Boston Manor Conservation Management Plan
June 2011
LDN Architects Boston Manor Introduction
The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support of English Heritage and the London Borough Hounslow, which has allowed the preparation of this report.
Hounslow Borough Council with financial support from English Heritage has commissioned a suite of reports for Boston Manor House and Park. The reports include a Conservation Management Plan for the House, Conservation Management Plan for the Park and an Options Appraisal. These reports have been produced by a single team of consultants and each report has been informed by the other. In recognition of the varying range of interests in Boston Manor the findings have been reported in 3 separate volumes. For a full understanding of Boston Manor House and Park all 3 volumes should be read.
The Options Appraisal relies on the findings and policies presented in the Conservation Management Plans. The Conservation Management Plans also consider the relationships between the House and the Park and vice versa.
In preparing the Conservation Management Plans the study team has had access to previous studies and reports on Boston Manor. The most significant of these is the Richard Griffiths Architects’ Condition Survey, October 2007. This was commissioned on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline for the benefit of Hounslow Borough Council. The study team has also had access to the additional report by Richard Griffiths Architects and Alan Baxter Associates on the Boston Manor House Repair Recommendations, October 2009. These have informed the Conservation Management Plan for the House and have provided the basis for the costings included in the Options Appraisal, updated by recent inspections of the House. The Condition Survey and Repair Recommendations reports are extremely detailed and have not been reproduced within the suite of reports but are available from Hounslow Borough Council.
Boston Manor Boston Manor Contents
1.0 Study Team 2.0 Listed Building Description 3.0 Extract from Buildings of England 4.0 Map History 5.0 Architectural Assessment 6.0 Timeline 7.0 Building Phases 8.0 Layout during 19th Century 9.0 Statement of Significance 10.0 Significance Diagrams 11.0 Defining Issues and Conservation Policies 12.0 Current Condition
Appendix 1.=
Boston Manor Boston Manor 1.0 Study Team
Economic Consultant: Jura Consultants Limited 7 Straiton View Straiton Business Park Loanhead Midlothian EH20 9QZ T: 0131 440 6750 F: 0131 450 6751
Architect: LDN Architects 57-59 Bread Street Edinburgh EH3 9AH T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901
Landscape Architect: Peter McGowan Associates 6 Duncan Street Edinburgh EH9 1SZ T: 0131 662 1313
Boston Manor Boston Manor 2.0 Listed Building Description
Boston Manor 2.0 Listed Building Description
Boston Manor 2.0 Listed Building Description
Boston Manor Boston Manor 3.0 Extract from Buildings of England London 3: North West
Boston Manor Boston Manor 3.0 Extract from Buildings of England
Pages 387 to 389: Boston Manor, Boston Manor Road. Still in its own grounds, although divided into flats in 1963. It is one of a small Buildings of England group of substantial brick houses built in the London neighbourhood in the first half of the c17 that are notable for their early use of a compact double-pile plan. The exterior is attractive, but not in its original state. It is of six by four bays, London 3: North West three storeys high, with a lower service wing to the N. The gables and wide-jointed red brickwork of English bond are of Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Persner the early c17, but the heavily modelled classical window surrounds and bold dentilled cornice of stone between second and third floors are additions, probably of the later c17, in a not entirely satisfactory effort to bring the house up to date with the style of Jones and Webb. The rainwater heads indeed bear two dates, 1622 and 1670. The house belonged to Mary, Lady Reade, widow of a stepson of Sir Thomas Gresham, who had owned Boston Manor together with Osterley Park. Lady Reade’s initials and the date 1623 also appear on the great chamber ceiling. In 1670 the estate was bought by James Clitherow, an East India merchant. His account book records that the purchase price was £5,336, and that in 1671 he spent £1,439 on the house. This implies quite substantial alterations, which may include the cornice and window surrounds. On the S side remains of a small blocked circular window imply different earlier fenestration; on the N side there are suggestive remnants of a brick plat band which, if carried round, would occupy the space now taken by the ground-floor pediments, but heavy triple keystones. The top-floor windows are simply linked in pairs by a moulded band. In each gable is a round-headed niche. The entrance is on the E side, by a porch which is an obvious c19 Jacobean pastiche. The side windows of a former tripartite entrance (presumably c18) remain. (It is shown on a view of 1794) The doorway surround was added in 1963, when the house was restored by Donald Insall & Partners. The W side is more irregular: the windows of the two centre bays reflect the staircase, and there is no second-floor cornice. On this side there is no break with the service wing, which, although much altered, may be of the same date as the house. It was extended E after 1840. The original plan of the house can only partly be understood. The N part, with the service end, has been much altered, and the centre too, with entrance hall leading to the staircase, may not be in its original form. S of this are the main rooms, facing S and E, divided by a massive spine wall with chimneystacks. The entrance hall, with its coarsely scaled screen and plasterwork, is, like the porch, c19 Jacobean revival; it may originally have been part of the larger room to the S. In the SW room, formerly the library, is a c19 painted ceiling with tentative strapwork and fictive grained beams. The staircase is partly authentic earlier c17; the raking arcaded balustrade with square tapering uprights is echoed by a painted dado discovered during restoration in 1963. But the newels show evidence of reconstruction, and the lions on them (of composition material, not wood) are additions. The broad flight of the stairs ends at the first floor (again perhaps as a result of later alterations). On the walls of the narrower flight continuing to the second floor is a mid c18 wallpaper showing Roman ruins. Dates of the later alterations are problematic. Accounts for 1805-8 record substantial repairs and alterations after the accession of Colonel James Clitherow (1841), including the installation of several fireplaces. Accounts from 1809 to 1820 are missing, and from 1820 to 1840 only minor repairs are recorded. As Faulkner, in his history of Brentford of 1845, mentions a recent fire, the neo-Jacobean work may have been carried out later, perhaps at the instigation of C J Richardson, who published drawings of the 1623 ceiling the The Builder in 1844. The best rooms are on the first floor. The great chamber, measuring 12.50 by 6 metres, is on the E side. In it is the remarkable plaster ceiling of 1623, with an intricate pattern of enriched double ribs with strapwork in lower relief, and an exceptional number of emblematic reliefs in roundels, including the five senses, the four elements (from designs by Gheeraerts), Faith, Hope, and Charity, War and Peace and Plenty. On the chimneypiece a plater overmantel with lovely strapwork and arabesques based on an engraving of 1584 by Abraham de Bruyn. In the centre an oval with the sacrifice of Isaac and the inscription ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be seene’ (discovered during restoration beneath the Clitherow motto). The plaster panel is flanked by ferns; the gadrooned shelf below, and the carved panel with festoons of fruit and a head, are in a more Jonesian spirit, quite different from the old-fashioned Netherlandish ornament of the rest. In the smaller state bedchamber to the SW is another strapwork ceiling with a single medallion of Hope, a strapwork frieze (uncovered during restorations), and a later c17 fireplace surround with marble bolection-moulding. Between this room and the staircase a plain anteroom with a marble fireplace of c18 type. In the grounds, brick stables, and a square pigeon house.
Boston Manor Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
Map created by Moses Glover in 1635 of Isleworth Hundred for Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland. Top of map points West with property of Sir Edward Spencer (second husband of Lady Mary Reade) shown in bottom right hand corner. Multi- gabled house old manor at Burston?
Moses Glover’s Map of 1635
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
John Rocque was a surveyor and cartographer. He began work on a detailed map of London in 1735 and published it in 24 sheets in 1747. This section is shown with South West to the top of the page. Boston House is shown with a square block and projecting north wing and other outbuildings. The north wing is though to post-date this map. Perhaps this suggests other structures were present before the permanent brick wing was built in phases.
John Rocque’s Environs of London - 1747
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
The Ealing Parish Survey and Plan of 1777 shows Boston House again as a elongated shape suggesting earlier structures than the kitchen extension of the 1780s.
Ealing Parish Map 1777
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
The revised Ealing Parish map of 1828 show Boston House (belonging to James Clitherow) with the same layouts as 1777.
Ealing Parish Map (rev) 1828
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
The Tithe Map of New Brentford 1838 (top of map northeast) shows Boston House with an elongated north wing.
