The Ockleston Memorial, Cheadle Green History & Heritage Significance

July 2014 The Ockleston Memorial, Cheadle Green

A report on the history & significance of the memorial prepared for

CHEADLE CIVIC SOCIETY

by

The Architectural History Practice Ltd

July 2014 CONTENTS

Executive summary

1.0 Introduction

1.1. Background to the report

1.2. Purpose of the report

1.3 Acknowledgements

1.4 Copyright

2.0 History, Design & Context

2.1 Background: Victorian Memorials

2.2. The Ockleston Memorial

2.3 Designer, Alfred Darbyshire

2.4 Form and design

2.5 Later alterations

2.6 Cheadle Green: outline history and development

2.7 The Memorial and Cheadle Green – recent history & new proposals

3.0. Significance of The Ockleston Memorial

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Summary of significance

3.3 Setting

4.0. Conclusion

Sources

Appendix 1: Listed Building Description

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Robert Ockleston was a popular doctor in Cheadle; after he died in 1888 a subscription was raised to fund a water fountain to his memory, erected in Cheadle in 1889. The memorial was designed in gothic revival style by the Manchester architect Alfred Darbyshire, using Aberdeen granite, Mansfield limestone and Titancrete. The fountain was a multi-purpose structure that provided water for horses in troughs around the base, water fountains for local people and a lamp. It occupied a prominent position at the junction of Manchester Road and Stockport Road next to Cheadle Green until it was relocated in 1967 to a site to the east, on the edge of a new residential estate.

Some changes were made to the fountain at unknown dates between 1889 and the early 20th century; a comparison of historic images shows that additional lamps were added, and most of the water fountains were removed. In its current location the memorial’s water troughs are filled with compost and used for bedding plants, and the structure’s condition is deteriorating.

The Ockleston Memorial is of high significance for its aesthetic, historical and communal value, but its current setting, condition and ex situ position detracts from its significance. It is a grade II listed structure and within Cheadle Conservation Area.

It has the potential to once again be a landmark feature within the conservation area. A landscape scheme has been designed by Barnes Walker to reinstate it as close as possible to its original location. The dismantling and re-erection will be carried out with advice from Alan Gardner, as part of a project funded by Cheadle Civic Society.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 2 1.0. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the Report This report was commissioned from The Architectural History Practice Ltd (AHP) in May 2014 by Cheadle Civic Society. The report contributes to a wider project to enhance Cheadle Green with new landscaping that takes account of its historic form and appearance. This report will be used to inform and support an application for listed building (LBC), to relocate the memorial to a site close to its original location.

1.2 Purpose of the Report

The report is intended to provide:

• An analysis of the history of the Ockleston Memorial and its historic setting, illustrated with historic images; • An assessment of the significance of the Ockleston Memorial;

1.3 Acknowledgements This report has been written by Marion Barter, BA MA, Director of AHP. AHP is grateful to Edward Cardwell at Barnes Walker for sharing historic photographs and maps, and to Alan Jabez of Cheadle Civic Society who also provided copies of historic images. Pat Seddon, local historian kindly provided copies of photographs of the unveiling ceremony in 1889.

1.4 Copyright

This report is the copyright of AHP Ltd and is for the sole use of the organisation to whom it is addressed. This document may not be used or referred to in whole or in part by anyone else without the express agreement of AHP. AHP does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from any unauthorised use of this report.

© AHP Ltd (2014).

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 3 2.0: HISTORY, DESIGN AND CONTEXT

2.1 Victorian memorials

The trend to provide a memorial to a public figure after their death was well- established in Victorian England. The death of Albert, Prince Consort in 1861 prompted a national outpouring of grief in whose memory ‘statues and monuments were set up all over the country’ (Benedict p95). The memorial to Prince Albert in Manchester was designed by Thomas Worthington, and unveiled in 1867, using a striking gothic design for the canopy echoing the Scott Monument in Glasgow (unveiled in 1846). Memorials to lesser citizens followed, many also designed in the gothic revival style.

