Building record 7203/34 - Ferrers Mere (formerly known as 'Nenehurst'), 142 Northampton Road

House constructed in the late 19th century for local leather merchant Arthur Cave. It was owned by John White by 1926.

{1} Assessment
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
Historic England has received an application to assess Ferrers Mere in Rushden for listing. A live planning
application for the demolition of the buildings on site and the erection of a 66-bedroom care home is currently being considered by North Northamptonshire Council (reference NE/24/00335/FUL).
HISTORY AND DETAILS
Ferrers Mere (originally known as ‘Nenehurst’) is understood to have been constructed in around 1896, with an advertisement for a governess for the residence appearing in a local newspaper in August 1900.
The house was constructed for local leather merchant Arthur Cave, the original architect for the building is not currently known. By the early C20, the dwelling had changed ownership and in 1926 was purchased by John White, an influential local shoe manufacturer, with the John White company becoming the largest boot and shoe-making business in Britain by 1935. The sales particulars for the 1926 auction note that Nenehurst had three reception rooms, seven bedrooms, a billiard room and a substantial garage and outbuildings. The noted garages and outbuildings were constructed during the first decades of the C20 and are present by the 1926 Ordnance Survey map. Under White’s ownership, several alterations to the house were made under the direction of the architect Sir Albert Richardson. These alterations included internal remodelling, the addition of semi-circular bay windows on the south and west façades, and the erection of decorative iron entrance gates. It is during this period that the building is understood to have been renamed ‘Ferrers Mere’.
The dwelling is constructed of brick with stone dressings under a slate roof. The building’s principal elevation faces south and is over two storeys with slightly projecting gables and later, curved bay windows to either end of the façade. There are tall brick end stacks to the rear of the gables. Between the bay windows, the façade is set back with the principal entrance situated at the east end under a stone four-centred arch with moulded entablature above. The first floor of this section of the building overhangs the ground floor and is supported by large corbels. The west elevation of the building has an additional semi-circular bay window topped with conical roof. All of the bay windows have stone mullions and transoms and have leaded lights. To the rear, the principal house is connected to a former early-C20 outbuilding by a later glazed link building. To the north of the dwelling is an early-C20 garage oriented west to east with the garage openings facing north. There is a further outbuilding at the very north-east end of the site which has been extended to the west in the later C20.
DISCUSSION
The Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (DCMS, November 2018) sets out the statutory criteria for designation explaining that, to be added to the List, buildings must be of special architectural and historic interest. The guidance states that buildings dating from 1700 to 1850 which retain a significant proportion of their original fabric are likely to be regarded of special interest, though some selection is necessary; due to the number of buildings constructed after 1850, greater selectivity is needed when considering structures built after this date.
The Historic England Listing Selection Guide: Domestic 3: Suburban and Country Houses (December 2017) provides further context for the assessment of this specific building type.
Judged against the criteria and the considerations in our supplementary guidance, Ferrers Mere does not meet the criteria for listing.
Degree of Architectural interest:
* the dwelling is a standard example of a late-C19 villa, updated and extended in the early C20, while not without interest it does not possess the requisite architectural quality or innovation in its design;
* the early-C20 alterations by the architect Sir Albert Richardson are of some interest in themselves but not sufficient to merit national listing.
Degree of Historic interest:
* the dwelling has interest for its association both with the shoemaker John White and the architect Sir Albert Richardson, who carried out alterations in the early C20, but this does not outweigh the architectural
modesty and standard design.
CONCLUSION
Ferrers Mere is of local interest for its association with John White and alterations by the architect Sir
Albert Richardson; however, it lacks the special interest required for statutory listing a building of this date.

<1> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Heritage Protection Adviser, 14th June 2024 (Report). SNN111579.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:02PM