CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FINE ARTS LIBRARY Cornell University Library NAC 6887 .P83026 Port Sunlight :a record of its artistic 3 1924 024 427 811 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024427811 P4^:- ■;^?x'-:' «-• (-•. •X; , %3V t 4^::iX^it PORT SUNLIGHT A RECORD OF T5 ARTISTIC S PICTORIAL ASPECT r T' RAFFLES DAVISON HoN.ARtB'A u LONDON B-T-BAT5FORD L"^ 94 HIGH HOLBORH NEW YORK, CHARLES SCRIBKER'S SONS j ^*-^ PREFACE. Everyone has heard of Port Sunlight, but it is doubtful whether many have formed a definite or just estimate of this unique example of industrial housing. The following pages are an attempt to record its best features and to show how far the ideal which inspired it has succeeded. To those who have not seen it Port Sunlight is perhaps regarded as one of many other similar places. It is in reality some- thing very different from all others, and especially does it stand by itself in the motive which founded it, which has carried it out, and which continues to administrate it. The breadth of vision which has made Port Sunlight possible is perhaps a greater matter than the village itself. This must inevitably have its effect, but the author ventures to predict that the artistic aspect of the place, which receives some permanent record herein, may also obtain full recognition and emulation as time goes on. Those who look for finality in any human accomplishment are doomed to disappointment, but the measure of our success will surely be in proportion to the quality of our aims. The last and best word we can say about the village of Port Sunlight is that the aim of its founder has been based on the belief that sympathy for the wants and well-being of our fellow-men may find a large expres- sion even in our business dealings. It is very delightful to contemplate the results of an undertaking like Port Sunlight — a beneficent enterprise which no law could force from any public body or private employer, and which no mere compiler of accounts for capital and interest would dare to sanction. The ideal which prompted it is the real thing that matters, and though it may be maintained that the carrying out of it pays — and vii pays well — we may still hold fast to the hope that both those who make such villages and those who live in them will ever cherish some beliefs which are above and beyond all that which is concerned with a mere monetary return. How fortunate the workpeople who are enabled to live under such ideal conditions ! This little book is entirely due to the desire of the author him- self to illustrate the results of an enterprise which he has closely followed from its inception. The combination of the practical and the artistic has been achieved in Port Sunlight with outstanding success, and in these pages it is believed that this is fairly shown, though the building record is not yet by any means complete. It would be the merest affectation to leave out of these pages any mention of the founder, Sir William Hesketh Lever, Bart., one of the leaders of industrial enterprise in this country. Amongst the many things he has done for the benefit of his fellow-countrymen there is surely nothing we have more to thank him for than the homes which are the subject of this book. To provide employment for thousands and then to give them such homes to live in must be a good reward for a life's work to the man with an ideal. My thanks are due to Mr. Herbert Batsford, the head of his * firm, who has not only superintended every detail connected with the production but has added personal interest and advice due to his special sympathy with the subject. To Mr. Alex. Paul, of the Editorial and Social Department, Port Sunlight, I am indebted for much kind help. The photographic views are largely from the studio of Mr. Geo. W. Davies, New Ferry. T. Raffles Davison. London, August, 1916. vni CONTENTS. Preface .... Contents .... List of Plates List of Text Illustra.tions The Ideal The Foundation The Result Characteristics The Plan General Scheme Tree Planting Cottage Plans The Illustrations PAGE vii ix xi xiii I to i6 20 23 25 31 IX LIST OF PLATES. Plate 1. Birdseye View of Port Sunlight. 2. The Diamond, looking towards Art Gallery. 3 . Greendale Road, looking towards Post Office. 4. Westward View of Park Road, show- ing Kitchen Cottages . 5. View in Park Road towards the Lyceum ..... 