What's a Wells Cottage?

Posted 15 July 2016 by Neil Moore

Wells cottages are named after their architect, Reginald Fairfax Wells. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1871 but a British subject, Reginald Wells trained as a sculptor in the 1890’s at the Royal College of Art and became a studio potter. He first worked in Wrotham, Kent and then set up his own pottery at nearby Coldrum. Around 1909 he moved his pottery studio to Chelsea, and continued there until the outbreak of the First World War. During the war Wells set up the Wells Aviation Company.

In the 1920’s Mr Wells moved to the Storrington area and decided to turn his hand to something completely different - house building. He had a dream of creating ‘the perfect English village’ and had he been in tune with the period, he’d built Art Deco style properties, however Mr Wells was too much of an individualist to do that!

He was seen by many as a ‘maverick have a go developer’ and when he bought 50 acres of Sussex heathland and created his idealised notion of the English landscape, his Wells Cottages (with cesspits and no electricity!) were seen as ludicrously eccentric by the locals.

Mr Wells built about 200 cottages across Kent and Sussex and West Chiltington, where he achieved his vision, was his most ambitious project with around 70 houses.

Although built in the 1920s, each Wells cottage could be mistaken for a 17th century gem. He used old irregular sized bricks covered in white washed slurry (known locally as Sussex Dinging), tiny windows and thatched roofs and the water came from wells in the gardens. The cottages were snapped up as holiday homes by his bohemian friends in London who thought a weekend ‘roughing it in the countryside’ chimed perfectly with their Arts and Crafts philosophy.

The cottages have remained popular since then, though subsequent generations have added mains services, some have tiled the original thatched roofs, and interiors have been remodelled and updated – however, the one aspect of a Wells cottage that cannot be changed, is that each is an original design which is an integral part of their charm and character.

If you have a Wells property you’d like our expert advice on please contact our Storrington team on 01903 742354 or enquiries@guyleonard.co.uk

 

 

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