Interior of 1902(?) house

[JMartin]

I've been trawling the web for weeks on end now trying to find out what the interior decor might have been in our house when it was built. We can't find any information at all about it being built but it was the stationmaster's house for the station that opened in 1901 so we think sometime between 1900 and 1902. The estate agent dated it at 1902 but I don't know what he based this on.

We live in a mining village and most of the rest of the houses are mining cottages. We know what these would have looked like inside from old pictures and the local museum. The question we can't find the answer to is if our house, which is considerably larger than the cottages would have been fancier or not. Part of me says not but then I think perhaps the stationmaster was of a higher standing than say a miner.

What we really want to know is if it would have had dado and picture rails, cornicing, ceiling roses, etc. It's not a particularly huge house although it does have fairly high ceilings downstairs. The problem being that over the years the house has been butchered and doesn't seem to have an original part left in it.

Can you suggest anywhere where I might be able to look to find out? I've tried the station museum but while there are many pictures of the outside there are none of the inside or indeed the people who lived here.

 

[Penners]

Queen Victoria died in 1901, so if your house was built in 1902, it's technically not Victorian.

Obviously, however, house decor, fashions, styles, etc. didn't all immediately change on the day the old girl made her exit.

The Victorian Society, despite its name, also strays into Edwardian territory. Have a browse of their website and their book section. You'll find a number of useful volumes describing Victorian interior styling.

 

[chuckey]

I would recommend going to the Beamish open air museum, or seeing if they do any books via the web. They have re-created a terrace of miners cottages and a terrace of more middle class houses. They also have a coal mine, trams running, a Coop store, steam trains, it goes on and on. A cracking good day out if you are ever near Durham.
Frank

 

[piper]

I would recommend going to the Beamish open air museum,

Also the Blists Hill site in the Ironbridge Gorge museum. Similar sort of industrial, working Victorian/Edwardian recreation as Beamish. Not so many actual houses, but shops, offices, railway and mining stuff, all giving a good idea of general style & decor. I seem to remember there is a manager's house, and quite a good idea of the different class gradations in an industrial context.

 

[Penners]

And of course there's always the Geffrye Museum in London. Interiors through the ages.

 

[Nemesis]

It will have been built by a railway company.

Which one?

The plans are probably extant, along with further details, somewhere...

 

[JMartin]

Thank you for your ideas. We are in Scotland but I guess Durham is within travelling distance so we may pay the museum a visit. Like you say it would be a really good day out and our son is potty about trains which is part of the reason we bought the house in the first place.

I wasn't sure when the Victorian era ended. I always associate Victorian architecture with really dark terraced houses so I suppose in my head I couldn't see our light airy house being of that period.

The railway was part of the Caledonian Railway..thus far I've not been able to find out anything else. It was built specifically for the mine and I thought maybe the mine would therefore have built the house and the stationmaster would ahve been a mine employee...obviously I can see I was barking up the wrong tree.

OK, armed with that information I'm off to do some more research. Keep your ideas coming if you have any more.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Thank you for your ideas. We are in Scotland but I guess Durham is within travelling distance so we may pay the museum a visit. Like you say it would be a really good day out and our son is potty about trains which is part of the reason we bought the house in the first place.

I wasn't sure when the Victorian era ended. I always associate Victorian architecture with really dark terraced houses so I suppose in my head I couldn't see our light airy house being of that period.

The railway was part of the Caledonian Railway..thus far I've not been able to find out anything else. It was built specifically for the mine and I thought maybe the mine would therefore have built the house and the stationmaster would ahve been a mine employee...obviously I can see I was barking up the wrong tree.

OK, armed with that information I'm off to do some more research. Keep your ideas coming if you have any more.

One of the Caledonian Railways' architects, who designed a stationmaster's house at an unidentified location in 1902:

http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/architect_full.php?id=M001816

http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/building_full.php?id=M033554

and another who worked for the Highland Railway:

http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/architect_full.php?id=M003427

a couple of starting points perhaps....

 

[Nemesis]

All railways have groups of enthusiasts who will know a great deal about the architecture. Most companies had an architects' or engineers' department. Usually the drawings are preserved somewhere, often in Record Offices/ Archives.

Here's a starting point of contact:

The Caledonian absorbed and developed many lines within the coal and iron fields of central Scotland, extended its rail heads to Ardrossan, Wemyss Bay, Gourock, Oban and Ballachulish on the west coast and built Grangemouth docks on the Forth and by 1923 had 1,114 route miles.

http://www.crassoc.org.uk/


http://www.caledonianrailway.co.uk/

http://www.caledonianrailway.co.uk/

 

[Anita]

We made an offer on a station masters house on the Carlisle to Settle line quite a number of years ago (we didn't get it). It was fairly untouched and I seem to remember cornices in the 2 reception rooms, and picture rails throughout. All of the prooerties on this line were built the same and there a station masters house at Langwathby (near Penrith) which has the station buildings converted into a tea-room and might be worth a visit. I am mindful of course that a lot of Scottish architecture differs from English - but this might just be worth a visit, or at least some further investigation.

I have tried to find some photo's of how the statoin masters houses/buildings on the line look - but am having connection difficulties today and computer wont let me!!!!

 

[Nemesis]

I have some but they need loading up.

However, all lines are different, with different 'house styles' so really it's hard to compare. Some are listed.

North Eastern Railway buildings, for example, have been extensively researched by Bill Fawcett - three volumes published.

Langwathby is the Brief Encounter tearooms.

Here's Appleby Station, Settle route:

http://www.visitcumbria.com/carlset/appstn.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/panoramas/appleby_station_360.shtml

 

[JMartin]

Thank you. I have been doing more research during my lunch hour but haven't come across anything as simple as ours...although the simplification could be a later design since I haven't yet been able to find a really early picture of the property.

The link below shows the house on the right in (I think) the early 1990s. As you can see the windows have already been replaced with upvc and the roof has been shortened (which you can't tell from the picture but a neighbour told us this was done to sort out some wet rot).

The neighbours house (on the left) has what looks to be the original windows although their house has also been butchered over the years.

http://www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk/images/pwork3.jpg

The information on the architects was very useful although I think that particular one worked in the highlands.

 

[Nemesis]

Your best bet is still to contact

http://www.crassoc.org.uk/

Wherein much expert knowledge will reside.

 

[piper]

Langwathby is the Brief Encounter tearooms.

Carnforth, actually. It's recently had several tons of pigeon s*** cleared out of the old station buildings, and lovingly restored as a "Brief Encounter" Heritage Centre (or something) complete with the original clock and the tearoom, plus recreated offices etc.

 

[Anita]

There must be another brief encounter then - cos the one I know and to which Nemesis also referred is definitley at Langwathby. It's where my other half comes from - and I've been there and eaten in it!

 

[Nemesis]

Yup. Carnforth was the setting for the movie, and it has recently had a makeover, but the tearooms in Langwathby station buildings are named Brief Encounter.

Recommended.

 

[Nemesis]

http://www.briefencounterlangwathby.co.uk/

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hubyFqSUaGA

http://home.clara.net/gw0hqd/brief/

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/456083/index.html

 

[Nemesis]

I know a spot off topic - but I was a passenger on this!

I love YouTube

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YuSFFG2RraA

 

[Penners]

I just don't know when you find time to colour-code your anoraks.