Pauline
Forums Admin
My photo today (see below) was of a small historic building on the edge of the Cotswold Canal in Chalford, in the Stroud area of the Cotswolds.
Some basic info is on www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
Canal Round House, Chalford
English Heritage Building ID: 132864
Date: 1791-2
Coordinates: 51.7209, -2.1583
There is a longer description on the Cotswolds Canals site, where they have PDFs which document every historic thing found along the Cotswolds Canal. The Chalford Round House is described on page 13 on this PDF. I have pasted in their description below.
"This is one of the five famous ‘roundhouses’ on the Thames & Severn Canal, built as lengthsmen’s cottages between 1791-2. Built of worked and coursed rubblestone, originally rendered, there are projecting ashlar band courses at the upper floor levels and stone ‘Gothic’ surrounds to windows and doors. This was one of the two with the simpler conical roof, rather than the inverted funnel roof of the other three.
The ground floor was designed for stabling, and the upper floors, linked by an internal staircase, for living accommodation. The ground floor of this roundhouse is below the level of the canal, so that access to the first-floor original doorway is up only a fairly short flight of steps from the towpath.The building has been modernised to cater for modern living requirements, lacks its original render, and has also been extended. Nevertheless it is relatively intact, an important listed building in its own right, part of a unique type of buildings, and a significant element within the local area"
The Cotswold Canal runs across the southern Cotswolds connecting the River Severn with the River Thames and is being restored. It is a fascinating project and a beautiful canal. And writing this makes me realize it is a good Day Trip for this area, so I am writing it up now.
Some basic info is on www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
Canal Round House, Chalford
English Heritage Building ID: 132864
Date: 1791-2
Coordinates: 51.7209, -2.1583
There is a longer description on the Cotswolds Canals site, where they have PDFs which document every historic thing found along the Cotswolds Canal. The Chalford Round House is described on page 13 on this PDF. I have pasted in their description below.
"This is one of the five famous ‘roundhouses’ on the Thames & Severn Canal, built as lengthsmen’s cottages between 1791-2. Built of worked and coursed rubblestone, originally rendered, there are projecting ashlar band courses at the upper floor levels and stone ‘Gothic’ surrounds to windows and doors. This was one of the two with the simpler conical roof, rather than the inverted funnel roof of the other three.
The ground floor was designed for stabling, and the upper floors, linked by an internal staircase, for living accommodation. The ground floor of this roundhouse is below the level of the canal, so that access to the first-floor original doorway is up only a fairly short flight of steps from the towpath.The building has been modernised to cater for modern living requirements, lacks its original render, and has also been extended. Nevertheless it is relatively intact, an important listed building in its own right, part of a unique type of buildings, and a significant element within the local area"
The Cotswold Canal runs across the southern Cotswolds connecting the River Severn with the River Thames and is being restored. It is a fascinating project and a beautiful canal. And writing this makes me realize it is a good Day Trip for this area, so I am writing it up now.
