them have been demolished.
3 Timber structure bus shelter, Crackley Small Wooden structure with hipped shingle roof. The structure was badly damaged in a traffic accident but repaired to the original form.
4 Crackley Hall School main building Once the home of John Davenport Siddeley, the Siddeley of Armstrong-Siddeley. In 1937 he purchased Kenilworth Castle and in the same year was raised to the peerage as Baron Kenilworth, of Kenilworth in the County of Warwick.
5 Spring Cottage in Upper Spring Lane A stone-built cottage from © 1600 showing original end roof truss. Has a plain tiled roof with decorative ridge tiles, a decorative brick band at 1st-floor level. Arched lintels over three-panel casements set to each side of a central entrance with storm porch, solid brick external walling comprising three stretchers and header bonding.
6 Greenhouses between Fieldgate Lane and Love Lane (access from Fieldgate Lane) These are probably the only greenhouses left from the heyday of Kenilworth's horticultural industry in the 19th century. Kenilworth was famous for its market gardens and the quality of its tomatoes.
7 Timber structure bus shelter, Tainters Hill Small Timber structure with a hipped shingle roof, WDC K5
8 The Water Tower, Tainters Hill Originally a windmill built around 1750, the sails were removed 1850 and steam driven mill until 1875, sold to the water authority and raised in height to form the town's water tower. Decommissioned in 1965 and converted to a six storey home in 1969 by local architect Edward Byron RIBA. The conversion won an award from the UK Council for European Architectural Heritage.
9 Water pumping station at Mill End (on Kenilworth Common on the north side of Finham Brook opposite Woodmill Meadows) A19th-century building, one of the few survivors from Kenilworth's industrial age
10 1 Dalehouse Lane Domestic property, built as the house for the manager of the town's gas works which were on what is now The Deer Leap. A reminder that in the nineteenth and early 20th century this area was a centre of industry.
11 20 Mill End Timber framed building. Which looks as though it dates from the 17th century or earlier. A survivor of the old settlement at Mill End centred around the watermill, forge etc.
12 The Copper House Club, Albion Street This was the original Warwickshire Constabulary Headquarters.
From "Victorian Kenilworth" website by Robin Leach:-
Subsequent to a new Police Act in 1856, Kenilworth was one of five Warwickshire Towns to have a new Police Station; in fact, Kenilworth's building was to be the County Constabulary Headquarters. Plans drawn by County Surveyor Mr Kendalls show an impressive building with three front entrances, four cells on the ground floor and seven upstairs bedrooms, but when the preferred site was found to be unavailable, the design had to be reduced to fit on the corner of Park Road and Albion Street.
These revised plans were dated 3rd April 1858 and show the building as it was constructed. There were now only two entrances, six upstairs bedrooms, the four cells were now two above each other, and the prisoner's yard was now smaller, 18ft by 13ft, with its retaining wall a daunting 15ft high. Two kitchens and sculleries were provided at the rear, a strong-room and offices were in the main building, and so was a heating and ventilation system for the cells, each of which included a w.c.
Tenders were invited for its construction. Only one Kenilworth builder, R Swain, was attracted but the lowest tender was for £1,170 from John Dutton of Coventry; his father Charles lived in one of his houses, Spring Cottage, in Ladies Hill. He had a distinct advantage in that he had recently completed the construction of the Coventry Police Station. It was probably a straightforward decision by the Police Committee, chaired by Lord Leigh on 28th June, to accept Dutton's tender.
The contract was signed on 17th July and from that date, Dutton had six months to complete the project. Building work was actually finished on Christmas Eve, but after that Dutton was involved in a separate arrangement in fitting out the ground floor Chief Constable's office. By 11th March 1859 the station, still referred to occasionally as "the new lock-up", was considered ready for immediate occupation.
The front pieces of the two entrances were made of Bath stone, as were the front windowsills, but all other windowsills were of cheaper Kenilworth stone. The steps to the front entrance were of Yorkshire stone and the doors and their frames were of varnished oak. The roofs were covered by 20ins by 10ins Bangor slates. Each cell included a wooden bench, 2ins thick and 2ft 6ins wide. All the drains were connected to one of two main pipes that ran under the front doors and downhill to drain directly into the nearby brook. Also included in the contract, but not shown on the plan, was a four-foot wide well of an expected depth of 35ft.
Today of course, the building is the much-used Copper House Club having been until 2015 the Royal British Legion Club. Externally, the frontage remains as built but the kitchen extensions at the rear have been demolished. Internally, many walls have been removed but the layout is still traceable; for example, the original cells are now the toilets.
The original plans and more details are reproduced in "Victorian Kenilworth and its People."
