few pics of our house

[sorrel_101]

ok - so as requested by Moo and if anyone else is interested attached are a few pics of our house.

i've found in the documents that the land was bought in 1899 by a builder & wheel(w)right - he built the house in 1900 then sold it on to a coal and wood merchant in 1903 who had it for about 30 years i think.

it's easy to see the roof has been changed to tiles, but while they did this they changed some of the lintle (sp) brickwork on the top bay at the front and also put a crappy roof on the bay at the back.

the tile floor is missing in a 4m^2 chunk in one section that is currently under lino, but i've had some of the lino up and there's a good lot still under there as well as the exposed tiles we already know about.

theres a 60's (ish) single story extension but you can see where they bricked up the old door.

think that's about it for now!

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[sorrel_101]

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[sorrel_101]

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[sorrel_101]

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[Penners]

Thanks for the pictures, sorrel. There's some very nice detailing, plus some less-than-nice 20th century fenestration!

It's a classic Victorian terraced house. Is the big arched entrance original, do you think? Or might it perhaps have been added by the coal and wood merchant, for his horse and cart?

 

[Feltwell]

Some nice detailing on that house - you'll now no doubt be like the rest of us, a million and one ideas of what can be done with a new place! Such a shame that the hall floor was badly damaged - you can repair them though, but I'd put it well down your list of things to do - it will be expensive and not a quick job. I love the vivid blue at the centre of each pattern - I adore geometric tiling. Alas my own house, despite being very middle class Victorian, has a fairly plain diamond pattern 2 colour hall floor.

Roof and windows - expensive, depends on if you can tolerate what's been done. Changing that horrible job on the bay at the rear wouldn't be too bad though.

Why do you think the cornice is not original? Late Victorian cornicing can be much less ornate than in some earlier periods. The dentil detailing (the square block detail) echoes what you've got next to your front door. Unless it's really obviously new when viewed up close (e.g. made of polystyrene!) it may be original.

This for example is in my 1899 house (picture originally taken to illustrate ceiling damage!)

I presume the house to the left of yours was there first? It's clearly different brick, the courses aren't aligned either - but your doorway arch goes onto their brickwork as if it's been cut in. Was your place an infill between 2 existing houses, or the start of a new row of terraces joining on at an angle to an existing row?

 

[Feltwell]

Or might it perhaps have been added by the coal and wood merchant, for his horse and cart?

A complete aside - my great great Uncle was a coal merchant in London, and kept a steam lorry for deliveries from the turn of the century well into the 1940's - cheap fuel of course, being "in the trade". Family legend has it that he was once prosecuted for "driving furiously" in his lorry down a steep hill, having been overtaken and stopped by a policeman on a bicycle!

 

[Penners]

That little tale highlights the need for clear use of language - particularly by the minions of the law*.

Was he driving furiously fast, or was he perhaps just driving while hacked off at some bloody copper who'd swerved in front of him on a bike?





* If a policeman is a minion of the law, is a policewoman a filly minion? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Moo]

Thanks so much for those pictures, Sorrel. What a lovely place! (I'm extremely envious of that glorious front step)

I can see why you're not keen on the fireplace, though, if the pictures of your light and airy hall are anything to go by. Walking from that into a room decorated to blend in with the fireplace might be a bit of a shock.

 

[sorrel_101]

the big black doors i think are original from looking at the lock on it - a friend of ours is a chippy and he thinks they're original (bit knackered at the bottom but salvagable) the archway has always been there - our garden is unusually big for a victorian terrace, (not just long but wide as we're on a bend in the road we get the extra land) - so i think it was always meant for a horse to be kept in the back and looking at the brickwork nothing seems cut into or anything other than how it was built. also along the bottom of the garden runs what used to be the great central railway
the house was actually here before next door was built (apparently) so i'm a bit gutted that they cut into the archway to put the other house in next door but hey ho - that's the history of a house for you isn' t it?

i just thought the cornicing wasn't original as it's in such good condition - it's definitely plaster not polystyrene but it does look very good.

the whole house has a light and airy feel to it apart from that bloomin' fireplace, but as i said, if it belongs with the house then i wouldn't dream of splitting them up after all this time

the front step is a bit bashed i'm afraid but i think that will be much easier to get fixed than the hall so i might get cracking with that sooner or later - think there are 14 tiles that are cracked, but at least they're all there.

if you can think of anything in particular i could take a pic of just shout

S

p.s. i reckon he was driving furiously as in angry - makes a much better story.

 

[Feltwell]

Alas, "driving furiously" refers to speed alone, with no "road rage" inferences. Hence the slight irony that he was stopped by a PC on a pushbike!

Apparently you didn't even have to be using motorised transport - in 1903 James Jones, a farmer of Grimley, was fined 10 shillings at the City Police Court for "furiously driving a horse and carriage at the Cross, Worcester. Witnesses stated that he had been driving at 12 miles an hour, and several people were nearly knocked down."

 

[Flyfisher]

12 mph! :shock: Faster than driving in London these days then. :lol:

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/804876.london_cars_move_no_faster_than_chickens/

 

[Moo]

That front doorstep is fascinating. When next-door was built, whoever chopped the corner off it went to a lot of trouble putting the border in, but couldn't be bothered to follow the pattern.

Just looking at it makes my eyes go all funny.



(But they didn't have eagle-eyed COs then, did they?)

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Somewhat similar to our more 'working class' Victorian house. !! You are lucky to have the floor tiles, there is only one house in our street that still has them.
You have got an interesting project there, and are very lucky to have a little history to go with it. We are still trying to find out more here and are most frustrated by the missing deeds. Houses of this sort often change hands frequently and I think that the word of mouth history gets overlooked.