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Doddershall Lodge
THE HS2 HISTORIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROJECT
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THE LODGE AND DRIVEWAY AT DODDERSHALL (left): the high-speed rail line would pass exactly through the arch, demolishing the lodge, as shown by the HS2 engineering plan (below), where the line runs from left to right. |
IF THE CONSTRUCTION of HS2 goes ahead, the Lodge that gives access to Doddershall House and its estate will be completely
obliterated. The line goes exactly through its carriage arch.
The Lodge is an unlisted building known to have been built in the 1890s when the construction of the Great Central Railway required the diversion of the original driveway to Doddershall House. This may have involved the adaptation of an older building on the site, but if so this is well-hidden behind external rendering and internal panelling.
A detailed building survey carried out by members of the Society indicates that the Lodge was built in two phases, with the south wing added in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Most significantly, the survey identified various historic features and fittings at the Lodge – chimney stacks, leaded-light casement windows, moulded cross-beams and pillars, a reconstructed staircase and arched doors and doorways – which may be of an earlier date than the building itself. These may have been recycled as a result of building work at the 16th-century Doddershall House, so deserve further investigation because they may throw light on the past history of the House.
If the construction of HS2 goes ahead as planned, the survey recommends that the Lodge might be reconstructed on another site, but as a minimum its historic features and fixtures should be rescued
For full details and recommendations, see:
Doddershall Lodge : BAS Report 2013-04 December 2013
PHOTO by John Sheldon. MAP by HS2 Limited.