No 16 Bull Plain, Hertford, Hertfordshire
This building was originally called Dimsdale House. It was built in c1702-4, for Sarah Crouch. It was then acquired by John Dimsdale. He was Mayor of Hertford in 1706 and 1711, knighted in 1725 and died 1726. It was his son Thomas, a doctor, who discovered inoculation (vaccination). In 1831 the Literary and Scientific Institution took over the house. A century later it had become shabby and was used as a factory. In 1946 it was acquired by Enfield Highway CWS for redevelopment, but it was saved by listing and a subsequent public inquiry. It is regarded as a test case of the workings of the historic building provisions of the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. It was restored in 1973-4, receiving a European Architectural Heritage Year Award in 1975.
