Deptford Fire Station

Reasons for Designation

Deptford Fire Station has been designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * special architectural interest as a characterful and distinctive station from a significant period in the development fire station architecture * the principal façade is carefully composed in a Queen Anne style, the quality of the brickwork is also good, and the station has a municipal presence through the appliance bays and the inscription. * the station has added special interest in that the strong historic associations with John Evelyn have been referenced in the use of a late C17 domestic style, illustrating sensitivity to local context typical of the LCC architects in the early C20.

Details

779/0/10148 EVELYN STREET 29-OCT-09 Deptford 186 Deptford Fire Station

II Fire station, 1903, by London County Council's Fire Stations Division, with minor later alterations.

Red brick with stone ground floor and slate Mansard roof. Timber sash windows, some replaced.

EXTERIOR: Queen Anne style, having a seven-bay brick façade with giant order pilasters, advancing central bay with a broken scroll pediment, Mansard roof with dormer windows and exaggeratedly-tall chimneys. The ground floor is functionally-determined by the necessity of at least two appliance bays and an entrance bay, but is enlivened by ornamentation including a keystone over the entrance bay, stone sills to the windows and the elegant lettering above the appliance bays which reads 'LCC Fire Brigade Station Deptford 1903'. The appliance bay doors and ground and first floor windows are modern replacements and the boundary wall and railings shown in historic photographs of the station has been removed. The rear is largely unaltered and the arrangement of accommodation remains legible, with railed, external walkways leading from a central staircase tower to flats.

INTERIOR: The interior is altered in part, with the removal of fireplaces and other features. The plan remains largely unchanged, however, and of the standard design used in many stations of the period. There is a single fireplace surviving in the flats, as well as the main stair with its metal balustrade and handrail.

HISTORY: A building boom of the 1890s-1900s transformed fire station architecture and give the Brigade its most characterful buildings. By 1889 the Fire Brigade was part of London County Council and from 1896 new stations were designed by the a group of architects lead by Owen Fleming and Charles Canning Winmill, both formerly of the LCC Housing Department. They brought the highly-experimental methods which had evolved for designing new social housing to the Fire Brigade Division, as the department was called from 1899, and drew on a huge variety of influences to create unique and commanding stations, each built to a bespoke design and plan. This exciting period in fire station design continued to the outbreak of World War I, although there was some standardisation of design in the period. Deptford Station, built in 1903, is a station from this period as reflected in its considerable architectural quality.

The architecture is inspired by domestic buildings of the late C17, no doubt selected in recognition of Deptford's history: the site of Sayes Court, the home of the late C17 diarist John Evelyn, is just east of the fire station. The Fire Brigade Division used the design of Deptford Station again in 1904, at Millwall (Grade II) just across the river. REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: Deptford Fire Station is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * special architectural interest as a characterful and distinctive station from a significant period in the development fire station architecture * the principal façade is carefully composed in a Queen Anne style, the quality of the brickwork is also good, and the station has a municipal presence through the appliance bays and the inscription. * the station has added special interest in that the strong historic associations with John Evelyn have been referenced in the use of a late C17 domestic style, illustrating sensitivity to local context typical of the LCC architects in the early C20.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

504242

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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