stoneygate newsletter december 2015...stoneygate december 2015 stoneygate’s belle epoque revival...

SCAS Newsletter Contact: Nick Knight [[email protected]] with your ideas

Conservation Area Society (SCAS)

Newsletter December 2015 Stoneygate

Stoneygate’s Belle Epoque Revival

SCAS Chair: David Oldershaw SCAS Website: www.stoneygateconservation.org

Newsletter: Nita Foale, Nick Knight Printed by: AVS-Print, University of Leicester

Stoneygate Road, linking London and Stoughton Roads, was laid out in the 1870s. Many of its plots seem to have been acquired as investments but they were gradually developed. One of the first houses, `Stoneleigh’ (now an apartment complex), built for coal and lime merchant Joseph Henry Ellis and his

wife Sarah, resembled a medieval manor. The red-brick `Home for Penitent Females’ (1881) on the corner with Aber Road (now the Montessori Grammar School) was slightly less fanciful.

To a modern eye, perhaps the most striking and attractive properties are a group of mainly semi-detached townhouses west of the junction with Albert Road. Victorian in age but not spirit, they were designed in 1897 by the architect Stockdale Harrison for Charles Robinson of Eastfield (now on Stanley Road), a director of Parrs

Bank, trustee of the Leicester Savings Bank and with his brother Alfred, the last private owner of the Leicester City Gasworks.

Robinson seems to have presented one of the houses (No16 – above) to his daughter Marian and her husband, Robert Kaye, as a gift on their wedding in 1898. The others were occupied by well-known business and professional families. Wright’s 1903 Directory shows the heads of household in Stoneygate Road as Alfred Catlow of Catlow & Allen, cigar makers (No10), Arthur Partridge of Partridge & Sons, builders (No12) and Mrs Harriet Bentley, widow of builder and joiner John Bentley (No 14).

Two world wars and the financial pressures, uncertainty and social changes which followed them saw these houses slipping gradually into decline and during the 1960s and ‘70s they were converted into bedsits or flats. In the following years they were neglected and some suffered from shockingly unsympathetic alterations; a process that the creation of the Stoneygate Conservation Area in 1978 was unable to prevent.

More recently, however, sympathetic developers have proved that the trend is reversible. These two photos give some indication how a clumsy and crude flat conversion at No16 (note the first floor windows) has been transformed back into a high-quality family home which combines modern standards of comfort and convenience with all the elegance and style of late Victorian Arts & Crafts influenced design. More overleaf.

Photo: Tippetts & Brooks


When we featured the meticulous renovation of No18 Stoneygate Road (renamed `Stockdale House’ in honour of its architect) on the cover of our April 2012 Newsletter, we wanted to share our admiration of what the new owners had achieved. The care with which the project had been carried out and the reversion of the property back into a family home after forty years should, we thought, be publicized more widely. It showed what could be done.

We were delighted when, shortly afterwards, 7 Albert Road (just around the corner and part of the same 1897 development of nine houses) was beautifully refurbished by a small family company. But what we never expected was to see Nos16, 12 and now 14 Stoneygate Road successively transformed by a second small local development partnership.

Work like this enriches us all. The changes have not only significantly improved the streetscene in Stoneygate Road – onto which most of the properties face - but also on the Albert Road corner where the rear

gables and outbuildings of Nos 16 and 18 are prominent. The quality of the exterior brick, tile and timberwork, the elegance of the windows and the subtle detailing is now displayed to maximum effect.

For those lucky residents who will actually live in these houses, there is the enjoyment of a spacious home environment, full of interest and character which, while designed over a hundred years ago, still somehow has a modern feel to it. The interior restoration work has been carried out to an exceptionally high standard. Original timber doors have been stripped, rebuilt where necessary and repainted with the original fittings (fingerplates, knobs and escutcheons) being retained wherever possible. Architraves, skirtings and other timber mouldings have been painstakingly matched and finished. The rails, newel posts and balustrading on the staircases are largely original. There are runners on the stairs. Everywhere else there are fitted carpets except in the ground floor entrance hall where there is tiled flooring, as you would expect. The arts and crafts influences of the time (the so-called late nineteenth century `Belle Epoque’) are most colourfully and decoratively displayed in the leaded glazing of front door and landing windows and these have been restored and refurbished with great care and skill.

