Building record MLI98549 - Beacon Cottage and ha-ha to west, Halls Hill, Grantham
Summary
An early 19th century estate cottage on the Harrowby Hall estate perhaps built as a dower house.
Type and Period (6)
- DOWER HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1820 AD? to 1840 AD?)
- ESTATE COTTAGE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1820 AD? to 2050 AD)
- HA HA (Post Medieval to Modern - 1820 AD? to 2050 AD)
- HOUSE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1840 AD? to 2050 AD)
- SUMMERHOUSE ? (Post Medieval - 1820 AD? to 1840 AD?)
- COTTAGE ORNEE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1820 AD? to 2050 AD?)
Protected Status/Designation
Full Description
Beacon Cottage is one storey with an attic and a half-cellar it was originally rectangular with a polygonal bay to the west and a bowed porch to the east with stone castellations. It was built of Ancaster stone rubble, then stuccoed and painted, and has a hipped Swithland slate roof with red clay ridge tiles. The cottage is an example of an early 19th century cottage orné, a picturesque estate cottage with a crenellated porch and prominent bay windows built on the estate of Harrowby Hall, a small country house (see PRN 38187). The cottage is situated to the west of the hall on Halls Hill where it commands fine views over the Vale of Belvoir, and even Lincoln on a clear day. Cartographic evidence suggests that the cottage was built between 1814 and 1824 since the Ordnance Surveyor’s drawing of 1814 depicts a building on the site, probably labelled Garnars Barn (now demolished), from which an avenue of trees extended along the north-east edge of the hill {1}, while the first published map to show the cottage is the Ordnance Survey one inch map of 1824 which labels it Beacon Cottage and again depicts the avenue of trees {2}. The original purpose and use of the cottage is unclear. Pevsner refers to it as a late Georgian gamekeeper’s cottage (and calls it Harrowby Lodge) {3}, but by the time of the mid nineteenth century it was occupied by a tenant who was farming land in the vicinity. The cottage is some distance from any farm buildings, however, and its prominent position on the hill; its herringbone red-brick ha-ha and its finely detailed interiors with their restrained elegance and delicacy of detailing, all carried out using high quality materials, suggests that it may have been built for someone of relatively high status connected with Harrowby Hall, possibly as a dower house or summer house. The 1886 Ordnance Survey map shows that the avenue of trees, which had by this time been reduced in length, is called Lady’s Walk, which also perhaps suggests the high status of an early occupant of the cottage.{4} Beacon Cottage has been subject to a number of alterations but the interior has survived largely unaltered and retains almost all of its original joinery, fireplaces and other fittings, including service bells. The timber sash windows, however, are not original as they are horned, and were probably replaced in the second half of the 19th century. Throughout the early 20th century the tenants kept live-in servants who probably slept in the loft space. During the First and Second World Wars soldiers were billeted at the cottage, leaving evidence of their occupation in the numbers on some of the internal doors. The ha-ha is located on the west side of the cottage. For the full description of this listed building please refer to the National Heritage List for England. {5}
Sources/Archives (5)
- <1> SLI13883 Website: British Library. 2011->. Ordnance Survey Drawings. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/ordsurvdraw/index.html. Grantham 24 (1814).
- <2> SLI3685 Map: Ordnance Survey. 1824-1825. 1 Inch Map - First Edition. 1:63360. -.
- <3> SLI1062 Bibliographic Reference: Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, with Nicholas Antram. 1989. Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Second Edition). p.326.
- <4> SLI9454 Map: Ordnance Survey. 1883-1888. 6 Inch County Series Map - First Edition. 1:10560. sheet 114 SW.
- <5> SLI13386 Website: Historic England (formerly English Heritage). 2011->. The National Heritage List for England. http://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/. 1407925.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 92635 35618 (26m by 64m) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | GRANTHAM, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (1)
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Mar 21 2021 8:35PM
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