Summary
House, 1902 to designs of Norman Evill for Edwin and Maud Scott-Nicholson. Arts and Crafts style. The listing does not include the mid-C20 linear block attached to the north-west range, nor the mid-C20 inserted interior of the north-east range.
Reasons for Designation
This arts and crafts movement house of 1902 to designs by Norman Evill in collaboration with Edwin Scott-Nicholson, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest
* a medium-sized house which is fully integrated into its owner-designed gardens by the use of terraces and stairs, and which illustrates the techniques of the arts and crafts movement in its design, proportions and detailing;
* a work of collaboration between its owner Edwin Scott-Nicholson and the architect Norman Evill, both trained in the arts and crafts movement style;
* the composition provides the coherence found in traditional building, but with enough variety in the form of the gables, the punctuation of the chimneys and other details to enliven it;
* the house illustrates strict adherence to traditional materials and craftsmanship and an appreciation of the importance of materials and textures;
* the simplicity of the asymmetric and stripped back design with its roughcast exterior is relieved by decorative details such as the sandstone date stone and sundial, initialled rainwater heads, and banded materials of the main courtyard entrance;
* the impact of the replacement fenestration has been minimised by careful replication of the original, producing elevations that retain their original aesthetic integrity and quality;
* for the high-quality interiors in the principal part of the house including bespoke plasterwork work by George Percy Bankart, tiles by William Frend De Morgan, high-quality oak fixtures and fittings and numerous bespoke arts and crafts movement chimney pieces.
History
Barn Close was constructed in 1902 to designs by Norman Evill as a family home for Edwin and Maud Scott-Nicholson. Designed to Arts and Crafts principles, it was built by J and H Bell with decorative details undertaken by artist craftsmen including William Frend De Morgan and George Percy Bankart. The dining room fireplace has the words "Stay me with flagons / Comfort me with apples" from the Song of Songs. This was one of the "mottoes for the house", meant to provide a revelation of the character and tastes of the house’s owner, as later suggested by M H Baillie-Scott in his 1906 Houses and Gardens. The building specifications make clear, that De Morgan ceramic fireplace tiles in the dining room and two of the bedrooms had been "selected by Mr Scott-Nicholson" from the catalogues of Thomas Elsley Ltd of London. Edwin was responsible for planning the garden (to which he made alterations in 1915) with Maud, a keen gardener, providing the horticultural knowledge. The house was also the home of an important collection of furnishings and other design work from the first half of the C20, which has now been moved elsewhere. They included William Morris textiles, De Morgan ceramics and silver cups and covers by Omar Ramsden. The house is depicted on the third edition 1925 1:2,500 Ordnance Survey map with an original footprint comprising three rectangular ranges around a courtyard called 'The Close' entered from the east. This plan is retained to the present day. There is also a detached L-shaped squash court immediately to the north of the house; squash courts began to be incorporated into English country houses in the early C20.
Edwin died in 1931, and on Maud's death in 1947 the ownership of the house passed to the local authority since it was her wish for it to be 'a home for women of slender means'. Historic photographs and a 1906 watercolour by Norman Evill show that subsequent changes have included the removal of original window shutters and the insertion of uPVC replacement frames to most windows; the latter has been undertaken carefully to reflect the original pattern of fenestration. A linear bedroom extension was added to the north-west elevation in the 1960s, the area in front landscaped, and the interior of the stable and garage wing converted to bedroom accommodation.
Edwin Nicholson (1873-1931) trained as an architect in the Arts and Crafts tradition, working as an assistant to Robert Weir Schultz in London. He joined the Housing Division of the London County Council’s Architects’ Department, where Arts and Crafts ideals were influencing municipal housing developments, before setting up his own practice in Bristol, by 1899, with Herbert Cyril Sinnott. In 1900 Edwin married Maud Hope Scott (1875–1947), only child of Sir Benjamin Scott, chairman of the rapidly expanding firm of Hudson Scott and Sons Ltd, printers and tin box producers in Carlisle. Benjamin Scott wanted his new son in law to become part of the family business, and Edwin gave up his architectural practice, moved from Bristol to Carlisle, and changed his surname by deed poll to Scott-Nicholson.