What makes these projects so successful is that the properties have not just been restored; they have all been adapted to the needs of modern family living. Sculleries and wash houses have become large modern dining kitchens. Main bathrooms have been fitted with showers, baths and basins. Smaller bedrooms or box rooms have become generous en-suites. Rear gardens, modest by Victorian standards, are still large enough to accommodate patio dining, lawn and planted areas and, for the green-fingered artist, the wide expanses of brickwork offer an inviting blank canvas for scented climbing shrubs and roses.

Photos: Tippetts & Brooks

7 Albert Road


Christmas Events at The Guildhall To Book, call The Guildhall on 0116 253 2569

The Longslade Consort

Friday 18 December 5pm - 7pm Music by Vivaldi, Handel, Bach and friends. £5 includes mince pie & mulled wine (drop-in concert, pay on the door)

For more details, please call 0116 270 9984.

Tell Tale present: A Victorian Christmas Past Friday 18 December 8pm

Join Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and a host of other characters for a festive

evening of carol singing, parlour games, shadow puppetry and stories from the pen of Hans Christian Anderson to discover how the Victorians invented the

modern Christmas. Also featuring a special guest appearance from Father Christmas. "A perfect family outing" (Stratford-upon-Avon Herald). £5 / £9

Kingfisher Chorale: Ave Maris Stella

Saturday 19, Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 December 8pm Following the success of last year's 'pick your own carol' concert, Kingfisher

Chorale return with their ever popular eclectic mix of carols and Christmas songs

spanning 400 years. If your favourite is not there, you will be able to request it! This set of concerts are regularly oversubscribed so book early to avoid disappointment. £9 / £7.50

A Brief History of Christmas

Sunday 20 December 8pm Acclaimed historical musicians Blast from the Past present a festive romp through 600 years of Christmas music,

songs and stories. Beginning in the Middle Ages and ending in the 20th century, ‘A Brief History of Christmas’ is a whistle-stop tour of the origins of our midwinter festivities. Featuring long-forgotten songs and tales as well as

some familiar and well-loved carols, this show is guaranteed to delight the hearts of young and old. £8

Following the excellent news that work is to start on the Victoria Park Centenary Walk in the new year, we are pleased to report that the Stage Two Heritage Lottery Fund bid from the City Council’s `Story of Parks’ project has also been successful. The HLF grant will pay for the restoration of the historic gates in Victoria Park (on London Road and Peace Walk) and a citywide programme of events designed to connect local people to the history of their parks and green spaces. This is already underway and has so far delivered monthly history talks, an architecture workshop, a metalworking class, two oral history training sessions and a podcast creation project run jointly with the University of Leicester.

Parks officer Jess Boydon is now looking for volunteers to help with two research projects. The first, ‘Discover Parks’, will teach participants how to use local archives to discover the hidden histories of the city’s parks. The second, `Our Parks’, aims to record the memories of local people. What was Victoria Park like in the `50s, `60s and `70s? Some of our readers must have walked in the park hundreds of times (perhaps en route to the University as students or staff members) and a few may even have earlier memories of it (during the war, say). We would love to hear your stories and why the park is significant to you. Please get in touch, either with us or with Jess directly. Jess says that it may be possible to organise recorded interview sessions and even to arrange home visits.

Jess Boydon, Parks Heritage, The Story of Parks T: 0116 4544935 E: [email protected] A full programme of volunteer opportunities can be downloaded from the website: www.storyofleicester.info/parks

Nick Knight

The Story of Victoria Park—Volunteers Needed

Photos: Tippetts & Brooks

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.storyofleicester.info/parks


Double Glazing in Conservation Areas

The future of residential conservation areas like Stoneygate lies with a new generation of owners who cherish the unique heritage of their Victorian and Edwardian homes. Not unreasonably, they also want to keep their families warm and their energy bills manageable. Double glazing provides a quick and economical thermal gain but if we had to name one thing that had changed our city’s conservation areas for the worse, we would probably all agree that it is uPVC windows. Sometimes called `replica’ windows, they are usually nothing of the kind. Besides being made of plastic, they cannot be manufactured to exactly reproduce the windows they replace and almost always lack the subtlety and elegance of the originals. What to do? While secondary glazing provides a compromise solution, the long-term answer probably lies with a thermally efficient double-glazed timber-framed window whose design, appearance and function (the way it opens) is genuinely indistinguishable from the original.

