Georgian & Regency Houses Explained
Page 11
Watkin, David English Architecture (2001)
Period Details
Eveleigh, David J. Firegrates and Kitchen Ranges (2000)
Cranfield, Ingrid Georgian House Style (2001)
Hall, Linda Down the Garden Path: Privies in and around Bristol and Bath (2001)
Hall, Linda Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300-1900 (2005)
Jackson, Albert and Day, David Period House: How to Repair, Restore and Care for Your Home (2005)
Lawrence, Richard Russell and Chris, Teresa The Period House: Style, Detail and Decoration 1774-1914 (1998)
Miller, Judith Period Fireplaces (1996)
Miller, Judith Period Details Sourcebook (1999)
Rivers, Tony; Cruickshank, Dan; Darley, Gillian; and Pawley, Martin The Name of the Room (1992)
There are numerous websites with information on Georgian houses and especially on the fixtures and fittings and where to find them. If you enter the items you are looking for along with ‘Georgian’ into your search engine you should find good examples often from antique dealers and reclamation outlets. The following sites are just the ones I am aware of that may be useful for general research:
www.lookingatbuildings.org
www.brickfields.org.uk
www.19princeletstreet.org.uk
www.rth.org.uk
www.queensgateliving.co.uk
www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk
www.imagesofengland.org.uk
www.realpaints.com
PLACES TO VISIT
BACKS TO BACKS, 50–54 Inge Street (next to Hippodrome Theatre), Birmingham, B5 4TE. Telephone: 0121 666 7671 (phone to book a visit as room is limited); website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk. Reconstruction of four backs to backs complete with interior fittings, laundry room and privies.
BEAMISH, The North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, County Durham DH9 ORG. Telephone: 0191 370 4000; www.beamish.org.uk.
BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM, Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands. Telephone: 0121 557 9643; website: www.bclm.co.uk. Although it is a re-created industrial village with Victorian backs to backs, terraces, shops and chapel (they are fitted out as they would have been in early 1900s) it gives an impression of how small communities may have been in this earlier period. Very atmospheric with working features.
COGGES MANOR FARM MUSEUM, Church Lane, Witney, Oxfordshire
OX28 3LA. Telephone: 01993 772602; website: www.cogges.org. Good example of a farmhouse kitchen with working range.
GEFFRYE MUSEUM, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Telephone: 020 7739 9893; www.geffrye-museum.org.uk. Period interiors on display.
GEORGIAN HOUSE, 7 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR. Telephone: 0117 921 1362.
IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUMS, Ironbridge, Telford, Shropshire. Telephone: 01952 432166; www.ironbridge.org.uk. A collection of industrial sites with late 18th and 19th century houses at Blists Hill.
PICKFORD’S HOUSE MUSEUM, 41 Friar Gate, Derby, DE1 1DA. Telephone: 01332 255363; www.derby.gov.uk/museums. A must-see large middle class house with each room fitted out as it would have appeared in the late Georgian and Regency period including service rooms and a garden. Free entry.
WEALD AND DOWNLAND OPEN AIR MUSEUM, Singleton, West Sussex PO18 OEU. Telephone: 01243 811363; website: www.wealddown.co.uk. An outstanding collection of houses from all periods, especially rural buildings, and includes displays on how bricks were made in this period.
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL. Telephone: 020 7942 2000; website: www.vam.ac.uk. Collections of period furniture and interior fittings.
GLOSSARY
ACANTHUS:
Mediterranean plant used in a stylised form for decoration, especially by Neo Classical architects.
AEDICULE:
The surrounding of a window or door by a raised moulding or pilasters with a form of pediment across the top. Common on classically styled houses from the 1830s.
ANTHEMION:
A decorative motif based upon a honeysuckle flower.
ARCHITRAVE:
The lowest section of the entablature. In this context it refers to the door surround.
AREA:
Common name for the open space in front of a large terraced house down which steps lead to the basement.
ASHLAR:
Smooth, squared stone masonry with fine joints.
ASTYLAR:
A façade with no vertical features such as columns.
BALUSTER:
Plain or decorated post supporting the stair rail.
BALUSTRADE:
A row of decorated uprights (balusters) with a rail along the top.
BARGEBOARD:
External vertical boards that protect the ends of the sloping roof on a gable – they were often decorated.
BAY WINDOW:
A window projecting from the façade of a house up a single, or number of, storeys but always resting on the ground.
BOLECTION MOULDING:
Used to cover joints between two surfaces of different levels. Popular in the late 17th and early 18th century around doors and fireplaces.
BONDING:
The way bricks are laid in a wall with the different patterns formed by alternative arrangements of headers (the short ends) and stretchers (the long side).
BOW WINDOW:
A vertical projection (bay) of semi-circular or segmental plan.
