Orchard Cottage - 6 Luton Road Wilshamstead

6 Luton Road March 2012

6 Luton Road, Orchard Cottage, stands a long way back from Luton Road. It was listed by English Heritage in May 1984 and dated to the 18th century. It is a timber-framed structure with colourwashed plaster rendering and a thatched roof. The cottage was larger than many built at the time, with three rooms, instead of the more usual two, downstairs. It has one storey with attics beneath a thatched roof. There is a 20th century flat-roofed addition to the south-east gable end.

The cottage was part of the Haynes Estate, which also owned the Manor of Wilshamstead. The estate was owned by the Lords Carteret and, when the title became extinct, the family reverted to their original surname of Thynne, continuing to own the estate until 1914 when it was put up for sale in over two hundred lots.

The sale particulars [X67/406] described the cottage thus: “The Detached Freehold Cottage and Garden known as No. 123 Luton Road, Wilstead, with rough cast walls and thatched roof (originally Two Cottages but now converted into One). The accommodation comprises: Two Living Rooms, Scullery, and Four Bed Rooms over, Two Barns with pantiled roofs. Let at a Rental of £4 per annum”.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. Like most of the county, Wilshamstead was largely assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the cottage [DV1/C66/55] found that it was owned and occupied by R. Hebbes.

Accommodation comprised a parlour, a passage way, a living room and a bedroom downstairs with two further bedrooms above. A weather-boarded and tiled washhouse stood outside. The valuer noted “extra garden” – the cottage stood in just under a third of an acre and stood (and stands) quite a way back from the road.