Fight over historic cottage demolition plans

An historic cottage dubbed a "rare survivor" of Wolverhampton's agricultural past will be knocked down and replaced with a four-bedroom house, under plans unveiled by a building firm.

But heritage officers are completely against the demolition of Springfield Cottage, a former agricultural worker's home that dates back to the early 1800s.

They say it is a "historical building of local importance" and are against the proposal by Bellway Homes to raze it to the ground.

Bellway wants to knock it down as part of its new 49-property housing estate opposite the former Fordhouses Cricket Club.

The company had originally told council planners it would restore the cottage but it now believes its retention was "economically unviable and impracticable". But Richard Pitt, Wolverhampton planning officer, described Springfield Cottage as a "heritage asset of local distinctiveness".

"The proposed demolition of Springfield Cottage would destroy this last tangible link with the area's rural past and reduce local distrinctiveness," he said.

"Springfield Cottage dates from the early 19th century and was most proable an agricultural worker's cottage.

"The building appears to be shown on the first Ed OS map of 1834. It has historic significance of local importance, in that it is a rare survivor from the area's agricultural past which has been subsumed by surburban development. It provides the area with a sense of place and reflects the past in a very tangible way."

The cottage was made from local hand-made bricks and it still has some of its original doors, stairs and chimney.

Bellway says it needs a lot of work to bring it up to modern-day standards and wants to knock it down and build a four-bedroom house and garage in its place.

Bosses at Wolverhampton City Council's planning committee were discussing the issue at a meeting later today. The demolition plan has been recommended for refusal.