Summary
Briarcourt is a substantial house, designed by Edgar Wood in 1894-5, as a wedding present for his sister and brother-in-law, H.H. Sykes. It stands in grounds extending to the north and south, with its main elevation to the south. It was extended in 1904 and has been owned by Huddersfield Council since 1946.
Reasons for Designation
Briarcourt, Lindley, Huddersfield, a 1894-5 house by Edgar Wood with an extension of 1904, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architecture: the Arts and Crafts styling of the house, with a strong vernacular influence, is a good example of Edgar Wood's architecture, showing the beginnings of his move away from Arts and Crafts and towards Modernism in its relative plainness externally
Internal features: the interior of the house is richly decorated and contains a number of built-in pieces of furniture designed by Wood, as well as leaded and stained glass and decorative plasterwork
Artistic interest: a painted frieze in the study is by F W Jackson, a friend of Wood's and a founder member of the Staithes Group of artists
Completeness: the house retains the majority of its original layout and decorative scheme despite being used as a children's home, day centre and offices
Integrity: the substantial 1904 extension, although not by Wood himself, is in keeping stylistically and is likely to have been approved by him.
History
Briarcourt, Lindley, was built in 1894-5 by Edgar Wood for his brother-in-law H H Sykes, as a wedding present. The Sykes family were influential people in Lindley and owned the local textile card manufacturing business. The work of Edgar Wood (1860-1935), who practised mainly in Manchester and Huddersfield, is characterised in his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as significant in its totality and impressive in its constant creative search that led him to cut across stylistic categories. Earlier work, including Briarcourt, was strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, while later he pioneered modernism. His listed buildings include Banney Royd (1900), Royd House (1914) and the Edgar Wood Centre (1903), all Grade I, a number of II* listed buildings including two others in Lindley, and numerous Grade II buildings. Art work in the house was by Frederick William Jackson (1859-1918), a friend and contemporary of Wood who painted a number of murals in his buildings and was a founder member of the Staithes group.
In 1904 the house was extended to the west side and rear (north). The substantial extension is entirely in keeping and was thought to have been executed by Wood, but was in fact designed by Willie Cooper of Huddersfield. It is likely however that Wood was consulted on the work and approved its design. At some time after 1907 a small alteration to the second floor changed the appearance of the front elevation. The main staircase was at some time moved from its original position at the rear of the hall to the very front, thus partly obscuring the window to the right of the main door. The entrance to the study was altered at the same time.
From 1922 to 1929 the house was divided into two dwellings, the arched side door being the entrance to the rear property, but it returned to single family occupation thereafter. Accompanying grounds were sold off and developed over the years. In 1946 the house came into local authority ownership and has since been a children's home and a day centre, as well as housing some council offices. There have been internal alterations as a result, including the insertion of a lift in the inner hall.
Details
Briarcourt, Lindley, is a house built in 1894-5 by Edgar Wood, for his sister and brother-in-law, H.H. Sykes, on a south-facing site surrounded by grounds principally to the north and south.
MATERIALS: the house is constructed of hammer dressed stone with ashlar dressings under a pitched stone slate roof.
PLAN: the house has two full storeys plus attics in the gables. The main range has a central hall with two main rooms to each side, and a rear (north) range connected by a corridor.
EXTERIOR: the house has coped gables, some ending in short parapets, and deeply projecting eaves at some points. The chimney stacks are tall and plain, some connected to the building with decorative iron ties. The windows are mullioned and transomed, the mullions chamfered, and the upper lights are leaded. The ground floor and some upper floor windows have stained glass in an Arts and Crafts style. There is a two-storey, parapetted canted bay at the east end of the front elevation, and a two-storey gabled porch with ball finials. The cornice over the ground floor of the porch has a heart-shaped cartouche flanked by ferns with much foliage, and arabesque and strapwork ornament. The planked door has four small lights, a moulded cornice ¾ of the way up, delicate iron hinges and a handle ornamented with a briar motif. The west side has a single storey parapetted bay at the south end. At the north end of the main range is a projecting chimney breast, canted, with single leaded lights in the sides and corners, with a gable end coped and shaped up to the stack. Rainwater heads and junction boxes are moulded with paterae, fluting, blind tracery and dates. The 1904 extension has a wide arched entrance to the right with a half-glazed timber door with leaded lights, flanked by similar panels.
INTERIOR: the principal rooms are Jacobethan in style with Arts and Crafts detailing on finger plates, hinges and window latches. The porch is wainscoted with moulded panels (some modillioned), and plasterwork above decorated with studs shaped in Arts and Crafts style patterns. The inner door has brass Arts and Crafts fingerplates and stained glass with Art Nouveau stylised briar patterns. The hall has moulded panelling and plasterwork in the form of stylised lily patterns between the panelling and the ceiling. There is a simple fireplace with a chamfered four-centred arch. The staircase has elaborate cut balusters of Jacobean type, and bulbous turned and carved newel posts supporting a depressed arched modillioned canopy over the lower part.
The study to the south-east has moulded panelling and a fresco by F W Jackson depicting harvest scenes with briars between the panelling and the ceiling. The canted bay to the south has turned wooden mullions. The chimney piece has moulded wooden rustication, a modillion cornice and a marble fireplace, and there is a built in desk and two cupboards all with chevrons, cross-shaped panels and turned and carved posts.
The sitting room to the south-west has an inglenook with simple Arts and Crafts detailing, a very elaborate plaster ceiling with rounds of angels intertwined with briars and honeysuckle, and a plaster frieze of intertwined briars. The octagonal bay to the side has stained glass panels of briars.
The dining room to the north-west has moulded panelling and studs above with plaster infilling decorated with a briar pattern of incised lines. A canted inglenook is supported on bulbous turned columns, and the window mullions are duplicated by turned vase-shaped wooden mullions on the inner wall face. The stone chimney piece has a rose tree incised above the fireplace and a moulded mantelpiece with carved brackets to the ceiling. There is a recessed built in dresser on the east side with diamond and star-burst patterns on the panels.
The kitchen on the north-east has modern fittings and the inner hall has an inserted lift which rises to all floors. The rooms to the rear have few features of interest apart from a parquet floor in the end room to the north. The first-floor landing has a round arch on the north side with a wooden impost band ramped up towards each side. The three principal rooms to the south have a mix of plaster friezes and timber framing in to the bays, as does the north-west room. The central front room has been truncated by the alteration to the staircase and the lift shaft occupies the position of a former storeroom, but the layout otherwise remains largely intact. Two of the first floor rooms have built in cupboards with carved motifs and ironwork on the hinges and latches. At the north end of the rear extension is a former billiard room on the first floor decorated in a more florid Art Nouveau style, including pilasters framing a former fireplace and fingerplate on the door. The attic floor has a cloakroom containing original tiling, patterned WC and cistern.
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 01/08/2011