Norman Evill (1873-1958) trained in Edwin Lutyens' office as a draughtsman in 1899 and later said that he had observed there, and tried to learn, Lutyens' ability to see "in the round". He worked in Lutyens' office for three years and set up his own office at the start of the C20. He carried out much work restoring, renovating and modifying houses. A notable work is his extension to Nymans in Sussex (Grade II*). Evill's own house in Hampstead, to which he made changes, is listed at Grade II.
William Frend De Morgan (1839-1917), novelist and potter was known for his decorative tiles, and his work was considered comparable to Morris & Co.
George Percy Bankart (1866-1929) of the Bromsgrove Guild in Worcestershire, was a major figure in the revival of traditional plasterwork techniques. He is known for leadwork and decorative plastering. His work at Barn Close was bespoke for the building and its owners.
Details
House, 1902 to designs of Norman Evill for Edwin and Maud Scott-Nicholson. Arts and Crafts style.
MATERIALS: roughcast, with roughly dressed red sandstone dressings; graduated Lakeland slate roofs.
PLAN: corridor plan, arranged around three sides of an entrance courtyard, entered from the east side. The three ranges comprise a south-east living wing, a south-west service wing and a north-east stable and garage wing.
EXTERIOR: the house is constructed on an elevated site, positioned to allow a panoramic view of the city of Carlisle and the River Eden and beyond. It has two storeys and basement beneath steeply pitched roofs with sprocketed eaves and graduated Lakeland slate roof coverings; there are tall, corniced end and ridge chimney stacks and a high, rusticated stone plinth. Windows are mostly replacement uPVC sliding sash window frames, that reflect the original fenestration including the number of panes.
The two-storey asymmetric south-east elevation has rainwater heads decorated with the initials SN (Scott-Nicholson). An off-centre, projecting five bay element comprises a central entrance flanked to either side by a tall recess containing a nine-over-nine window; to each end there is a double-height canted bay window with a triangular pediment. The round-headed entrance has a glazed and timber door with a fanlight above, and a red sandstone sundial inscribed with the words 'Mark But Sunny Hours'. Between the first-floor bay windows there are three rectangular windows. A narrow bay to the right has a tall, single ground floor window, and a very wide bay to the left is largely blind except for a similar window to the first floor and a nine-over-nine window with margin lights to the ground floor. The right return is blind save for a pair of windows to the first floor and a single window to the ground floor.
The south-west elevation has a wide projecting gabled right bay with three ground floor and two first floor windows, and a narrow slit window to the apex. There is a central three-bay section with three similar windows to each of the two floors. The elevation terminates in a projecting asymmetrical gabled bay with an identical window to each floor.
The six-bay north-east wing, formerly comprising coal store, coach house and motor garage, retains three former arched coach house openings and an identical opening to the motor store, now all blocked with brick and inserted windows. The first floor has timber boarded walls, pierced with regular fenestration. Attached to the left end is a projecting rectangular bay, formerly a stable and harness room fronting a rectangular stable yard. The inner side retains the original main opening flanked to either side by a window, now all fenestrated, and there is a four-light roof dormer window. The gabled left return has scattered fenestration.
The inner court elevations have low sweeping roofs pierced by several dormer windows and there are multiple tall, ridge brick chimney stacks. The south-east elevation comprises a wide, almost full-width gable that extends through the roof line: it has a central segmental-headed entrance with a projecting red and yellow sandstone doorcase with splayed jambs, and a lozenge-shaped date-stone above. It is fitted with an original boarded and studded door with ornate bell push. There are three regularly spaced windows to the first floor, and an ornate cast-iron bell structure with pull is mounted to the right of the main entrance. The south-west elevation has an off-centre double-height, narrow gabled projection, with a ground floor segmental-headed entrance in a doorcase of rusticated jambs. At the left end there is a pair of ground floor windows. The three-bay north-west range has a gabled right end bay and a window to each floor of each bay; a later flat-roofed porch has been added to the left bay.
