Automotive House
AUTOMOTIVE HOUSE, UPPER VILLIERS STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1252655
- Date first listed:
- 22-Mar-1994
- List Entry Name:
- Automotive House
- Statutory Address:
- AUTOMOTIVE HOUSE, UPPER VILLIERS STREET
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-08-27
- Reference:
- IOE01/14576/14
- Rights:
- © Mr Peter Garratt. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1252655
- Date first listed:
- 22-Mar-1994
- List Entry Name:
- Automotive House
- Statutory Address 1:
- AUTOMOTIVE HOUSE, UPPER VILLIERS STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- AUTOMOTIVE HOUSE, UPPER VILLIERS STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- City of Wolverhampton (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SO9123297104
Details
SO 99 NW WOLVERHAMPTON UPPER VILLIERS STREET
895-1/5/10010 Automotive House
II
Car factory , now works, and empty at the time of inspection. 1905-6, with minor late C20 alterations. By Joseph Lavender, F.R.I.B.A., for the Sunbeam Motor Car Company, and incorporating the site of the first workshop in which a Sunbeam motor car was produced.
Red brick with painted dressings beneath a Welsh-slated roof 3-storey street frontage office and showroom range, with 4 bay single storey north-light workshop range behind.
North-west elevation; 3 storeys, 11 bays, with 3-bay central entry defined by full-height pilasters, the centre bay with a diminutive pediment, and slightly advanced. Double doorway with panelled doors below keyed semi-circular head, all beneath a segmental pediment. The bays either side of the doorway each have a 3-light window, originally comprised of 3 sash windows, some now altered, beneath a segmental brick arch with an advanced keyblock which links with a sloping string course. Above, at first and second floor levels are coupled sash windows with sma1l-paned upper sashes. This pattern is repeated in each of the 2 bays flanking the entrance bays. The 2 bays at either end of the frontage range sit beneath a broad coped gable with a keyed semi circular arched window above the window head cornice, matching that of the entrance bay. The north-east end bay has full height double doors which formerly led into a covered yard. 4 bays of north light sheds to rear with strutted trusses supporting a ridge beam. Strutted king post trusses to 3-storey range. Original plans and elevations, signed by the architect and dated 31 Jan. 1905 survive. Automotive House was the first purpose-built works of the Sunbeam Motor Car Company, and one of the earliest car factories in England.
Listing NGR: SO9123297104
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 435695
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 14:24:20.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.