Tithe Map of New Brentford 1838
Boston Manor 4.0 Map History
NORTHFIELD
Niagara
CLITHEROW AVENUE
House
25 15
30 91
22.2m 7 CHANDOS 70 28 41 1
167 60
AVENUE 89 39
37
36 AVENUE 64 93 91 3 AVENUE 22 to 70
22 1 23 142
24 Rochester
14 SL NIAGARA
11 PC 49 20
13 1
to 1 Allotment Pavilion 79 AVENUE
Boston Rochester 9 LANE 320 Mews
194 Ealing Park Northfields Depot PH CHILTON Gardens
297 195a Health 59
3 12 24 House 19.0m
Gardens EALING
7 101 Centre Lindsey House
23a
63 2 2
10 19
2 War Meml 4 32 LITTLE 71
TCB
66 69
69a 103
364 5 1
19.5m 197a
21a 14 20 25
RADBOURNE SOUTHDOWN 1
17.7m to
19b
111 9
197 179 24
BOSTON 42 13 26 19a
BURNHAM 141 South 19.1m Lodge
WAY Lawrence 19 1 CRESCENT AVENUE House View
AVENUE ROAD 113 Lodge
33 ROAD 352 Clinic 14 CAWDOR 2
25 SL 40
LAWRENCE 13
129
15b 1
3 to
1 8
12 Boston 121
156
39 2
6
6 52
Parade 4 Chapel
25
105
Path 1 Ashleigh Court
5 Laurel
1
6 to
6 14
to 1 House Garage
Ward GP TCB 12a Northfields 27 House 64
Bdy 13 15.5m 5 Recreation Ground 37
SL 342
CR 72 Pickering15
13 14
7 to 15 to 14
BIRKBECK 80 Terrace
9a
28
49
PO 18 ROAD 16 LB 1 Ashmount
29 Chapel 17
88
8a ROAD
TCB 1
WINDMILL 32 79 13
13 2
31 ROAD
1 3
Playing Field 81
TCB 21.0m
85
29 St Anne's LAWRENCE
Evershed Sports Ground 5
87 16.6m 332 30 93 Lodge
199 South Ealing Cemetery 2 ROAD
Convent 26
6 8 Und
Court Brent 28 EALING 2 School 28 CW FW
CW
83 201 22.3m Windmill 16
71 LB 18 6 22 SOUTH
Path
River 21
69
Inspire 32 Terrace 1 Boro
19 67 Const,GL
Garage
Murray 212
27
24 Court 320 34
20
El 25 Asly
1
to Sub Sta 16.6m Const
6 Boundary 102
ROAD 61
1 14 48 & LB
House 59 ROAD
18
71 50 6 Bdy
CF
17 MURRAY 1
12 58
WELLMEADOW 53 18
318 51
27 69
ROAD 13 JUNCTION
14
Wyndham 92
2 13
6 16.8m 13
Elthorne Park 68 15
to HOLLIES
1
Four 19 Sta 15.2m
11
Court 15 El Sub 45 16
Winds 17 12
Allotment Gardens 16 ROAD 76 OCCUPATION
FF 19 CW CF 35
FW LANE
37
1
57 80 33 to 12 to
82 7 24 82 15.9m
SL 28 GUMLEIGH
25.0m Nursery Court 222
10 306 45 CLAYPONDS
1 Und 5 84
Windmill 17
FW 6 GARDENS 313 145
ROAD PH
19
FF 2 4
151
72
Boro 55 Games
140
43 14 to 14 3 12 14.6m
21.6m 13
Const, Und 47 Und
2 BOSTON 146
68
2 BOSTON CF Court
GL 1 94 15.6m 6 116
Asly FW
MANOR 311 59 122 15.0m Const VALE
10 LB ROAD GP 245 2 33
& 14
LB 307 168
Manor Station 18 to
Bdy 302
11 AVENUE 152
104 Carlyle 111
14 6
Boston Bridge 58
1 35 1
to 19 69 117 15 House 1 CW 301 1 GARDENS House
FF Community
SWYNCOMBE 23 30 87
FF PARK Centre
139
93
FF GARDENS to 12
123 235 EALING 13
19 43
El 79
2 CONVENT 42
Sub Sta 48 ROAD
11.5 292 114 82
13
MP 10
21.6m 26 5 88
FF CARLYLE 25 Allotment Gardens 39 23 120
Bridge 20 287 224
1 Playground
to 54
37 110 House FW South to 94
3 126a 89 TCB
126
39 202
20 108
66 7
GARDENS 223 1 Posts
198 34
232
132 1
FF to 13 27 CF
275 38 BOSTON 11
68
CF 280 14.0m
41
99 Und
194
1 81
to
221 65 47 11a 72 19
98 14.6m 41 CLAYPONDS
CF 95
SB 15 76 13 11 7 to 12
142 Court 36 22
234 42 109 Ottoman
142a GARDENS 35 96 184 15
FW TCB 144 17 6 64
263 213 1 to
50 1 to 48
FF 21 2 268 Shelter
Allotment Gardens 86 240
Boro 119
29 SL 20.7m 12
Const, JUNCTION
BOSTON 86 27 WINDMILL 172 83 Hall
SL GL 33
Und Hall 51f
207 35
GARDENS 251 Asly 53
19 to 19 12 to 12
29a LANE Const 16a
ROAD
96 49 18
ROAD to 13 GREENLAWN 1
& ROAD 12 to
Boston Farm Cottages 62 129
LB Ealing 26
18 27
Bdy LB 2 MURRAY
133
Boro 2 South 47
1 Mission
Const, 25 19
76 AVENUE 2a ROAD 32
37 Durston House Playing Field
30
BOSTON 33
160 GL 200 61 DARWIN Asly 170 FF 180 Const
51a 69 MANOR 239 18 & SWYNCOMBE
70 LB
19.2m to
Bdy 42
256 106
SL ROAD 13 141 110
194
17
74 149 Bdy 205 69 13.4m 172 Durston House & LB 180 Const
Playing Field Asly 6 7 to
56
148 9 10 51 62 54 8 Const,GL 5
227 59 Boro 75 162 192
57 154 15 13.7m 141
7 CH 159
122
FW 240 15a
13 ROAD 13
Stone 190 6 146
49
138 13 Drag 69 FF 243 GARTH 14
CARLYLE 4 85 Sand Pavilion 58 APPLE 50 Pavilion
215 PLUM 1
73 14 59 13.4m
90 242 198 FW 136 131
GARTH 242a 132 20 M 244
4 171 BS
19.8m 66
Pavilion 122b
238a 1
CF El EALING
39 83 BS 126
95
SL BOSTON 126 238 175 Sub Sta
ROAD 1
197 122 178
72 31 GARDENS 69 25 38 Tennis 3 203 4 ROAD 23 WHITESTILE Courts 142 1 Boston Manor Playing Fields 210 2
62
LB 80
235 13 236
114 119
183 9 FF 15 CW 93 Tree 10.7m 18.0m Walnut House
97 24 105
27 Sports Ground AVENUE
114 189 CHESTNUT
201 ROAD 112 42
CF 191 13.1m
109 11.8m
34
92 26 24 154 DARWIN
7 CW 107
160 166 66 14 187 Towing 109 1 102 CHERRY Def 64 84 Bdy
Path 60 Const 12 GARTH
44 ROAD
105a
104 121 Asly 104 Tennis FF
191 GL and 55
Boston Manor Playing Fields 13 School Gunnersbury 225 RIDE 181 8 Courts 168 Const 14 56 119
SL THE Catholic Bdy 43
for Boys Boro LB 90 ENFIELD 108
101
4 100
Tennis 127 FW
9 CHERRY 10 86 2
Courts 82 59 18.9m 174
SL 50 39 185 221 12 15.5m 125 175
FF 12.5m GARTH 5 80 28 46 178 9 18.9m ROAD 11 180 164
42 182 1
Tilgate
87
120 137 74
WHITESTILE 10 8
2 4
217 ROAD 2 1
135 FW Stone Sports Ground
CARLYLE 141 7 El Sub Sta
175 34 5
139
165 3
70 145
Boston Manor Playing Fields 143
6
20
RIDE 75 69
Def 62 THE 130 31 12.3m 145 32 22 BOSTON 29 Aldermaston LB
CRESCENT 71 29
26 El Sub Sta 163 69
Hollycroft GARDENS 36 ROAD 54
154 22 SPRINGVALE AVENUE
Sta CLAYTON
155 DARWIN
Sub 140
Dorincourt El 44 58
163 65
SL Gantry 25 33 215
20 57 27 School 159 42 MP 11.75 House 4 to 8 Lakeside 8 7 M 12 4 FF 18.6m 12 167
3 Bdy 38
150 LB
Pavilion 190 7 & 34 36
Boston Manor Playing Fields 57 11 36 9
Stone 2 Const
to 14 to
6 47 1 Asly
Signal 17 10 1 GL 32 19
Light 10 5 30 46 Const, EALING 9 ROAD Lodge 151 Boro
26 11
13 Tanks 184 Noel Dene ROAD
18.6m 12.5m WHITESTILE 49 17 162 ROAD
2 35
205 A 13.7m Park
Boston Manor Playing Fields Manor G to Gunnersbury Catholic School Trading Block 16 CHALLIS
Boston RIDE LB Phoenix
7 27 for Boys EK 26 El Sub Sta Shelter Stable THE 151
SM
34 25 2 24
Lake Surgery 47
11
172 ROAD 139 7a
CLITHEROW 21 CLEMENTS
6 AVENUE
5 1 4 6
PC 1 24
Towing FW 3 PLACE 1 FW 13
Path 3 2 1 ROAD ROAD
17
28 5 2a 29
BOSTON 139 22 2 7
ENFIELD 160
5 Games Court 2 Pp
Boston Manor 137b 13
32 35 137a 9 House
MANOR 193
135 13 10 1
12 20 to 19 to 1
1 Drain ROAD El 37 14 22 2 10 28 11.9m 7 24
Sub Sta 12.0m
148 3
Weir Stone 14
Posts Enfield Walk 12
1 LB 137 3
WINDMILL
Grand 7 1 5 Union 23 14 CLITHEROW
Canal ROAD River ROAD 43
25 L 20 Twr Brent AVENUE 11.8m 1 ROAD 25 17.7m Subway
Gallows Bridge Weir 136 Ward Bdy
Towing Path MP Reynard Mills 2 S Gantry
CR Auriol 12.3m 4
Warehouse 24 121 Trading Estate House
11
30 30 1 2 CR 123 PH Shelter BROOK 39 20 5 to 1
ROAD 124 LANE 11 Conveyor 35 Parade
York Boston Manor Park Post House 10 17 121 El
10
40 EASTBOURNE ROAD 12.2m 41 Manor Sub Sta NORTH WEST
ROAD GREAT 42 M 4 6 Conveyor 7 GROVE
41 road
42 Post to 11 Elevated ROAD Conveyor 37
Warehouse Store WEST Cycle Track
109 55
to GREAT 60 1
Passage WB 120 52 12.5m 1 113 Clitherow Church 43 11.3m
111a
111 ROAD Faith's 5 42 30 St to 45
25
67 TCB GROVE to 109a109
Works Warehouse 72 8 House 103 to 14
Conveyor Conveyor 84 66 48 32 Gantry Childrens Ward VALE Subway 82 The Hall 1 Davmor to 19 107 Bdy
Warehouse MANOR 18 Court 87 114 Terrace
CC Tennis Courts
14.0m 13 to 122
7 1 122a 20
85
to 103
1 ROAD Adelaide Warehouse 104 7 to 12 Vicarage 6
PH
Shelter to 81 EASTBOURNE
90
56 1 12.6m
to 73 8 1020
M 4 VALE 88 Grand Union TRANSPORT 7 12.2m
Wyke Green Golf Course Our Lady and St John's Block
MANOR 92 13
B 3
91
Clitherow 102 Bowling Green 93 4
AVENUE RC Primary School 8 95 LB The New England El Sub Sta
1 to 178 Shelter
Court 94 to 12 14 Warehouse
1 9 2 96 Baltic Centre House
Canal 15 5
4
46 5 to
BURDEN CLOSE 1 1 77a Churchill
6
Depot LB 100
Works 101 50 Brent
