Hale - Royd House

The building plans for Royd House immediately drew our attention when we discovered them during our Brick by Brick cataloguing project, due to the building’s unusual shape.

The house, situated on Hale Road, Hale, was designed by the famous architect Edgar Wood for his own residence, and his eye-catching style is evident throughout.

Born in 1860 in Middleton, Wood shunned his family’s cotton business in favour of training as an artist and architect. He was a founding member of the Northern Art Workers' Guild and eventually became its Master in 1897.

Wood was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19^th Century which was established to promote the skills of craftsmanship threatened by the mass production heralded by the Industrial Revolution. The main protagonist of this movement was William Morris, who was inspired by the writings of the art critic John Ruskin and sought to revive medieval standards and methods of making artefacts.

Other forerunners of the time and contemporaries of Edgar Wood included Philip Webb and Charles Voysey, with their designs capturing the features of architecture within the Arts and Crafts movement. These included asymmetry, craftsmanship, the use of simple shapes which reflect internal arrangements and the conscious use of locally sourced materials.  However, Edgar Wood was also known to follow his own path and distinctive style, and was described by his pupil and assistant G.A.E. Schwabe ‘’as a man of great energy, vitality and confidence’’. 

Wood’s architectural design progression is demonstrated within the South Hale Conservation Area in Trafford, which hosts a remarkable collection of eight detached houses designed by Edgar Wood between 1890 and 1914. The earliest house is Halecroft, also situated on Hale Road, with a further six houses built in quick succession between 1901 and 1907, and finally Royd House in 1914. We can see Wood’s style evolve with each design.

Wood developed the style of Art Nouveau through his architectural design, emphasising verticality and bright colour. He was able to experiment through different mediums as he was also a keen painter and designer of furniture, stained glass, metal and plaster work.

In 1903, Wood met the architect Henry J. Sellers, who was described by G.A.E. Schwabe as ‘a quiet scholarly man’ in contrast to Wood, and a designer who was influenced by tradition and classical style. Wood and Sellers’ partnership lasted for 18 years, the two men obviously complementing each other’s approaches, exchanging ideas and new directions. Although they shared an office at 78 Cross Street, Manchester, they worked autonomously, publishing work separately.

Although Royd House was designed by and built for himself, Sellers’ influence, or at least assistance, is apparent in the plans. The plans within our collections have been professionally restored yet have sadly become damaged over the years and are fragile. The first shows drawings of the proposed elevation plans, section plans and floor plans, and is signed by Henry J. Sellers and dated as approved on 20 July 1914.

The semi-circular shape of the front of the house is visible in the floor plans, and this is accentuated by the walls of the parking area which curve round to form a circular shape. The design of the ground floor is marvellously unique with the individually shaped rooms leading from the circular, domed hallway. The interior boasted decorative elements, particularly the doors which were reportedly decorated by Wood himself, and possibly influenced by his travels to Spain, Tunisia and Persia.

Elements of art deco architecture are present in the front elevation, with the flat roof design interrupted by an intricate, geometric, tiled panel. The tiles are said to have been a gift from the Lancastrian tile manufacturer, Pilkingtons. This lozenge shaped design is echoed in the once-colourful doorway. 

In contrast to the distinct curve of the front of the house, the rear elevation presents a flat face with the living rooms looking out over the garden and the building topped by a pierced parapet. The rear garden is formally laid out, with the lozenge design reflected in herringbone brick pathways bordering the flower beds, leading to a neat lawn beyond. The unusual shape of the house is depicted in the detailed roof plan, dated 15 January 1915.

Wood’s designs were daring and unconventional for the time, and this was a trait which he obviously revelled in, with a fellow Manchester-based architect, W. Cecil Young, recalling how on arrival at the local station, Wood used to ask the cabbie to take him to ‘the ugliest house in Hale’. Far from being ugly, Royd House, along with the many residential buildings and shop fronts Wood designed, offer style and character. Many of these are still standing in his hometown, Middleton and also Oldham and Rochdale, as well as Manchester – with the First Church of Christ Scientist near Victoria Park a notable landmark in the area.

Edgar Wood also promoted conservation and was instrumental in saving the huge portico of Manchester’s first Town Hall, which was demolished in 1911. Having raised a public appeal, his plans to relocate the colonnade to Heaton Park were accepted, with the striking monument remaining there today.

Internationally renowned, Wood exhibited at the Architectural League of New York in 1900 and at the international exhibitions of Turin and Budapest in 1902. His pioneering designs extended to an expansive plan for a garden city development commissioned by the Manchester Society of Architects in 1909 following the Housing & Town Planning Act 1909. Woods’s design for the huge area between Platt Fields Park and Alexandra Park suggested a radial lay out, with a circular focal point made up of flat-roofed modernist houses and extensive communal open space.

These designs were not chosen, yet they exemplify the ambitious and fresh vision that Edgar Wood possessed. Retiring from architecture in 1922, Edgar moved to live in Italy and enjoyed painting until his death in 1935.  His life and work were explored in the film ‘A Painted Veil’, released in 2018. In recent years, Edgar Wood has been recognised as a forerunner for modern Expressionist architecture and art deco in the 1920s and 1930s, and we are fortunate that he left such a lasting legacy of his work within Trafford.

Further research

You can find more building plans and archival records using the Trafford Local Studies catalogue

Sources

Books:

Partnership in style: Edgar Wood & J. Henry Sellers. Manchester, England: Manchester City Art Galleries, 1975 [Exhibition catalogue]

 Websites:

https://artsandcraftschurch.org/edgar-woods-halecroft-to-have-conservation-status-removed/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wood

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/239313

https://manchesterhistory.net/edgarwood/middletonguide.html

https://edgarwoodsociety.org/about-edgar-wood/

https://confidentials.com/manchester/the-lost-suburb-of-manchester-edgar-woods-immaculate-dream

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/arts-and-crafts-an-introduction?srsltid=AfmBOormCZpqyFPsDDH3WF2Y9EEsII0_vdss5DDQKjfViBZu7-tEmT4o

https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/Arts-and-Crafts?srsltid=AfmBOopsp2IZdDp5u2iVZPhXu65PC3vXUvp0odVf6He2aGXwRz1K8rfB

https://manchesterhistory.net/edgarwood/ROYD/roydhouse.html 

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1197770

https://middletonheritage.co.uk/edgar-wood-filming-gets-under-way/