LANDMARKS in the Lutterworth area are among heritage assets which could be preserved for future generations by Harborough District Council (HDC).
The council is asking residents to review the addition of nine new entries to the Local List of Non-Designated Heritage Assets – including an elegant arts and craft style building in Lutterworth, a former tollhouse in Bitteswell, and Husbands Bosworth Airfield.
The three sites have been nominated to the list of assets deemed worthy of protection due to their historic, architectural or archaeological interest.
Nominated on grounds of historic interest, Auburn Place in Bitteswell Road was built by local builder Peter Rourke in 1928 as the home of George Spencer – a major employer, magistrate and benefactor to Lutterworth. In the 1960s the house became part of Lutterworth Grammar School, now Lutterworth College. It is now occupied by the Little Rainbows nursery.
The large arts and crafts style house was designed by William Brandreth Savidge, and is described as ‘a dazzling exercise in 20th century new-tudor’. Craftsmanship used inside the building includes stained glass from the William Morris company.
An example of Second World War infrastructure, Husbands Bosworth Airfield was home to an RAF unit tasked with training crews to undertake night bombing operations. Flying commenced in 1943, and the airfield was decommissioned in 1946.
Post war, the buildings were used by the National Assistance Board to house Polish displaced persons and other refugees until 1958. In 1950 the Polish camp housed over 500 people.
There is a Roll of Honour in the club house to the flight crew who lost their lives while operating from the airfield.
The airfield has been home to the Gliding Centre since 1965 and the East Midlands Air Support Unit since 1996.
Tollgate Cottage in Bitteswell is a rare surviving example of a tollhouse which would have been common along the route, where tolls for the turnpike – part of a private network of toll roads which expanded across the country in the early to mid 18th Century – were collected and access to the road was controlled.
By 1760 the Lutterworth to Ullesthorpe road was part of the national network of turnpikes initiated by George III. Stage coaches and the mail coach all passed through Bitteswell on the way to and from London and Chester or Holyhead.
The cottage is a landmark on the entry to Bitteswell, and its historic character largely survives.
A non-designated heritage list is a way for the council and communities to identify and celebrate buildings, sites and landscapes, and for their significance to be better taken into account in planning applications.
HDC’s heritage spokesman Coun Darren Woodiwiss said: “Heritage assets such as these are an irreplaceable resource and should be conserved in a manner that is appropriate to their significance so that they can be enjoyed for future generations.
“We must carefully consider where development is located in order to ensure that important heritage assets are not adversely affected.”
Visit https://harborough.oc2.uk to take part in the consultation on the Local List of Non-Designated Heritage Assets, which runs until February 27.
