History

Doldowlod was purchased by the engineer James Watt of Soho, Birmingham, in 1803 and was developed as a country residence by his son James Watt junior (1769-1848) of Birmingham in the second quarter of the C19. The present house was built in the 1840s as an extension to an existing farmhouse, which was demolished when the house was further extended in the 1870s. The courtyard building and farm range were built in 2 phases after James Watt Gibson-Watt (1831-91) inherited Doldowlod in 1874, both of which are shown, with an L-shaped cow house, on the 1889 Ordnance Survey. Part of it was converted to a squash court in the second quarter of the C20.

Exterior

A 2-storey outbuilding of coursed rubble stone and slate roof on projecting, plastered eaves, which is hipped to the SE side and gabled to the NW. Added roof lights light the squash court. Built on steep ground, the building faces the service yard on the N side and the farmyard on lower ground to the S. On the N side is an inserted doorway to the L under a wooden lintel (without doors), which has freestone dressings in its R jamb only. To its R is a round-headed boarded door with overlight, then a cross window under a flat stone arch. A full-height vertical joint on its R side distinguishes the 2 phases of the building. In the R-hand section of the building are inserted double boarded doors and a window to the R with louvres. The SE end wall has 2 wooden small-pane cross windows in the upper storey.

In the rear wall, facing the farmyard, is a full-height vertical joint distinguishing the 2 phases. The R-hand section has 2 camber-headed upper-storey windows, of which the L has wooden cross window and the R is blocked. The L-hand section has 2 wooden cross windows. In the lower storey are 4 round-headed doorways, part infilled to the centre-R and blocked to the R. The SE end wall has a similar round-headed doorway, part infilled with brick, a round-headed doorway with boarded door and overlight to the R, and a lean-to at the R end.

Attached to the NW side is an L-shaped cow house probably added to an existing retaining wall. It has a rubble-stone rear wall but a timber-framed, weatherboarded front, with boarded doors and some inserted glazing, and monopitch slate roof.

Interior

The lower storey has a beamed ceiling to the NW side and brick tunnel vault to the SE side.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its special interest as a service building retaining definite C19 character, in spite of some alteration, forming part of a strong group of courtyard buildings on the N side of the main house.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29506160

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)