Building record 5954 - Site of Sandiford Lodge, Cotebrook

<1> Vale Royal Borough Council, 2006, Vale Royal Borough Council's List of Locally Important Buildings (Report). SCH5487.

Criterion (C): Buildings Formerly Listed at Grade III which are no longer on the statutory list.

<2> Vale Royal Borough Council, 1977-79, The Vale Royal Borough Council Historic Buildings Survey Index Card, DEL/HB 1 (Paper Archive). SCH5481.

Late eighteenth century, much altered. Walls: brick rendered, dentil course to south. Roof: thin slates, plain even courses. Windows: vertical sliding sash, recessed. Doors: (to front) four fielded panels, square head. Condition: good.

<3> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 11/26 (Report). SCH1934.

Eighteenth century late, much altered and added to, formerly farmhouse, two storeys three windows with wings to south and west. Slate roof. Brick, roughcast. Recessed sash windows, with glazing bars. Interior. A few original features.

<4> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Hayes D, 2005-6 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

Sandiford Lodge was once a grade III listed building. The old description states that it is much altered and that few original internal features survive. Therefore, it is understandable why it wasn’t considered to be good enough to meet the criteria for grade II during the mid-1980s resurvey. However, as a former grade Ill property, it is on the Council's list of locally important buildings.

There is an old record sheet from 1977 showing a small photo of a part of the property in which it has vernacular Georgian characteristics, roughcast grey render, vertical sash windows with applied stucco dressing surrounds, the lower with external shutters and a small flat roofed porch with small pane windows and four panel Georgian door. The larger element to the south is only just visible on the photo. Externally, it is much altered from that old photograph. The sash windows are gone, replaced by PVCu with mock glazing bars. The external shutters are gone as is the old porch, which has been replaced by an over-scaled grandiose "Georgian" effect feature with double columns to each end supporting the canopy. The taller two storey element to the south presents nothing of real character to the highway, being essentially a blank wall. To the south it has an over-sized construction, again seemingly in PVCu, of a ground floor conservatory design with a first-floor veranda above, almost like an out of scale sports pavilion. It has pretentions, rather than character. The two elements do not sit well with each other in terms of design and massing and neither seems to be of the correct scale for itself.

Whatever character once existed in 1977 and before has been lost. The current elevational mass is, overall, rather a crude design using cheap mass-produced details to give it a shallow character. To the north, the original, separate barn complex appears to have been converted and gentrified. A further "Georgian" PVCu porch of a simpler appearance has been applied to its north elevation. This separate unit adds to the overall massing impact of the group, which appears to have once been a farm complex.

<5> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 20/03/2024 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Planning permission for demolition (05-1981-FUL), due to the very poor structural condition of the building, was granted in January 2006.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ5766, 1898 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

Named Woodbine Lodge on this map.