Aquinus House

Details

BIRMINGHAM

997/0/10259
29-APR-04

WARSTONE LANE
62-64
Aquinus House

GV
II

Offices and workshops, formerly jewellery manufactory. c. 1882, with minor late C20 alterations. By Frederick Proud, architect, for J.H.Mole, jewellery manufacturers. Red brick with moulded brick and terracotta detailing, prominent side wall and ridge stacks and a slate roof covering.
PLAN: Irregular L-plan on a splayed corner site with prominent office range at the junction of Tenby Street and Warstone Lane, and a workshop range extending along Tenby Street frontage.
EXTERIOR: Office range of 3 storeys above a basement, with 6-bay frontage to Warstone Lane and 5 bays to Tenby Street. Principal entrance set within splayed corner with shallow ogee arch- headed doorway with double doors below a multi-pane rectangular overlight. Above, corbelled base to corner tower with steep pyramidal roof and decorative finial. First floor with paired flat-headed sash windows without glazing bars, upper floor windows with segmental- arched heads and with an engaged column between the windows. Warstone Lane frontage with shallow-arched basement lights below moulded brick storey band. Ground floor window openings with shallow arched heads and deeply-recessed undivided sash windows. Bay 4 has secondary entrance with shallow pedimented head and shallow-arched overlight. Wide terracotta faced storey band below plain sill band to first floor sash windows, set within arcade of stilted semi-circular arch- headed openings, with terracotta infil panels to the arch heads. Upper floor windows in raised surround rising from a sll band, with recessed brick panels between the openings. Bays 2 and 5 with larger sash windows set beneath diminutive coped gablets. This pattern of openings is repeated on the 5- bay Tenby Street elevation, with the heads of the basement lights close to pavement level as the ground level rises along the street. Attached to the west end of the office range, 10 bay, 2- storeyed workshop range, its windows arranged 1:2:2:2:1:2. The bays are delineated by side wall chimney flues detailed as pilasters, rising through the eaves line beyond which they appear as double-flue chimneys with moulded brick decoration and cappings. Gable to west end with shallow-arched vehicle entrance to left side, and a multi-paned workshop window to right. Gable apex with dentilled verge decoration, and a Venetian window. Ground floor windows with shallow-arch heads. Wide semi-circular arched heads to upper floor openings, and multi-pane window frames with radiating bars to arch heads. Hood moulds rise from moulded imposts.
INTERIOR: Main entrance gives access to top-lit stair hall lined with decorative ceramic tilework. Circular cast-iron stair from first to second floor by McFarlanes of Glasgow. A complete contemporary central heating system survives.
HISTORY: The manufactory was described as 'Messrs. Manton and Moles' Gold Jewellery Works' in 1889, and was designed to provide powered processes, metal melting and gilding areas, workshops and offices, together with domestic accommodation for a caretaker. There were extensive basements with stores, offices and cellars, and upper floors of the office range contained stock room, warehouse and bedrooms. The entrance to workshop areas was accessed from the main entrance.
Forms a group with Nos. 67-69 Warstone Lane, (q.v.) and Nos. 82 and 83 Tenby Street (q.v.)
An exceptionally complete and finely- detailed example of a purpose- built integrated jewellery manufactory of 1882, with clear architectural differentiation between manufacturing and administrative functions, and amongst the most distinguished examples of industrial architecture within a manufacturing district of Birmingham now recognised as being of international significance.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

505871

Legacy System:

LBS

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.