CANTED:
An angled structure usually referring to a bay window.
CAPITAL:
The decorated top of a Classical column.
CASEMENT:
A window that is hinged along the side.
CHIMNEYBREAST:
The main body of the chimney including the fireplace and flues.
CHIMNEYPIECE:
An internal fireplace surround.
COPING STONE:
A protective capping running along the top of a wall.
CORNICE:
The top section of the entablature, which in this context refers to the moulding that runs around the top of an external or internal wall.
COVING:
A large concave moulding that covers the joint between the top of a wall and the ceiling.
DADO:
The base of a classical column, which in this context refers to the bottom section of a wall between the skirting and dado or chair rail.
DENTILS:
A row of small, square, alternately projecting decorations used as part of cornices and other mouldings.
DORMER:
An upright window set in the angle of the roof and casting light into the attic rooms.
EAVES:
The section of the roof timbers under the tiles or slates where they either meet the wall (and a parapet continues above) or project over it (usually protected by a fascia board, which supports the guttering).
EGG AND DART:
A decorative row of truncated egg shapes with arrows between used as part of mouldings.
ENTABLATURE:
The horizontal lintel supported by columns in a classical temple.
ENTASIS:
The slight bulging of classical columns in the middle to counter an optical illusion that makes them appear concave to the naked eye.
FAÇADE:
The main vertical face of the house.
FANLIGHT:
The window above a door lighting the hall beyond. Named after the radiating bars in semi-circular Georgian and Regency versions.
FENESTRATION:
The arrangement of windows in the façade of a house.
FIELDED:
The raised central part of a panel.
FINIAL:
An ornamental piece on top of a railing or the end of the roof ridge.
FLUTING:
The vertical concave grooves running up a column or pilaster.
FRIEZE:
The middle section of the entablature, in this context referring to the section of the wall between the picture rail and cornice.
GABL
E:
The pointed upper section of wall at the end of a pitched roof.
GLAZING BARS:
The internal divisions of a window, which support the panes.
GUILLOCHE:
A decorative pattern made from two twisted bands forming circles between.
HEARTH:
The stone or brick base of a fireplace.
HUSK:
A seedcase shape used in decoration.
JAMBS:
The sides of an opening for a door or window.
KEYSTONE:
The top stone in an arch, often projected as a feature.
LINTEL:
A flat beam fitted over a door or window to take the load of the wall above.
LOGGIA:
An open side to a building, usually in the form of a series of open arches or columns.
MOULDING:
A decorative strip of wood, stone or plaster.
MULLION:
A vertical member dividing a window.
NEWEL:
The principal vertical post in a set of stairs.
ORIEL:
A projecting window supported from the wall rather than the ground.
PARAPET:
The top section of wall, continuing above the sloping end of the roof.
PARGETING:
A raised pattern formed from plaster on an external wall (popular originally in the East of England).
PEDIMENT:
A low pitched triangular feature supported by columns or pilasters, above a classically styled door or window in this context.
PIANO NOBILE:
The principal floor for receiving guests usually on the first floor of a Georgian and Regency House.
PILASTER:
A flat classical column fixed to a wall or fireplace and projecting slightly from it.
PITCH:
The angle by which a roof slopes. A plain sloping roof of two sides is called a pitched roof.
PLINTH:
The projecting base around a building.
PORTICO:
A structure forming a porch over a doorway, usually with a flat cover supported by columns.
PURLIN:
The principal horizontal beams in a roof structure.
QUOIN:
The corner stones at the junction of walls. Often raised above the surface, made from contrasting materials or finished differently from the rest of the wall for decorative effect. REEDING: Three or more parallel beads running vertically or horizontally for decoration, mainly in Regency houses.
RENDER:
A protective covering for a wall.
REVEAL:
The sides (jambs) of a recessed window or door opening.
RUBBLE:
An arrangement of irregular sized stones in a wall either with no pattern or laid in rough courses (layers).
RUSTICATION:
The cutting of stone or moulding of stucco into blocks separated by deep incised lines and sometimes with a rough hewn finish. Often used to highlight the base of a classically styled house. SASH WINDOW: A window that slides vertically (or horizontally on smaller ‘Yorkshire sash’ windows).
SKIRTING:
The protective strip of wood at the base of a wall.
STRING:
The side support panel for a stair.
STRING COURSE:
A horizontal band running across a façade and usually projecting.
STUCCO:
A plaster used to render, imitate stonework and form decorative features, especially on classically styled houses.
SWAG:
A decorative festoon of cloth, flowers or fruit suspended to form a ‘smile’ shape.
TRACERY:
The ribs that divide the top of a stone window and are formed into patterns.
TRANSOM:
The horizontal bar in a window.
VAULT:
An arched structure of brick or stone used to cover a room or commonly in Georgian houses to form the basement or cellars.