Pavilion 12 49
and EALING
18 94 51 1
Sta LB River 103 Sub
El ROAD
Towing 34
104 BROOK 38 47
87
38 100
22
Path 105 19
LANE 8
45 Tank
23
20
31
24 Works NORTH
21 Playground Club 30b
Warehouse 30a 26 Works The Little El Sub Sta 1
to School 15 35 33
2 28 BOSTON Block D
ROAD
41a 30 YORK 37 41b
14 to Weighbridge MANOR
1 33 to 41c 23 79 21 Car Park 65 11.3m Depot 77 41d Block 15 ROAD Hall Weir Presby Cycle Track 69 C PC to
2 Weighbridge Gantry 75 67a 13
Car Park 24 Paragon Garage Shelter 4 Brook Lodge to ROAD 27 1 TRANSPORT 43a Court 16.2m E PARK 12.5m Block St John's
D Fn 43b 69
1 PC RC 82 LB to Church CR
BOSTON 32
AVENUE Car Park 1 9 80 to 80 1
GLENHURST 1
Bdy ROAD
WB Block 1 to 42 Block Ward 2
44
F Layton A 52
67 1
14
to Court ROAD 9
10 LAYTON G
Clinic 100
67 Ward Lighting Tower Block 17 3
CR 1 1 13 Bollard 2 12 Bdy
WINDMILL 13
Bollard Boston Manor Park 4 85 PH El Sub Sta 15 47 ROAD Cycle Track
AVENUE 11.9m 11 57 82 1
1010 22 11 Depot WEST 5 46 ROAD 51a Barrow Walk Mercury
16 55 to
38 ROAD 10
GREAT 17 1 House
TRANSPORT M 4 Offices
Warehouse 63 11.3m
6 155 6 77 Road Mercury 51 53 Tank Elevated Municipal 53
GLENHURST House Posts 81
Refuse Transfer 39
20 to 55 49 1
Station 9
21 Lodge 55 70
Works 56 12 10
Bollards Lambert 79 FB
to ROAD
WB 78
73 NEW
Bollard 74
H 45
41
Posts 64 Block Centre 19 MERCURY
68 Sta
BROOK Terraces
to Business
37 Sub 61 67 El
24 11.6m P Posts 63
Lock PARK ROAD NORTH
12.5m LANE Brook Lane4
Works 22 RD to Park 62 FC)
35
BOSTON 58 12 Griffin
Bollard 20a ROAD 31 10 Bollard Posts 19 (Brentford
25 L Twr
20 ORCHARD 56 2
27
Bollard Lock 57 36
29
20)
Brook 27 54
Bollard 25 to 9 El
1000 BROOK 14 1 (1 Lane ORCHARD 28
Warehouse 16 CL Business Sub Sta
El ROAD Centre
53a
Sub Sta 4 10.7m 32
5 2 LANE PARK ROAD Terraces 38 Warehouse
Wyke Green Golf Course 35 53 Bollard BROCKSHOT WESTBURY PLACE BOSTON 36 16 Car Park NORTH
CC 11.9m 1
32 1 ROAD Bollard 28 MP 2.75 NEW
31
2
Brent 15 32 46
River 980 Refuse Transfer Station 44 MP.5
37
TCB 41 11 23
27
38 24 55 Terraces 4 43 9.8m
PH ROAD 5 L Twr 50
44 36
36a Griffin Park Posts 18 House (Brentford FC) 6
22 Club Holly ROAD
House GLENHURST
11.9m 9.8m Braemar
56 28 ORCHARD13 Court
3 54 2
Posts 48
110 to 1 Depot 56
El Sub Sta 1 21 25
17
17 ROAD 21
62 HAMILTON Pavilion Refuse Transfer Shelter ROAD Brook Court
Boston Manor Park 7 64 11.0m Station 13 Tank Posts WEST
68
98
12.2m 24
GREAT to Car Park 13
68 1
WINDMILL 55
BOSTON PH 1 71 MANOR
L Twr
Bdy 96 ROAD ROAD 7 Ward 46
CR Depot 3 5 41 32 11.6m
31 17 to
G W 1 50 1 Great West 17
24 52 to 16 88 9 House 79
27 11.6m 11 980 27
30
1 38 82 9.4m
4 Post
8 WB LB ROAD 9 3 to 59 1
Allotment Gardens 12.2m WB 36 69
14.9m BRAEMAR Station Parade 3 LANE House El Computer CHURCH Brentford
Brentford Station 3 BROOK
DownsideWalk 13 76
Sub 2 ROAD 12 64
26
4 Methodist
Sta TRANSPORT to
9 GARDENS Church CLIFDEN ROAD 1 WALK 1
School 24
5 SIDNEY House 59 65
Ward SOUTH
8 8 House MACFARLANE Clifden AVENUE Bdy 1
CR 68 75 4 3 77 2 5 1 73 15 PH
Sports 21 6 11 12 12 11 to
9 10 El Sub Sta 5 7 8 10 44 Ground El Sub AVENUE
Sta 6 9
62 57 8 60 5 9.4m SIDNEYGDNS
7 DELL El Sub Sta 2
RIVERBANK FB 54 THE 8 15 45 MAFEKING
2 2 Parr Cottage
Brent 12.5m 43
River WAY 4 CLOSE
17 40 2 LB
6 FB 39
20 1
6
Towing 3 Clifden 2
Path 1
Canal 1 6 4 KINGSLEIGH Union CR 38 Grand 13 Sta
Court Games Courts
Bdy 34 2 Health Centre Sub 2
Ward 4 El
Centaurs Business 1
SHIELD 5
Depot 26 14 36 11.3m 14
Park Eastwinds Cottage 11 22
DRIVE 3 15 35 .75 MP 16
14 34 24
9.7m 31
3
33 12a to 6
3 11.3m 4 30 Library El
21 Sub
32 2 Sta
El 20 Sub 12 CR 7 29 Memorial
Sta 950 25 28 1 El War 23
CR 7 Sub 27 3
Sta 24 CHURCH
GROVE 6
Towing 26 12 4 2
ROBIN Post Path El Sub Sta 23 7 1
WALK to
5
5.8m 8 8 1
8 9 7 BOSTON
12 9 Club 31
9 Ward 12
MANOR 2 11
10 4 Bdy
948 14
19
42 13 Court
SHIELD Executive 11 14 to 12 Cedar 7 ROAD 5.8m Brentford School for Girls Centre Hall 11 Brentside DRIVE 128 WAY Footprints Brentford Lodge Sta El Sub Sta Sub Warehouse 6 Court El Brentside Executive Centre to FB 11.0m 1 39
GRANT 11.0m ROAD 1 Cranbrook 1 Pond 9.5m
7
9 3 5 Games Courts GROSVENOR Multi Car PK 1
3 El
Sub Sta ROAD 32 12 45 Recreation Ground ROAD DRIVE Park 3 Superstore Lodge LATEWARD 1 View 5 22 Centre CLOSE 6 SOMERSET Club 1 CF Athena Court 2 FB 12 Somerset
4 Cross WINDSOR CLOSE 25
El AMALGAMATED 991 WILLOW
2 2 1 Posts 26 Sub Sta Centre West 19 9 The Cedars Church 52 30 3
9 Cross
AVENUE 11 St Pauls Recreation Ground 23
Sta West 4 6
Sub
El UPPER 8 3 23a
6 9.8m ALBANY 1 6 PLACE HARLEQUIN PH BUTTS 11a 5
2 CR 59 Works 11b
9.2m 2
DRIVE Works 14 RYAN 7 44
14
8 16 25
LB 18 ROAD 13 Sta Sub Allotment Gardens 18 D Fn El 1 WEST Day Nursery 46 to 51 13
Ramp GREAT 13 CP
ROAD 15 35 Factory FB River 1 58 39 17
FB Brent Superstore 7 Grand DRIVE Pond SOMERSET Glan El Sub Sta
Factory Great West Helen 65 7.0m Post 45
Shelter Union 16 Trading Estate Warehouse Surgery
10.7m 14 10.4m El Sub Sta AMALGAMATED The Mall
15 25 Obelisk
Pond House Canal 12 13
Cross Watermans
10
Court to 19 West 9
8 5 Posts 24 Sta to Playground Tank 2 Sub
El BRENTSIDE
CF to 13
Ward FW
11
2 72
to 18
2 8
4 Bdy 35 9
UPPER
New 7 4 St Pauls C of E Nursery,
WAY Cycle Track 2 2 CR
Horizons BUTTS Infant and Junior School
CROSS 6 Works
3 King's 4 WEST 1 St Paul's Church Works 11 15
MP CF Court 2 and Arms Warehouse to 10 Raphaels ROAD 1 Coach 10.1m
2 THE BUTTS St
House Parish Centre 1
2
Alley to
Factory ALBANY 6
Braunston 5 3 Bollard PC House
House El 6.4m
HALF 3
Link 5 Cycle Track 10
4 St Mary's 5
1 CR BRENT Sub Sta 1 West El 1
Convent 28 Berkeley ACRE 56
Sub Sta to to Bdy ROAD 1 House 57 FERRY
Ward ROAD
6 19 Towing 18 16 PAUL'S SQUARE
20
SHIELD ST
1 to 4 5 Shelter Path 56b
LB
Depot 20
23 Bramley 6
House 60
12 STREET
24 DRIVE Works ST HIGH ALEXANDRA 5 PAUL'S to Dismantled 5.5m TCB Alexandra
13.7m 8 1 1 St 9.1m 26 Works 54 Paul's El Fn TOWN to TALLOW ROAD House
1 Maryville Nursery 34 Sub Sta Current OS Map Works 1 9.1m Railway 1 Shelters ROAD Quarter House to Depot COMMERCE Care Home MEADOW 8 ROAD Police Ferry Quays
Adams BUTTS
3 3 Rock Works 61 Courtyard
12 Station THE 66
18 El Car Park 37 20 21 ROAD 67
Sub Sta 28 5
1 69
Factory Works 17 Car Park 77 to County Court 1 19 Bollard LANE 22 5 ACRE 14 24 30 BACK HALF 16 MEWS
Boston Manor Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
Triangular lodge, Rushton, Northamptonshire. 1595
Boston Manor
Quenby Hall, Leicestershire. 1627 Hatfield House, Hertifordshire. 1611 Charlton House, London. 1607 Boston Manor, ceiling of State Room
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
Historic Context
Boston Manor is modest, charming and intriguing. It is a fascinating combination of moderate scale and high decorative quality, which reflects the means and ambitions of its originator Lady Mary Reade. Built in 1623, the house was enlarged and modified by successive generations of the Clitherow family, who first acquired the property in 1671, and it remains an amalgam of the generational shifts in taste, means and needs of its owners. The parkland setting of the house is now bounded, to the southwest, by the elevated section of the M4. To the south, the headquarters of GlaxoSmithKline dominates the skyline. But despite these encroaching structures, the immediate setting of the house retains a surprisingly Arcadian atmosphere. Specimens of the cedar trees planted by James and Anne Clitherow, as shown in their 1759 portrait, still create a feeling of the country house park and noise from the motorway is hushed by the close planting which largely conceals it.