6. South Side of Park Road. 7. Greendale Road and Co-Partners' Club Annexe .... 8. New Chester Road . . . . 9. Cottages in Bath Street . 10. The Dell. 11. Semi-Quad of Cottages, Queen Mary's Drive, The Diamond 12. Park Road. Bridge Cottage in Foreground .... 13. The Causeway, looking towards Christ Church .... 14. Park Road Cottages. Lyceum in distance ..... 15. Greendale Road. Cottage Group in foreground, reproducing Kenyon Old Hall xi Architects' Names W. and S. Owen W. and S. Owen Grayson and Ould Huon A. Matear J. J. Talbot J. L. Simpson Douglas and Fordham Corner Cottage by Grayson and Ould W. and S. Owen J. J. Talbot Plate 1 6. 17- i8. 19- 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 3°- 31- 32. Houses In Park Road. South Side Lever Free Library, Greendale Road A Bridge Street Group . Post Office Group of Cottages in Greendale Road, reproducing design of Kenyon Old Hall Bolton Road Parlour Houses . Primrose Hill Cottages . Greendale Road Cottages Greendale Rdad Cottages Cottage Porch, Connolly Road The Bridge Inn . Co-Partners' Club Hall . Open Air Swimming Bath A Recessed Group in Cross Street . Cottage in Wood Street . The Library Entrance of the Art Gallery ..... S.E. View of Christ Church View under Tower, Christ Church . Lady Lever Memorial Porch, Christ Church ..... 33. The Lady Lever Memorial Architects' Names W. and S. Owen Maxwell and Tuke Grayson and Ould Grayson and Ould J. J. Talbot W. and S. Owen Jonathan Simpson Pain and Blease Grayson and Ould Huon A. Matear Grayson and Ould Grayson and Ould W. and S. Owen Grayson and Ould Douglas and Fordham W. and S. Owen W. and S. Owen W. and S. Owen W. and S. Owen W. and S. Owen Sir W .Goscombe John, R.A., Sculptor Xll LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- Number I. The Lyceum ...... The Dell Bridge Corniche Road before Reclaiming of Ravine . Pool Bank Tennis Lawn ...... Christ Church from Bolton Road . Bolton Road, looking towards Bebington Church Co-Partners' Club and Bowling Green Carved Oak and Decorative Plaster Work on Cottage in Park Road South ..... Half-timber Cottages in Park Road Employees' Provident Stores and Collegium . Cottages in Corniche Road .... An Angle Bay in Bridge Street Some Park Road Houses .... Cottages in New Chester Road 1 6. Group at angle of Lower Road and Central Road 17. A Recessed Group in Greendale Road 18. Cottages on semi-circular plan in Lower Road . 19. First Cottages built at Port Sunlight 20. A Three-gabled Group in New Chester Road . 10. 1 1. 12. 13- 14. 15- PAGE I 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 9 10 II 12 13 14 14 15 IS xni Dumber 21. A Picturesque Corner in Park Road South 22. Bebington Road Cottages 23. Cottages, Pool Bank 24. Cottages, Pool Bank 25. Hulme Hall . 26. Gladstone Hall 27. Park Road by Poets' Corner 28. Bridge Cottage 29. The Gymnasium . 30. The Technical Institute . 31. Wood Street Cottages . 32. A Garden Corner . 33. Plans of Kitchen Cottages 34. Plans of Parlour Cottages 35. Plans of Kitchen Cottages ;^6. The Bridge Inn 37. The Girls' Club . 38. An Example of Simple Treatment 39. A General Plan of the Village PAGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 • 30 31 32 35 36 XIV ^ --. ;j>d^~^, J-" ^%^ " ~ ^A' % .& PLATE I. ElKDSEVE VIEW OF PORT SUNLIGHT. DOUGLAS AND FORDHAM. Arcliitects. I. THE LYCEUM. The Ideal. The individual or community which has no ideal is to be pitied. For, whatever may happen, there is always a better chance for those who maintain a high ideal than for those who, without one, adven- ture themselves against the chances and difficulties that surround us. Nothing is more disheartening to the idealist and reformer than to find not only thousands of individuals but whole communities without a guiding star of faith and hope. How fortunate is a place like Port Sunlight, when we compare its history and possibilities with those of London ! It is pleasant to realise that what has become a problem of such a very serious kind in London after so many years of haphazard and chance, is happily barred out of the horizon in the definitely schemed plan of the garden city or the model village. But it is one thing to have a DOUGLAS AND FORDHAM. Architects. THE DELL BRIDGE. scheme or an ideal and another to have a good one. Moreover, as to whether it is good or bad, or wholly or only partially good or bad, the scheme does not always show until it has been some time in operation. In time the awkward