Building record 4701/0/9 - No.85 Hartwell Road

Possible late 17th-century thatched house, originally part of the Grafton Estate. A hoard of post-medieval coins was found in the thatch in the 1950s.

{1} The building is believed to date to the late C17th and may well be the building shown on the Grafton Estate map of 1727, although there are differences in chimney position etc. The house remained the property of the Dukes until the whole estate was put up for sale in 1913. At this time it was purchased by James Malcher, baker.
The thatch, which was up to 4ft thick in places concealed a hoard of post medieval coins which was recorded in the 1950s.These were possibly concealed as a result of the great recoinage of 1696.
The building is a single stone-built dwelling of squared local stone with a pitched roof of corrugated asbestos cement sheets. It is 1.5 storeys high. Four extensions had been built onto the original structure over time, including a garage to the west, a kitchen to the east, an extension on the eastern side of the rear elevation and a full length porch on the principal elevation.
The building may originally have been two separate dwellings.
All windows and doors had been removed prior to the site visit. Recent photographs suggests that these were all modern replacements.
Internally the building was much altered and modernised, leaving very little of architectural or historical interest. The first floor supporting beam showed a straight cut step stop at its western end, common in the late C17th and early C18th. Further detailed description is given along with plans, sections and photographs.
The house appears to be a largely single phase locally built rural dwelling, originally constructed as two dwellings, but later formed into a single dwelling. Maps and the coin hoard found in its thatch suggest that the building is late C17th in date.

<1> Richards G., 2012, An Archaeological Standing Building Survey: 85 Hartwell Road, Ashton, Northamptonshire, p.2-7 (checked) (Report). SNN108439.

<2> Horne B. (Editor), 2014, South Midlands Archaeology (44), p. 32 (Journal). SNN109842.

Record last edited

Aug 5 2021 11:50AM