Molly standing in front of a bed of ladies bedstraw.
The third property at risk in Cottingham according to English Heritage Heritage at Risk Register is a detached property on the north side of Thwaite St. called Thwaite Hall. In Pevsner (s.p.b.) it is described as ‘early 19th century’ whereas the Register dates it to the 1870s. More detail on this property can be gained from Allison, K.J. ‘Hull Gent Seeks Country Residence, 1750 – 1850’, (East Yorkshire Local History Society, 1981) or Allison, K.J. ‘Cottingham Houses’, (Cottingham L.H.S., 2001). I have a copy of the former, but at the time of writing cannot find it. The grounds of this ‘villa’ are described as a ‘park and garden (botanical garden)’. Having become a Hull University hall of residence (1950 according to the Register, 1928 in Pevsner) it has more recently become disused by the University and its future is uncertain. The Register records that the grounds were damaged by the floods of 2007, that the house is currently unused and that the site is one of ‘high vulnerability’.
Surely, with it having been a hall of residence, internal conversion to one or two bedroomed flats cannot be impossible. Also, with Cottingham having only a recreation ground, some hope the grounds can be made into a local ‘pocket park’ with, of course, public access.
I recently gave a presentation at Cottingham and became aware of a concern over the lack of public green spaces, this being a dilemma in suburban communities where more and more housing gets built but without local authority provision for a municipal park.