Barkway Carriage Wash also known as the Wagon Wash, Barkway, Hertfordshire

Summary

A carriage wash with C17 origins, with side walls rebuilt in the C18 or C19.

Description

MATERIALS: red brick laid in English Bond.

PLAN: a wedge-shaped structure with two non-parallel walls oriented roughly west to east: the walls lying further apart towards the east, and between the walls is a brick lining under the water.

DESCRIPTION: the red brick side walls are approximately 1.5m high from the ground level, and are believed to be approximately 3m high in total including the part beneath the waterline. The walls are laid in English Bond and topped with brick coping, with shallow brick buttresses at roughly 1.5m intervals. They enclose a water-filled area lined with brick, which slopes at either end for a carriage or cart to be driven in and out. There are reported to be brick walkways on either side, next to the side walls, to enable the person washing the carriage to reach it, these were under the waterline and not visible at the time of inspection (July 2023). The north wall contains a small opening just above ground level, probably to allow rainwater to drain from the road. There is a further retaining wall to the south-east, containing an arched entrance to an exit culvert. This was covered with an early-C21 grill at the time of survey.

History

Barkway was a coaching town from the late medieval period to the C19. It was a frequent stopping point on the coach route between London and the North East of England.

Coaches and carriages had to be washed periodically. They had wooden wheels with metal tyres, and in warm, dry weather the wood could shrink causing spokes to fall out, or the loss of the metal tyres. To prevent this, coaches and carts were regularly driven into water to soak the wood. In many places, where there was a convenient shallow watercourse, the carriages would be washed and wheels soaked there. In some locations, where there was no naturally occurring shallow water, a carriage wash was formed. The most basic were dug-out pits with a shallow incline each end, to allow the vehicle to be drawn in and out. Sometimes the carriage wash had a stone or brick lining, and retaining walls each side, and sometimes a raised brick or stone walkway each side so a person could reach to wash the sides of the carriage. These structures were known variously as a “carriage wash”, a “carriage splash”, a “wagon wash” or a “cart wash”.

The carriage wash in Barkway is believed to have been in-situ since 1600, according to a plaque affixed to it. The current brick sides to the structure appear to date from the C18-C19 and be contemporary with the churchyard wall on the other side of the street: both walls are of the same red brick laid in English bond with brick coping and regularly-spaced shallow brick buttresses.

The carriage wash became redundant in the C20 and partially silted up. It is reported that it was regularly used in the C20 to replenish the water supplies in steam tractors. A survey of the structure carried out in 2020, commissioned by Barkway Parish Council, revealed the existence of brick-lined culverts leading from ponds 40m to the north that are the original water source for the carriage wash. The culvert section to the opening at the roadside in front of the lychgate was replaced with concrete in the C20.

Reasons for Listing

The carriage wash at Barkway, a structure with C17 origins with side walls built in the C18 or C19 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an unusual survival of a carriage wash, a rare building type;
* as one of the earliest known examples of a carriage wash;
* as a reminder of the historic importance of Barkway as a former coaching stop on the route north from London.

Group value:

* with the Grade I listed Church of St Mary Magdalene with its churchyard wall built at the same time as the rebuilt side walls of the Carriage Wash, in a matching style.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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