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    The Victorian House Explained
    The Victorian House Explained
    The Victorian House Explained
    Ebook238 pages2 hours

    The Victorian House Explained

    By Trevor Yorke

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    About this ebook

    The Victorian house comes in all shapes, sizes and materials. The legacy of this hugely influential era can be found in every region of England, from the majestic rows of gleaming white terraces in West London to the grid of red-brick houses in northern mill towns. Using his own drawings, diagrams and photographs, the author, Trevor Yorke, explains, in an easy to understand manner, all aspects of the Victorian house and provides a definitive guide for those who are renovating, tracing the history of their own house or are simply interested in this notable period. The book provides a background to different phases of design throughout the Victorian age from the 1830s to the early 1900s. Various areas are considered in detail, including the layout and use of rooms; fixtures and fittings; sources of heat and lighting, domestic machinery such as kitchen ranges and laundry equipment; and gardens and outbuildings. Also included is a quick reference guide with notes on dating houses, recommended books, places to visit and a glossary of the less familiar architectural terms.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCountryside Books
    Release dateNov 28, 2011
    ISBN9781846748226
    The Victorian House Explained
    Author

    Trevor Yorke

    Trevor Yorke is a professional author and artist who has studied and written about various aspects of England's architectural and industrial heritage. He has produced many illustrated books that introduce the reader to these topics and writes articles and reviews for various magazines. He lives in the UK.

    Read more from Trevor Yorke

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      Book preview

      The Victorian House Explained - Trevor Yorke

      THE

      VICTORIAN

      HOUSE

      EXPLAINED

      TREVOR YORKE

      First published 2005

      © Trevor Yorke 2005

      Reprinted 2010

      All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted without the prior permission of the publisher:

      COUNTRYSIDE BOOKS

      3 Catherine Road

      Newbury, Berkshire

      To view our complete range of books,

      please visit us at

      www.countrysidebooks.co.uk

      ISBN 978 1 85306 943 7

      Photographs and illustrations by the author

      Designed by Peter Davies, Nautilus Design

      Produced through MRM Associates Ltd., Reading Typeset by Techniset Typesetters, Newton-le-Willows Printed by Information Press, Oxford

      CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      SECTION I

      THE HISTORY OF THE VICTORIAN HOUSE

      Chapter 1

      THE BACKGROUND

      Chapter 2

      LATER REGENCY AND EARLY VICTORIAN 1830–1850

      Chapter 3

      MID VICTORIAN HOUSES 1850–1870

      Chapter 4

      LATE VICTORIAN HOUSES 1870–1890

      Chapter 5

      THE LAST DECADE AND BEYOND 1890–1901

      SECTION II

      THE VICTORIAN HOUSE IN DETAIL

      Chapter 6

      GENERAL FITTINGS AND DECORATION

      Chapter 7

      RECEPTION AND LIVING ROOMS

      Chapter 8

      SERVICE ROOMS

      Chapter 9

      BEDROOMS AND BATHROOMS

      Chapter 10

      GARDENS AND OUTBUILDINGS

      SECTION III

      QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

      DATING HOUSES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

      TIMECHART

      PLACES TO VISIT

      GLOSSARY

      INDEX

      Introduction

      Ranging from the majestic rows of gleaming white Classical terraces in west London to the grid of violent red-brick houses in the Lancashire mill towns; and from the steeply pointed Gothic of north Oxford to the shallow pitched Italianate of Saltaire; Victorian houses come in all shapes, sizes and materials. At first glance, from the outside, they seem a confusing medley of historic styles and class aspirations, while inside, the lasting image is of a dark, cluttered, intimate atmosphere which wrapped the family in a protective cloak of randomly arranged pictures, richly coloured materials, small groupings of furniture around the fireplace and always, in a corner, the aspidistra!

      For much of the 20th century, what can seem like cramped, fussy and often poorly arranged façades and interiors gave Victorian houses a bad reputation. Thanks, though, to the work of individuals like the late Poet Laureate, John Betjeman, and the charity The Victorian Society, attitudes towards 19th-century architecture have changed. In the past twenty years or so these spacious houses, with high ceilings, quality construction and the added charm of a hundred years or more of rustication, have become desirable once again.

      For those millions of us, though, who live in a Victorian house or are interested in the subject, finding out about their history, who lived in them and what they originally looked like can be challenging. Architectural writers on the subject tend to be rather dismissive of this period of housing, with some justification. This book is intended, therefore, as an easy to understand guide, illustrated with my own drawings, diagrams and photographs, to help bridge this gap. It will provide readers with a fascinating background knowledge of all aspects of the Victorian house, whether they are renovating, tracing the history of their own house or simply want to know more about this notable period of history.

      The book is divided into three sections. The first outlines the story of how houses developed through the period. Drawings and photos illustrate the different layouts, styles and dates when they were likely to have been built. Each chapter begins with a view from the small Staffordshire town of Leek, a 19th-century industrial centre whose growth mirrors that of towns throughout the rest of the country, but which unlike many others has retained most of its Victorian buildings. The second section steps inside and looks at the different rooms and their fittings, what they were used for and how they would have originally appeared. The final section is a quick reference guide with notes on dating houses, suggested books, places to visit and a glossary to explain some of the terms used.

      Trevor Yorke

      FIG 1.0: Façades of a Domestic Revival Gothic house (top left) and a Classical-style terrace (bottom right) with labels of some of their parts and period features.