Fig.1: Victorian water fountain in Enfield, designer and date unknown (Enfield Civic Society)

Water fountains were a popular Victorian feature, often provided in public parks and town centres, and sometimes funded as a memorial to a local figure or to mark a royal jubilee. They also performed a public health function, at a time when a clean domestic water supply was not universal. Designs varied greatly; most simply provided a bowl and water fountain, sometimes under a decorative canopy. They were either free-standing or built into a wall or building. Larger structures sometimes incorporated a water trough for horses, but lamps seem to have been a

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 4 rarer addition. A web search identified a fountain comparable to the Ocklestone Memorial in Enfield, but none similar are known locally.

2.2. The Ockleston Memorial

Terry Wyke records that ‘Robert Ockleston came to live in the village of Cheadle in the 1830s, as an assistant to the local doctor. He eventually established his own practice and became known for his kindness and ‘his innocent looking little white pills…He enjoyed the rural life, being a passionate horseman. Ockleston took an active interest in the public affairs of the village’ (Wyke p339). Cheadle Civic Society record on their website that Ocklestone opened his first surgery in 1825 on the High Street; his history has not been researched in detail for this report.

Fig.2: Two views of the unveiling ceremony in 1889 (courtesy of Pat Seddon)

Ockleston died in February 1888, and soon afterwards it was decided that a memorial in the form of a water fountain should be erected to honour his life and work, as reported in the Stockport Advertiser on 9 March 1888 (Wyke p339).

The memorial was unveiled at a well-attended public ceremony in April 1889 by Lord of the Manor, James Watts of Cheadle Hall; he formally handed it over to the Local Board which was responsible for maintenance.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 5 2.2 Alfred Darbyshire, the designer

The memorial was commissioned from the Manchester architect Alfred Darbyshire (1839-1908). Darbyshire had been a pupil of Richard Lane, who designed restrained buildings in Greek revival style, such as Chorlton-on-Mdelock Town Hall, but once established on his own, Darbyshire designed in gothic revival style and various other styles, and later specialised in theatre design. The Palace Theatre on Oxford Street was designed by him in 1891, although re-fronted later, along with the Comedy Theatre (later The Gaiety) on Peter Street (demolished). He took a particular interest in fire-proofing theatres and the use of fire-proof safety curtains; the theatre he designed in Exeter used a fire-proof product called Titancrete (see http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/ExeterTheatres.htm).

Darbyshire took a scholarly approach to architectural detailing and like many architects of his generation had visited the continent to see examples of architecture from all periods; he made his first continental tour in 1864.

For the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition held in Old Trafford, Darbyshire and his partner Frederick Bennett Smith designed a street lined with full-size replicas of old buildings from Salford and Manchester, and Darbyshire wrote the guide book.

2.3 Design and form of the memorial

A public water fountain was chosen as a suitable memorial, incorporating a water fountain, a water trough for horses and originally also a street lamp, all designed in fashionable gothic revival style. This combination of utility and aesthetics typified the Victorian approach to public memorials. The memorial was designed as a composite of different gothic features, ingeniously assembled to make an attractive, functional landmark. The octagonal plinth carries an octagonal basin forming the horse trough, with a moulded rim of polished Aberdeen granite. Cut into the octagonal plinth are four low-level recesses with water troughs; these were probably for small animals such as dogs to drink from. Four small gabled stone canopies arranged around the

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 6 basin contained the water fountains, each with a small shaped polished granite basin or cup. From the centre of the octagonal basin rises a polished granite cylindrical column on a moulded limestone base with four gothic style bosses carved with ferns and foliage (two different designs) and a capital carved with heraldry. An octagonal

stone band above the heraldry is incised with gothic script: ‘ROBERT OCKLESTON DIED 1888, MEMORIAL ERECTED 1889’.

