Description

1157/0/10093 BROOKSHILL
23-FEB-10 COACH HOUSE AND STABLES AT HILLSIDE

II

1157/0/10093 BROOKSHILL
23-FEB-10 Coach House and Stables at Hillside

II
Coach house and stables. Probably 1868 by RL Roumieu who designed the now ruined house, in Tudor Gothic manner.

MATERIALS: Red brick with blue brick banding, stone kneelers, alternating bands of plaintile and fishscale tile roofs, some replaced with corrugated sheeting. Diagonally boarded timber doors. Cast iron and timber stable fittings and Dutch tile flooring.

PLAN: An informal picturesque group set round two sides of a yard facing south-east overlooking the drive. The northern range comprises of a two-storey coach house and coachman's house above it and to the north of it a single storey stable block of looseboxes. To the south are loose boxes, possibly formerly a cart house and storage. The west range comprises a single storey range, now used as loose boxes and storage. Attached to the north of the coach house and stables is a single storey barn.

EXTERIOR: The coach house, stables and barn have shaped gables with stone kneelers; the coach house and stables have flush blue brick banding. The carriage doors have diagonally-set boarding, the left-hand door is said to be replaced and has a glazed upper panel, both have long strap hinges. To the right, a door and window have flush pointed arches of alternating red and blue brick, the door has a plain overlight. Above are tall loading doors similar to the carriage doors, and a two over two pane sash. The stables to the north-east have a single split stable door, also diagonally boarded. The stables to the south-west have a pair of split doors and a pair of single doors, also diagonally boarded. The west range is simply fitted with stable doors and has a shaped southern gable. To the rear of the coach house the attached barn is similar in manner to the loosebox range and has a pitch hole in each gable.

INTERIOR: Loose boxes have cast iron posts and timber partitions and linings, and Dutch tile floors.

HISTORY: Hillside was built in 1868 on behalf of Thomas Francis Blackwell, of Crosse and Blackwell, for his daughter-in-law Mrs Charles Blackwell and her daughters. The house was occupied by the second daughter and oldest surviving member of the family until her death in 1955. It was designed by Robert Louis Roumieu. The site as a whole survives complete with the shell of the house and stables and with the layout of the drive and some of the planting, which compare well with the 1896 OS map which marks the house which looked south-west over gardens and open ground with a carriage sweep set in landscaped grounds on the north-east, road side. The stables and coach house enclosed the northern side of the approach. Photographs taken in 1969 and 1973 show the stark Gothic shell of the house, with shaped gables and a conical roofed turret. It is now much overgrown within the remnants of later-C19 planting and the fabric appears to be severely depleted. To the east of the stables is a detached building in similar manner which is also shown on the 1896 OS map.

RL Roumieu (1814-1877) trained under Benjamin Wyatt. He formed the partnership of Roumieu and Gough, whose broad spectrum of work included the austere neoclassical Milner Square Islington of 1839-44, the Almeida Theatre Islington (1837-8) and the gothicising of Barry's St Peter's church Islington in the mid-1840s. Roumieu was surveyor to the French Hospital Estate, building in Hackney in 1865, and to the Hawley Charity estate.

SOURCES: The Architect's, Engineer's and Building Trades' Directory, (1868), 134
Directory of British Architects, 1834-1914, RIBA, (2001), 508
Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, London 3: North West,(1991), 277

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The coach house and stables at Hillside are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: the coach house and stables, complete with some fittings, reflect the Tudor Gothic manner of the house;
* Setting: although the house is a shell, the picturesque layout of house, stable yard and grounds is still intact and compares with the 1868 OS map;
* Historic interest: association with the Blackwell family, well-known food manufacturers.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672833

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.

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