Norgrove Court

Details

In the entry for:- REDDITCH B NORGROVE LANE SP 06 NW (west side)

1/135 Norgrove Court (formerly listed as 10.4.54 Norgrove Court Farmhouse)

GV II*

The entry shall be amended to read:

SP 06 NW REDDITCH B NORGROVE LANE (west side) 1/135 Norgrove Court (formerly listed as 10.4.54 Norgrove Court Farmhouse)

GV I

House. Built c1649 for William Cookes, with mid-C19 alterations; restored c1970-5. Handmade brick in English bond with sandstone ashlar dressings, plain tiled hipped roof with broad eaves supported on shaped brackets; panelled brick ridge stacks set symmetrically near each end of front and rear roof; also massive central octagonal brick stack with moulded cornice. PLAN: Rectangular double depth plan. At front central 4-bay hall with great chamber above and flanking parlours and chambers. Main stair hall behind right hand end of hall. Hall originally had screens passage at its left and leading to servants' stairs, services and kitchen to rear left (NW). The stairs and mezzanine floors at rear make the rear elevation asymmetrical. The circa 1820s remodelling provided a small entrance hall on the right (E) side. Two storeys, attic and cellar with mezzanines; ashlar plinth band and also string course between main storeys and at eaves level. Windows are of splayed mullion and transom type with moulded architraves (some have been replaced with wooden windows). South garden elevation: eight bays articulated in almost Mannerist rhythm of 2:1:2:1:2; outer pairs of bays are placed close together and the four central bays are grouped but each bay is spaced further apart than the outer pairs. The windows on the first floor in the third and sixth bays have their lower lights occupied by glazed double doors, which reach to string level, and have C20 wooden balconies on shaped brackets; the lintels are carved with a pair of raised rectangular panels; the lower lights of the two central ground floor windows have been replaced by glazed double doors. An eaves bracket to the left of the sixth bay is carved with the date 1649. North elevation: irregular fenestration; the third and sixth bays have 6-light staircase windows with doorways beneath. Main entrance presently in east side elevation; this is of five bays; there are no ground floor windows in the fourth and fifth bays as a single-storey wing (now demolished) once adjoined this elevation: central skylight and central entrance with part-glazed panelled door. West side elevation: except for one first floor window the windows have been replaced. Central entrance has a 3- centred arched head with stepped voussoirs. INTERIOR: the unusual plan is expressed externally. The main staircase is the original oak one, but it has been turned round and much restored; it has large boldly detailed newels with carved finials and balusters of a similar but simplified outline. SE and NE chambers have elaborate overmantels and friezes. The south-east one is a surprisingly late example of plasterwork taken from an engraving by Vriedman de Vries. SW chamber has single chimneypiece and moulded ceiling cornices. Small back parlour at mezzanine level off main stairs has panelling, moulded ceiling cornices, fireplace and overmantel with caryatids. Hall has C20 chimneypiece; SE parlour has pilastered chimneypiece. 3-centred arch doorways of servants' stairs which have moulded balusters down to kitchen and splat balusters rising to attics. Original roof structure largely intact has collars to principal rafters, butt purlins and diagonally trenched ridgepiece. The house was divided into two farmhouses in c1823 and later into tenements when some of the ground floor detail was removed. The house is of an unusual and deceptively complex design that is advanced for its date, whilst the detailing is curiously old-fashioned. The roof was undoubtedly intended to have dormer windows and the vast chimney stack appears to be a more practical alternative to a lantern and cupola as the dominant central feature. The original design of the south front is less certain but probably solid first floor doors and flights of steps instead of balconies were intended so as to give the required emphasis to this elevation. (Country Life, CLXXVI, no 4558, p 1994 - 7; VCH, 3 (i), p 111 - 113; BOE, p 284 - 5).

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REDDITCH B NORGROVE LANE (west side) SP 06 NW 1/135 Norgrove Court (formerly listed as Norgrove Court Farmhouse) 10.4.54

GV II*

House. Built c1649 for William Cookes, with mid-C19 alterations; restored c1987-5. Handmade brick in English bond with sandstone ashlar dressings, plain tiled hipped roof with broad eaves supported on shaped brackets; panelled brick ridge stacks set symmetrically near each end of front and rear roof; also massive central octagonal brick stack with moulded cornice. Rectangular plan. Two storeys, attic and cellar with mezzanines; ashlar plinth band and also string course between main storeys and at eaves level. Windows are of splayed mullion and transom type with moulded architraves (some have been replaced with-wooden windows). South garden elevation: eight bays articulated in almost Mannerist rhythm of 2:1:2:1:2; outer pairs of bays are placed close together and the four central bays are grouped but each bay is spaced further apart than the outer pairs. The windows on the first floor in the third and sixth bays have their lower lights occupied by glazed double doors, which reach to string level, and have C20 wooden balconies on shaped brackets; the lintels are carved with a pair of raised rectangular panels; the lower lights of the two central ground floor windows have been replaced by glazed double doors. An eaves bracket to the left of the sixth bay is carved with the date 1649. North elevation: irregular fenestration; the third and sixth bays have 6-light staircase windows with doorways beneath. Main entrance presently in west side elevation; this is of five bays; there are no ground floor windows in the fourth and fifth bays as a single-storey wing (now demolished) once adjoined this elevation; central skylight and central entrance with part-glazed panelled door. East side elevation: except for one first floor window the windows have been replaced. Central entrance has a semi-circular arched head with stepped voussoirs: Interior: inspection not possible at time of resurvey. The building is recorded as having had unusual layout which is expressed externally. There is a central four-bay hall, and the parlour bay to the south-east, the kitchen to the north-east with the remaining corners divided horizontally to form mezzanines. There is another mezzanine at the centre of the north elevation flanked by the main staircase to the east and a secondary staircase to the west. On the first floor the Great Chamber occupies the space above the hall. The main staircase is the original oak one, but it has been turned round and much restored; it has large boldly detailed newels with carved finials and balusters of a similar but simplified outline. Two first floor rooms have elaborate over- mantels and friezes. The south-east one is a surprisingly late example of plasterwork taken from an engraving by Vriedman de Vries. The house was divided into two farmhouses in c1823 and later into tenements when much of the ground floor detail was removed. The house is of an unusual and deceptively complex design that is advanced for its date, whilst the detailing is curiously old-fashioned. The roof was undoubtedly intended to have dormer windows and the vast chimney stack appears to be a more practical alternative to a lantern and cupola as the dominant central feature. The original design of the south front is less certain but probably solid first floor doors and flights of steps instead of balconies were intended so as to give the required emphasis to this elevation. (Country Life, CLXXVI, no 4558, p 1994 - 7; VCH, 3(i), p 111 - 113; BoE, p 284-5).

Listing NGR: SP0071865378

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

156611

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1913), 111-113
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 284-5
Country Life in Country Life, Vol. 4558, (1906), 1994-7

End of official list entry

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