Hornton Manor

Hornton Manor is a house built in 1927–1928 by the Birmingham architect Charles Edward Bateman for a local industrialist named Mr Burnett. Designed in the Arts and Crafts style, it draws heavily on Cotswold vernacular architecture, particularly of the 17th century. The house has undergone some later 20th-century alterations but retains much of its original character.

Construction and Materials

The house is constructed of coursed Cotswold limestone rubble with ashlar dressing and a stone-tiled roof laid in diminishing courses. The western end features a close-studded timber-framed upper storey. Windows throughout are rebated and chamfered with stone mullions and lead casements. Those on the ground floor have dripmoulds unless otherwise noted.

Plan and Form

The building is L-shaped, with a long range running east to west and a cross wing at the west end running north. Principal rooms occupy the west end, with service areas to the east. The house is predominantly two storeys, dropping to one and a half storeys at each end. The massing and fenestration are irregular but balanced.

Exterior

Garden (South) Elevation: This elevation comprises eight two-storey bays. It is punctuated by a pair of projecting gabled bays to the left (west), each with five-light windows and drip courses to both storeys. The paired gables have glazed and leaded doors on their inner sides; the left-hand door leads onto a small veranda with a stone-tiled pitched roof. To the right of centre is a large gabled bay, also with five-light windows and dripmoulds. The end bay has been altered with the insertion of patio doors within a window opening. Three large stacks punctuate this range at the ends and centre, and there are lead hoppers decorated with a flower motif.

To the right of the main range is a two-bay service range of one and a half storeys. This includes a large full-height transomed window serving the kitchen. Further right is a porch opening, now glazed, with a pitched roof and two small single-light dormers.

Courtyard (North) Elevation: The north elevation is dominated by a wide projecting bay. The first floor has a four-light window with a dripmould, while the ground floor has a three-light window and a doorway with moulded jambs beneath a flat porch. To the right of centre are a single-light and then a seven-light window at first-floor level, with a single-light and then a five-light window below, all featuring patterned leaded lights. To the left of centre is a five-bay, one-and-a-half-storey service range with a series of two-light windows. A doorway to the left has a dovecot in the apex of the gable.

Cross Wing Courtyard (East) Elevation: A tall transomed stair window rises to a half dormer with patterned leaded lights to the left. At the centre is a carriageway with semi-circular jambs and a gabled timber first floor supported on stone corbels. Above this is a five-light mullioned and transomed oriel. The gable above is jettied with cusped panels (which also appear immediately below the oriel), finely carved bargeboards, and a tie beam bearing a 1927 date plaque. A gable-end stack stands to the right, with a one-and-a-half-storey, two-bay wing beyond, featuring tile-hung gables.

This elevation is mirrored to the rear (west), where a two-light stone oriel replaces the stair light. The main entrance to the house is located within the carriageway to the left. It has a Tudor-arched surround with mid-height fleur-de-lis stops. To the left of this is a date plaque reading "B/5 MAY/1927" and a two-light window. The heavy wooden door has moulded boards, a small leaded window with coloured lights, and ornate strap hinges.

Interior

The house retains heavy oak doors with brass handles, oak skirting, and architraves throughout all but the two eastern ground-floor rooms.

Ground Floor: An open-well staircase stands to the left of the entrance, featuring barley-twist balusters and a panelled underside. A corridor runs along the north side of the range, giving access to three principal rooms from west to east.

The large western reception room has oak panelling to picture-rail height, incorporating window seats and trellis radiator covers, with exposed timber ceiling beams and joists. At the western gable end is a coursed stone chimneypiece comprising a coursed tile fire surround with a moulded stone mantle shelf, flanked by stone pillars rising to the ceiling with moulded stone capitals.

The central principal room is much smaller, with a plaster-panelled ceiling and a box-framed partition to the corridor featuring large pegged scantling. The chimneypiece at the east end is again constructed of coursed rubble and tile, with stone columns terminating at mantle height with moulded capitals. A part-glazed cupboard stands to the left.

The eastern reception room has exposed ceiling beams and joists and a large chimneypiece similar to the others but with massive stone corbels supporting the mantle shelf. The two rooms beyond have seen some alteration, with walls knocked through on either side of the stack. The modern kitchen has altered openings to the corridor.

First Floor: The landing has square wooden posts with moulded capitals and a box-framed partition to the corridor and rooms, with full-height panelled cupboards at the east end. Some rooms retain fire surrounds, built-in cupboards, and ribbon moulding to the cove, though the west-end bedrooms have been opened out. At the east end is the service stair, which has square newel posts.

Subsidiary Features

A wrought-iron gate stands to the north of the house, bearing the date 1928, with round coursed rubble piers. Kennels to the east of the house are constructed of stone rubble under a pitched stone-tiled roof. A garage and lodge built in 1937 stand to the northeast of the house but have been too altered to be of national significance and are not included in the listing.

Historical Context

Hornton Manor was commissioned by Mr Burnett, a local industrialist. At some point before 1937, the house was purchased by C. Bird of the Bird's Custard family. The large garage was built at this time by the architect H.T. Richardson.

Charles Edward Bateman had a long and distinguished career. He worked in partnership with his father, J.J. Bateman (1817–1903), from 1887 as Bateman & Bateman, continuing alone from 1903 well into the 1930s. He served as President of Birmingham Architectural Association from 1879–1880 and 1911–1913. His 20th-century output was considerable, mainly consisting of private houses for wealthy clients in the suburbs of Birmingham and further afield. Notable examples include Redlands, Sutton Coldfield (1906), and Aber Artro Hall, Gwynedd (1910), both listed at Grade II. He also undertook much restoration and extension work on country houses, particularly in the Cotswolds.

Before the 1920s, Rosemary Hill Wood was undeveloped, and Hornton Manor was one of the first houses constructed in the wood. Although it retains its immediate gardens of approximately two hectares, the surrounding area is now built up with post-war suburban housing.