Kirkgate Tenements

Details

919/0/10070 OLDGATE 18-MAY-07 KIRKGATE TENEMENTS

II 3 tenement blocks, 1914, probably designed by K F Campbell, Borough Engineer, in coursed dressed sandstone with slate roofs.

Plan Form: The three blocks are situated in a row, with their long axes running approximately east-west parallel to each other, with Tudor House at the north. York House and Stewart House are identical, having a T-shape plan; Tudor House is adapted to fit the shape of the site. All are three storey, with a stairwell projecting at the west end and a balcony on the south side providing access. Four chimney stacks are ranged along each block on the south side of the roof. The doors and wooden framed windows have ashlar dressings. Iron railings surround the whole, with a small enclosed courtyard between Tudor and York House and between York and Stewart House. Each block provided 12 units of accommodation.

Exteriors: the front elevations on Oldgate consist of the cross of the T shape of the blocks forming the gable end of the buildings. Stewart and York Houses have a central gable of two windows and a single window to each side breaking forward slightly. The right hand of these has a door at ground level: the remaining windows are paired 4-over-1 wooden sashes, those on the ground floor being boarded up. There is a continuous cill band at first and second floor. The central triangular gable is flanked by semi-circular pediments, all bearing a raised diamond decorative motif. Tudor House has a modified version of the same form, with the central gable angled back immediately beyond the first window set, and no left hand pediment.

The left returns of York and Stewart Houses have 8 windows, alternating large and small 1-over-1 sashes. At the west (front) end is the projecting bay with one pair of windows to the rear and a pyramidal roof behind the semi-circular gable to the front. There are prominent eaves dentils. Tudor House has no projection on the north, outer side, which is canted over its whole length. Each angle has a pair of windows as on the front, and a single narrower version. The roof line has a low parapet, shaped at the angles.

The right returns of all three are similar, with a projecting staircase bay at the west (front) end which has a covered balcony with railings facing towards the rear. The stairs are concrete, the railings have intermittent decorative twisted balusters and there is a decorative tile string course on the staircase walls. The south-facing elevation has 3 alternating doors and windows on each floor and a continuous balcony with iron railings, the top floor being sheltered by a continuation of the roof line. Two vertical panels of red diagonally slatted wood demarcate the units on the first and second floors. There are communal coal houses alongside the stairs.

The rear elevations are rendered and very plain.

Interiors: the interiors of the flats are largely standard, with slight variations at the front and in Tudor House. The front door leads into a small lobby with a built-in cupboard and then to the main room. This has a false lowered ceiling, and the fireplace has been removed. The partition wall at the rear is original, but that between the kitchen and bathroom is later as originally there was only a toilet cubicle in the rear corner. Some of the flats have built-in cupboards beside the chimney breast. Tudor House flats have larger rear rooms and the front flats are differently organised though with similar provisions.

HISTORY: The area of central Huddersfield in which these tenements lie was designated an Insanitary District in 1909, containing courts, alleys and cellars of sub-standard housing. Huddersfield Corporation had already built a Hostel (now Batteys Buildings), and privately built tenements were constructed immediately to the south in 1911. The Kirkgate tenements were unlike other corporation housing of the period, which was aimed at artisan class occupiers rather than the lowest class of workers provided for here. The basic provision for each apartment was for two rooms and an internal toilet, which would have been a substantial improvement on the previous accommodation of the tenants. The approximate date of construction is 1914, and they certainly pre-date the post-war programme of housing in Huddersfield.

The chimneys were reduced in height in the 1930's. The canopies and wooden panels to the balconies are later additions, as are the ceilings, kitchens and bathrooms in the flats. The blocks were sold by the Local Authority in 1977 to a Housing Association, and were refurbished at that time, but were unoccupied at the time of inspection.

SOURCES: Lucy Caffyn: Workers' Housing in West Yorkshire, 1750-1920 (1984) RCHME John Burnett: A Social History of Housing 1815-1985 (1986)

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE This 1911 group of three Huddersfield Corporation tenement blocks has survived almost unchanged. Pre-First World War local authority housing is relatively rare outside London, and this group is unusual in catering for the very poorest clients. The national criteria for the designation of twentieth century housing emphasise the importance of architectural quality, stylistic innovation, notable decoration, group value and intactness.

The Kirkgate tenements, although relatively plain, have some architectural presence and embellishments commensurate with their function. Stylistically they are in the forefront of the design of such buildings, being early examples among a small group in Northern cities. They form a strong group and have survived with remarkably little alteration both externally and internally, though some internal features have been lost. As a strong and largely unaltered example of a rare building type, they meet the criteria for designation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

502727

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Caffyn, L, Workers Housing in West Yorkshire 1750-1920, (1984)
Burnett, J, A Social History of Housing, (1986)

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