Former Greenhouses, Horton Court

Summary

: A grouping of three greenhouses, together with a potting shed and a boiler house, situated in the former Kitchen Garden, which is the plot of land on the other side of the road from the church and manor house. The first mention of them is on a fire insurance schedule dated 12 April 1938, drawn up by the Northern Assurance Company Ltd., Fire Policy No. 5922245, described as: Greenhouse, constructed of brick, timber and glass£50 Greenhouse, constructed of brick, timber, felt and glass£50 Dutch Conservatory, constructed of Brick, iron and glass£50 Potting Shed, timber built and felt roofed£25 Boiler House, similarly constructed to last£25 The buildings were noted on an undated schedule of dilapidations (Wx01:10, file 230), probably around 1954, as needing some work. It is not known when they were demolished but most of what now remains at the site is a large pile of bricks, fragments of window glass, a little limestone rubble and lots of concrete slabs from the floors heaped up together in a large pile. However, the back walls of the two westernmost greenhouses still stand up to 11 courses high and over 15 m. long. A decorative metal stay was found in the remains of a wooden window frame and it has been retained with the other finds from the survey. In the north-west corner of the kitchen garden site there is a bank of earth about 1 m. high with limestone rubble, concrete slabs and the twisted remains of 3-inch steel I-beams and 4-inch cast iron pipework half buried in it. The steelwork appears in the bank in places up to 20 m. east of the corner. This could be the remains of the Dutch Conservatory or the boiler house but if so the insurance survey map must either be i) incorrect, or, more likely, ii) in clearing the site the bulldozer pushed the remains to the edges of the kitchen garden and in so doing created the long mound of earth with pipes in it. Condition: Ruined.

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Description

: A grouping of three greenhouses, together with a potting shed and a boiler house, situated in the former Kitchen Garden, which is the plot of land on the other side of the road from the church and manor house. The first mention of them is on a fire insurance schedule dated 12 April 1938, drawn up by the Northern Assurance Company Ltd., Fire Policy No. 5922245, described as:
Greenhouse, constructed of brick, timber and glass £50
Greenhouse, constructed of brick, timber, felt and glass £50
Dutch Conservatory, constructed of Brick, iron and glass £50
Potting Shed, timber built and felt roofed £25
Boiler House, similarly constructed to last £25
The buildings were noted on an undated schedule of dilapidations (Wx01:10, file 230), probably around 1954, as needing some work. It is not known when they were demolished but most of what now remains at the site is a large pile of bricks, fragments of window glass, a little limestone rubble and lots of concrete slabs from the floors heaped up together in a large pile. However, the back walls of the two westernmost greenhouses still stand up to 11 courses high and over 15 m. long. A decorative metal stay was found in the remains of a wooden window frame and it has been retained with the other finds from the survey.
In the north-west corner of the kitchen garden site there is a bank of earth about 1 m. high with limestone rubble, concrete slabs and the twisted remains of 3-inch steel I-beams and 4-inch cast iron pipework half buried in it. The steelwork appears in the bank in places up to 20 m. east of the corner. This could be the remains of the Dutch Conservatory or the boiler house but if so the insurance survey map must either be i) incorrect, or, more likely, ii) in clearing the site the bulldozer pushed the remains to the edges of the kitchen garden and in so doing created the long mound of earth with pipes in it.
Condition: Ruined.

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