Great houses of the early 17th century were rich in ornamentation, both inside and out. The Jacobean love of complexity in literature, art and architecture found expression in the intricate patterns on ceilings, staircases and fireplaces. In plan, the Jacobean house was no longer the introverted defensive courtyard of mediaeval times, but outward looking. No longer rambling and organic, but symmetrical. Houses still retained a great hall on the first floor in which their owners could dispense hospitality and display their wealth and social status. The approach to the great hall was equally important, usually via an ornately carved staircase leading from the ground floor hall in which servants would dine. Although small, Boston Manor has all these ingredients.
Boston Manor is organised as a double pile plan, which means two rooms thick. This was a Jacobean innovation and departure from earlier, single ranges of rooms which allowed houses to be planned in a much more compact and economic way than before. It is the pattern of the great houses of the day, such as Knole House in Kent and Burghly House in Northamptonshire, with the principal room, or great hall, on the first floor with state bedroom directly connected in the second range of rooms behind. The great hall at Boston Manor has an extraordinarily fine plasterwork ceiling and this is perhaps the most noteworthy part of the entire structure, being singled out for mention in all statutory descriptions and published accounts of the house.
Externally, this modest house must have had the appearance of a hunting lodge rather than a grand manor. The multi-gabled frontages bears some resemblance to the Triangular Hunting Lodge at Rushton in Northamptonshire of 1595. No doubt this is coincidental, but their stylistic similarities are born out of the same influences of this transitional period. English architecture was moving away from organic, fortified manor houses to Renaissance influenced, symmetrical compositions in brick, with vestiges of the English perpendicular in their stone mullioned windows. Quenby Hall in Leicestershire, Robert Cecil’s Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, Charlton House in London and Raynham Hall in Norfolk
Boston Manor Queen’s House, Greenwich, Inigo Jones, 1616
Osterley House, Isleworth, Middlesex, 1576. Remodelled by Robert Adam, 1760 - 1780
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
are a few examples of this type, which are contemporaneous with Boston Manor. The builders of these great houses were no longer just royalty, aristocracy and clergy but also statesmen, courtiers and merchants. The houses built by this new class of landowners were the outward expression of the power and status of their owners. Thomas Gresham was of this new class of self made men who rose from merchant, to financial agent of the Crown, and eventually to found the Royal Exchange. His country retreat was Osterley House, which he built in the 1570s. He later bought the adjacent Boston Manor, which passed to his stepson, William Reade where his widow would build the existing house after his death in 1621. It is interesting to note that, like Boston Manor, Osterley House was eventually subjected to a stylistic makeover when Robert Adam remodelled the late 16th century house with a central portico and neo-classical interiors.
During the 17th century, English Architecture was increasingly influenced by European classicism. Inigo Jones, one of the foremost architects of the early part of the century enjoyed the patronage of James I. Jones, who studied in Italy, introduced the classicism of Palladio to England. His house for James’ Queen at Greenwich, Anne of Denmark, marks a fundamental turning point in English architecture and is the first national example of a classicism that would spread and evolve into the dominant style in Britain.
Development of the House
Boston Manor was first extended by James Clitherow in 1671. The join of the new gable topped bay to the north was not seamless. Because this additional bay was grafted on to an existing external wall, the new gable is not equally spaced relative to the original two. In a rather touching and surprisingly successful attempt to trick the eye into reading the new composition as a flawless tripartite, the gable niche is offset to the south, equally spaced relative to the first two. It is thought that the cornice between first and second floors, the window entablatures, pediments and dressings were added at the same time as this first extension. These classical trimmings brought the house up to date with the times and established a mixture of red brick with white stucco work which would become favoured by late Victorian house builders.
The house was subsequently extended in a series of, what appear to be, clearly discernable phases. However, map evidence suggests that the north range containing servant’s rooms, bake house, brew house and food stores was present as early as 1741 and that it was subsequently altered and regularised into the extant north wing. In formal terms, this long range of rooms is a rather ungainly and pragmatic addition to the carefully considered symmetry of the 1623/1671 triple gabled frontage, but this is perhaps explicable. John Rocque’s map of 1741 also shows a range of buildings, on the road side, forming the second and third sides of an external space. These road side buildings would have obscured a direct view of the whole elevation from the main approach. If we now understand
Boston Manor Extract of John Rocque Map 1747
Extract of Plan ACC 1360 - 299, London Metropolitan Archive, 1790 State Drawing Room
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
the existing north range, as the surviving part of what was once a group of structures around a service yard, it can be imagined as a much more harmonious and practical grouping than what remains today. By 1770, the roadside buildings no longer appear on maps and their disappearance would appear to coincide with the straightening out of Boston Lane where it passes the house.
The shape of the north range appears subtly different on maps between 1749 and 1780. A fascinating plan of the house and its immediate surroundings of 1790, from the London Metropolitan Archive, shows the internal ground floor plan of the main house and the north wing. Although it had been thought that the kitchen block addition immediately north of the 1671 bay was added in the 1780s, it is clearly not on the 1790 plan and is not clearly shown on existing maps until the New Brentford Tithe Map of 1838.
On the north side of this extension there is a rising pump pipe. The lead relief lettering on the pipe box head, with the date 1781, has perhaps caused some confusion in other accounts of the house’s development.
State Drawing Room
The State Drawing Room, or great hall, on the first floor of the house is the most significant room at Boston Manor. It occupies what would have been the full width of the house when first constructed in 1623 and is linked directly to what would have been the state bedroom and dressing room in the second ‘pile’ behind. With a richly ornamented fireplace and ceiling, the great hall contains, in miniature, all the ingredients of much grander houses of this period.
The fireplace pilasters tapering outwards from their bases in an archetypical Jacobean form support a heavily carved mantle and over mantle. The over mantle has a central oval panel with a relief scene depicting Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac (the angel staying his sword bears a striking resemblance to Margaret Thatcher!), beneath which a panel bears the inscription “In the Mount of the Lord it shal be seene”. This was discovered during the 1960s restoration works underneath the Clitherow family motto, “Loyal Yet Free”.
The ceiling is a truly magnificent example of Jacobean strapwork and is thought to be the work of a notable craftsman of the day, Edward Stanyon. Although most Jacobean masons and craftsmen worked in their own locality some, like Stanyon, gained wider reputations and worked across the country. The strapwork designs deployed by these craftsmen had been absorbed from immigrant craftsmen fleeing to England from European religious wars and were subsequently developed into British local and regional variations. At Boston Manor, the ceiling has a double rib pattern enriched
Boston Manor State Bedroom State Bedroom Ceiling Christopher Clitherow (1666 - 1727)
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
with floral motifs and strapwork in lower relief. There are numerous figurative reliefs set in roundels which depict the five senses and the four elements, as well as Peace and Plenty, War and Peace, Faith, Hope and Charity. These are thought to be derived from designs by Marcus Gheeraerts the younger, a fashionable portraitist in the court of Elizabeth I.
The state bedroom behind the great hall has a ceiling of equal intricacy and decorative quality. In its earliest 17th century incarnation it is possible that, as would have been typical in great houses, this room may have served as a withdrawing room in to which a group assembled for dining in the great hall might withdraw whilst the main room was set up for dancing and evening entertainment. The room next to this would have served as a bedroom for the most important guest. However, by the 19th century we know that the room now known as the state bedroom was in use as a bedroom. This may always have been the case, but similarities in the decorative schemes of the two rooms suggest that their functions were both public at one time.
The original plan of rooms at this level in the house’s core structure remains intact.
Entrance Hall, Dining Room and Library
In its earliest Jacobean incarnation it is likely that the entrance hall was used, like other great houses, not only as the point of arrival but also as a place where servants would have their meals. At the end away from the entrance, there would be a parlour where the family would dine and informally entertain. There is evidence in the placement of windows on the front elevation indicating that the position of the wall between the Dining Room and the Hall is not in its original position. The plan of the grounds from 1790, referred to above, which also shows the internal ground floor layout of the house, shows a larger entrance hall of equal size to the room adjacent, and what is now the Library divided in to two rooms. The plan also shows that what are now alcoves in the Dining Room, were individual fireplaces in each of the two separate rooms. Looking at this earlier layout of the ground floor, it is possible to see how the usual sequence of entrance hall, dining parlour, low parlour and buttery could have been configured.