VERNACULAR:
Buildings made from local materials in styles and construction methods passed down within a distinct area, as opposed to architect designed structures made from mass produced materials. VOUSSOIR: The wedged shaped stones or bricks that make up an arch. WAINSCOT: Timber lining of internal walls or panelling.
YORKSHIRE SASH WINDOW
A sash window that slides horizontally and therefore does not WINDOW: require pulleys and weights, hence making it cheaper and popular on the top floors of working class housing.
INDEX
A
Adam, Robert: 8, 15, 31, 57–58, 84, 85, 88, 92, 95, 120–121,
Arkwright, Richard: 13, 25
Attics: 20, 46, 48, 73
B
Backs to Backs: 41, 49
Balconies: 19, 23, 44, 46, 61, 63, 64, 65, 80–81, 121
Baroque Style: 53, 66, 84, 88, 120
Basements: 30, 42, 46, 47, 54, 58, 61, 63, 113
Bath: 22, 23, 29, 32, 35, 48, 116
Bay/Bow Windows: 6, 19, 56, 64, 65, 72–73, 121, 124
Bedrooms: 45, 46, 48, 49, 85, 102–104, 105
Boudoir: 99, 104
Bricks: 21, 27, 30, 33, 34, 35, 38–40, 41, 42, 44, 52, 53, 70, 93, 118
Brick Bonding: 39–40, 41, 118, 124
Brick Tax: 39
Brighton: 19, 23, 37
Bristol: 24
Brown, Capability: 8
Buckingham: 18, 32
Building Acts: 29, 32, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 70
Butlers Pantry: 111
Buxton: 14, 23
C
Carr, John: 23
Casement Windows: 72–73, 124
Ceilings: 45, 92, 94, 110
Cellars: 49, 85, 107, 110–111, 113
Cheltenham: 23, 37, 63
Chimneys: 89, 118
Closet: 102, 104–105,
Coade Stone: 36
Cornices:6, 38, 41, 52, 54, 56, 58, 63, 78–79, 83, 94
Cromford: 13, 14, 25
D
Dado/Chair Rail: 83, 93, 94–95, 101, 124
Derby: 10, 102, 107, 116
Dining Room: 46, 48, 85, 95, 99–100, 101
Doors: 43, 44, 61, 66–67, 68, 90–92, 113, 118
Dormer Windows: 50, 53, 54, 72, 124
Drawing Rooms: 46, 48, 98, 99, 100–101,
Dressing Rooms: 99, 103, 104
E
Edensor: 27, 62
Emparkment: 8, 27–28,
Enclosure: 8, 12, 25, 26–27,
F
Fanlights: 56, 58, 61, 65, 66, 68–69, 120, 125
Fireplaces: 42, 47, 85, 86–89, 106, 107, 115
Floors: 41, 42, 92–93, 102, 108, 110
Foundations: 41, 42
Frieze: 83, 125
French Windows: 46, 63, 101
G
Gardens: 18, 112, 116
George I: 10, 20, 53
George II: 10
George III: 10–11, 23
George IV (Prince Regent): 11, 20
Gibbs, James: 55, 120
Glass: 70, 96
Gothick Style: 57, 60–61, 66, 68, 74, 84, 88, 89, 121
Greek Revival:57, 61–62, 64, 84
H
Hall: 102
Housekeepers Room: 107, 111
I
Ironwork: 80–81,
J
Jerry Building: 41
Jones, Inigo: 8, 52, 53
K
Kitchen: 42, 46, 48, 85, 105, 106–108, 111, 116
L
Larders: 110–111,
Library: 99, 102
Lighting: 97
Lintels: 6, 42, 125
Liverpool: 24, 48, 63
London: 8, 11, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31–32, 34, 38, 40, 45, 51, 53, 54, 86, 118
M
Manchester: 14, 25
Mews: 46, 115, 116
Morning Room: 99, 101
N
Nantwich: 33
Nash, John: 30
&nb
sp; Neo Classical: 31, 61, 84, 88, 120, 121
Nuneham Courtenay: 28
O
Oxford: 22
P
Paint: 95–96,
Palladian Style: 8, 45, 50, 51, 53–56, 72, 84, 88, 120
Pantry: 105, 107
Parapet: 6, 45, 50, 56, 58, 61, 78–79, 125
Parlour: 48, 101, 105
Picture Rail: 83
Pointing: 40
Privies/Toilets: 112, 113, 114, 115
Q
Queen Anne: 8
R
Railings: 47, 113
Rainwater Traps: 6, 76–77, 118
Ranges: 108, 115
Register Grates: 87
Rococo Style: 84, 88, 120
Roofs: 6, 33, 44–45, 50, 52, 61, 118, 121