House And Brock Brothers' Studio

House and Brock Brothers' Studio

This is a house dating from the late 18th century, with later 19th and 20th century additions including a purpose-built artist's studio dating from 1908, designed by the Brock brothers for their own use.

The house and studio are constructed of brick, mostly painted, laid in Flemish bond. The hipped roof to the house and pitched roof to the rear extension are clad in slate, while the mansard roof to the studio is clad in clay tiles.

The house with its extensions and garage is rectangular in plan, as is the studio building which adjoins the house at its south-eastern corner. The two elements together form an L-shaped plan.

The principal elevation to the north is of three storeys and four bays. It has two flat-roofed polygonal bays to ground and first floor with cornice detail, containing twelve-pane vertical sash windows. Between the two bays is the main entrance featuring a late 18th century Roman Doric doorcase with fluted pilasters and pediment, and a classical door with fielded panels and mouldings. Above the door is a twenty-pane horizontal sash window. Above the bays and at second floor level are three single pane vertical sash windows, and to the east side are tri-partite windows with moulded stone heads and ironwork detail to sills on all three floors.

The east elevation is of plain buff brick in Flemish bond, containing a pair of four-pane vertical sliding sash windows to each floor and a central door at ground floor level. The remains of an iron coal-winch are attached to the flank wall.

The rear elevation to the south comprises three different elements. The south-western corner of the earliest building is still visible and contains a pair of twelve-pane vertical sliding sash windows at first and second floors. A single-storey extension in brick has been added in the 1930s, featuring a pair of arched windows each with seventeen panes. An open terrace of concrete with iron railings is present at first and second floors. The elevation then steps out where a three storey extension in plain buff brick has been added, containing twelve-pane vertical sliding sash windows to each floor and some smaller two-pane sashes to WCs at ground and second floor. At the eastern end the studio wing adjoins the house to form an L-shaped plan enclosing the small rear garden on its northern and eastern sides.

At ground floor the entrance hall contains a stairwell with a concrete stair featuring elegant steel balusters and handrail typical of the 1930s. The hall connects through a cross-passage to two bay-fronted sitting rooms at the front of the house and two linked rooms to the rear. At the far eastern end of the cross passage are a kitchen, bathroom and another front room. No original internal doors and joinery remain.

At first floor level the six-room plan is repeated. Original floors remain in-situ and there are good fireplaces to each of the front rooms, one with paterae being late 18th or early 19th century in date. The large rear room contains a good quality built-in 18th century corner cupboard in neo-classical style, which appears in illustrations produced by the Brock Brothers. Graffiti etched onto the rear window of the room on the western side reads "J Waldron, December 28th 1868." One original internal panelled door to the corridor remains. Access to the linked studio wing is obtained through the first floor kitchen in the south-east corner. The plan form is repeated again on the second floor.

The purpose-built studio is a two-storey building of rectangular plan-form with a series of three large storage rooms at ground floor and the main top-lit studio space above at first floor. A square tower of two-storey height with a pyramidal tiled roof links the studio to the main dwelling. The studio was built in 1908 to designs by the Brock brothers in a pared down Arts and Crafts style.

The studio is constructed in painted brick with first floor walls and roof clad in red clay tiles. A box roof-light straddles the ridge for approximately half its length. A series of four plain arches form an arcade to the western elevation at ground floor, supporting the upper storey. There are timber entrance doors and horizontal sliding sash windows to ground floor. At first floor are two pairs of horizontal sliding sash windows each with twelve panes and a set of functioning timber shutters. A brick chimney stack is present to the southern flank elevation and an external stair allows access to the first floor.

The three storage rooms at ground floor have plain interiors with painted brick walls, the only architectural feature being the brick piers which support the upper storey.

The first floor studio is rectangular in plan and top-lit, with an exposed coupled-rafter roof supporting the box roof-light at the northern end. The original window-opening mechanism to the roof-light remains in-situ. The walls are panelled with horizontal painted timber boarding and window recesses are lined with painted timber. There is a large ceiling-height window to the northern elevation. The original panelled door with finger plate linking the studio with the main house remains, and a small ante room used as a kitchen is at the far north end, accessed by stepping down through a hatch.

The earliest building dates from the late 18th century and was altered and extended in the later 19th century, with the studio added to the rear in 1908. Original drawings for the building are held by the current owners.

The Brock family comprised four brothers, all talented artists who shared the studio. Charles was the oldest and best known, winning his first book commission in 1891. He became a highly successful illustrator, receiving commissions to illustrate editions of works by Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen and George Eliot. Best known for his line work, he was also a skilled colourist, producing numerous country scenes in watercolour and oil, and contributed many drawings to magazines and periodicals, most notably Punch. Brock occupied the studio until his death in 1938.