Obviously a complete analysis of the house types and structures available in Fitzhugh would be an extensive project, requiring the cooperation of the entire community so I will take our own house as a typical example and add notes and comments as and when they are contributed.
The typical property is a three bed roomed terrace, built typically in a local red brick - hand made at the turn of the century, with a yellow local brick being offered as a second option. Roofs were originally a dark grey slate ( though now replaced by concrete tiles) and windows typically the wooden vertical sashes of that period, with a bay window in the front. A small frontage typically bordered by a low brick wall provided space for bins and perhaps a few plants, with a small storm porch giving some shelter to the front door. Some of the older front walls look as though they might have supported railings, which would probably have been removed in the second world war to help cope with the shortage of steel.
The rear gardens can vary considerably in size depending on position of plot, but most are fair sized by today's standards with a typical plot width of about 5m, most gardens at some time being bordered by "rat trap" walls which seem to be something of a local feature. Most houses originally had a rear access to a back alley way though those on the north side of Cromwell road at least have lost this - presumably for practical or historical reasons.
Entering the house the original lower floor layout provided two reception rooms and a kitchen. The privy was an exterior facility (quite sensibly considered more hygienic in those times) with an adjoining coal house for fuel - gas would have been available for lighting but coal the main source of heat.
The kitchen and bedroom above being about two thirds of the width of the main building so as to allow a small side passage against the garden boundary, giving light to the middle room upstairs and down.
Staircases came in two main styles. Our original staircase arose between the middle reception room and the kitchen in a tight spiral that was efficient of space, but dangerous, particularly for small children and neigh on impossible for any furniture that did not arrive in a "flat pack". The other option being a typical straight stair rising in front of the entrance from about the center of the main house structure.
Upstairs the accommodation would originally have consisted of three possibly four bedrooms. Bathrooms and indoor toilets were not an original concern, though they have been incorporated since by various means.
All rooms would originally had a fireplace for heating with a special accommodation for the kitchen range in the kitchen, which would also have been the only room with running water - a single cold tap. The kitchen range would possibly incorporate a tank to supply hot water via a tap.
The attic space in the main part of the building was about 2m at maximum height, but as the ceiling joists were only 2" by 4" after bringing the ceiling thickness up to approved standards for insulation and then boarding to provide a storage facility the head room is very restricted.
Cromwell Road from Satellite
