Historic Architecture in Horbury - Part 2

 

Frampton Villa on Tithe Barn Street

Walking along Tithe Barn Street during the first part of my exploration of the historic architecture of Horbury, when arriving at the group of listed buildings comprising the lock up, Town School and Sunday School, I had reached the western limit of the town, as marked on the 1854 edition of the Ordnance Survey map. 

 

Tithe Barn Street on the 1897 and 1908 Ordnance Survey maps

Like many of the industrial towns and cities in northern England, the second half of the C19 saw a rapid expansion of Horbury and, continuing my walk along Tithe Barn Street, I immediately encountered examples of houses built in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, which have a completely different character. 

 

Victorian villas on Tithe Barn Street

 

On the north side, moderately sized detached villas with substantial grounds were built for the business owners and middle classes in the second half of the C19 and on the South side, centred on Bank Street, terraced houses for the workers appeared in the first decade of the C20. 

 

Terraced houses centred on Bank Street

 

I didn’t get near any of the larger houses to look at the stone that has been used, although my photo shows that High Bank – now extended and converted into flats - is built with a uniformly buff coloured sandstone, with the window surrounds being formed from massive blocks, which may be from the one of the major suppliers around Huddersfield and Bradford. 

 

The rockery at Frampton Villa

In the garden of Frampton Villa, a rockery in front of the house contains large blocks of white gypsum and black slag or crozzle, which is very commonly seen in Sheffield, where this waste material from the cementation furnaces was used to top the boundary walls of Victorian houses. 

 

The former Westfield Congregational Chapel

 

At the end of Tithe Barn Street, on the corner with High Street, is the former Westfield Congregational Chapel (c.1878), which is derelict and without a roof, but I didn’t stop to have a close look at and continued along Westfield Road to Horbury Library (1906). 

 

Horbury Library

 

The Horbury History website states that the Wakefield Express described its building materials as the best white Delph stone for the walling, Crosland Hill stone from Huddersfield for the dressings and blue Westmorland slate for the roof. 

 

Views of the old Town Hall

 

Next to the library is the old Town Hall (1903), where the muddy grey/brown colour of the walling stone and the pattern of iron staining is similar to sandstone seen earlier in my walk, which I have presumed to be the locally quarried Horbury Rock. The dressings are made of a uniformly coloured massive sandstone, which is suited to fine carving and this could also be Crosland Hill sandstone from the Rough Rock. 

 

Terraced houses on Jenkin Road and Park Street

 

After taking a few photographs of the later C19 terraced housing on Jenkin Road and Park Street, which are probably further examples of the Horbury Rock, I walked up Manor Road to see if I could find St. Peter’s Convent, but I couldn’t find any easy way to get there. 

 

Horbury Rock used for boundary walls

 

I followed a snicket for a short distance, where the rubble walling on both sides fully highlights the variation in the physical characteristics of the Horbury Rock – bed height, grain size and sedimentary structures – all of which are reflected by the weathering and durability of the individual stones used to build the walls. 

 

A specimen of Horbury Rock from a boundary wall

 

In one place, the lower section of the wall had failed and I collected a specimen of muddy grey/brown fine grained sandstone, which has an iron content that is seen as general orange staining and a thin band of ironstone. 

 

The former Sunday School on High Street

 

Returning to High Street, the former Sunday School attached to the Westfield Congregation Chapel, with its Coal Measures walling stone and medium grained gritstone dressings, I just took a record photo and continued to the junction with Highfield Road. 

 

The former bank building

 

The early C20 Neoclassical style former bank building, like the library and town hall, has some interesting architectural features but it it is not listed. Medium grained gritstone is used for the projecting central bay, the pediment above the door and a rotunda, with other details include the central oculus with swags and ionic capitals to the pilasters. 

 

A detail of a red granite column

 

Like most banks of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, red granite is used for the simple Tuscan columns that flank the door. At this time, red granites from Sweden and Finland were being imported into the major granite producing centre of Aberdeen, but this may be an example of the Ross of Mull granite. 

 

The former United Free Methodist Church

 

The United Free Methodist Church (1900) is another impressive building that is not listed and represents one of nine Methodist churches that once existed in Horbury, where there were four strands of Methodism. I didn’t examine the stone, but from my photos it looks like the muddy grey/brown walling is another use of Horbury Rock, with the dressings made of massive uniformly coloured medium grained gritstone. 

 

Lydgate Manor

 

I stopped briefly to photograph the Grade II Listed Lydgate Manor, which dates to the late C18 or early C19 and is built with Horbury Rock, painted massive sandstone dressings and a stone slate roof. I finished my very brief exploration of Horbury by photographing Lydgate House, before catching the No. 126 bus to Ossett.

 

Lydgate House