corners may be rounded off, or they may become more acute, but the actual life of the community in any so-called . model village or town soon proves the value or the unimportance of those features which have been part of the design. What most impresses itself on those who study the industrial village of Port Sunlight is the fact that it is the definite outcome of a genuine ideal. Whether its present state has surpassed the hopes of its founder or has failed to realise them^ we can at any rate see that this was meant to be something better than what had been before, and that no effort was to be wanting to secure this. We are sure that the inconsequent charm and the haphazard picturesqueness of an old English village were not the main objects in view, but that the aim was a conveniently planned and healthy settlement laid out with all possible artistic thought on sound business lines. Garden grounds, roads, and open spaces were to be arhple without being wasteful, houses 'fc > • •'*?*... ■■ ■-.,;■' .'" ■ • 1 A. ' •'"' r f ^^;- '"v:? '1 Wr 'Jit* 4 Mf^-*. p^n fc^ ^ J^% ■^ O^^S^jfc Pv^ MTl^^H r% . ft ir v5r "'^' ^u ■Aifivwx liL-^. ■-"-■^^ \:'' "'■^■ I^SS!iHiU iili^,^\-... "* ^■. -■ ■ ' ■■-. " :"'■;■<■.-■"■ .i:'^^ CORNICHE ROAD BEFORE RECLAIMING OF RAVINE. were to be picturesque but sensibly planned. Avenues were to be planted and gardens laid out with needful limitations as to size and direction. The Individuality of separate gardens was to be subor- dinated to a definite idea of communal amenity. Variety of plan was to be obtained only within a certain economic range. It is surely often realised that many of our beautiful gardens could not have been laid out in a complete and detailed scheme from the beginning, but that a good deal of their success has been evolved from a 4- pool bank. !S&««4k-, 8iie*5aa:3»:Kr5 5. TENNIS LAWN. gradual development of possibilities. So also whilst the pic- turesque charm of an old town or village may result from the chances and changes of many years, we cannot expect that fully developed schemes for new settlements can attain perfection at the outset. The constant maintenance of an ideal in the life of a town or village is, therefore, of the greatest import, and no niggardly spirit should stand in the way of changes for which time alone may prove the need. The best conceived plans for the present time are not necessarily the best for the future, and an insistent look out for possible improve- ments is the only safe- guard for the future even where the most careful design and thought have been devoted to the beginnings of such a successful enter- prise as that which is here recorded ' ^' <^"^ist church from bolton ROAD. BOLTON ROAD LOOKING TOWARDS BEBINGTON CHURCH. The Foundation. The life of a village or town must be created of enduring materials and based on some sort of sound business principles. It is the very essence of the village of Port Sunlight that it is claimed to be a sound business enterprise. Though much more than half a million pounds of capital spent on land and buildings has been left out of count for interest, it is still maintained that all outlays have in the main been justified by sound business principles. That the well-being and comfort of their workpeople is a valuable business asset is no new belief with employers of labour. The belief has been acted upon for many years past, but its application has made rapid strides in more recent times. It is probable, however, that there is not another place where this belief has been so very com- pletely demonstrated as at Port Sunlight. The inhabitants of this fortunate village appear to have been saved every needless risk, and have even escaped the snare ^of mere profit-sharing, in favour of GRAYSON AND OL'LD. Architects. 