Building record 445/0/9 - Buswells, Watford Road

House. C.1800. Brick, slate roof, flanking brick stacks. 2 storeys and attic; 3 bays.

{1} House. C.1800. Brick, slate roof, flanking brick stacks. 2 storeys and attic; 3 bays. All windows have flat arched brick surrounds and C20 wood casements. Central doorway with moulded wood surround, flat hood on brackets and 6-panel door. 3-light transomed casement window on either side. Similar 2-light windows to first floor and 2-light casement windows to attic. Brick dentil cornice. Extension to right, c.1800, chequer red and grey brick, incorporating part of an earlier building of coursed ironstone rubble in the right bay, slate roof, brick stack. 2 storeys; 3 bays. Central carriage way with flat brick arch. 3-light transomed casement window in flat arched brick frame to right. C20 doorway with wood lintel in second bay from right, one-light window with wood lintel in third bay from right, and 2-light casement window with wood lintel in right bay. 3-light transomed casement window with wood lintel in right bay on the first floor. 3-light casement window with flat arched brick surround in the left bay and similar 2-light window above the carriage entrance. Brick dentil cornice. Stone coped gable end to right. C20 extension projecting forward from left side of main block is not of special architectural interest. Interior not inspected. Included for group value.

{3} Undated photo;

{4} CFA Archaeology undetook historic building recording on the cellar of No. 6 Watford Road. Crick along with an Observation, Investigation, Recording, Analysis and Publication (OIRAP) within the cellar during remedial works to clean the area after a spillage of heating oil. The cellar at No. 6 Watford Road has an L‑shaped plan with roughly‑coursed stone walls. The north‑east wall is 4.2 m long with a splayed‑reveal window now blocked with modern brick and a cast‑iron grille, while the south‑west rear wall measures 6 m. The south‑east wall is 4.6 m long, and the south corner is subdivided by later inserted brick walls forming a separate space. At the west corner a ladder gives access to a trapdoor above, and the adjoining 2.5 m north‑west wall holds a single stone step and a brick‑blocked opening likely representing the original cellar entrance. A large chamfered spine beam runs SE–NW across the ceiling, supported by the blocked‑stair wall and a brick‑plinth pillar, with joists extending to either side. The back wall contains a brick‑blocked window visible both in the main cellar and the subdivided space. Several low brick supports, generally three courses high, survive along the walls, formerly holding stone cold slabs, and a stepped brick buttress in the east corner probably supported additional shelving. The floor is laid with uniform stone flags (0.25 m × 0.35 m), though these stop short of wall 001, where the surface changes to brick setts.

The watching brief showed that the cellar of the building has undergone serveral phases of use and would have functioned as a cold store with access from the house above via a flight of stone steps in the north west wall. The cellar was constructed using stone and is in stark contrast to the polite red brick exterior of the building above. The function of the cellar has changed over time from its originally use as a cold storage through to a later as coal store and for general storage until the present day were access is now limited to a trap door and access ladder. The watching brief also proved that the cellar was not built on top of an early structure. At the west corner of the ‘L’ plan cellar a ladder was placed to access a trap door leading from the ground floor of the building.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 11/154 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F04 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> Photographs of buildings in Crick (Photographs). SNN111613.

<4> James Chapman and Paul Gwilliam, 2020, Cellar at No. 6 Watford Road, Crick, Northamptonshire: Level 2 Building Recording and observation, investigation, recording, analysis and publication (Report). SNN117024.

Record last edited

Mar 25 2026 12:56PM