13 St Barnabas Church, Albion Street The following information comes from St Nicholas and St Barnabas Churches website:-
In 1884, congregations of over 150 were meeting regularly in a room, known as the Mission Hall which was above the Co-operative shop in Park Road, but a room on the ground floor was needed and, at the instigation of the Reverend Alfred Binnie, a fund was set up to purchase an "Iron Room" to be built on the present site. By October 1885, meetings and services were being held in St Nicholas Mission Room, as it became known, on land offered by Mr Hawley.
In 1905, the land on the corner of Albion Row (now Albion Street), was bought for £311.15.0 and a licence was granted on 27th November 1905 "for the church to be used as a mission church in a working-class area and for the preaching of the word of God, reading common prayers and in celebrating Holy Sacraments". The church was renamed as St Barnabas Mission Church and the building enlarged by the addition of a sanctuary, fitted with an altar, font, lectern and a heating system.
The design and construction of the building are unusual for Kenilworth. Built to standard designs and more reminiscent of Welsh chapels.
14 Townpool Bridge, Bridge Street The site of a Post Medieval bridge, which was marked on a map of 1692, and on an Ordnance Survey map of 1886. The present bridge is of red sandstone and crosses the Finham Brook at the southern end of Bridge Street.
15 Outbuilding, 12 Bridge Street Shed in front garden believed to date from late Victorian/Edwardian period. Said to have been used variously as an office where people bought tickets to emigrate, pay their rates, and get their ration books. Graham Gould says that it has coloured glass in the windows, a stove and mahogany fittings inside. The building is in the curtilage of a listed building and in a conservation area, but that would not necessarily protect it from demolition as, according to conservation area rules, it is too small to require specific consent for removal.
16 Timber structure bus shelter, Bridge Street Small timber structure with a gabled shingle roof. WDC K4.
17 Abbey Fields Bowling Pavilion A prime example of 1920's Park Architecture. The Pavilion is believed to have been erected in 1925 and originally had a thatched roof. The roof was renewed in 1965 with a plain tile covering.
18 Montpelier House, Abbey Hill From Robin Leach's website "Kenilworth in World War 2":-
Montpelier House seems to have been a focal point of war-time activities.
I have been told that at one time Army personnel were billeted there, and it was where children's dried milk and malt tablets were handed out. It was also the base for one of the Home Guard units.
As post-war conditions prevailed, a 1953 directory records Montpelier House as the 'Fuel Control Office' and the 'Ministry of Labour and National Service Employment Exchange'. In 1957 the KUDC bought the house and the Civil Defence Volunteers moved in from their previous base at the old Council Offices on Upper Rosemary Hill and were quickly followed by the 'Women's Voluntary Service'.
19 Timber structure shelter Abbey Hill Timber structure with a pitched tiled hipped roof, lead ridge and hips, which doubles as a bus and park shelter, approximately 1950's.
20 United Reformed Church, Abbey Hill (Especially the original Church, now the Church Hall) The URC occupies two buildings. The one at the rear of the site with the interesting Gothic style windows is the original Congregational church built in 1828-9. In 1833 schoolrooms were added. This building is now the church hall. Due to an increasing congregation, a larger building was soon needed, which is the building which fronts on to Abbey Hill. This was constructed in 1872-3.
21 The Five Gables, Whitemoor Road The old Elmdene farmhouse. Said to be a late eighteenth or early nineteenth-century building. An interesting remnant of Kenilworth's agricultural past.
22 Kenilworth Clock The clock stands prominently in the middle of the road at the junction of The Square and Abbey End, and was presented to Kenilworth in 1906 by G.W. Turner as a memorial to his late wife. Mr Turner was a notable local benefactor who donated part of Abbey Fields to the people of Kenilworth. The upper part of the structure was damaged by a landmine in 1940 which destroyed much of the original Square including the Globe Hotel. The top was later repaired.
23 4 The Square An interesting group of buildings. The archway next to the shop gives a view through to courtyard and "works" at the rear. An illustration of how the commercial areas of the town centre would have looked in the 19th century. The building is now the Tree House Bookshop. It was once the Rose & Crown public house. In 1872 it was the base for the farm labourers' uprising and Joseph Arch himself is known to have visited at least once. In 1873 the Kenilworth Co-operative Society was formed there. It closed soon after the licensee was found guilty of selling alcohol 'out of hours' in 1875.
24 The original Railway Station stonework of 1844 in Station Road Now a restaurant. The stonework was moved here from the original site when the new station (since demolished) was built.
25 The Old Council Houses, 34 to 40 St John's Street Kenilworth's first council houses constructed in April 1915. H. Wells Laurence builder, Sholto Douglas CE architect.
26 Timber structure bus shelter, St John's Small timber structure with a gabled shingle roof. WDC K4.
27 Youth Club Building, St John's Church This building was specially constructed for gas decontamination in World War II, and survives with some modifications but retains its original style.