Boathouse East of Middle Wharf, Wallingford, Oxfordshire

Description

WALLINGFORD

1704/0/10007 THAMES STREET
09-DEC-09 (East side)
Boathouse east of Middle Wharf

II
Boathouse with verandah and wet dock undercroft. Built in 1882 for GD Leslie RA to the designs of Messrs Christopher and White of Bloomsbury Square, London, by J Weller of Wallingford.

MATERIALS: Red brick undercroft wet dock, rendered boathouse above and Coalbrookdale plain tile hipped roof, oak woodwork.

EXTERIOR: Three-bay boathouse on two levels in Queen Anne Revival style facing east onto the Thames. Rectangular in plan, the boathouse comprises a balustraded verandah and a two-bay, single-cell room above and a red brick undercroft wet dock below. It has a hipped tile roof, with sprocketed eaves; a catslide canopy on the west side is supported by decorative oak brackets with pierced spandrels. The roof is surmounted by a prominent glazed cupola with ogee profile roof, ball-topped with a weathervane above. There is a large casement window that provides a view through to the river in the west elevation as well as wooden steps that lead up to the verandah with turned balusters, the roof of which is supported by square columned moulded corner posts, each flanked by Tuscan columns resting on pedestals. On the river side is a six-light pedimented oriel window in oak with floral device to the tympanum, glazing bars, decorative pilasters and carved decoration, and an oriel window with glazing bars in the north elevation.

Red brick steps from the central garden bay give access to the undercroft wet dock, through an arched entrance with keystone. The undercroft extends the full length of the boathouse. A round-arched, keyed, boat entrance on the south side gave access to boats at water level. There is a Diocletian window in the west wall facing the river, which originally would have been at water level.

INTERIOR: The floor of the verandah is Victorian red tile; there is a moulded cornice above the pillars and the ceiling is plastered. A pair of six-panelled doors lead inside from the verandah. The single room within has wooden panelled shutters and shouldered architrave to the windows; a moulded cornice on which rests tie beams bearing the queen post roof and collars which support the panelled cupola. Timber joists which support the overhead structure are visible in the wet dock below.

HISTORY: The boathouse was built in 1882 to the designs of Messrs Christopher and White for the artist GD Leslie RA who owned the large waterfront property then called Riverside. The builder was J Weller of Wallingford. Riverside was subsequently divided up and sold as a number of separate properties, one of which was Middle Wharf which included the boathouse. Today the boathouse sits on the bank separated from the river by a small strip of lawn, but when built the boathouse actually stood in the River which indicates how the water levels have changed during the past 127 years.

GD Leslie (1835-1921) is best known as a painter of landscapes and genre scenes of children and girls. He was the son of the painter CR Leslie, and lived in London, Wallingford and Lindfield, Sussex. He studied at the Royal Academy and exhibited there every year from 1859. He was a protégé of Edwin Landseer and friends with the well-regarded illustrator Frederick Walker. He was also an author and wrote 'Letters to Marco' in 1893 and 'Riverside Letters' - a continuation of the former - in 1896. A neighbour and friend of Leslie was the well-known artist James Hayllar who also owned a boathouse close by.

SOURCES: Clare Sherriff, Boathouses (2008), pp90-91
The Architect, 30 September 1882, p207
Mark Girouard, Sweetness And Light The 'Queen Anne' Movement 1860-1900 (1977), pl 182, p194
Jeremy Musson, Temples to Boating, Country Life 1996 Aug.1, v 190, n.31, p42-45

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The boathouse east of Middle Wharf, Wallingford is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* As a good example of a boathouse at the high point of Late Victorian interest in boating as a leisure pursuit;
* For impressive architectural quality in design, craftsmanship and detailing with stylistic elements of both the Queen Anne Revival and neo-Baroque;
* With additional historic interest as it was commissioned by and belonged to the well-known artist GD Leslie RA during probably the most productive working period of his life;
* It is illustrated in architectural studies of the period as an exemplary boathouse.

Reasons for Listing

The boathouse east of Middle Wharf, Wallingford, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* As a good example of a boathouse at the high point of Late Victorian interest in boating as a leisure pursuit;
* For impressive architectural quality in design, craftsmanship and detailing with stylistic elements of both the Queen Anne Revival and neo-Baroque;
* With additional historic interest, as it was commissioned by and belonged to the well-known artist GD Leslie RA during probably the most productive working period of his life;
* It is illustrated in architectural studies of the period as an exemplary boathouse.

External Links

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