SUBSIDIARY ITEMS: the house is situated on a raised terrace paved with large stone flags, and defined by brick buttressed walls with flat coping stones. Stone steps with low stone balustrades, plain piers and flat coping stones lead south-east to a lower terrace, and south-west to a second paved terrace walk, also defined by buttressed red sandstone walls . At the west end of the terraced walk is a stone-built round arched garden structure within which is a bronze Classical statue in the form of a dancing satyr/faun with cymbals. Located immediately north of the house is an L-shaped squash court with pitched roofs and a glazed central section. It has a main round-headed and moulded entrance in the west side with an original panelled door with hexagonal upper panel.
INTERIOR: the entrance lobby to the living range has a George Bankart ornate plaster ribbed ceiling of fruit motifs, and a glazed and panelled inner door. This opens into a six-bay vaulted corridor with arches springing from a series of shallow plaster pilasters on either side. The corridor separates the main stairs, store and cloakroom from the principal reception rooms, and all door openings are set within round-headed and keyed architraves. The dining room has small panel oak panelled walls and wood-lined windows, and above the oak panelling, a broad plasterwork frieze of boldly modelled flower and fruit motifs, with stylised roses, grape vines, blackberries and pears and similarly fruit-encrusted ceiling beams, by Bankart. The fireplace has a rubbed stone surround carved with the motto "Stay me with flagons / Comfort me with apples". Within the stone surround are ceramic six-inch square de Morgan tiles depicting six varieties of his Ship design in deep red lustre depicting galleons in full sail. The over mantle is carved with alternating octagonal and rectangular motifs and has substantial multi-faceted jambs. The parlour, entered through an original door, has a similarly adorned plaster cornice and ceiling of delicate fir cone and flowers, also by Bankart. The chimneybreast has an oak chimneypiece infilled with pink and green tiles, and a panelled timber over mantel with an integral mirror or picture frame. This is flanked to either side by a matching timber fitted cupboard with curvilinear heads and curvilinear glazing bars to the upper parts; doors have original butterfly hinges and drops. The Hall has an exposed timber ceiling with a chamfered central beam, and a timber chimneypiece with bracketed mantle; it has a shaped head and four timber pegs to each jamb, and a brick inset hearth. The work room has a pair of round-headed alcoves fitted with original timber cupboards and bookshelves, and integral picture rail. The rooms of the service range are accessed from a plain L-shaped corridor with back stairs and pantry, which opens into a kitchen and a scullery, larder and wash house.
The timber straight flight stair with central landing has splat balusters to the top landing and shallow, flat arches, which continue along the first-floor corridor. The latter opens into two principal bedrooms (one at either end) with smaller rooms in between. All rooms retain their original timber arts and crafts chimney pieces which are bespoke and high quality, some have coved ceilings, and some retain round-headed alcoves. One of the chimney pieces is panelled and sparingly decorated with small, triple square motifs. A second has a shaped mantle shelf and an over mantle with a central recessed panel, and glazed floral delft tiles of a C17 tulip and lily motif pattern. A third is a simple surround with moulded mantle shelf and small insert grate; the whole is decorated with William De Morgan blue/green narrow glazed tiles with a centrepiece of his ‘Rose and Trellis’ tiles. A fourth chimney piece is similar to the third, with a black inset grate with corner roundels; recent photographs show that this chimney piece, including its narrow hearth, has plain de Morgan tiles, a variety of green shades, which have been subsequently removed or covered over when the grate was modified. The first floor above the service range has several small plain bedrooms off a corridor, one of which has a small, white chimney piece with applied rope beading and flowers. The former north-east coach house, motor house and stable range has a mid-C20 interior comprising a corridor to both floors with bedrooms off.
Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that the mid-C20 interior of the north-east range is not of special architectural or historic interest.
