Jubilee Memorial

HEYDON

1929/0/10005 THE GREEN 15-NOV-10 Jubilee Memorial

GV II Well house, designed as a Jubilee Memorial by George Skipper in 1887.

DESCRIPTION: The well house is constructed of red brick and Cosseyware moulded brick with a roof covering of machine-made clay tiles and lead hips. Resting on a stone plinth with two steps, it has a hexagonal plan, each side comprising an open, moulded brick, Tudor arch, flanked by buttresses with off-sets. The moulded brick eaves have a fleuron decoration. The steeply pitched hexagonal pyramid roof is surmounted by a lead finial with a weather vane in the form of a two-masted sailing ship. On the west side above eaves level a stone plaque in a moulded stone surround has the inscription 'Erected by Colonel W. E. G. Lytton Bulwer to commemorate the Jubilee year of the reign of Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria 21 June 1887', below a carved crown. Within the structure, the hexagonal red brick well head with wooden coping and lid is protected by a wrought-iron cage.

HISTORY: The well house in the estate village of Heydon was erected as a memorial for the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 by George Skipper. It was commissioned by W. E. G. Lytton-Bulwer whose family had bought the Elizabethan Heydon Hall in the mid-C18 and retained ownership ever since. George Skipper (1856-1948) was one of the most successful Norwich-based architects of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Described by John Betjeman as the 'Gaudi of Norwich', Skipper's eclectic, free architectural style ranged from the Arts and Crafts of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, Lowestoft (listed Grade II) to the Edwardian Baroque of the Norwich Union Offices, Norwich (Grade I). He has nineteen listed buildings to this name, including Sennowe Hall in Guist, Norfolk (Grade II) and the local authority housing scheme at East Harling, Norfolk (Grade II). The well house in Heydon is the focal point of the village green around which five listed buildings are situated, including the Grade I listed medieval Church of St Peter and St Paul.

SOURCES Gray, A. Stuart, Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary (1985) Norwich Heritage Economic & Regeneration Trust http://www.heritagecity.org accessed 16.07.10

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Well House Jubilee Memorial, designed by George Skipper in 1887, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural Interest: it demonstrates a high quality of design in a Tudor Revival manner and is associated with an eminent local architect with nineteen listed buildings to his name * Group Value: it is located on the village green in close proximity to five listed buildings with which it has strong group value