New technologies have resulted in significant improvements in such products and in August David, Matt and Nick were invited by the owners of a house in our area to look at a timber-framed double-glazed sliding sash window that they have had fitted to their Edwardian home. The outer pane is rolled glass with the reflective qualities of traditional Victorian glass while the inner pane is made of highly insulating float glass, allowing the gap between panes to be so small as to be hardly visible. Unlike uPVC windows, there is very little increase in frame thickness. The sash cords and pulleys are replaced but from the outside the change is not noticeable. We were very impressed. The owners would like to use a similar system in their side-opening front windows, for which consent is required under the 2007 Article 4 Direction. Our conservation officers usually insist on very high standards for front windows and seek to avoid the `loss of historic fabric’. We understand the reasons for this and we fully support their opposition to uPVC. However, this new conservation-friendly double glazing could, we think, be a `game changer’. Provided the new frames and panes exactly replicate original design features (including detailing and leadwork) we think they should be regarded favourably. Given the ongoing challenges of climate change and the rising cost of energy, they could have widespread benefits both in Stoneygate and the rest of the city's residential conservation areas.

`Love Nina’ becomes a BBC TV Series We were pleased to hear that the book we recommended as a stocking-filler in our Christmas 2013 Newsletter not only won the 2014 National Book Award for popular non-fiction but has also been made into a TV drama starring Helena Bonham-Carter. `Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life’ by Nina Stibbe, has been adapted into five 30 minute episodes by Nick Hornby and will be screened by BBC1 in the New Year. Faye Marsay, Jason Watkins and Josh McGuire co-star. A fictionalized recreation of the early 1980s bohemian North London world that Nina describes in her book, it sounds well worth waiting for.

New City Council Appointment Justin Webber has been appointed the City Council’s new Senior Building Conservation Officer. He replaces Jenny Timothy, who left earlier in the year to take up a post as a heritage specialist with UK-based engineering, management and development consultants, Mott MacDonald. Raised in Northamptonshire, Justin has been Senior Planner (Design & Conservation) at Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council (in Hertfordshire) for the last seven years. He is Vice Chair of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Urban Design and Conservation Network and is a member of the steering group of the Place Alliance. He studied History at the University of York, Town & Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield and Urban Design at the University of

Westminster and occasionally writes papers for journals on heritage/design. Since arriving in Leicester, Justin says he has been impressed by the strength of local commitment to the city’s heritage. He is looking forward to exploring Leicestershire and we are looking forward to working with him.


Victorian Society —Winter Programme 2015-2016

September Coach Trip

Tuesday 5th January 2016 7.30 pm Queen Victoria's Navy Nick Marshall

During Victoria’s reign, the Royal Navy was transformed, from sail to steam and from wood to iron. Local historian and lecturer Nick Marshall draws on a variety of sources to bring to life this fascinating period of change.

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 7.30 pm (following the AGM) What The Edwardians Did For Leicester Cynthia Brown

Throughout the first decade of the new century, Leicester suffered from persistently high infant mortality and long-term unemployment; just two of the reasons for increased suffragette activity and the election in 1906 of Ramsay MacDonald as one of the town’s MPs. This illustrated talk will consider what the Edwardians did for us in tackling these issues and will also give a more general flavour of life in the town during the 1900s. Cynthia Brown is a local historian, author and tutor, and an Honorary Vice President of the Leicester Group of the Victorian Society.

Tuesday 1st March 2016 7.30 pm Crematoria to Die For: The Victorian & Edwardian Expression of Cremation Dr Hilary Grainger

A tour of Britain's 251 crematoria which reaches some interesting conclusions about 20th-century architecture and the British attitude to death. Hilary Grainger has been Dean of the London College of Fashion since 2003 and is a specialist in late 19th and early 20th century English domestic architecture, as well as a leading authority on that of British crematoria. She is the author of `Death Redesigned (British Crematoria: History, Architecture & Landscape)’.

Lectures take place in the Small Hall (Room 3) of The Leicester Adult Education College, Wellington Street, Leicester LE1 6HL. Non-members are welcome. Cost is £2.50 per person.

Our coach trip to the Museum of Royal Worcester Porcelain and the Picton Garden near Malvern was well attended and, after the previous week’s cloud and rain, we were fortunate with the weather. The Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Royal Worcester porcelain - more than 10,000 pieces - which, together with work from other noted local manufacturers, is displayed in permanent Georgian, Victorian and 20th Century galleries. The earliest show many influences brought back from the Far East and the nooks and crannies of Empire while the more modern pieces show European and arts and crafts influences. A `behind the scenes‘ talk by Jane Evans provided a

fascinating insight into the world of their makers and owners which included famous figures such as Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton and, more recently, the Sultan of Oman.