8. CO-PARTNERS' CLUB AND BOWLING GREEN. prosperity-sharing and copartnership. It will be of interest here to quote from a Paper by the founder, Sir W. H. Lever, on prosperity- sharing, in November, 1 900. " The truest and highest form of enlightened self-interest requires that we pay the fullest regard to the interest and welfare of those around us, whose well-being we must bind up with our own, and with whom we must share our prosperity. We cannot live in comfort with others if we do not share our comforts with them. If we wish men to be honest towards ourselves, we must be honest with them. If we wish men to help us to achieve prosperity, they must feel assured that we will share that prosperity with them. If capital and management think of nothing but their own narrowest, selfish self-interest, without a thought for labour, care nothing for the comfort or welfare of labour, care nothing whether labour is well or ill-housed, whether labour Is provided with opportunity for reasonable and proper recreation and relief from toil or not, then capital and management are blind to their own highest Interest. . . . Also the converse of the above is equally true. . . . If labour adopts the spirit of enlightened and intelligent self-interest, and if capital and management do the same, if each recognise the principle that by looking after the Interests of the other they are taking the surest means to achieve 6 their own self- interest, business will be healthier, happiness in busi- ness will be greater, the prosperity of the business of the whole country will be assured, and the bogey of foreign competition will be laid once and for all. I venture to submit that prosperity- sharing on the basis of enlightened self- interest will secure this." It is the aim which lies behind such words as these which is of real im- portance, and makes possible the creation of beautiful homes and pleasant sur- roundings. We may be quite sure that this is the one vital factor in all our efforts, and no excuse need be offered for the reiteration of this point in the pages of this book. We should all live for some sort of ideals, and in proportion as these are right and good, so shall we find the measure of our success. 9. CARVED OAK AND DECORATIVE PLASTER WORK ON COTTAGE IN PARK ROAD SOUTH. W. OWES. Architect. W. & S. OWEN, Architects. 10. HALF-TIMBER COTTAGES IN PARK ROAD. The Result. It is only by comparing the conditions at Port Sunlight with those of other residential areas that the full measure of their value can be ascertained. In some respects the outsider is perhaps a better judge of the success of such a village than are the residents, who come to take a good deal for granted. Thus the visitor who now for the first time goes to Port Sunlight and realises the extent and quality of the work done is naturally much impressed by the variety and interest which the whole village affords, whilst those who are in constant residence may not realise it so keenly. It is hardly possible that those who live in the many charming cottages which have sprung up in this country in recent years, or who have lived a long time in some of the best of our old English cottages, can take that delight in their appearance which the detached observer feels. It is quite possible that wide staring panes of glass and sash windows and treeless streets have as many admirers amongst the aver- age public as are found for the quaint latticed win- dows and leafy avenues of Port Sunlight. But the air of detachment which inevitably goes with the outside observer of new places is an element of some moment in arriving at an estimate of results. It Is obvious that the estimation of a place like this may be based upon practical issues chiefly, or from the purely artistic standpoint, or again, from a point of view which includes both. The main concern of this book is to emphasise the artistic and picturesque qualities of the village whilst not overlooking the fact that artistic values should not be obtained by the sacrifice of practical needs. This could be the only possible point of view which woulci-glve final satisfaction to the business man. It Is maintained that no undertaking in the world which has been based on purely artistic desires and which has had no basis of practical value has been of any lasting value. The whole foundation of Port Sunlight is believed to consist or 9 EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT STORES AND COLLEGIUM. DOUGLAS AND FORDH IM, Architects. 12. COTTAGES IN CORNICHE ROAD. GRAYSON AND OULD, Architects. ',* and allotments in preference to the spaces which are devoted to indi- vidual gardens surrounding each cottage in so many other places. There is something to be said for and against this. The general amenity of the village gains by the Port Sunlight method, whilst the special charm of individual gardens which enthusiastic efforts produce is naturally lacking. In this way we get less value of contrasts, and lose something of that spirit of emulation which spurs the indi- vidual to special effort. Of one thing, however, there can be no doubt. The absence of the many dividing lines of fences* between each cottage frontage produces 'a breadth of effect along the lines of lO practical values and sound business principles. Characteristics. One thing which is at once obvious from the general scheme is the adop- tion of open spaces, communal gar"dens, i3' AN ANGLE BAY IN BRIDGE STREET, W. & S. OWEN, Architects. DOUGLAS AND FOEDHAM, Architects. 