      SECTION I

      THE HISTORY

      OF THE

      VICTORIAN

      HOUSE

      CHAPTER 1

      The Background

      FIG 1.1: Saltaire, West Yorkshire: In 1853, Titus Salt did as many entrepreneurs of the day were doing and opened a new mill which incorporated numerous separate manufacturing processes for the first time under one roof (rear left of picture). Few, however, went on to build a complete village with sanitary housing, school, hospital, library and church for his employees, a rare benevolent action which took place over the 1850s and 1860s. The village was named after Titus ‘Salt’ and the River ‘Aire’ upon which it stood.

      The impression left by Victorian England is one of great contrasts. There is the perceived image of religious adherence and high family values, yet there was still child labour, poor public health and disease. We marvel at so many great inventions and impressive engineering projects, but forget the high loss of life in their creation and the intolerable working conditions of those who had to use them. We can still visit the gleaming steam engines and pristine country houses today, but without the filthy environment, smog and soot in which they originally stood. From this distance, the period appears a time of consistent financial success and international glory. However, this simple view masks the fluctuations, failures and depressions which struck at differing times throughout Victoria's long reign.

      These same contrasts exist in their houses. Those which survive today are generally spacious and well built from good quality materials, with highly decorated façades. Yet the homes in which the majority of the working population lived were unhygienic, tiny and often poorly built, creating slums which have long since been flattened. Our image of Victorian buildings is therefore slightly skewed as so much of what was bad has been pulled down, while left standing are the quality structures or those with the space to permit adaptations for modern living.

      When criticising modern housing, compared to the more decorative and better quality Victorian product, it is worth bearing in mind that a skilled worker who today might expect a three-bedroom semi with garden and all mod cons, in the 19th century would have sufficed with a two-bedroom terraced house and yard. Likewise, a small terrace house on the bottom of today's property ladder would have been a good-sized family home for a skilled factory worker in the 1850s.

      The Victorian house has become popular again since the 1980s, especially compared with some of the plain and apparently flimsy housing on offer from the 1960s and 1970s. However, it should be noted that nearly three times more houses were erected in these decades than at the peak of Victorian building around 1900.

      FIG 1.2: Weavers’ cottages in Holmsfirth, with the distinctive rows of windows illuminating the top workshop floors.

      Although these points are aimed at removing our rose-tinted glasses before proceeding, this book is written not only as a hands-on practical guide to recognising and understanding Victorian houses but also as an enthusiastic celebration of these colourful, eccentric, eclectic and quality products of the industrial age. They were built to house a population which grew from eleven million in 1801 to thirty-two million a century later. Our story will begin with a look at where this bulging population lived.

      Town and Village

      Victorian England had a booming population, one that had been growing since the mid 18th century (principally due to a fall in the death rate of the very young) but which doubled between 1841 and 1901. At the same time, the number of people in each household dropped which, coupled with an expectation of more privacy and independence, led to greater demand for housing.

      FIG 1.3: Examples of Victorian semi-detached houses in North Oxford, with an Italianate style (top) and Gothic style (bottom), both dating from the 1860s and 1870s.

      The type and location of new building was to be greatly affected by the emergence of a new and increasingly influential social group – the middle class (although even by 1890 it accounted for less than 15% of the population). Those with a good education, a skilled job and a desire to demonstrate their success looked away from the cramped old Georgian terraces in the heart of the towns and cities. Instead, they were attracted to new developments on the edge of the urban area where the rapidly growing railway network still gave them easy access to the work place. These suburban estates, or suburbia, contained a variety of building types and sizes depending on whether they were aimed at lawyers, managers and doctors or clerks and tradesmen. The three commonest forms were the villa, the semi and the terraced house. Originally, villas were large detached estate houses in a landscaped setting but by the later 19th century the name could refer to almost any properties which were reasonably sized, detached or terraced and with a garden. Semis were not common yet and were often styled at this date to appear as a single detached house and hence raise their status. The bulk of suburban housing was terraced, usually one room wide and two deep, with a corridor running off from the front door, but as with all these housing types they became generally larger as the period went on, with more adaptations and extensions.

      The growth of suburbia represented the new middle class's aspiration to appear respectable and at the same time to be separated from the lower classes. In the towns and cities, the poor would no longer live alongside the educated professional. Instead, the ordinary workers moved to the old buildings in the centres of towns and cities that had been vacated by the middle classes. These buildings were often divided up and filled with a number of families so that the landlord could still achieve a reasonable income despite the lower individual rents.

      New housing created for the poor was crammed into small plots and usually set around courtyards or along narrow, muddy back streets with, in the early years, no proper drainage or sanitation and only a communal water supply at best. The houses were either small terraces with through passages or back-to-backs, which were common in the industrial areas like Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Nottingham. These were terraced houses of one room depth which backed directly onto an identical row behind. They had no rear door and were surrounded on three of their four sides (figs 1.4 and 1.5). They were understandably unhygienic and, although as conditions improved local authorities forbade their construction, many were still being built in areas like Leeds right up to the end of the 19th century.

      However, by 1900 conditions had improved and the poor working family who were likely to have lived in just one room when Victoria came to the throne could expect a small two-up two-down house by the time she passed on. A few fortunate workers might find themselves in the employment of a philanthropic individual who, inspired either by religious benevolence or a desire to improve efficiency and create social stability, would build good quality housing for their staff. These new housing estates had proper sanitation, purpose-built churches, libraries and green spaces but rarely pubs! Famous examples include Saltaire, outside Leeds (fig 1.1), Port Sunlight on the Wirral and Bourneville to the south of Birmingham.

      FIG 1.4: A cut-away view of one type of back-to-back

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