The grand stair is now separated from the entrance hall with a rather bombastic and crude glazed screen, believe to have been inserted in the mid 19th century, at the same time that the external neo- Jacobean entrance porch was built. The screen borrows forms from the great chamber fire place with massively enlarged copies of the fireplace pilasters and an entablature over the central door. The dark green and white colour scheme only emphasises the crudity of the design.
Boston Manor Glazed Timber Screen in Entrance Hall
Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
The main stair has oak balusters which follow the tapered form of the fireplace pilasters linked with elegant arched heads, a pattern repeated in tromp-l’oeil on the flanking walls on the upper part of the stair. On the upper parts of the stair, the flanking walls have traces of late 18th century blocked wall paper which is believed to be a rare and fine example of the type. The composition material heraldic lions, on the newel posts, are part of the early 19th century neo-Jacobean makeover.
The interiors of the Dining Room and Library have been much altered since their original formation as four individual rooms, as discussed above. The rather fine decorative plaster work and colour scheme in the Library is thought to be from the 1840s. Both rooms were much restored in the early 1960s
1671 Addition
James Clitherow’s extension of 1671 must have provided the house with improved kitchen and servant quarters. Like the room which is now a catering kitchen, the rooms to the rear of the ground floor which are now a group of toilets, have served a variety of uses; kitchen, servant’s hall and housekeeper’s room. The fine timber panelling in the toilets indicates the somewhat grander origins of the spaces. The room to the right of the entrance hall has been variously used as a sitting room, study, billiard room, smoking room and gunroom. Unfortunately, it is presently a catering kitchen, which is most incongruous when entered directly off the main entrance hall.
On the upper floors, more bedrooms were made for family member and a staircase was inserted rising all the way to an inhabited loft space on the third floor with rooms for maidservants. The incorporation of the new stairs would have allowed a separation of servant and served spaces for the first time.
North Wing
The north wing has served the main house with an assemblage of larder, scullery, bake house, stillroom, servant’s quarters, boot room and rooms for the servants of visitors. In its most recent guise, the wing, along with the second floor of the main house was converted to a series of small residential flats which have now fallen into disrepair. The main kitchen is likely to have migrated along this wing from original buttery in the 1623 building, to back room in the 1671 addition, to what is now flat 13 (or the servant’s hall in the 19th century) and finally to the last piece of building to be added in what is now flat 14. In this location there was direct access to the cellars below, a high ceiling and abundant natural light from the northwest window. In any restoration of the house, this room should perhaps be returned to kitchen use and so allow the room currently housing the catering kitchen to be returned to a use more appropriate to its location directly off the entrance hall.
Boston Manor Boston Manor 5.0 Architectural Assessment
The Future of Boston Manor
Boston Manor is clearly in need of investment. The use of the House in new ways has the potential to generate income for re-investment in the conservation and repair of the historic fabric and this should be welcomed. But new uses should be integrated in ways that do not undermine the cultural significance of the house and grounds and in ways that do not create unacceptable physical risks to the historic building fabric. Different uses will impose different pressures on the house. The aim must therefore be to keep the intensity of use in the rooms that are most sensitive and most significant to an acceptable level. Less sensitive and less significant spaces should be more intensively used and so help to generate the investment needed to protect the house as a heritage asset.
Boston Manor Boston Manor 6.0 Timeline
Boston Manor 6.0 Timeline
Date Description
1538 Lands of Burston surrendered by Benedictine Priory of St.Helen’s in Bishopsgate to Henry VIII following dissolution of monasteries.
1547 Burston granted to Edward, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of the Realm by young Edward VI whilst in his minority 1552 Burston once again Crown property following Duke of Somerset’s execution 1572 Elizabeth I gives Burston to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who sells it to Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange
1794 1596 Manor of Boston inherited by Gresham’s stepson, William Reade 1603 William Reade knighted by James I 1621 Sir William Reade dies. Boston Manor inherited by Sir William Reade’s second wife, Lady Mary Reade 1623 Lady Mary builds the red brick house around the time of her new marriage to Sir Edward Spencer of Althorp, Northamptonshire 1642 Civil War Battle of Brentford. Believed that Charles I watched part of the battle from Boston Manor
1658 Lady Mary Reade dies age 80. Property inherited by John Goldsmith, a relation of Lady Mary 1670 John Goldsmith dies. Boston Manor with 230 acres sold to James Clitherow, son of Sir 1796 Christopher Clitherow a Member of Parliament and former Lord Mayor of London. 1671 James Clitherow extends the house to the north with an additional gabled bay to create the tripartite arrangement 1682 Boston Manor passes to Christopher Clitherow (1666-1727) who continues the family practice of money lending, holding money on deposit and property holding 1727 Boston Manor inherited by James II Clitherow (1694-1752) who marries Phillipa Gale of Sussex in 1731 1752 Boston Manor passed to James Clitherow III (1731-1805) who then inherits his mother’s estate in Sussex in 1757 on his marriage to Ann Kemeys of Monmouthshire 1759 Cedar trees planted at Boston Manor at the time of James and Ann’s portrait being painted showing house in background 1780s House extended to the north with new kitchen block 1799
Boston Manor 6.0 Timeline
Date Description
1786 Ann undertakes structural repairs and decoration works at the house including repairs and papering to the main stair 1794 Section of Grand Union Canal opens between Thames and Uxbridge with the second lock from the Thames, known as the Clitherow Lock, within the house grounds 1797 Local volunteer corps, Brentford Armed Association, formed in response to Napolionic threat to the country. James Clitherow III Chairman of the Armed Association Committee
1805 James Clitherow III dies and property passes to James Clitherow IV (1766-1841) who lives at Boston manor with wife Jane and elder sister, Mary. James was a magistrate and had an involvement with many local charities in the area as well as acting as Colonel of the Royal Westminster Middlesex Militia. House further extend to the north. 1815 Dower House at Little Boston let to John Quincy Adams, who was to become the sixth President of the United States of America in 1825
Late 18th century wallpaper to upper Neo-Jacobean timber screen inserted in 1840s 1820s James, Ann and Mary formed a close friendship with the Duke and Duchess of Clarence landing of main stair & 30s which continued after the Duke became King William IV. Further extension to north wing 1834 King William and Queen Adelaide dine at Boston House 1840s Alterations to House interior including stone porch to main entrance and wooden carved screen between hall and stair copying form and details of fireplace in the main stateroom 1841 Colonel James dies. Being childless, this ends 170 years of direct father to son inheritance of Boston Manor. Boston Manor passes to wife Jane and sister Mary for the remainder of their lives. They both die in 1847 1847 General John Clitherow inherits Boston Manor and undertakes repairs to the house.
1852 Boston House passes to John Clitherow’s son John Christie who dies unmarried 4 years later 1856 John Christie’s cousin Edward John Stracey Clitherow (1820-1900) inherits Boston Manor and, shortly after, also inherits his aunt’s property Hotham Hall in East Yorkshire. Edward Extract from John Quincy Adams diary August 1815 spends his time between his properties in Yorkshire, Middlesex and Norfolk. 1900 Edwards dies leaving his Yorkshire properties to his nephew and Boston Manor to his brother Rev. William James Stracey Clitherow (1821-1912) who was 80 years old at the time of his inheritance. William and his wife Maria Diana Bourchier lived for most of the year at Portland Place in central London following William’s retirement from his Norfolk parishes. Boston House occupied by William’s third and youngest son Lieutenant Eustace William Stracey Clitherow RN
Boston Manor 6.0 Timeline
Date Description
1912 Colonel John Bourchier Stracey Clitherow (1853-1931) of Hotham Hall inherits Boston Manor. Col. Stracey Clitherow had married Mrs Alice Gurney, who had four children from a previous marriage, in 1897. 1915 Col. Stracey Clitherow commissions a survey of the house from an engineer of the Sanitary Protection Association. The survey reveals the dilapidated state of the drainage system which the Colonel subsequently has repaired.
