Description

SU 94NE GUILDFORD BRIDGE STREET
(South Side)

Rodboro
3/4 Buildings
31/7/86

II

Factory. Circa 1900, extended in circa 1903. Brown brick with red brick dressings
on steel frame, with rendered cladding and risers on the ground floor. Slate
roofs, hipped on the left hand range and with parallel, part-glazed gabled ranges
to right. Rectangular plan on an island site with the north east corner curving
around the junction of Bridge and Onslow Streets. Three storeys with gable-lit
attics; stacks to front and rear at junction of ranges. Bridge Street facade:-
double gable-end range of 12 bays to right with giant end pilasters under moulded
caps and further giant pilasters to centre of each range. Brick dentil band to
gables and brick string courses on first and ground floors, cornice to eaves.
Keyed, brick-edged rounds to each gable, four fixed windows with glazing-bars, the
centre four panes pivoting, to each gable on first and second floors. Gauged brick
soldier arches over each window. Original ground floor showroom windows now blocked
and central pilaster piers truncated. Five bay curved range wrapping around the
corner to left with pier buttresses articulating between bays. Each bay with two
windows on each floor, moulded brick eaves and blocked ground floor fenestration.
Further five-bay range to left facing Onslow Street with similar articulation and
fenestrations; the ground floor piers retain square floral panels in the capitals.
Rear elevation:- Irregular fenestration with cambered heads to windows. Seven
windows across both floors to right, of varying widths, 9 windows across the
gabled ranges. Blocked doors and windows on the ground floor. The factory
originally accommodated the manufacturing plant and equipment for the production
of touring cars, motor buses and commercial vehicles, including the fire engine,
designed by the Dennis Company. It was also used for experimental work and the
most important development was the Dennis "worm-driven" rear axle. The showrooms
of the Company originally occupied the ground floor, the manufacturing being on
the upper floors, and thus the building was one of the first, if not the first,
purpose-built car factories in England and the world. The company archives are
deposited at Guildford Muniment Room and original building plans are held by the
Guildford Borough Council.

"Why Dennis and How" (Guildford 1945) by R. Twelvetrees.
pp 60 - 74 "Factory Facts" and ill. opposite p.61.

Listing NGR: SU9940749558

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Rodboro Buildings at Wikipedia
• Rodboro Buildings official website
• Wikidata Q26280475

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2