14. SOME PARK ROAD HOUSES. roadways which is in itself very pleasing. From the point of view of the town-planner who looks for the collective result this is, of course, very satisfactory. Another thing which will be noticed in the illustrations is the elevation of many of the houses above the level of the roadway. This gives a much wider and pleasanter outlook from the windows of the cottages, besides producing a much better effect in the build- ings from the roadway than when they are placed on the same level. The sloping green banks leading up to terraced paths in front of the cottages are a distinctive feature of the village. (See PI. 4.) It has been maintained that without a good deal of monotony you cannot get very fine architectural results, and it must be adniitted that many examples go to prove it. There is a large surface of 1 1 15- COTTAGES IN NEW CHESTER ROAD W. OWEN, Architect. monotony in the Pyramids ; there is a marvellous mono- tony of detail in the ' Houses of Parlia- ment ; there is a boundless monotony in the house fronts in Gower Street, yet all these have been admired. So this line of argument might have sug- gested the continued employment of only one architect, or at least only one type of design, for the cottages at Port Sunlight. The great variety of designs in the cottages, which has proved one of the attractions of the place, has, however, in some sense at least, justified itself. Even the flamboyant Gothic dormers and the stepped Belgian gables have a reacting influence on some of their neighbours, though we might consider the latter rather unpractical on the one hand, or the former too pretentious on the other. Moreover, whilst we wonder at the generosity of view which could bestow some of these solid oak-framed structures with their wealth of carving and enriched plaster panellings on the working classes of an industrial village, we cannot but feel grateful to the hand that gave therii, though we ourselves may never be able to affbrd such luxuries of the building art for ourselves. May we not accept these as symbols of some kindly gratitude with which a pro- fitable company decorates the homes of its industrial population ? Honestly, we cannot regret these bonnes houches in the building scheme, though they bravely put out of sight the counting-house and the rates of interest ! These are really very welcome ebullitions from that solid undercurrent of practical economy which has placed the whole concern on a sound business footing. 12 1 6. GROUP AT ANGLE OF LOWER ROAD AND CENTRAL ROAD. J. L. SIMPSOM, Architect. This element of variety which is so marked in the design of the cottages at Port Sunlight has been obtained without much departure from the genuine English type. Even where a Dutch or Belgian character appears it is carried out with something of the breadth and simplicity which one associates with purely English work. There is very little, if anything, that could be called freakish or odd. The stepped gables or the flamboyant dormers which vary the treat- ment are not unacceptable as variants. As tq the use of oak framing with plaster panels — the familiar Old English style — no one can deny its charm or fail to wish there were even more of it. Nbthing is so picturesque and nothing so cheerful of aspect as the black and white work which forms so frequent a feature in the earlier buildings erected. One only regrets that it is difficult to justify it from a strictly commercial point of view, especially if it is executed in a' sound and substantial manner. Whether the half-timber work is used for the whole building, or only partially in connection with the fine red sandstone of the district, of with bricks or flint-work, it has an' undeniable and enduring charm, and we owe much of our 13 ERNEST GEORGE AND YEATES. j^_ ^ RECESSED GROUP IN GREENDALE ROAD, Architects. ' C. H. REILLY, Architect. 