1918 Boston House put up for sale but did not reach the reserve price and so the sale was withdrawn 1922 Contents of house sold at auction including all furniture and paintings
1923 Boston House and 20 acres sold to Brentford Urban District Council by Col. Stracey Boston House 1906 Walter Quennel - Gardener 1904 Clitherow for £23,000 ending the Clitherow family connection. Land sold for re- development to the Bostonian Land and Investment Company and houses built in Boston Road and Swyncombe Avenue. Meadows turned into playing fields 1924 Two acres of the former grounds opened as public park
1931 Col. Stracey Clitherow dies aged 78 1940 House opened by Borough of Brentford and Chiswick Council as a school for children living north of the Great West Road 1944 A V1 flying bomb demolishes houses in Boston Manor Road and causes severe damage to the House 1947 House added to List of Scheduled Ancient Monuments 1951 House added to Statutory List Grade I by English Heritage 1960 In view of the deterioration of the House because caused by dry rot, woodworm and wartime damage, Brentford and District Council approve a restoration scheme with a total estimated cost of £35,000. Funds are made available from the Historic Buildings Council, Middlesex County Council and the Pilgrim Trust. Tea on the south front 1932 Christmas Dinner 1941 1961 School vacates Boston Manor
1963 Restoration scheme completed by Donald Insall & Partners. House opened by HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. House leased by National Institute of Houseworkers Ltd as a headquarters and training centre. Library and State Rooms open to the public on summer Saturdays
Boston Manor 6.0 Timeline
Date Description
1965 M4 motorway flyover above parkland opened by Tom Fraser, Minister of Transport and actress Jayne Mansfield
1960s Lease of House taken over by the Over Forties Association for Women. The Association’s aims were to provide low rent home for women in pleasant surroundings. Upper parts of the house converted to flats and bedsitting rooms. The Library and State Rooms remained open to the public as before. Gatehouse demolished and replaced with modern flat roofed lodge 1973 Stable Block added to Statutory List Grade II. Included for group value. Garden wall, two sets of iron gateposts added to Statutory List Grade II. 1993 Stable Block converted into seven flats by Association, re-named Housing for Women, with grant assistance from English Heritage Stable block converted to flats in 1993 1996 Works carried out to counter the effects of structural movement. Works also appear to have included the re-pointing the whole of the brickwork to the 1723/71 house in black ash mortar. Dining Room and Library re-decorated according to a mid 19th century colour scheme 1998 House removed from the Schedule of Ancient Monuments
2002 Structural Appraisal carried out Dr. Numala Kumaran with 10 point recommendations including the shoring up and re-building of the south corner. Shoring up carried out and funds allocated for re-building, but works not carried out 2004 Alan Baxter Associates were engaged by London Borough of Hounslow in February 2004 to comment on the 2002 proposals and make recommendations for structural repair works 2005 Report published in April 2005 by Richard Griffiths Architects in conjunction with Alan Baxter Associates summarises recommendations of ABA 2004 report and makes detailed recommendations regarding repair of internal building finishes 2007 Condition Survey of the House and Service Wing carried out by Richard Griffiths Architects. Report sets out detailed recommendation and priorities for repair works. Measured survey carried out by Plowman Craven. Structural Appraisal prepared by Alan South corner of house shored up since 2002 Baxter Associates. Underground drainage survey carried out by Drainway Ltd. Condition Survey of mechanical and electrical services prepared by Martin Thomas Associates
2009 Report to re-assess repair recommendations for London Borough of Hounslow prepared by Richard Griffiths Architects. Report clearly sets out argument for repair works to be undertaken urgently to prevent further damage to historic fabric
Boston Manor Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1623 Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)106
Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions:
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
South Elevation First Floor Plan
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V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE 1623 Plans
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1671 Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)105 revA Loft Plan Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions: Rev A Nov 2010 NjG DP Partition amendment
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
1671 Addition
South Elevation First Floor Plan
N
V V V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE Basement Plan 1671 Plans
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1741 Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)104 revA Loft Plan Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions: Rev A Nov 2010 NjG DP Order amendment
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
1671 Addition
Additions to 1741
L L
South Elevation First Floor Plan
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UNKNOWN
FACADE L L
V V V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE Basement Plan Plans with additions made by 1741
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1790-1833 Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)103 revA Loft Plan Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions: Rev A Nov 2010 NjG DP Order amendment
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
1671 Addition
Additions to 1741
1790-1833 Additions
L L
South Elevation First Floor Plan
N
L L
V V V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE Basement Plan 1790 - 1833 Plans
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1840 Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)101 revA Loft Plan Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions: Rev A Nov 2010 NjG DP Order amendment
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
1671 Addition
Additions to 1741
1790-1833 Additions
1840 Addition
L L
South Elevation First Floor Plan
N
L L
V V V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE Basement Plan 1840's Plans
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 7.0 Building Phases
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Development Plans and Elevations 1960's to Present Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)100 revA Loft Plan Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:200 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:400 @ A3
Revisions: Rev A Nov 2010 NjG DP Order amendment
L
West Elevation East Elevation Second Floor Plan 1623 Original
1671 Addition
Additions to 1741
1790-1833 Additions
L 1840 Addition
L L 1960 Renovation
South Elevation First Floor Plan
N
L L
V V V V
Principal (North) Elevation Ground Floor Plan
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Basement Plan Present Day Plans including 1960's renovations
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor Boston Manor 8.0 Layout during 19th Century
The size of the house and the function of its various rooms have evolved in relation to evolving social norms and the means of its owners. The following set of plans, which have been taken from diagrams by Donald Insall & Partners, illustrates how the house is thought to have been used in the 19th century during the ownership of Colonel Edward John Stracey Clitherow (1820–1900), who occupied the house from 1856 until his death. The plans assist a reading of the house in its current condition in which the original purpose of fine finishes and fittings are obscured by clumsily inserted bathrooms and kitchens. It is also interesting to read the plans alongside an account of the house as recorded in Janet McNamara’s ‘Boston Manor Brentford, History and Guide’, “The census of 1871 shows Edward aged 50 years living at the house with his wife Marjorie, aged 51 years. There was also a butler, footman, two grooms, a housekeeper, a lady’s maid, a needlewoman, three housemaids, two kitchen maids, and a cook”.
Boston Manor 8.0 Layout During 19th Century
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Plans 19th Century House Layout Lower Floor Plans 5 7 8 9 10 Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)200 3 4 14 15 16 17 18 19
13 Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:100 @ A1 Nov 2010 NjG DP 1:200 @ A3
12 Revisions: 2 1 6 11
Ground Floor Plan Ground Floor Key 1 Entrance Hall 2 Dining Room 3 Library 4 Continuation of Hall 5 Garden Room 6 Smoke room / Gunroom 7 Housekeeper's Room (Upper Staff Meals) 8 Butler's Pantry 9 Servant's Hall 10 Larder 11 Butler's Bedroom 12 Kitchen 13 Scullery 14 Housekeeper's Storeroom 15 Bakehouse one side. Stillroom the other. 16 Meat and Game Larder 17 Boothole 18 Knife Room 19 Brushing Room for Men's clothes
Basement Plan
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 8.0 Layout During 19th Century
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 25 26 28 29 30 31 1016 21 22 4 23 32 33 34 35 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Historical Plans 19th Century House Layout Upper Floor Plans
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)201 20 24 27
Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:100 @ A1 Nov 2010 NjG DP 1:200 @ A3
First Floor Plan First Floor Key 20 Drawing Room Revisions: 21 State Bedroom 22 Dressing Room (used as Sitting Room) 23 The Chintz Room 24 Colonel Stracey-Clitherow's Bedroom 25 Chintz Dressing Room 26 Bathroom 27 Colonel's Bathroom 28 Sitting Room 29 Room for visiting Ladies' 40 41 42 43 Maids 30 Cook-Housekeeper's Sitting Room 31 Cook-Housekeeper's Bedroom 32 Mrs Dancey's Maid's Room 33 Mrs Ciltherow's Maid's Room 34 Nursery 35 Bedrooms of Footmen and 44 Grooms and of Valets attending Visitors 39 38 37 36
Second Floor Plan Second Floor Key 36 Double Bedroom for Guests 37 Single Bedroom for Guests 38 Mrs Clitherow's Dressing Room 39 Mrs Clitherow's Bedroom 40 Mrs Dancey's Bedroom 41 Mrs Dancey's Dressing Room 42 The Field Dressing Room 43 The Field Room 44 Head Housemaid's Bed- Sitting Room 45 46
Loft Key 45 Maid's Bedroom 1 46 Maid's Bedroom 2 47 Maid's Bedroom 3 48 47 48 Maid's Bedroom 4
Loft Plan
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor Boston Manor 9.0 Statement of Significance
Boston Manor 9.0 Statement of Significance
For the purposes of this study it is considered that five levels of significance are sufficient to measure each aspect of significance and compare it to the others consistently. The levels, their importance, and their implications for conservation policy are as follows:
Level of Significance Importance Conservation Policy A Exceptional International Reveal, maintain and enhance Significance through meticulous preservation, conservation, restoration or reconstruction. B Considerable National Reveal, maintain, and enhance Significance but some adaptation and supplementary construction may be considered to accommodate future compatible uses. C Some Local Reveal, maintain, and enhance Significance but acceptable options may, subject to consensual agreement based on expert analysis, include alteration or removal in whole or part. D Little Site Interventions, alterations or demolition may be appropriate. E Intrusive Detrimental Improve, alter, remove or demolish. Boston Manor House
The purpose of this statement is to describe what aspects of Boston Manor are of cultural significance The various aspects of the cultural significance of Boston Manor are set out in the following section. to ensure that they can be revealed, retained or enhanced and to establish a context within which The absence of any item from the section should not be construed as meaning that it may not be of informed policy decisions about conservation and change can be made and substantiated with rigour significance. and consistency. The Heritage Values suggested for Boston Manor are grouped on the following page under headings The concept of cultural significance, defined in the internationally accepted “Burra Charter” 1, refers in four groups, as recommended in the English Heritage publication ‘Conservation Principles Policies to the qualities of a place that: and Guidance for the Sustainable Management of the Historic Environment’. These are defined as help us understand the past, Historical (illustrative), Historical (Associative), Aesthetic and Communal, to which we have added a enrich our present lives, fifth category - Detrimental. will be of value to future generations. Assessments of significance can be based on many different criteria including aesthetic, architectural, archaeological, historic, scientific, religious, and social value. Significance can vary in importance and, however apparently objective the analysis, any such assessment is influenced by the current values and perspective of its time: undoubtedly the cultural significance of any aspect will vary over time. The purpose of identifying different levels of cultural significance is, however, to establish a rational hierarchy within which the relative importance of each aspect of significance can be related to that of the whole place.
Boston Manor 9.0 Statement of Significance
Historical Value (Illustrative) Detrimental Elements
S01 Boston Manor is a rare example of a modest, double pile Jacobean Manor house. A S09 The House has been adapted to accommodate the institutional needs of a school, E The original plan was an innovative move away from single ranges of rooms and is residential college and a housing association. Many of these adaptations are illustrative of evolving patterns of domestic usage. inappropriate and potentially harmful to the historic fabric.
S02 Boston Manor was in the ownership of various branches of one family for 253 C S10 The House is suffering the obvious effects of structural movement caused by E years. The ebb and flow in the fortunes of this family, the Clitherows, offer a settlement, tree root growth and inadequate land drainage. Without urgent fascinating illustration of local and national concerns of the day. attention, continuing movement could lead to structural collapse.
