Description

LEEDS

SE2836SW SHIRE OAK ROAD, Headingley
714-1/62/818 (South side (off))
22/12/86 Nos.22A, 22B AND 22C
Arncliffe
(Formerly Listed as:
SHIRE OAK ROAD, Headingley
(South side)
No.22 A, B AND C
including garden walls and
summerhouse)

GV II

House, now flats. Dated 1893. By Francis Bedford. For James
Bedford. Local hard red brick in 5:1 English bond, dressed
stone details, sandstone slab roof.
2 storeys with attics and cellars, 4 bays, entrance bay 2 and
bay 4 project; canted front creates 'butterfly' plan with rear
L-plan single-storey service wing over basement; Jacobean and
local C17 vernacular style.
3 steps up to slightly recessed ribbed board door with
original studs, hinges, latch; segmental arch with incised
lettering: '18 B 93', moulded brick above. Fenestration: all
wooden frames, 2- and 3- light mullion and transom below, 2-,
3- and 4-light mullion above. Ground-floor windows plate
glass, first floor left retains leaded lights. Moulded brick
string at ground-floor sill and lintel and eaves levels; deep
eaves left, entrance and right bays have brick parapet, stone
strapwork panel and ball finials over entrance bay; original
square-section drain pipes with '1893' on heads; stone gable
copings, kneelers, ball finials; tall moulded brick stacks
right and rear left.
Rear: central entrance, basement entrance to right, stair
window above left, canted window right of centre, 2 dormer
windows, left frame altered.
Left return: paired cross windows to ground floor, elaborate
4-light stone oriel with strapwork balustrade above, 2-light
window in gable. Right return: 5-light bay window right, some
rebuilding after demolition of added greenhouse.
INTERIOR: much of the original detailing survives although the
house is divided into flats. Important features include
entrance hall with panelling and light fittings, top-glazed
double doors with carved half-columns opening into stair hall,
(partitioned, the stairs rebuilt in original position), Tudor
fireplace and plaster frieze of roses; ground floor left:
dining room with panelling, wooden fire surround with attached

columns, encased beamed ceiling, 2 large panelled doors with
C17-style iron fittings; butler's pantry to rear of dining
room with corniced ceiling, original cupboards; rear kitchen
with stone surrounds to cooking range recesses, original
timber partitions; front room, right has hidden lighting in
architraves to door and above fireplace. Upper floors not seen
at survey.
A very complete survival of a middle-class Leeds villa of the
1890s, well built and of design quality. An early building by
the important Leeds partnership, for Francis Bedford's family.
James Bedford, a manufacturing chemist with premises on
Kirkstall Road, formerly lived at No.7A Woodhouse Cliff (qv).
The dining room decoration thought to be based on the Plantin
house in Antwerp.

Listing NGR: SE2831036066

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26547633

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)