North Hertfordshire District Council
Croft Lane (Letchworth)
Conservation Area Character Statement
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited – November 2019
3 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
November 2019
Doc Ref. 41545-WOD-XX-XX_RP-OH-0028_SO_P01
Contents
1. Background 4
1.1 Introduction 4
1.2 Setting of Conservation Area 4
1.3 Historical Development 4
2. Character and Special Interest 5
2.1 Character 5
2.2 Statement of Special Interest 6
3. Key Assets and Views 7
3.1 Designated Heritage Assets 7 Listed Buildings 7
3.2 Non-designated Heritage Assets 7 Buildings of Local Interest 7 Buildings or Features that make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the conservation area 7
3.3 Key Views 8
4. Opportunities for Improvement 9
5. Bibliography 10
Appendix A Conservation Area Map Appendix B Photographs
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1. Background
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Croft Lane (Letchworth) Conservation Area was designated by North Hertfordshire District Council
in 1979 and its boundary was amended in 1991. The boundary includes Croft Lane, west of the
village of Norton, the very northern part of Cashio Lane, and seven of the houses on the east side
of Cashio Lane.
1.1.2 This report has been produced for the purpose of appraising the character of that Conservation
Area. It includes a character assessment highlighting key features, a statement of special interest, a
list of designated heritage assets, undesignated heritage assets and key views within the
Conservation Area, and opportunities for improvement. It is accompanied by an annotated map of
the Conservation Area which can be found in Appendix A. This report does not consider potential
boundary changes in the Conservation Area.
1.2 Setting of Conservation Area
1.2.1 The Conservation Area is in an essentially suburban setting, on the edge of Letchworth Garden City
and adjacent to the village of Norton, of which it is historically part. Although there is some
surviving agricultural and orchard land to the north of Croft Lane, the Conservation Area is
otherwise almost completely surrounded by suburban residential development, however this is
generally not visible from the streets within it.
1.3 Historical Development
1.3.1 Croft Lane is historically part of the village of Norton and its two large farm buildings remain as
evidence of the area’s rural past. Ordnance Survey maps of the late 19th century show the street
barely populated with the exception of farm buildings and a small group of cottages at the north
end of west end of Croft Lane, none of which remain today.
1.3.2 In the first decade of the 20th century, the development of Letchworth Garden City placed the new
city and surrounding suburban residential areas over the villages of Letchworth, Willian and Norton.
Croft Lane was developed as a residential street at this time, from around 1905 onwards, though is
notably occupied by larger villa type houses than are seen in the surrounding residential streets. It
is also distinguished for containing buildings by important Letchworth Garden City architects Parker
& Unwin, architect of Letchworth’s Spirella Building Cecil Hignett, and architect of Letchworth’s
‘£150 houses’ Geoffry Lucas.
1.3.3 Since the principal phase of development between around 1905 and 1911, other plots have been
filled with houses of a similar scale and the east end of Croft Lane appears to have been developed
more recently, towards the end of the 20th century.
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2. Character and Special Interest
2.1 Character
2.1.1 Croft Lane is a very small Conservation Area whose interest is very much confined to the
interrelation of houses and the streets due to the almost complete lack of long views either
through or out of it. It consists of two streets, Croft Lane and part of Cashio Lane, that despite some
earlier development are defined by a series of early 20th century buildings related to the expansion
of Letchworth Garden City, including two by Parker & Unwin.
2.1.2 Norton Grange Farmhouse (NHLE 1102027), Paynes Farmhouse (NHLE 1174144) and Thatches
(NHLE 1347675), of the 17th, 18th and 18th centuries respectively, are the three timber buildings
within the Conservation Area, the former two being sat opposite each other on Croft Lane as part
of U-shaped farm complexes, each with farmland behind. Thatches is east of these and
demonstrates well the situation of Croft Lane as historically a peripheral part of the village of
Norton, this being close to the ponds that sat at the centre of that village.
2.1.3 Through the rest of the Conservation Area, building is in brick and includes a significant set of
buildings connected to the founding of Letchworth Garden City. Treetops (1910) (NHLE 1102023)
and The White Cottage (1906) (NHLE 1347674) are both the work of Parker & Unwin, the architects
of Letchworth Garden City itself. The White Cottage is in roughcast brick with a thatched and tiled
roof and casement windows, with entrance via a ‘stoep’ (a South African style veranda with
recessed entrance) on the south side, a feature seen on other Parker & Unwin buildings in North
Hertfordshire. Treetops is also in roughcast brick, with a tiled roof over two projecting wings with
casement windows. The Three Gables (1907) (NHLE 1295871) and Croft Corner (1911) (NHLE
1102026) were both designed by Cecil Hignett, famously the architect of The Spirella Building in
Letchworth, the former for his own occupation. The former (Figure 2.1) is in roughcast brick with
thatched roof with eyebrow dormers and casement windows throughout. Croft Corner (Figure 2.2),
on an angle at the meeting of Croft Lane and Cashio Lane, is also in roughcast brick with thatched
roof and a substantial dormer containing casement windows. The remainder of the windows are
small casements, which makes for a very distinctive appearance for this prominent building.
Numbers 5-7 Croft Lane (1905-06) (NHLE 1245306) by Geoffry Lucas are in roughcast brick over a
brick plinth with casement windows and plain tile roof, and are notably similar in style to some of
his other buildings in Letchworth, for instance the ‘£150 houses’ at Paddock Close, and Hampstead
Garden Suburb
2.1.4 Through the remainder of the Conservation Area, buildings are of a comparable style and size to
these early ones. The exception is the east end of Croft Lane where the buildings are modern in-fill
between Thatches and The Three Gables, these in a variety of styles. All are in brick with gable-
ended roof and tend towards relatively square plans, in contrast to the rectangular plans of most of
the earlier buildings. This appears to be a consequence of their occupying smaller plots of land.