Historical Value (Associative) S11 The south corner of the house has been propped with scaffold since 2002. E Intended as a temporary measure, this structure could itself induce further stresses S03 Boston Manor has numerous associations with British Royalty. It is reported that A in the historic fabric. It also allows external access to the property at high level Charles I watched part of the Battle of Brentford from its windows. King William which has been used by vandals and thieves. IV (the sailor king) and Queen Adelaide dined here in 1834. S12 Much of the House, in particular the north wing, is semi-derelict and is in a E deteriorating state of neglect. Aesthetic Value S13 The gatehouse, constructed in the 1960s, is incongruous and is not a distinguished E S04 Although the house has been much altered internally and externally, the core A building of its type or of its era. structure of 1623 contains remarkably fine decorative plaster work attributed to a notable craftsman of the day, Edward Stanyon. S05 The intricate plaster ceiling in the principle room of the 1623 core structure is a A fine example of Flemish influenced Jacobean ornamental, enriched strap-work. It has an exceptional number of emblematic reliefs from designs by Marcus Gheeraerts the younger, a fashionable portraitist in the court of Elizabeth I.
S06 The upper landing walls of the main stair are covered with a rare example of 18th B century wallpaper depicting Roman ruins. S07 Boston Manor is a fascinating amalgam of evolving architectural style. The house C has been altered and extended in a series of clearly discernible phases, to meet the needs and tastes of succeeding owners.
Communal Value
S08 Boston Manor and its surrounding parkland is a focus for community activity with C an appeal that derives from its historic arcadian setting.
Boston Manor Boston Manor 10.0 Significance Diagrams
The fact that a physical aspect of a place has cultural significance does not mean automatically that it cannot be altered or changed. Thus, understanding the significance of Boston Manor should not simply be thought of as placing constraints on future action; as well as identifying areas of importance that must be carefully protected, it introduces flexibility by identifying areas of lesser importance that may be adapted or developed with greater freedom.
The plans on the following pages are based on the most recent survey drawings available prepared by Laser Surveys October 2009.
Boston Manor 10.0 Significance Diagrams
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Significance Diagrams Lower Floors
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)001
Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:100 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:200 @ A3
FLAT 13 FLAT 15 FLAT 16 FLAT 17 FLAT 18 FLAT 18 FLAT 18 LIBRARY LOUNGE G37 G41 LOUNGE KITCHEN LOUNGE BEDROOM FLAT 17 G23 G43 G52 G48 G51 Revisions: G3 KITCHEN G44
STAIR G2 G10
FLAT 14 LOUNGE G20 DINING ROOM HALLWAY KITCHEN G5 G1 G6
BOSTON MANOR HOUSE Ground Floor Plan SIGNIFICANCE DIAGRAMS
LOWER FLOORS
A Exceptional / International
GY B Considerable / National
C Some / Local
D Little / Site
E Intrusive / Detrimental
GY N
Basement Plan
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor 10.0 Significance Diagrams
57 - 59 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AH LDN Architects T: 0131 222 2900 F: 0131 222 2901 E: [email protected]
Job Title: 1016 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE
Drawing Title: Significance Diagrams Upper Floors
Drawing Number: 1016 L(F-)002
Scale: Date: Drawn: Reviewed: 1:100 @ A1 Sept 2010 NjG DP 1:200 @ A3
Loft Plan Revisions:
FLAT 0 FLAT 0 ROOM 1 FLAT 2 LOUNGE BEDROOM KITCHEN KITCHEN LOUNGE/ 2.3 2.4 2.21 2.19 BED 2.18
FLAT 8 LOUNGE/BED FLAT 4 FLAT 4 FLAT 3 2.26 BOSTON MANOR HOUSE BEDROOM KITCHEN LOUNGE/ 2.4 2.5 BED 2.12 SIGNIFICANCE DIAGRAMS
Second Floor Plan UPPER FLOORS
A Exceptional / International
B Considerable / National
FLAT 7 FLAT 9 FLAT 10 FLAT 10 FLAT 11 C Some / Local LOUNGE/BED LOUNGE/BED KITCHEN LOUNGE/BED BEDROOM 1.24 1.26 STATE ANTE FLAT 5 FLAT 5 1.39 1.38 1.37 D Little / Site BEDROOM ROOM KITCHEN LOUNGE/BED 1.14 1.13 FLAT 19 FLAT 19 FLAT 19 1.3 1.2 BEDROOM LOUNGE KITCHEN 1.43 1.44 1.45 E Intrusive / Detrimental STAIR 1.1
N
STATE DRAWING ROOM FLAT 6 LOUNGE/BED 1.4 1.7
First Floor Plan
© This drawing is copyright of LDN Architects LLP
Boston Manor Boston Manor 11.0 Defining Issues and Conservation Policies
Boston Manor 11.0 Defining Issues and Conservation Policies
Boston Manor is a cultural asset of national importance that deserves to be recognised and cherished Meetings and events are also held in the house at present and although they can be conducted in as such. It has developed into its current form over many years and each of these layers of historical ways which do not stress the building fabric, for this use to remain viable, it is possible that there may development is evident in its present form. The presence of these layers is central to its significance be an increased demand for improved ICT and presentation facilities but it would be possible for such and therefore it is not appropriate to restore the house to a particular period. Future development enhanced provision to be appropriately integrated even in the most sensitive spaces. The numbers should aim to enhance and reveal these layers whilst removing detrimental elements and uses which of people participating in events in individual rooms should be limited by the load capacity of the do not contribute to the overall significance of the house. floors and by the ventilation capacity of the existing windows. Temporary protection of floors may be required. The conservation strategy should enhance and reveal historical relationships between the house, ancillary structures and the landscape setting. It should also support new uses that respect the past The most significant space in the House is the State Drawing Room at first floor level. The second and which can be integrated in ways that do not undermine the cultural significance of the house and floor rooms above the State Room, although now not in use, were used previously as bedsits and grounds. bathrooms. Any work to integrate new uses should include the removal of existing piped services serving these bathrooms, which currently present a significant risk to the plaster ceiling in the State Proposals for the re-use and / or restoration of Boston Manor should generally conform to Room beneath. requirements set out in the English Heritage Practice Guide PPS5 and in particular Policy HE7: There is evidence of ongoing structural movement in the main timber staircase leading to the second Policy principles guiding the determination of applications for consent relating to all heritage assets, floor. More intensive, day-to-day use of the main timber stair could exert unacceptable stresses on the which seeks to ensure that; timber structure. It is recommended that the northwest stair should be used as the main access route for access to the upper floors for any new permanent uses of the second floor. 1. It sustains or enhances the significance of a heritage asset and the contribution of its setting 2. It reduces or removes risks to a heritage asset North Wing 3. It secures the optimum viable use of a heritage asset in support of it long term conservation The north wing has most recently been used as residential flats. The conversion was carried out in the 4. It makes a positive contribution to economic vitality and sustainable communities early 1960s and has since fallen into a fairly advanced state of disrepair and dereliction. Contemporary 5. It is an appropriate design for its context and makes a positive contribution to the appearance, expectations of living accommodation are different to those of the 1960s and so a simple character, quality and local distinctiveness of the historic environment refurbishment of the current layout of bedsitting rooms and bathrooms would not be viable. Indeed, 6. It better reveals the significance of a heritage asset and therefore enhances our enjoyment of it it is likely that one of the causes of the rooms being abandoned to dereliction is that the layout no and the sense of place. longer met the reasonable social expectations of its residents. There is widespread evidence of damp penetration through the walls and kitchens and bathrooms are Boston Manor is clearly in need of investment. The use of the House in new ways has the potential to squalid. Without redevelopment, the wing will continue to deteriorate and its development with a generate income for re-investment in the conservation and repair of the historic fabric and this should viable use should be encouraged. It would be possible to develop modern residential accommodation be welcomed. However, different uses will impose different pressures on the house. The aim must in the wing whilst respecting the grain of the structure and with the minimum of new openings being therefore be to keep the intensity of use in the rooms that are most sensitive and most significant to formed in structural walls. It may be necessary to carry out floor strengthening works at first floor an acceptable level. Less sensitive and less significant spaces should be more intensively used and so level but this could be carried out with minimal loss of historic fabric. The external character of the help to generate the investment needed to protect the house’s cultural importance. Boston Manor is wing should also be conserved in any conversion work, with minimal change to door and window underused and as such is vulnerable to damage through arson or theft as well as through damage by openings. squatters. There is, therefore, a level of risk already inherent in the manner in which the building is Whilst the interiors of the wing are only of moderate historic interest refurbishment works may reveal currently used which should be mitigated. evidence of former uses in each space. Currently hidden hearthstones and lintels may show where bake house ovens or wash house cisterns were located. Such hidden evidence should be recorded Main House during refurbishment work. The historic core of the main house is currently used in ways which exert only minimal pressure on the historic fabric. Historic tours are conducted by the Friends of Boston Manor with relatively small, controlled groups of people.