Fig.3: detail from photograph of unveiling in 1889 (courtesy Pat Seddon)

The flat top of the carved capital supported a miniature gothic canopy (known as a ciborium), resembling the canopy over the Albert Memorial in Manchester, probably made of metal and topped with a weather vane. Within the canopy hung a single decorative lamp. Wyke notes that the lamp design was based on a lamp designed by Darbyshire for the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition held in Old Trafford (Wyke p339). The memorial’s original form can be seen in Figure 3, with more detail of the water trough and plinth in Fig.4.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 7 The structure used a combination of buff-coloured Mansfield limestone with Aberdeen polished granite; the latter used for the column, basin and fountain basins. Wyke notes that a material called Titancrete was also used; this is a manufactured product developed in the 19th century and used particularly for its fire-resistant properties. Darbyshire would have known of it from his theatre design work, but it is not known why this was used for the fountain.

Fig.4: The memorial in the late 19th century, from the west (nd)

2.4 Later alterations

By the end of the 19th century extra lamps had been added, seen in Fig.4, probably taken before 1900; four additional lamps were hung on decorative wrought iron

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 8 brackets projecting from the angles of the top canopy, to provide a total of five lamps .

Fig.5: c1900, without top canopy, and new globe lamps, from the NE

Comparison of historic photographs and views shows that the Memorial was subsequently altered more radically between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, in several stages. Postcard views from around 1900 show the memorial without the top canopy and instead, four globe lamps are hung on new brackets projecting from a central cast-iron column (Fig.5). At the same time as the lamps were changed or soon afterwards, the stone basin was altered; one by one the stone canopies with drinking fountains were removed, and the gaps in the basin edge were filled with moulded granite to match. Only one now remains.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 9 The globe lamps may have been a fairly short-lived arrangement, as another undated view from the early 20th century (Fig.6) shows an octagonal cast-iron column carrying a single large gas lamp. Two scrolled lamp brackets serve as ladder bars (for supporting the ladder of the man who lit the lamp and for maintenance), replacing the four lamp brackets.

Fig.6: the memorial in the early 20th century, from the west (undated photograph)

2.5 Cheadle Green: Outline History and Development

Cheadle Green is Cheadle’s most important public space. It originated at the junction between roads to Wilmslow, Manchester and Stockport, as a small village green criss-crossed by paths and the drive to Cheadle Hall. The current large public open space known includes both the village green and the former private grounds of

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 10 Cheadle Hall. The village green was protected as an open space as part of the Enclosure Act for this area, in the early 1800s.

Historic maps show the Cheadle Hall grounds, bounded by Stockport Road to the south and Manchester Road to the west, with the green forming a rough semi-circle on the east side of the road junction (plot no.93 on the tithe map in Fig.7). The hall (plot 92) had been built in the mid-18th century for Rev Thomas Egerton; it was a large three-storey brick Georgian house. The hall was built with the front facing roughly west overlooking the green, but set behind a high brick wall. The hall was aligned roughly north-south, with pleasure grounds to the south and west, a kitchen garden to the north-east and outbuildings and service yard to the north.

Fig.7: extract from tithe map for Cheadle Bulkely, c1846 (Cheshire Archives EDT 90/2)

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 11 Fig.8: extract from 1874 OS map, before the memorial was erected (approximate later position marked red)

Historic views from the late 19th century show that the hall was largely hidden from public views by trees within the grounds (Fig.4). Ordnance survey maps provide more detail of the green and the layout of the hall grounds. In the later 19th century, the hall was extended with a new wing to the south-east corner (Fig.9), and in 1876 the Literary Institute was built to its north-west fronting the green alongside Manchester Road. The 1890 map is the first to show the Ockleston memorial (marked Fn for fountain). This map also shows terraced housing to the east of the hall grounds.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 12 Fig.9: extract from 1890 OS map (1:2500)

Fig.10: the setting in 1902, from the east

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 13 Fig.11: extract from 1910 OS map, 1:2500

In 1903, tramlines were laid along Stockport Road (Fig.11), to the south of the memorial (marked D.Fn on the map), later extended to Gatley. Trams ran until 1931.

