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Summary

Late 18th century red brick stable block and garden building at Hertford Castle, later converted into cottages

Monument Types

• COACH HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• GARDEN HOUSE? (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• STABLE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• TERRACE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 461548: (12-16 WATER LANE, HERTFORD)
• Listed Building (II) 461546: (4 WATER LANE, HERTFORD)
• Listed Building (II) 461547: (6-10 WATER LANE, HERTFORD)

Full description

Castle Cottages (4-16 Water Lane) are a two-storey L-plan block at the SW edge of Hertford Castle's grounds. Nos.12-16, with interesting Gothick detail, are the short arm of the L at the NW end; the others are more utilitarian. The entire block was built for the Marquess of Downshire in the late 18th century, in conjunction with his refurbishment of the castle Gatehouse [15821]. As a building is shown here on the 1766 map <2> it is possible that the block incorporates an older structure.
The block is in red brick laid to Flemish bond, with hipped roofs of tile and Welsh slate. Nos.12-16, facing away from the cottages behind, may have originally been a grand garden building before being divided into three dwellings. The five-bay front, with the centre three bays slightly recessed, has all door and window details in stucco, in Gothick style to match the Gatehouse. Inside no.12 on the ground floor is an oval room with shallow domed and alcoved ceiling.
Nos.4-10 were built as the stable block and coach house. With nos.12-16 this made a long two-storey building on a half-H plan, but lost its SE end to the Hertford relief road in 1964. The stable block has paired doors, with the carriage entrance at the SE end; this has a pair of tall battened doors with a re-used timber lintel. In 1971 the block was conveyed to the Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust and refurbished <1>.
By 1881 <3> the building was divided into cottages, each with a small garden backing onto a footpath which ran from Castle Street onto Castle Bridge, a footbridge across the river, floodplain and millstream; this causeway still leads to St Andrew's churchyard and St Andrew's Street.

<1> Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

<2> Dury & Andrews, 1766, A topographical map of Hartford-shire, from an actual survey… (Cartographic material). SHT3062.

<3> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1881 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

Sources and further reading

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