Boston Manor 11.0 Defining Issues and Conservation Policies
C01 Conclude structural repairs and drainage repairs to the south corner of the building in C11 All new work should comply with statutory requirements including legislation accordance with detailed recommendations by Alan Baxter Associates in the report of covering heritage protection in all its forms, national and local planning policy and July 2004, subsequently homologated into the report by Richard Griffiths Architects requirements imposed by health and safety and building regulations dated April 2005. Works underway in 2011. Refer to Appendix 1. C12 All conservation work should be carried out in accordance with best practice national C02 Carry out fabric repairs in accordance with detailed prioritised recommendations in and international conservation principles and charters various reports by Richard Griffiths Architects since 2005 and most recently in 2009 subject to a reappraisal in relation to any new uses identified for Boston Manor C13 All conservation work should be specified and carried out by properly qualified and experienced conservation professionals, contractors, tradespeople and conservators C03 Remove kitchens, bathrooms and washrooms inserted in the main building and the north wing during the 1960s conversion to housing association accommodation in order to prevent potential damage to and loss of historic building fabric. This is Notes to Conservation Policies most urgently required in the rooms above the first floor stateroom in the 1623 C02 Reference is made to the report prepared by Richard Griffiths Architects dated October 2007 entitled building where the plasterwork ceiling is at risk. Consider removal of the catering ‘Boston Manor House, Brentford, Middlesex Condition Survey of House and Service Wing’. Pages 41 kitchen on the ground floor and reinstating this room to a period which assists in the to 53 of the report set out recommendations for work under five headings - I (for immediate action), interpretation of the House’s history A (within 18 months), B (within 5 years), C (beyond 5 years) and M (future maintenance works). If no immediate new use is found for Boston Manor it is strongly recommended that works under categories C04 Remove redundant building services and upgrade in accordance with the detailed I and A are carried out without further delay. In the event of works being carried out to allow the house to fulfil a new use, works under categories B and C should be carried out as part of the works recommendations of the 2007 report by Martin Thomas Associates. for the conversion to that new use. If no conversion works are undertaken within the next 5 years, category B items should be carried out within the time frame recommended by Richard Griffiths C05 Identify appropriate new uses for redundant accommodation which does not Architects. fundamentally endanger the historic fabric and which will provide income to support the future conservation of Boston Manor
C06 Reveal and interpret the social history of the House in accessible ways for the general public. Visitor facilities should be improved to appeal to as wide a range of audiences as possible, whether they are touring the house, walking in the grounds or attending an event
C07 Reveal and interpret the House’s connection with British Royalty and with John Quincy Adams’ stay at little Boston
C08 Ensure that new uses to which the House and the grounds may be put are mutually supportive and complimentary to the conservation of character and setting of the House
C09 Consider removal of gatehouse constructed in 1960s and carry out associated repairs to adjacent garden wall.
C10 All repair and conservation work should be carried out using best practice conservation methodologies that maximise the retention of original fabric
Boston Manor Boston Manor 12.0 Current Condition
12.0 Current Condition
Boston Manor 12.0 Current Condition
Current Condition Main House
Reference has been made throughout this Conservation Management Plan to the various reports Ground Floor prepared by Richard Griffiths Architects. The RG report dated October 2007 contains a thorough The historic core of the house contains the principal rooms at ground and first floor levels. The description of the house in sections as follows: Entrance Hall G1(B) and Dining Room G5(B) are in a useable state and the decorative condition is fair. Joinery-work and plasterwork is intact and the rooms are furnished. • Summary of Recommendations Works are currently being concluded in the library G3 (B) addressing the causes of structural • Roof Coverings movement as noted under CP.01. Refer to Appendix 1. The room will require the conservation and repair of decorative finishes following the conclusion of structural repairs to the external walls. • Rainwater Goods, Disposal Systems and Underground Drainage Room G6(E) has been used in the recent past as a catering kitchen. As discussed elsewhere in this • External Walls report, this use is not appropriate for the space, the catering equipment is redundant and the room is • Third Floor and Attics to Main House in poor decorative order. • Second Floor Interior The group of rooms to west of the historic core (opposite side of Stair G2 to Library G3) numbers G12 to G16 (all C) are in use as male and female toilets and are in a fair and useable condition. • First Floor Interior of Main House Stair G2(A) is in use but is suffering degradation and structural movement. Decorative condition is • Service Wing First Floor fair. The walls surrounding the upper parts of the stair have fragments of late 18th century wallpaper • Main House : Ground Floor Interiors depicting Roman ruins, which requires specialist conservation. • Basement • Service Wing Ground Floor First Floor The State Drawing Room 1.4(A) is in use and is furnished. Decorative condition is good with joinery Each above section of that report contains detailed descriptions of the form and condition of each and plasterwork in a fair condition. State Bedroom 1.3(B) and Ante Room 1.2(B) are in a similar roof surface, elevation and individual room, including observations on the principal features in each condition to the State Drawing Room but are not furnished other than with art works on the walls. room (eg. plaster work ceilings and fireplaces). As referred to in Conservation Policy C01 and C02 Flats 1.7(C), 1.13(C) and 1.14(C), to the west of the main stair, are not currently in use and are in of this Conservation Management Plan, the RG report goes on to set out detailed recommendations a semi derelict state. Their most recent use has been as bedsitting rooms each having a kitchenette for the repair of each part of the house with suggested priorities. It is not the intention if this CMP inserted. They are in poor decorative order and in need of conservation and refurbishment if they are to repeat the detailed recommendations made by Richard Griffiths but to reinforce the urgent need to be returned to use. to undertake those recommended repair and conservation works. This CMP provides a previously unavailable overview of the Boston Manor’s historic significance and an assessment of varying levels of significance within the house, which further serve to support the priorities set out by Richard Griffiths. Second Floor The rooms in this entire floor, 2.1(C) to 2.21(C), have most recently been used as bed sitting rooms with associated kitchens and bathrooms. The piped services serving them present a significant threat The following paragraphs describe the current general condition and use of the rooms. They are to the most significant room at Boston Manor, which is immediately below, and they should be intended only to provide a broad understanding, should to read in conjunction with the RG report of removed. The rooms are in poor decorative order and require conservation and refurbishment if they 2007, and are qualified by the detailed observations made by Richard Griffiths Architects. The letter in are to be returned to use. brackets after each room number denotes its assessed significance as contained in Section 10 of this CMP. North Wing
Boston Manor 12.0 Current Condition
Ground Floor The rooms in the former service wing, G20(C) to G51(C), are not currently in use and are in a semi- derelict state. Their most recent use has been as bedsitting rooms with associated kitchenettes and bathrooms. They are in poor decorative order and are in need of conservation and refurbishment if they are to be returned to use.
First Floor The rooms in the former service wing, 1.24(C) to 1.45(C), are not currently in use and are in a semi- derelict state. Their most recent use has been as bedsitting rooms with associated kitchenettes and bathrooms. They are in poor decorative order and are in need of conservation and refurbishment if they are to be returned to use.
Boston Manor Boston Manor Appendix
Appendix 1
Boston Manor Appendix
Boston Manor House Notes to Appendix Structural repairs in the library 1 - Condition of the external walls The works illustrated on the following pages satisfy CP.01 of this Conservation Management Plan. The repair works have been designed and specified by Richard Griffiths Architects and Alan Baxter The poor condition of the existing brickwork came to light in c2000 when the library was closed and temporary support was installed Integrated Design. internally and externally. The structural collapse of this corner of the House however stems from the original construction which included built-in timbers which had rotted-out. This has been progressive over a long period of time. N Ground fl oor location plan Sections through south wall before works
Dado paneling removed to allow inspection of brickwork
Cut-out for heating pipes has weakened the wall
Paneling temporarily removed to allow works Marks on the bricks indicated window openings had been enlarged historically
Linings and shutters removed temporarily Poor bonding of leaves of to allow works brickwork caused voids in wall Rotting out of built-in timber, causing collapse of brickwork Water penetration Overstressed inner leaf which into wall at top of plinth collapsed progressively over time Plinth had been cut out and rebuilt in the past without Skirting and linings had been proper bond to brickwork behind reinstated further inside to allow for progressive bow of wall Redundant drainage Collapsed brickwork formed channel at base of south a hole through wall east wall Layer of poor quality bearing strata beneath Lower section of wall of earlier foundation build with different mortar Section through collapsed south wall (shown shaded in grey) Section through window Photographs showing interior of library before rebuilding brickwork
Bulging brickwork Embedded decayed timber Collapsed brickwork in South corner Cracks between ceiling and cornice
Consultants: Contractor: PAYE Stone Ltd.
Boston Manor Appendix
Boston Manor House Boston Manor House Structural repairs in the library Structural repairs in the library 2 - Methods of repairs to external wall 3 - Extent of repairs
The repairs carried out carefully in stages to avoid further movement These elevations record the extent of rebuilding brickwork to the of the walls, which would endanger the plaster ceilings. southwest wall and the location of stitching and ties on the fl oors Firstly, the surviving walls were reinforced. Then, the brickwork was above. Wall linings were removed to facilitate the work and will be rebuilt at low level and tied to the external leaf. The voids in the reinstated. It is likely that similar structural problems exist in other thickness of the wall were fi lled with grout. areas of the House, which need further investigations. Finally, concrete elbow ties were installed to tie the corner together. N N Ground fl oor location plan Ground fl oor location plan Sections through south wall during works Elevation showing approximate extent & rebuild brickwork
Inspection of brickwork behind panelling on 1st and 2nd fl oor Dado panelling reinstated Cracks in brickwork reinforced Concrete elbow tie with ties in bed joints Earlier rebuilding brickwork after bomb damage
Stitched cracks
Plaster removed
Cracks in cornice plasterwork fi lled Cracks in decorative cornice Existing brickwork monitored during works Concrete elbows installed stitched from outside across corner wall with grouted ties
Windows repaired and redecorated Lining and decorations reinstated after works completed Lining reinstated after works completed Dado panelling removed Temporary props Cracks in brickwork stitched Inner brickwork rebuilt across and fi lled Decayed wall plate Void where timber rotted were, from inside Timber reinstated before rebuilding removed and bricked up fi lled with bricks Pinned through to connect new and Voids in wall existing wall Cracks between cornice and Survival of original grouted from inside Inside face of brickwork wall indicated movement plaster fi nish rendered before panelling Repaired brickwork reinstated Concrete elbow ties across corner Areas of surviving brickwork pinned and Built-in timbers within grouted before rebuilding wall were removed works commenced
Junction line Panels below windows between two builds repaired and rendered Stage 1 - Consolidation of surviving brickwork Stage 2 - Reconstruction of collapsing brickwork Photographs showing rebuilding brickwork in library Photographs showing consolidation of brickwork on all fl oors
Window jambs reconstructed fi rst Wall linings removed and temporary propping Panel under window ready to receive render Ground fl oor Library - Inner brickwork rebuilt First fl oor State Bedroom - Dado panelling removed Second fl oor bedroom - Plaster removed
Consultants: Contractor: PAYE Stone Ltd. Consultants: Contractor: PAYE Stone Ltd.
Boston Manor