Building record 3523/0/6 - Nos 27 & 29 Chequers Lane

Number 29 Chequers Lane is a late 17th century house of regular coursed limestone with a plain tile roof. It was built as a 2-unit plan farmhouse with a cross passage. Number 27 was added to the west at a later date, probably for another generation of the same family. Number 29 is two storeys high with an attic, the plan form is largely intact with two rooms on either side of a cross passage. The passage has been widened and a staircase inserted. Internally many original features remain including a stone fireplaces, beams and ceiling joists. Number 29 is listed Grade II.

{1} 2 houses. Late C17 and C19. Regular coursed limestone with C20 plain tile and slate roofs. Each originally 2-unit plans. 2 storeys, No. 29 has an attic. Together comprising of a 4-window range. No. 27 has C20 casements and No. 29 has casements with glazing bars under wood lintels. No. 27 has a central C20 porch and No. 29 has central plank door under a wood lintel. No. 27 has C19 roof with brick stack at ridge and No. 29 has a recessed roof dormer, ashlar gable parapets and brick and stone stacks at ends. Right gable has some casements with glazing bars under wood lintels. C20 extension to rear. Interior not inspected.

{4} House, late C17th.
MATERIALS: Regular coursed limestone with a plain tile roof.
PLAN: 2-unit plan with a cross passage.
EXTERIOR: The house is two storeys high with an attic. The south front has four windows on the ground floor, two on the upper floor, and a central C21 porch and door. The windows have modern casements with glazing bars in original openings with old wood lintels. The roof has C20 plain tiles, a recessed dormer, ashlar gable parapets, and brick and stone stacks at the ends. The east gable has three casements with glazing bars under old wood lintels. There is a single-storey C20 extension to the rear.
INTERIOR: The room to the left of the cross passage has a large stone fireplace with a chamfered bressumer and a heavy chamfered axial beam with ceiling joists. To the right of the fireplace is a cupboard with a plank door and strap hinges, which may have housed a staircase. The right-hand room has a corner fireplace with a bressumer and later stone infill. There is a heavy chamfered axial beam with ceiling joists, and a corner winding staircase with two plank doors with strap hinges. On the first floor there are a number of chamfered transverse beams, some with stops. The roof is of butt-purlin type. The purlins and a principal rafter with collar beam are visible in the attic rooms.
HISTORY: No. 29 was built in the late C17 as a 2-unit plan farmhouse with a cross passage. On the 1885 and 1900 Ordnance Survey maps, it appears subdivided into two small cottages. These were converted back into a single residence in the C20.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
29 Chequers Lane is designated at grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* It is a late C17th stone farmhouse, retaining a significant proportion of its original fabric.
* There are a number of features of special interest in the interior including fireplaces, heavy chamfered bridging beams and plank doors.

{5} Undated photo.

{6} No. 27 is a two-storey house of regular coursed limestone with a modern slate roof. The original part is a two-window range with a central 20th century porch. The windows are modern casements with concrete lintels and modern wooden sills. The roof has a brick stack at the ridge but otherwise has been entirely renewed. A large extension was recently built on the west side of the property, with gable ends projecting at the front and back. Another extension was built on the rear east side.

The interior was not inspected at the time of listing, so it is not known to what extent original features survived at the time. The list description mentions 20th century casements, porch and roof covering, so presumably there had already been some alterations. In recent years the property was comprehensively refurbished, with consent. The fireplace and staircase have been rebuilt and the plan-form altered due to the extensions. Some pieces of timber framing have been reused but they are not in their original locations. There are no features of historic interest surviving in the interior.

When 27 Chequers Lane was listed in 1972, it had already undergone external alterations in the 20th century, but the 19th century roof had survived and in the absence of an internal inspection, it would have been assumed that there was a degree of survival in the interior. It is also probable that the inspector had no knowledge of the collapsed front wing. As the building is attached to No. 29, a late 17th century farmhouse which is clearly of special interest and was in the same ownership at the time, the two were listed together. Since that time No. 27 has passed into separate ownership and has undergone a complete programme of modernisation and extension. Little is left of the historic fabric except sections of the stone walls. In the absence of any special interest either externally or internally, this building no longer fulfils the criteria for listing, and should be removed from the list.


{7} No. 29 was built in the late 17th century as a 2-unit plan farmhouse with a cross passage. No. 27 was added to the west at a later date, probably for another generation of the same family. On the 1885 and 1900 Ordnance Survey maps, No. 29 appears subdivided into two small cottages. These were converted back into a single residence in the 20th century.

No. 29 is a late 17th century house of regular coursed limestone with a plain tile roof. It is two storeys high with an attic. The south front has four windows on the ground floor, two on the upper floor, and a central 21st century porch and door. The windows have modern casements with glazing bars in original openings with old wood lintels. The roof has 20th century plain tiles, a recessed dormer, ashlar gable parapets, and brick and stone stacks at the ends. The east gable has three casements with glazing bars under old wood lintels. There is a single-storey 20th century extension to the rear.

The plan form is largely intact and comprises two good-sized heated rooms on either side of a cross passage. The passage was widened, presumably when the house was divided into two cottages, and a staircase has been inserted. The left room has a large stone fireplace with a chamfered bressumer and a heavy chamfered axial beam with ceiling joists. To the right of the fireplace is a cupboard with a plank door and strap hinges, which may have housed the original winding staircase. The right-hand room has a corner fireplace with a bressumer and later stone infill. There is a long and heavy chamfered axial beam with ceiling joists, and a corner winding staircase with two plank doors with strap hinges. On the first floor there are a number of chamfered transverse beams, some with stops. The roof is of butt-purlin type. The purlins and a principal rafter with collar beam are visible in the attic rooms.

29 Chequers Lane is a substantially intact pre-1700 building, and as such it continues to have special architectural and historic interest. It has not been altered externally since it was listed, barring the addition of a front porch. The interior, not inspected at the time of listing, has proven on recent inspection to have a significant proportion of good historic fabric surviving. No. 29 clearly merits retention on the List of Buildings of Special Interest. The list entry for 27-29 Chequers Lane should therefore be amended to remove No. 27 and add an interior description for No. 29.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 7/152 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G05 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<3> HET Buildings Conservation Team, 1993-2006, Buildings Planning Files, G137/2/11 (part checked) (HET Planning File (Buildings)). SNN105512.

<4> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2010, Amendment to The List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 7/152 (checked) (Schedule). SNN106694.

<5> Photographs of buildings in Grendon (Photographs). SNN111740.

<6> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Dr D Dishon, HPA, 23 December 2009 (Report). SNN111579.

<7> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Dr D Dishon, HPA, 23 December 2008 (Report). SNN111579.

Record last edited

Feb 12 2024 2:50PM