Aston Fire Station

Aston Fire Station

A fire station of 1923, built by E. Crowder of Hockley. The building is constructed of red brick laid in English bond with stone dressings and a plain tiled roof. The central block of three storeys contains the engine shed at ground floor level with firemen's accommodation above, flanked by entrances to the fire station on the right (east) and the former Fire Chief's house on the left (west). A tower for hose drying and practice is attached at the north-east corner.

The south-facing exterior onto Ettington Road presents a symmetrical Neo-Georgian front. The central block of six bays and three storeys has a gabled roof and is flanked by slightly recessed wings of two bays and two storeys with hipped roofs. Considerable ashlar dressings are used across the front. The central block has four garage doors to the ground floor (replaced in the later 20th century) with panelled ashlar pilasters between the openings. Above these runs a continuous cornice and frieze with carved laurel wreaths above the pilasters and a coat of arms at the centre. A further cornice with dentils and blocking course crowns the building, with flush quoins at the corners alternating with brickwork. The six bays of first and second floor windows all have stone surrounds, tied together by a cornice and pulvinated frieze above each first floor window which connects with a panelled apron beneath each second floor window. The prominent chimneys to the sides and centre have alternate bands of ashlar and brickwork, continuing the quoin pattern below. Each lateral wing has a canted bay window of two storeys set closest to the centre, flanked by a doorway with projecting semi-circular hood joined to the first floor sash window above by an ashlar frontispiece.

The eastern and western sides are blank to their lower bodies but feature flush stone bands and porthole windows to the gable ends of the central block. To the rear are four bays of engine wash, a single storey projection with glazed pitched roofing to the central bays and asphalted flat roofing to the lateral bays. New doors have been fitted to the three western bays and the eastern bay is blocked with casement windows, probably originally conforming to the configuration of the other bays. First and second floor windows are casements of two and three lights; some openings have been altered to accommodate a fire escape on the right and an arched doorway on the left, now blocked.

The practice tower attached on the left has a double doorway with arched ashlar hood to the north face. The tower has four floors, blank to the lower body. At second floor level each side has a recessed panel with a window featuring triple keystone to the projecting lintel. The northern window has been removed and the opening blocked. The top of the tower bears an elaborate cap with deep cornice; each face above has a semi-circular window with emphatic voussoirs and projecting triple keystone. The ashlar cap features a cornice, blocking course and shallow pediment to each side.

The engine shed interior retains black, white and grey patterned tiling to the walls and green, grey and white tiling to the floor, which features a chequerboard pattern to each of the four bays with arrow and diamond shapes to the borders. Although some areas are lost, the tiling is largely intact. Brass fire poles at the centre of each side wall connect to the first and second floors. The former firemen's bedrooms at first floor level have lost their fire surrounds but the layout remains essentially unaltered. The second floor space has been subdivided by partition walls. The tower interior retains its iron stairways and the pulleys, winches and cleats formerly used for drying canvas hoses. The former flat block has been altered to create office space with corridors opened out to connect all former flats on each level.

The foundation stone was laid on 26 June 1923 and the building opened on 19 November the same year. The cost was £25,577. The building originally functioned with the central engine shed at ground floor exiting onto Ettington Road, flanked by entrances to the fire station on the right (east) and the Fire Chief's house on the left (west). Firemen's bedrooms occupied the first floor and the second floor was a large recreation room. Fire surrounds have been removed from the first floor bedrooms, which now function as locker rooms and gymnasium spaces. The second floor space has been subdivided. A separate block of firemen's flats to the east side of the rear yard appears to date from the 1930s and is not of special interest.