Upper Garden Pavilion at Whinburn

Reasons for Designation

The Upper Garden Pavilion at Whinburn is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It was designed by eminent London architects Simpson and Ayrton, with modifications by T Mawson, a landscape designer of the first quality * It incorporates some good architectural details in the Arts and Crafts vernacular tradition * It occupies an important position in the registered garden as redesigned by Simpson and Ayrton, and by T Mawson, providing views over the garden, house and surrounding countryside * The painted plaster ceiling is delicately executed and is an unusual feature for such a structure, adding individual interest to the building

Details

1772/0/10038 HOLLINS LANE 11-NOV-08 Upper Garden Pavilion at Whinburn

GV II Garden Pavilion, 1922-23, original design by John Simpson & Maxwell Ayrton, modified by T.H. Mawson after construction.

MATERIALS: coursed rubble with a stone slate roof.

PLAN: The pavilion is built on two levels on a steeply sloping site, and is square in form with a pyramidal roof with sprocketed eaves. The upper level is approached via external stone steps to the side, bounded by a low stone wall capped with flat stones.

The entrance, to the west (upslope) side, is a slightly recessed arch, and each of the other sides has a large rectangular window, originally with oak trellis, now lost. The interior has a stone flagged floor, and the plaster ceiling is decorated with a painted design of vines and grapes twining around a trellis. Inscribed in a beam over the door are the words A GARDEN IS A BEAUTIFUL BOOK/ WRIT BY THE FINGER OF GOD. Views are of the house to the left, grounds to the front and countryside to the right. At the lower level is a shallow recess, specified by Mawson to be "3' 0 deep to be as long as the thickness of side walls will allow". This has a haunched flat arch, and the remains of a painted frieze are visible around the top of the inside. Leading from the pavilion eastwards is the boundary wall of the estate, and further down the slope are several remaining pillars from a former pergola leading to a second smaller pavilion.

HISTORY: The garden at Whinburn was redesigned in conjunction with a major extension of the main house, in the years leading up to the First World War, having originally been established by the Prince Smith family in 1897. The family had made their money from the manufacture of machinery for the woollen industry. In 1912 they chose the London architects Simpson and Ayrton (designers of Wembley Stadium) to redesign and enlarge the house, and at the same time the garden was both extended and redesigned. The original designs for the Upper Garden Pavilion were amended after it was built by Mawson, whose firm also had a hand in the remodelling of the garden. Original drawings by Mawson survive, showing the adaptations he suggested. The garden was added to the Register as a Grade II designed landscape in 2002.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Upper Garden Pavilion at Whinburn is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It was designed by eminent London architects Simpson and Ayrton, with modifications by T Mawson, a landscape designer of the first quality * It incorporates some good architectural details in the Arts and Crafts vernacular tradition * It occupies an important position in the registered garden as redesigned by Simpson and Ayrton, and by T Mawson, providing views over the garden, house and surrounding countryside * The painted plaster ceiling is delicately executed and is an unusual feature for such a structure, adding individual interest to the building

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

504392

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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