The National Plant Collection of autumn-flowering asters was only one of the Picton Garden’s attractions, others being a range of alpines, shrubs, trees and herbaceous perennials, all laid out in a pleasant walk.

The highlight for most of us, however, was probably the meandering drive up into the Malvern Hills from which the views were stunning.

Reminiscent of Southern Europe, it is little wonder that this place has been so celebrated over the years and has inspired composers, poets and writers including Sir Edward Elgar, W.H. Auden, J.R.R. Tolkein and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.


Planning Matters (September to December 2015)

The application to change part of the ground floor of the

Gables Hotel into a convenience store leased to the Co-op was finally refused by the planning committee in September. The store would have been open between 7.00am and 11.00pm, seven days a week and of the 9 available parking spaces, 6 would have been assigned to the shop with the remainder being available for a future hotel use. A `Delivery Management Plan’ explained how the 4-5 daily deliveries would be coordinated and a `Traffic Management Plan’ described a system with vehicle arrivals restricted to London Road and departures to Stoughton Road.

Opposition – including over 50 letters of objection and a petition of over 350 signatures – identified a range of problems but focussed mainly on the increased risks to public and highway safety from these last two. Committee members agreed with local councillors, neighbours and ourselves that they were unworkable. Refusal was on the grounds that `the proposed use would lead to congestion and detriment to the function of the highway by reason of inadequate arrangements for parking and servicing’.

The decision is a relief but the way in which it was finally arrived at and the events of the last three years have highlighted a number of important and uncomfortable issues with serious implications, both for Stoneygate and for the city as a whole. Space is short here so I’ll mention two.

The first concerns the dangers of allowing the objectives of the Planning Department to become so closely aligned to those of applicants that officers not only appear willing to overlook unauthorised work, breaches of control and other questionable practices but also to support proposals in a way which discourages or even obstructs councillors whose job it is to scrutinize and/or oppose them.

Planning committee members are the elected representatives of the people of Leicester and for the committee to carry out its duties, it has to be confident that it can challenge officer recommendations when it is in the public interest to do so. While it is part of a larger decision-making body, it isn’t an extension of the Planning Department and it shouldn’t be expected to meekly allow itself to be guided by its officers towards their preferred outcomes.

The second concerns properties that are acquired and then allowed to remain empty or to deteriorate until they become derelict. The Gables’ long-term vacancy has been cited as a reason for allowing a new retail development but this begs the question – why has it been vacant for so long? Dare we suggest that it may suit owners to deliberately maintain this state of affairs? Particularly if they expect future changes in national planning policy to override local policy constraints which prevent the most profitable use of the assets. This is what economists call `gaming the system’. Buying properties in strategic locations (perhaps from distressed sellers) isn't illegal. Nor is allowing them to decay. Nor is submitting a series of planning applications which give the impression of one development objective while actually pursuing another. The problem is that accepting all of these things puts the speculative interests of owners above those of everyone else in the city. Our Society has a long history of positive engagement with investors who recognise Stoneygate’s unique potential and we enthusiastically support private sector development. But not unconditionally.

The McCarthy & Stone development at 22 Knighton

Park Road seems to be nearing completion. Some people have been surprised by the buildings' unexpected height, massing and closeness to Knighton Park Road but the street-facing elevations, at least, appear to be as agreed. The frontage is further forward than the residential apartments (2008) or student flats (2013) proposed previously but we are pleased by the way that it reflects the distinctive brickwork at the neighbouring inter-war houses.


Nick Knight

What is disappointing is that M&S did not follow `Stoneleigh’ and `The Laurels’ in using metal front boundary railings backed by hedging and shrubs to match the park railings of the Oval opposite.

The garden attached to `Woodville' at 14 Knighton Park Road was auctioned this summer and the successful bidders (long-standing Stoneygate residents) have applied to build an innovative high-quality

home for themselves rather than implementing the approved plans for two semi-detached houses. They very kindly invited us to look at their architects’ drawings and discuss their ideas. Our overall impression was very positive. The proposed L-shaped flat-roofed building is strikingly modern in design with a two-storey element fronting The Avenue and a single-storey south-facing element at right angles to this which backs onto `Woodville’ and overlooks the garden. The highly visible first floor frontage is to be finished in stucco (a visual link with the ` White House’ opposite) together with opaque vertical panels made from recycled glass. Random laid Swithland slate (also a reference to the `White House’) will be used at ground floor level. The red-brick perimeter wall that runs the whole length of The Avenue and gives the street its character will be largely unaffected by the slightly enlarged vehicle access and smaller pedestrian gateway. The new house is highly energy-efficient, sustainable and as a single dwelling will result in less intensive use and fewer vehicle movements. It sits well on the site, is a comfortable distance from `Woodville’ and No8 North Avenue and is less bulky than the two approved houses. Innovative high quality modern design was a familiar concept to the Victorians who developed this part of the conservation area. We are delighted to see a twenty first century venture carrying on that tradition.