2.1.5 All of the buildings in the Conservation Area are set back from the road behind gardens which are
themselves separated from the road by tall hedges and other planting, creating a secluded feel
from the roadside and presumably also within individual properties. There are noticeably more
street trees west of Paynes and Norton Grange farmhouses and this locates the more enclosed-
feeling part of the Conservation Area to this part of it, i.e. around the earlier 20th century buildings.
The more modern properties on Croft Lane are distinguished from the overall style by having front
gardens with less definition to the street or lower fences than elsewhere. Norton Grange
Farmhouse is set behind a low white fence. There is a pavement on the south side of Croft Lane
which has, for the most part, a grass verge between it and the road. The kerbs here are stone.
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2.2 Statement of Special Interest
2.2.1 The special interest of Croft Lane Conservation Area lies in its connection to the foundation of
Letchworth Garden City and its having within it a series of significant buildings by key Letchworth
Garden City architects, Parker & Unwin, Cecil Hignett and Geoffry Lucas.
2.2.2 Although the Conservation Area has been further developed since its primary phase of
development in the early 20th century, later housing has maintained the separation of houses
established therein. Later development, towards the end of the 20th century, has introduced houses
of lower architectural significance, but still maintaining something of the character of the area as
originally designed.
2.2.3 Due to planting in front of almost all properties in the Conservation Area, long views are almost
entirely absent and it retains something of a rural feel, despite being almost entirely surrounded by
suburban residential streets of Letchworth Garden City.
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3. Key Assets and Views
3.1 Designated Heritage Assets
Listed Buildings
List Entry Name Grade NGR
1174144 Paynes Farmhouse II TL 22592 34190
1347674 The White Cottage II TL 22427 34196
1347675 Thatches II TL 22733 34159
1295871 The Three Gables II TL 22528 34138
1102023 Treetops II TL 22414 34007
1102026 Croft Corner II TL 22361 34090
1102027 Norton Grange Farmhouse II TL 22597 34151
1245306 5 And 7, Croft Lane II TL 22394 34153
3.2 Non-designated Heritage Assets
Buildings of Local Interest
3.2.1 Recommendations for buildings to be included on North Hertfordshire’s Register of Buildings of
Local Interest will be included in the Summary Report at the conclusion of the project.
Buildings or Features that make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of the
conservation area
3.2.2 The following non-designated buildings are considered to make a positive contribution to the
character or appearance of Croft Lane Conservation Area. These buildings have been selected
through the contribution they make to the character of the Conservation Area.
7 Croft Lane
8 Croft Lane
1a and 1b Croft Lane
10 Cashio Lane
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3.3 Key Views
3.3.1 Four Key Views have been identified within Croft Lane Conservation Area as follows:
KV1: From the north end of Cashio Lane, south along Cashio Lane
KV2: West along Croft Lane from outside 11 Croft Lane
KV3: East along Croft Lane from south of Paynes Farm
KV4: West along Croft Lane from north of Thatches
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4. Opportunities for Improvement
4.1.1 The following opportunities for improvement have been identified within Croft Lane Conservation
Area.
consideration should be given to street tree planting to the east side of the Conservation Area,
between Paynes and Norton Grange farmhouses, and Thatches which would provide a greater
level of unity in character across it.
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5. Bibliography
Online mapping from National Museum of Scotland <https://maps.nls.uk/>
Bettley, J., Pevsner, N. & Cherry, B. 2002. Hertfordshire. London: Yale University Press
Victoria County History. 1912. A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 3. London: Victoria County History
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Appendix A
Conservation Area Map
.
© Historic England 2019. Contains Ordnance Survey data © CrownCopyright. All rights reserved. Licence number AL 100001776.
CROFT LANE
1102023
1102026
1102027
1174144
1245306
1295871
1347674
1347675
KV4KV3
KV2
KV1
522400 522600
2340
0023
4200
North Hertfordshire District CouncilConservation Area Character Statement
Croft Lane
September 2019
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Note:The Historic England GIS data contained in this material was obtainedon 26/06/2019. The most publicly available up to date Historic EnglandGIS Data can be obtained from http://www.historicengland.org.uk
Conservation areaListed Buildings
#* Grade I
#* Grade II*
#* Grade IIScheduled ancient monumentHistoric parks and gardensHeritage at risk
E Significant key viewBuilding or feature that contributesto the character of theConservation areaSignificant areas of trees
qp Significant treeSignificant green spaceSignificant blue space
B1 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
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Appendix B
Photographs
B.1 Character Photographs
Figure 2.1: The Three Gables by Cecil Hignett, 1907 grade II property on Croft Lane, NHLE 1295871
B2 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
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Figure 2.2: Croft Corner by Cecil Hignett, 1911 grade II on the corner of Cashio Lane and Croft Lane, NHLE
1102026
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B.2 Key Views
KV1: From the north end of Cashio Lane looking south along Cashio Lane. This view demonstrates the more
suburban nature of Cashio Lane as it runs south from Croft Lane into Letchworth Garden City.
B4 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
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KV2: West along Croft Lane from outside 11 Croft Lane
B5 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
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KV3: East along Croft Lane from south of Paynes Farm, demonstrating the rural nature of much of Croft Lane.
B6 © Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions UK Limited
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KV4: West along Croft Lane from north of Thatches
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