Monument record 14993 - Site of West House, Chester Road, Hartford

<1> L-P Archaeology, 2018, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment: Abbey Lodge, Hartford, R4341 (Client Report). SCH8748.

A desk-based assessment was produced in 2018 for land at Abbey Lodge, Abbey Lane, Hartford, in support of a proposal to demolish the existing building and replace it with a residential development. The building, a mid to later nineteenth century house with associated garden, lies in the centre of the village. It is thought to be an outbuilding associated with a large house, West House, the site of which is located just to the north.

A building at the location of West House is depicted on the Tithe Map for Hartford dating to 1841. The building lies in plot 79 described as 'House and Garden', owned by Joshua Hinchcliffe and occupied by John Twiss. The adjacent plot, plot 78, is called 'Smithy Field' used as pasture and also owned by Hinchcliffe and Twiss. It is thought that the two plots were part of a wider complex relating to a Smithy located to the north of the site.

The 1873 edition of the Ordnance Survey map shows the site in more detail. The house and gardens to the north are named as West House. Plots 78 and 79 have been merged to form a larger garden for the property and outbuildings have been constructed to the south. These outbuildings, which now are the only extant buildings of the complex, were built between 1841 and 1873. The change in site layout may be linked to the growth of Hartford at this time. It is likely that property to the north had been purchased, name West house, and the new owners constructed outbuildings and integrated the open space to the south into the garden. There is no change on the 1897 OS map. By the 1938 OS map, West House is no longer depicted and its site is now occupied by a series of detached and semi-detached properties fronting onto Chester Road.