Devan Haye

Details

SHERBORNE

689/0/10007 NORTH ROAD 10-JAN-07 Devan Haye

II DESCRIPTION: Two-storey house built in 1889 to a design by William Cooper of London. Devan Haye is constructed of timber and corrugated iron on a rubble stone and brick basement foundation and brick plinth.

PLAN: It has a double depth square plan with central hallway and principal rooms at either side.

EXTERIOR: The garden elevation is of three bays with wrap-around veranda at both ground and first-floor level. There is a central entrance porch with bay windows to either side. The left hand side has been modified by the insertion of a fireplace with external brick chimney stack. On the first floor are three bay windows. The veranda has simple, squared and lightly chamfered timber support posts and handrail, with occasional simple, turned baluster shafts. There are decorative bargeboards to the gabled roof. The roof has two louvered and gabled vents. The rear elevation has a single storey pent outshut with a central porch and service rooms to either side. The porch has encaustic tiles and original panelled timber doors with side glazing. Fenestration to the rear is mixed timber casement and UPVC. The left elevation is of three bays with veranda to ground and first floor, and original timber casement and French windows. Much of the original cast iron rainwater goods survive.

INTERIOR: On the ground floor, to the left of the central hallway two reception rooms; now one. To the right of the central hallway are two further reception rooms. The staircase is located at the rear. The kitchen is located at the rear, opposite the staircase.

In the interior the majority of the original joinery survives with timber four panelled doors in all the rooms except for the interior porch doors which are half glazed with panels of diagonal timbers on the lower half. The staircase is of a simple dog-leg type with half landings - it has a turned newell post and pendants, and block and vase turned balusters. Tongue and groove panelling on the walls and ceilings in the kitchens and utility rooms with built-in kitchen cupboards. In the entrance hall the encaustic polychrome tiles bear the legend, 'the bungalow' and the anaglypta wall coverings survive, bearing three different raised patterns. There is a cast iron radiator and heating system. On first floor are four bedrooms and bathroom and separate lavatory. One bedroom has been enlarged by the removal of an interior partition.

HISTORY: Devan Haye was built in 1889 for a local chemist and property developer. It originally had a separate two-storey servant accommodation and stable block, since demolished. The property is believed to have been purchased from William Cooper of Old Kent Road, London and transported to Sherborne by train. Its design matches one illustrated in the company's catalogue and probably cost just over £350. It represents a particular type of convenience housing developed largely for export to the British colonies and beyond. Many thousands of similar buildings were erected throughout the Empire and also in the rapidly expanding suburbs of Victorian Britain. Corrugated buildings were employed for numerous uses including churches, chapels, meeting rooms, workshops and storage facilities, as well as domestic residences. The building represents a rare, possibly unique, surviving example of a two-storey domestic residence constructed of corrugated iron.

SOURCES Dadson A - 'Rediscovering Corrugated Iron' Web Article 2006 Mornement A - 'Cornerstone- Corrugated Iron' SPAB August 2006. typescript forthcoming article. Trade catalogue, William Cooper Ltd, Old Kent Road, London- extract supplied with application letter.

Summary of Importance: Devan Haye is believed to be the earliest known surviving example of a two-storey corrugated iron house and may indeed be a unique survivor in Britain. It survives substantially intact and is a rare example of this once common building type. It dates from the period when the production of prefabricated corrugated iron buildings reached its height, and its construction for a local chemist and property developer, in this well-to-do Victorian suburb, demonstrates the popularity of the prefabricated building among the rising professional classes in England as well as abroad. This building represents the scale and quality of design and fittings that had become available in prefabricated dwellings at the height of their popularity. Retaining much of its interior joinery and with a little-altered plan, Devan Haye demonstrates the elegance and architectural quality which could be achieved in prefabricated buildings.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

496253

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Dadson, A, Rediscovering Corrugated Iron, (2006)
Mornement, A, Cornerstone - Corrugated Iron, (2006)

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