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Summary

A showpiece estate of 64 cottages built by the Bedford Estate in 1850 to house miners.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1163282: WESTBRIDGE COTTAGES

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47SE/53
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 93482

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSING ESTATE (Built, XIX - 1850 AD to 1850 AD (Throughout))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

Map object based on this source.

Devon County Council, 1975, Tavistock Town Walk, 91 (Article in Monograph). SDV352474.

Wesbridge Cottages were built by the Dukes of Bedford in the 1850s and 1860s to house miners.

Brayshay, M., 1982, The Duke of Bedford's Model Cottages in Tavistock,1840-1870, 118,119,121, figure 2, 4a,6b (Article in Serial). SDV242448.

The copper mining boom of the mid 19th century created a need for new housing in Tavistock for mine workers. Over the period from 1845-1860 eight fairly large groups of cottages were built by the Bedford Estate. The largest group were located near West Bridge where a 'showpiece' estate of 64 terraced cottages was built in 1850.

Department of Environment, 1983, Tavistock, 32 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV272550.

The Tavistock and District Local History Society, 1994, About Tavistock: An Historical Introduction and Six Town Walks, 15, 24 (Monograph). SDV354806.

West Devon Borough Council, 1995, Tavistock Conservation Area Partnership Bid, 2-7 (Report - non-specific). SDV351526.

West Devon Borough Council, 1996, Tavistock Conservation Area Partnership Action Plan, 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV351527.

Miller, E. J., 2007, 63 Westbridge Cottages (Correspondence). SDV363547.

orrespondence regarding proposal to remove two granite posts as part of the planning application to extend the property and the fact that one of the posts has already been removed. The writer comments that external features such as gates, boot jacks and the granite posts were part of the original design of the estate. The fact that many of these features have disappeared makes it all the more important to preserve what still survives.

Mike Hooper Architects, 2007, Design & Access statement for: Extension and Alterations to 63 Westbridge Cottages, Plymouth Road, Tavistock (Un-published). SDV351166.

Design and access statement regarding proposed works to provide a ground floor extension at the rear of the dwelling and also to extend the existing external store.

Context One Archaeological Services, 2009, 142-152 Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon: An Archaeological Watching Brief, 3; figure 1, site 1 (Report - Watching Brief). SDV344587.

West Devon Borough Council, 2009, Tavistock Conservation Area Management Plan, 22, 29, 39-40 (Report - non-specific). SDV351411.

The four groups of listed Bedford Cottages in Parkwood Road, Dolvin Road, Fitzford and Westbridge, are all suffering from a variety of unauthorised alterations. Many of these have taken place since the buildings were listed. They are a unique and valuable survival from Tavistock's industrial past, are of national importance, and must be preserved and enhanced for future generations.

English Heritage, 2010, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV154869.

Westbridge Cottages. Dated 1850. One of the Duke of Bedford's housing schemes for his miners. Ten rows of cottages at right angles to the road having 4, 5, 6 or 8 dwellings in each row. Two storeys stone rubble, some colour-washed. Hipped slate roofs. Gables to half-dormers. Casement windows, some altered, one to each property. Gabled weather porches. End cottages have porches in end elevations. Brick chimneystacks, some pointed.

Ordnance Survey, 2012, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV348725.

Map object based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4694 - Archaeological Watching Brief at 142-152 Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon

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