Building record 5993/0/8 - Apple Store, Ashton Wold Estate

The Apple Store was constructed in circa 1900 and rebuilt in the early 21st century; it was designed soley for storing apples and soft fruits harvested from the nearby walled garden. The building is a single storey, timber-framed structure set on a brick plinth. It has 21st century weatherboard cladding and gable roof covered with reed thatch. The building has not been in use for some time and the wicker and linen storage facilities and racking no longer remain.

{1} The Ashton Estate, stretching from the River Nene near Oundle in the west to Ashton Wold in the east, has been occupied since Roman times. In the 18th century it was a well-known sporting estate, with avenues of chestnut trees planted in a cross as rides, and a number of fox coverts. In the early 19th century the estate was owned by William Walcot and was largely farmed by tenants, with Ashton Wold continuing as a sporting ground. However, there is no evidence that it had ever contained a manor house, and when in 1860 it was purchased by Lionel Rothschild the sale particulars describe it as 'a very valuable and important landed estate', with sporting advantages, but no house adapted for the occupation of a gentleman. Both Lionel Rothschild and his son Nathaniel Mayer, 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915), showed little interest in the estate, and the only structural work undertaken in the 19th century was the building of a hunting lodge at Ashton Wold. However, when Lord Rothschild's second son, the renowned naturalist Nathaniel Charles (1877-1923) - known as Charles - discovered Ashton by accident, he was so impressed by the rich fauna and flora of Ashton Wold that he persuaded his father to build him a house on the site of the hunting lodge. In 1900 Lord Rothschild commissioned William Huckvale to design not only a house, but a model farm, an entire complement of estate buildings which included the Steward's house, stables, gardeners' accommodation, a building to house a fire engine, a petrol store, kennels (now derelict) and a dog hospital. Most of the cottages at nearby Ashton were rebuilt to create a model village.

High quality design and workmanship were consistent themes throughout the estate, where traditional vernacular building traditions - Collyweston stone slate and thatch roof coverings, steeply pitched roofs, tall chimneys, limestone masonry walling and dressings and mullioned windows were all faithfully referenced. Simple working buildings - cart hovels, wash houses and potting sheds - were consciously afforded the same care as were the dwellings, farmsteads and garden structures.

The Apple Store was a functional building on the estate, designed solely for storing the apples and other soft fruits harvested from the nearby walled garden and orchards. Although the fruit was grown principally for the main occupants of the house, it was also supplied to the gardeners and other estate workers. The building has not been in use for some time; the interior timber frame, external cladding and thatched roof covering have recently been replaced. The wicker and linen storage facilities and racking no longer remain.

The Apple Store was constructed in circa 1900, rebuilt in the early 21st century. It is a single storey timber-framed building, set on a brick plinth, with 21st century exterior weatherboard cladding and gable roof, reed thatch-covered with decorative ridge detailing and deeply oversailing eaves. The long east and west elevations are blind; there is a timber door with pintle hinge and blocked window above at the south elevation and a window at the north.

The timber-framing, although of good craftsmanship, is entirely early 21st century. There are no interior fixtures and fittings of historic interest.

Although rebuilt with craftsmanship, the Apple Store is thus an early 21st century reconstruction and does not possess special architectural or historic interest in the national perspective but does have local interest for its relationship with other buildings on the Ashton Wold Estate.

<1> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File (Report). SNN111579.

<2> ENGLISH HERITAGE, Pastscape, No. 1512617 (Website). SNN109137.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 6:57PM