1 8. COTTAGES ON SEMI-CIRCULAR PLAN IN LOWER ROAD. 14 w.'ow.N.A,cM:ec., 19- FIRST COTTAGES BUILT AT PORT SUNLIGHT. Awarded Grand Prix. Br^isscls Exhibition, 1910, for their reproduction there. r.RAYSON AND OULD, Architects. 20. A THREE-GABLED GROUP IN NEW CHESTER ROAD. 15 W. t S. OWEN, Architects. 21. A PICTURESQUE CORNER IN PARK ROAD SOUTH. pleasure in the whole appearance of Port Sunlight to the liberal views of the founder, who did not permit his vision of a beautiful village to be obscured by the clouds of philistinism ! You cannot, of course, pretend that such gables as those shown in our illustrations are necessary to cottage building. Nor is it surely possible for even a Port Sunlight to be entirely built in such a way ; but the pleasure produced by such character of work is, after all, common property, and is a valuable item in regard to the whole scheme. The Flan. The general plan of Port Sunlight shows now an inhabited area nearly a mile long by nearly half that wide, bounded on the longer sides by the new Chester Road (on the east) and the main railway lines to London, and Greendale Road (on the west). (See No. 39.) 16 W. & S. OWEN. Architects. 22. BEBINGTON ROAD COTTAGES. There is enough variety of level to avoid the monotony of an entirely flat area, and one piece of natural dell, well grown over with trees and shrubs, forms a delightful feature near the Works end of the village. Goods from the Works are loaded, on the one side, into railway wagons, and on the other into barges on the Bromborough Pool, from which they emerge into the River Mersey. From this pool there used to be gutters or ravines, up which the muddy tidal water flowed right up into whg,re the village now stands, but these have all been -cut off from the tide and, with the exception of the dell above referred to, filled up. One very notable innovation on the common practice of estate development is the fronting of houses towards the railway instead of the long line? of unlovely backs which usually exhibit ^1 their unhappy privacies to the railway passengers. Though one long thoroughfare — the Greendale Road — runs alongside the railway embankment for the greater part of a mile, one cannot feel it to be other than one of the pleasantest roads on the estate. One of the illustrations indicates the excellent result here obtained. P.S. j^ c WILSON AND TALBOT, Architects. 23. COTTAGES, POOL BANK. Every intelligent student of town-planning knows that you cannot rule out a number of rectangular plots arranged on axial lines without due consideration of varying levels and a proper expression of local features. Moreover, the planning of many right-angled plots is not in itself a very desirable aim. But at Port Sunlight it was possible to create some rectangular spaces with the Art Gallery and the Church on their axial lines in such a way as to make a striking and orderly scheme as a central feature in the estate. There are numbers of winding or diagonal roads which give variety and interest and aflford pleasant lines of perspective to the groups of houses. In an especial way one might claim that the best results in the planning of a new village will be obtained through bearing in mind DOUGLAS AND MINSHALL, Architects 19 24. COTTAGES, POOL BANK, c a W. & S. OWEN, Architects. 25. HULME HALL, the classical saying, '■'■ Ars est relare artem." In such a scheme we do not wish to be confronted with buildings of ponderous dignity or a big display of formal lines and places. Anything approaching ostentation or display is surely out of place, and what -we want is something expressing the simplicity and unobtrusiveness which is the tradition handed down to us through the charm of the old English village. This is best attained by variety in direction of roads and shapes of houses by forming unexpected corners, recessed spaces, and winding vistas. General Scheme. Port Sunlight village (founded in 1888), apart from the Works, covers 222 acres, on which the houses may approach 2,000 for a population of 10,000. The tenancies of the houses are limited to employes of the Works. Already over 1,000 houses have been built or are in process of building, and the length of broad roadways exceeds five miles. The first block of cottages built in 1888 1889 20 W. & S. OWEN Architects. GLADSTONE HALL. was reproduced at the Brussels Exhibition of 1910, and was awarded the Grand Prix. It is intended to limit the number of cottages to ten per acre, and it is hoped to keep below that