As we expected, the application to vary the existing consent for the house currently under construction next to 7 Burlington Road was approved. Planners allowed a larger rear extension and – most significantly in terms of visual impact – the addition of two dormers to the street-facing roof. Following comments from the Conservation Advisory Panel, the frontage will include a blue brick plinth and buff-coloured brickwork at ground floor level with white render above. As we have said before, this property is a depressing example of `enlargement by stealth’ and a case study in how not to do infill development in the conservation area. We sincerely hope that, in future, planners will pay closer attention to Core Strategy Policies CS3 and – particularly - CS8.

In Brief: 8 Pendene Road, Land adj Demolition of part of existing house, 1x 4-bed house PENDING

38 Ratcliffe Road, Ava House 1-storey side extension; rear decking & fence; rear balcony PENDING

21 St Johns Road Replacement front windows PENDING

17 Knighton Rd Change of use detached garage to residential unit; 1-storey side extension REFUSED

16 Victoria Park Road 1-storey rear annexe CONDITIONALLY APPROVED

2 Knighton Park Road Demolition of garage; 1-storey building to form 1 flat REFUSED

10 Woodland Avenue Replacement 1st floor front window CONDITIONALLY APPROVED


I/we wish to maintain my/our membership /become a member of SCAS and enclose a cheque

for £6 (per household per year) as from April 1st 2016

Name:……………………………………………………………………………………………..............

Address:.………………………………………………………….................Postcode…………………

Contact Phone: ......................................................... email.........................................................................

Send to: Jenny Westmoreland, Membership Secretary, 358 Victoria Park Road, LE2 1XF

Phone: 2705828 email: [email protected]

As anyone who has ever taken out a gym or book club membership will know, it’s the 2nd year which tests your resolve. We had wondered whether the large increase in our membership in 2014 (over 200 for the first time) would be sustainable, so were delighted when Jenny told us that this year has also seen a small rise. We have never circulated questionnaires to find out what we are doing right or wrong. Perhaps we should. But in the meantime, we will carry on monitoring planning applications, engaging constructively with the City Council, working with other like-minded groups and trying to maintain the quality of our newsletter, website and social events. Thank you all for your continuing support -

and particularly those 75 households who have been members for 10 years or more.

Membership News

Oh, it’s

Christmas AGAIN!

Have a Happy One

and a Joyous & Peaceful

New Year

From the SCAS committee

Civic Society Architectural Awards 2016 The Leicester Civic Society is again inviting members of the public to nominate buildings within the City of Leicester for its annual architectural awards scheme. Projects must have been completed during 2015 and, as usual, there are two awards; one for restoration of a historic building and one for new building which complements the city’s historic built environment.

Last year’s Restoration Award went to Leicester City Council for their restoration and refurbishment of the 1938 Art Deco-influenced City Hall on Charles Street. The New Build Award went to Greig & Stephenson Architects for the outstandingly innovative Market Food Hall which replaced an unattractive and unloved 1970s structure and has transformed the space around the historic Corn Exchange.

Go to the Society’s website www.leicestercivicsociety.org.uk (look under the `Campaigns’ section) where there is a description of the scheme, a list of rules and details of previous winners. Alternatively, download a form and return it by post or join the Society and receive a copy of the form in the November issue of their journal, `Leicester Citizen’. The deadline for nominations is February 2nd 2016. Awards will be presented at a ceremony dinner on Friday 15th April 2016 at the City Rooms.

Standing Orders This is our last opportunity to ask you to consider setting up a standing order on 1st April 2016 to pay your annual subscription. It’ll give you one less thing to remember AND fix the cost of your SCAS member-ship. What’s not to like? Just ask Jenny (contact details below) to send you a form!

http://www.leicestercivicsociety.org.uk

stoneygate newsletter december 2015...stoneygate december 2015 stoneygate’s belle epoque revival...

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