The green had a semi- rural character, laid with grass. In 1875 square wooden posts were provided to prevent vehicles parking or driving on the green, smartly painted in white with a darker top (Fig.10). The finger post sign at the west end of the green indicated distances to Stockport and Manchester. By the early 20th century street furniture also included a bench, information board, and a telegraph pole and wires.

Fig.12: Cheadle Hall prior to demolition in 1958

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 14 In 1952, an estate of new housing set in spacious grounds was laid out to the east of the grounds of Cheadle Hall, and named Queen’s Gardens. Cheadle Hall was demolished in 1958, and the site and grounds landscaped as a public park with a pond on the site of the hall. In 1967, Queens Gardens was chosen as the location for the Ockleston Memorial, when it was removed from the road junction.

Fig.13: the memorial’s current setting in Queen’s Gardens

The water trough is now filled with earth and used for bedding plants. The fabric of the memorial is deteriorating, with cracks opening up between blocks and spalling detail. Its condition is the subject of a separate report by Alan Garden Associates.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 15 Fig.14: water trough in use for bedding plants, with one retained fountain

2.6 The Memorial and Cheadle Green – recent history & new proposals

The Memorial was first listed in 1985 (see Appendix 1 for the listed building description), by which time Victorian architecture was becoming better appreciated.

Cheadle Civic Society had been founded in 1964, and has been active in developing a plan to greatly improve Cheadle Green, and reinstate the Ockleston Memorial as close as possible to its original location. The current setting on the edge of a residential estate and remote from its original site is almost hidden, and does not enable it to be enjoyed the public in the centre of Cheadle.

The scheme to enhance the green was partly completed in spring 2014, designed by Barnes Walker, with a site earmarked for the Memorial on the west edge of the green. Stout wooden posts have been used to evoke the former white-painted posts, and the green landscaped with new trees, paths and seating.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 16 Fig.15: new landscaping on Cheadle Green, 2014, and the site reserved for the Memorial

Fig.16: landscape improvements (proposed Memorial site in red), 2014

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 17 3. SIGNIFICANCE

3.1 The concept of significance

Significance assessment has been adopted in the UK as an essential tool in heritage management and conservation, by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage and is a key principle within the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework, 2013). Its use in heritage asset management was first developed by James Semple Kerr for heritage assets of European cultural significance in New South Wales, Australia (The Conservation Plan, 1996, revised 2004).

Assessing heritage significance is not an exact science and uses a combination of comparative analysis, historical research, judgement of quality, the level of change and context. The Ockleston Memorial has been assessed using current guidance from English Heritage, including Conservation Principles (2008) which identifies four main aspects of significance: evidential, historical, aesthetic and communal. Within these categories, significance can be measured in hierarchical levels:

• Exceptional - important at national to international levels, including the most important scheduled ancient monuments, Grade I listed buildings and World Heritage Sites. Buildings and places of exceptional significance demand the highest level of protection. Any proposals for change will require the highest level of scrutiny and justification. In mitigation for change, a high level of recording will be required. • High - important at a national level, including Grade II listed buildings and some conservation areas and non-designated archaeology. Great weight should be given to their conservation. In mitigation for change, an appropriate level of recording will be required. • Medium – important at local to regional level, including local (non-statutory) listed buildings and some conservation areas. May include less significant

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 18 parts of listed buildings. Buildings and parts of structures in this category should be retained where possible, although there is usually scope for adaptation. • Low – of limited heritage or other cultural value. May include much altered parts of listed buildings or modern additions. The removal or adaptation of buildings or features in this category is usually acceptable, provided that care is taken to protect adjoining historic features, setting and archaeology. • Negative or intrusive features - those that harm the significance of the heritage asset as a whole or individual elements. Wherever practicable, removal of negative features should be considered, taking account of adjoining historic features or archaeology and the benefits of the change to the entity as a whole.

3.2 Summary of significance

The Ockleston Memorial is of high significance for its aesthetic, historical and communal value.

It is a good example of Victorian public sculpture, designed in gothic revival style by a notable local architect, Alfred Darbyshire. The inscription records the name of Robert Ocklestone, a well-regarded 19th century local doctor.