maximum. The general width of the roadways is 40 feet, giving 24 feet to the road, and 8 feet for each footpath ; but there are roads 48 feet wide, including footpaths. The paths are flagged along the central portion only. In a progressive world, and especially in such a progressive part of it as Port Sunlight, one cannot hope to give a record which will for long represent existing facts. The arrangements which have been made for the benefit of the inhabitants of this village have necessarily been altered or modified. At the present time the buildings for general use include Christ Church (No. 6 and Pis. 31 — 33), an admirable Late Gothic building in a central position, the Schools, which accommodate about 1,600 children, a Lyceum, a Cottage Hospital, a Gymnasium (No. 29), an open-air Swimming Bath (PI. 26), Post Office (PI. 19), a Village Inn (No. 36 and PI. 24), Village Stores, a Fire Station, the Auditorium, to seat 3,000, the Collegium (No. 11), the Gladstone Hall (No. 26), the 21 Hulme Hall (No. 25), Co-Partners' Club with billiard rooms and bowling green'- (Nd. 8), a Village Fountain, and, finally, the Hulme Art Gallery (PI. 29), which is destined to hold the Public Library as well as fine col- lectionsyof Pictures, Pottery, and ' Fur- niture. Port Sunlight has been an object of attraction to visitors for years, and this is not only du6 to the interest and variety of its cottage houses, and as a model for town planners the world over, but to the whole - hearted en - deavour to meet all the practical and social needs of every- day life which is expressed in its various public build- ings. But another source of great and enduring attraction lies in its Art 27. PARK ROAD BY POETS' CORNER. Gallery. Here it outdistances every other village of the kind, for this Art Gallery holds no fortuitous collection of odd things, but carefully chosen examples of fine art got together by expert 22 knowledge. The pictures, china, furni- ture, etc., would alone bring many visitors to study such a superb and finely- housed collec- tion of works of art. Tree Planting. DOUGLAS AND FORDHAM, Architects. 28. BRIDGE COTTAGE. We are apt to forget that a newly created village or town does not reap all its benefits at once. Not only as regards the results of growth in trees and shrubs, the development of gardens, and the mellowing influences of time and tone, but also in relation to all the amenities of social life, we must wait for those influences which can only come in a gradual process. The subject of trees alone, of the best method to deal with living growth, is not finished with for some time, if ever. Some of the avenues at Port Sunlight are charming now, and show an admirable balance of effect between trees and build- ings. Down the avenue of poplars one of our sketches (PI. 3) shows how delightfully the Club and the Library peep out, and how well the vista leads up to the Post Office beyond — so in some of the winding i-oads the effect even in summer is just right. But trees keep growing, and unless the houses are to suffer they will have to be cut down and some removed entirely. Then,- again, the Diamond (PI. 2) (which in spite of its name is a great oblong open space), bordered by groups of cottages and bounded at one 23 W. & S. OWEN, Ardiilects. 29. THE GYMNASIUM. end by the new Art Gallery, will very well bear all the height the trees will ever reach. This is a very fine open space, and borders of big trees will help, and never belittle it. Possibly the secret of successful planting amongst cottage houses is to have plenty of slow-growing evergreens, and forest trees only at intervals. It is quite certain that if the garden spaces at Port Sunlight were punctuated with decoratively placed evergreens, and inclosed by living borders of box or yew, the result would be both pleasing and long-lasting. The open spaces now secured should make for ever pleasant oases amongst the long lines of houses, and even if all the tree avenues had to go, there would still be left much to excite the envy of those who have to live in our dirty old towns. One of our sketches shows the avenue which' leads to Christ Church from Greendale Road (PI. 13). It is obvious that the sturdy breadth and dignity of the church will never lose anything, however lofty the avenue becomes. Unfortunately we cannot aifbrd the space in the thoroughfares for the trees so that they 24 J. J. TALBOT, Architect. 