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" SUMMARY With a view straight over the park to the Abbey, Sham Castle & St Michaels Without, 815sqft of space over three floors, bags of character and offering a walk down Royal Avenue to work in the morning, this mid 19th century cottage is bound to set the heart fluttering. \rA freehold Grade II listed two double bedroom townhouse with kitchen, bathroom and rear courtyard - located 200yds cityside of the mile marker to the Guildhall and within Zone 12 permit parking. Given the location and the accommodation on offer, this is a wonderful alternative to an apartment or maybe one to buy for a holiday let? \rThe property begins with an entrance hall at street level with an opening into a large front facing room currently used as second bedroom and/or dining room. Behind this, you'll find the fitted kitchen which in turn leads out onto the rear courtyard. On the first floor, the bathroom faces towards the rear and is divided from the front sitting room by the staircase to the second floor master bedroom. \rThe floorplan and room summaries have been written to reflect room usages by the current owners. For example, it would be just as easy to use the current sitting room as a bedroom and the ground floor front room as the sitting room. \r  ENTRANCE HALL Part glazed panelled front door, meter cupboard, staircase to upper floors.  BEDROOM 2 OR DINING ROOM Front window, alcove shelving and cupboards to either side of inset cast iron & tiled fireplace with tiled hearth, radiator.  KITCHEN Part glazed door to rear courtyard garden, two deep sill windows to rear, tiled floor, understairs storage cupboard, range of base and wall units with laminated worktops and inset sink/drainer, plumbing for washing machine & dishwasher, inset gas hob with hood over and oven under, radiator.  FIRST FLOOR LANDING   BATHROOM Rear deep sill window, pedestal basin, low level W.C, panelled bath with shower over, part tiled walls, radiator, corner cupboard with linen storage and wall mounted Worcester gas combination boiler (installed in 2014).  SITTING ROOM Front window, understairs cupboard, radiator, original fireplace with ashlar surround and ornate basket inset.  STAIRS TO SECOND FLOOR   BEDROOM 1 Front window, original fireplace with ashlar surround and small basket inset, wardrobe alcoves, overstairs cupboard, radiator, loft access.  COURTYARD GARDEN 15ft x 4ft approx - Walls and fences to sides & rear. Just enough space for some flowerpots, a cafe table and two chairs.  AGENTS NOTES Please note this is an early Victorian Grade II listed cottage and thus doorway and ceiling heights in places will require practice in ducking for buyers of a taller persuasion.  HISTORICAL NOTES In 1766, St Johns Hospital leased the "tenements, coach houses and summer houses" of the Blue Lodge to Walter Dallamore. At the time, the Lodge was the only property on the lower half of Lime Kiln Lane (now Park Lane) barring the turnpike at the bottom of the road and was a popular pleasure garden destination for city inhabitants to visit - it must have been a peaceful refuge from the city, surrounded as it was by farm fields and sheep grazing on the Common. \rThe Common became Royal Victoria Park in 1830 after a visit to the city by the Duchess of Kent and her daughter (with the park completed by 1838) and, in 1832 the Blue Lodge was renamed as the Victoria Park Tavern. In 1846, the pub was extended and the two adjacent terraces of Lark Place and Westhall Place were constructed. This property was either No2 or No3 Westhall Place - directory entries are a little confusing to decipher from that time). \rIn 1848, a new attraction was added to the charms of the area with the opening by a Mr Bussey of a "racket and fives court" behind the pub. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1925) describes fives as a ball game played with hands or a bat in a court with two, three or four walls and the game has also been called hand tennis. Rackets began as an 18th-century pastime in London's King's Bench and Fleet debtors prisons when prisoners modified the game of fives by using tennis rackets to speed up the action.? "