It was originally paid for and designed as a public landmark in the centre of Cheadle to provide a water trough, drinking fountain and lamp, but these original functions have been obscured by its current use, location condition. The memorial is not in its original setting; the current setting detracts from its significance.

The grade II listing reflects the national importance of the structure as a good example of Victorian sculpture and design, despite the loss of some original features and it having been moved.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 19 3.3 Setting

The NPPF defines setting as ‘the surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced. Its extent is not fixed and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate that significance or may be neutral’.

The current setting of the Ocklestone Memorial on a quiet residential road, laid out in the 1950s, detracts from its significance and severely hinders the ability of people to appreciate its significance. The Memorial was designed in the 1880s as a water trough and fountain, intended for public use at an important and well-used road junction in the centre of Cheadle. The current location is unrelated visually, historically and physcially to the original site. Returning the memorial to a site as closer as possible to its original location would substantially enhance its significance.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 20 4. CONCLUSION

The Ocklestone Memorial is an interesting and significant example of Victorian design, representing a combination of utility, aesthetics and local pride. It served an important role in the community on its prominent original site until it became redundant as a water trough, lamp and drinking fountain. It became at risk from damage by vehicles and in the way of increasing volumes of traffic, and eventually was moved to its current site in 1967.

The memorial was altered in stages during its functional life, and is now missing some original features. The condition of the structure is deteriorating, and requires further detailed investigation to inform its future conservation and decisions about the reinstatement of missing features. Alan Gardner has been commissioned to advise on a programme of conservation work.

The significance of the memorial is negatively affected by its current siting on the edge of a 1950s housing estate, and would be greatly enhanced by re-locating it as close as possible to its original location on Cheadle Green, as proposed in the landscape scheme designed by Barnes Walker and initiated by Cheadle Civic Society.

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 21 SOURCES

Publications

Department of Communities and Local Government, National Planning Policy Framework 2013

English heritage, Conservation Principles, 2008

Harwell, C, Hyde, M and Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England, Lancashire, Manchester and the South East, 2004

Kerr, J.S., The Conservation Plan, 1996, revised 2004

Read, Benedict, Victorian Sculpture, 1982

Stewart, Cecil, The Stones of Manchester, 1956

Wyke, Terry, Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, 2004

Maps

Tithe map for Cheadle Bulkeley c1846, Cheshire Archives

OS maps for 1:2500, 1874, 1890 and 1910 (courtesy of Barnes Walker)

Websites

http://cheadlecivicsociety.org/contents/en-uk/d145.html (last accessed 24 July 2014)

http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/ExeterTheatres.htm - includes a contemporary account of the re-opening of the Theatre Royal, Exeter, 1889, designed by Alfred Darbyshire, using Titancrete (last accessed 24 July 2014)

http://www.enfieldsociety.org.uk/photographs/displayimage.php?album=6&pid=66 4 (last accessed 24 July 2014)

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 22 Appendix 1: Listed Building Description

List entry Number: 1241802 MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN TO R OCKLESTON, QUEENS GARDENS

Grade: II Date first listed: 11-Oct-1985 SJ 88 NE CHEADLE QUEENS GARDENS (east side)

5/43 Memorial Fountain - to R. Ockleston

- II

Water fountain and drinking trough. "Robert Ockleston died 1888, memorial erected 1889" inscribed on capital. Sandstone, polished granite and cast iron. Octagonal trough, now planter, with small drinking bowl with gablet. Circular polished granite column rises from an elaborate base and has enriched capital with inscription and heraldic shields. Cast iron weather-vane formerly with 4 light pendants. Ockleston was a notable Cheadle doctor. The memorial formerly stood at the centre of Cheadle Green.

National Grid Reference: SJ 86077 88720

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 23 The Architectural History Practice Ltd

70 Cowcross Street

London

EC1M 6EJ

Telephone 01457-861374

www.architecturalhistory.co.uk

Ockleston Memorial, Heritage Statement, July 2014 24