30. THE TECHNICAL INSTITUTE. will not be a trouble to the buildings some day. The only possible way would be to plant them down the centre of the roads, so keeping the traffic in the two opposite directions in its right place. This is a counsel of perfection, but it has been done where wide road spaces were practicable. It will be noted that at either side of the Diamond the latid round and between the houses is bordered by a low wall through which steps lead up to the pathways. The effect is very pleasing and might be repeated in other cases with advantage. Cottage Plans. An evidence of the careful economic spirit which has guided the whole enterprise may be found in the plans of the buildings at Port Sunlight. There are here no freaks or features created simply for picturesque effect, nor any serious attempt to give the 25 occupants something they do not want. It will probably be a long time before any great reform in cot- tage planning can be maintained in face of the varying views of the tenants. Thus the rooms must be big enough, but they must not be so large as to cause needless work. The better class cottages must have parlours, and only those who can- not afford them will go without. Plaster walls seem to be almost always pre- ferred to those lined with boarding, white- washed bricks, or any other healthy or artistic departure from the modern British type. Thus we find that the compact and economic plans in the village are what give the most universal satisfaction. But in the scheme of the planning the juxtaposition of the cottages has been dealt with in a free and varied manner, so that we find rows of houses, or L-shaped blocks, or semi-quads, or curved frontages, or semi-splayed quads. A census of opinion would probably be all in favour of straight rows, and have been dead against the judicious variety which gives so much interest to 26 31- WOOD STREET COTTAGES. the place. Theoretically, one would perhaps like those who live in cottages to give up the fetish of the parlour and have one really ample living-room instead. But the inherent yearn- ing for privacy is an English characteristic which closes the door of domestic affairs from the casual visitor. Moreover, the sin of affectation creeps into all our buildings, and thus the cottage apes the little villa, the little villa apes the large one, the large one apes the mansion, and the mansion apes the palace. The cottage reformer would of course say that the cottage tenant would be far happier and healthier as a rule without a parlour, for then he would have a fine living - room which might be free of all incumbrances and free of draughts. But it has to be taken for granted that most who can afford parlours prefer to have them ; therefore the plans are of two types, the kitchen cottage and the parlour cottage. Our illustrations show how these are planned, and it is not of little interest to see how varied may be the exterior treatment as de- veloped from these plans. 32. 27 A GARDEN CORNER. COTTAGES. PORT SUNLIGHT. J.J Talbot AMeniTier 33. KITCHEN COTTAGES. Some of the plans which have been found successful we give illustrations of. These (Nos. 33 — 35) are carefully schemed. There is a bath in each and three bedrooms, each with a fireplace. The W.C.'s are entered from outside. The parlour cottage plan is also given. It shows what a fine living-room might be obtained in a scheme which eliminated the parlour. It is obvious that the question of cost is more or less elusive. The original cost of the smaller cottages was i£200, and of the parlour cottages £,23° ^ ;^350, but this has risen now to ^£330 for cottages and jCifo for parlour houses. At the present time the gross rentals of the kitchen cottages average now 6s. 3 Q H [/) W > s D W O >• ►J w H P oi < o H Q < O < Q < O (Si < a. &. O W Q E- O a. w X w z J o z 04 I o u Q Z < a < o < Q Z w w Bi O < w a w 33 h w < Q Z O 2 <; w H > 3 z w w t) ca t/f w o - ►J w o <; j- f- o o D < O « cu hJ < o o z o >< z u o z o o Q o Oh w Q- Z P O as O u o D o o w o < h H o o < O w J <: o z w w « w Q H P O Q < O < W o Q < O W < Q W w o < W W w > w < a. P o O H W W (fi W o Q M PLATE 19. POST OFFICE. o w < S-v^^-^^'^ f^M^F^^^^^^< w o z o tn w Q O Z 1— I u Q s w < o lu w < o z w w « w <: H H O u o D O cn W (/) D O K « O < Ph Q PLATE 31. VIEW UNDER TOWER, CHRIST CHURCH. ro M < a, o o a o u o J < 3- o s w 2 > (1) Q < PLATE 33. THE LADY LEVER MEMORIAL.