House with Grade II listed garden

Forumexpert

It's a rubble wall belonging to a former infantry barracks. From the listing and the maps, it's unclear who the wall actually belongs to since a housing estate has been built on the former barracks land and the wall passes the boundary of many houses without a primary house to assert ownership.

There is one house which is specifically listed but for all the others, I think that the wall will only be classified as a protected boundary feature and will not lead to the definition of a curtilage. It's rather a special situation though so would need to be confirmed by solicitors. Definitely a far stretch to call it a grade 2 listed garden though....

Listed in 1981 and house looks to be from similar period.

EachPenny

Forumexpert wrote: »

It's a rubble wall belonging to a former infantry barracks. From the listing and the maps, it's unclear who the wall actually belongs to since a housing estate has been built on the former barracks land and the wall passes the boundary of many houses without a primary house to assert ownership.

The other side of the wall is a (narrow) public road, so it is possible it has been transferred to the Council's ownership (I've dealt with a similar case myself).

I would definitely want to find out about ownership and maintenance responsibilities before purchasing - it would only take a knock from a passing lorry on the road to generate a very significant repair bill.

Forumexpert

EachPenny wrote: »

The other side of the wall is a (narrow) public road, so it is possible it has been transferred to the Council's ownership (I've dealt with a similar case myself).

I would definitely want to find out about ownership and maintenance responsibilities before purchasing - it would only take a knock from a passing lorry on the road to generate a very significant repair bill.

Agreed, but other sections of the wall pass between gardens and farmland and I'd be surprised if the council had taken them on.

What is absolutely clear to me is that I wouldn't want to take on liabilities for the wall. As an overall feature stretching several hundred metres, it's a nice object and historically valuable, but as a ca. 12m garden wall, it isn't particularly endearing. I love the estate agent's artistic licence to describe a garden with a wall along one side as a "walled garden"!

glasgowdan

Sadly the wall doesnt catch the sun. I think you've got it that just the wall is listed so you can't make changes without going through relevant channels

Robin9

glasgowdan wrote: »

Sadly the wall doesnt catch the sun. I think you've got it that just the wall is listed so you can't make changes without going through relevant channels

You wont get permission to change it; maintaining/repairing it will be very expensive and you will need Listed Building Consent to do anything - it wont be a job for a typical builder.

EachPenny

Forumexpert wrote: »

Agreed, but other sections of the wall pass between gardens and farmland and I'd be surprised if the council had taken them on.

I know of a council that took ownership of a historic wall between a development and a railway line - neither adjacent owner was likely to look after it and given the historical nature it was felt council ownership gave it the protection it deserved. The developer coughed up a substantial sum for future maintenance though

I could imagine similar considerations applying to this wall...

marlasinger

Yes, it is a wall that is listed. For anyone interested, the post code is PL21 0RP. Thanks for that link Robin9 - I shall be bookmarking it.

To be honest, sounds like more hassle than it's worth. I'm very risk-averse, so this has put me off the property. So, the search continues....!

StumpyPumpy

Probably a good decision. The wall is what remains of a Napoleonic era infantry barracks. The real question you would need answering if you had planned to go ahead would be who owned the wall. In around 2015 the council "served a repairs notice on owner under town and country planning acts", so I guess it isn't them and they are actively protecting it making it imperative to ensure the owner was someone other than yourself!

Snippets of detail from here

SP