Former Power House, Lord Wandsworth College, Long Sutton, Hampshire

Summary

Lord Wandsworth College former Power House, built 1915 to the designs of Guy Dawber.

Description

Former Power House, built 1915 to the designs of Guy Dawber. The building was converted to a woodwork classroom in 1934-35 and following several subsequent conversions it serves as a Design and Technology and IT Block.

MATERIALS: walls constructed of red and grey brick, laid in Flemish bond with a clay tile roof.

PLAN: single-storey building, with the main range running east-west to the south forming the Design and Technology Block. Attached to this at the rear is a projecting wing, with a further east-west range running from this wing to form an L-shape behind the main range. This rear range, which consists of one large room, is used as the IT Department. The Design and Technology Block is formed of two large teaching rooms, divided north south, with a 1964-66 extension to the west. The individual blocks are accessed externally, with the main doors opening directly into the rooms.

EXTERIOR: the southern elevation of the main, south range consists of a simple brick elevation with a steeply-pitched and hipped roof above. The front elevation is punctuated by a series of five windows (all but two being modern replacements), with a part-glazed wooden door placed centrally within the elevation and a secondary door at the eastern end. The roof has two small dormer windows set within it, which light the main double-height space inside, and a lead and glass roof lantern set centrally on the ridge of the roof. The roof lantern has the date of construction of the building inscribed, and is glazed on all four sides. It is topped by a concave pyramidal roof with a dentilated cornice. To the western side of the elevation is the flat-roofed 1960s L-shaped extension, which forms the western elevation of the range and part of the northern elevation. The eastern elevation of the main range has two wooden casement windows with segmental arches underneath the hip of the roof. The northern elevation has several fire escape doors from the Design and Technology rooms into the small area between the IT block and Design and Technology.

The connecting wing, which runs perpendicular to the southern range, is also of single-storey brick construction with a hipped roof. It has a series of wooden twelve light casement windows at ground-floor level and a dormer with louvres in the roof on its eastern side. Its western side is plainer, with a wooden door into the wing. Attached to this to the west is the IT department, which is similar in pattern, with a series of wooden doors interspersed with wooden casement windows.

INTERIOR: the interior of the Design and Technology block is divided into three areas. The eastern end is divided by two sets of sliding wooden doors. The western end, which comprises part of the 1915 range and the 1960s extension, is accessed via a door through a later added partition. The 1915 building’s main central space is clad in brown, green and cream ceramic tiles which cover the walls. It also retains its timber-framed roof structure, which is formed with sling braces, as well as its timber-block floor.

The IT block to the north has been largely remodelled in recent years and retains little of historic form apart from its timber roof structure, with an angle strut and king bolt roof.

The projecting wing to the rear of the Design and Technology block (which connects it to the IT room) was not inspected internally.

History

Lord Wandsworth College was established with money left by Sydney James Stern, Baron Wandsworth (1844-1912), a banker and MP who was raised to the peerage in 1895. As a Liberal MP for the rural Suffolk constituency of Stowmarket, Stern had taken an interest in agricultural affairs and had been committed to improving the living conditions of the rural poor, introducing three Bills on Better Housing of the Working Classes in Rural Districts in the 1890s. Upon his death in 1912, the majority of his £1.25 million fortune was allocated for a residential institution for the benefit of the rural poor, where ‘scientific and practical training will be given in every branch connected with Agriculture’ (quoted in Podger, pp16-17). In accordance with the stipulations set out in the bequest, a committee formed of various experts in the fields of agricultural management, finance and education was established to oversee the foundation and guide its development. The initial question of the site for the ‘Lord Wandsworth Orphanage’, as it was originally termed, was considered by the Trust in 1913. The Long Sutton estate was chosen from a shortlist in August and acquired in October the same year. At the time of purchase the site was comprised of 950 acres of arable land, with the main Sutton House and its associated farm buildings situated to the south and Hyde Farm and its various buildings set to the west. Bennet’s Field, which occupied the main right of way to Hyde Farm, was subsequently purchased in October 1917. The estate was reported to be in poor condition in 1913, with 17 existing cottages on the estate found to be ‘unfit for human habitation’ and the land and hedges in a ‘dreadful condition’ (Kinney, p43); the state of Long Sutton at this stage reflecting the decades of depression that had severely affected agriculture across the country.

The Lord Wandsworth Foundation was originally conceived along the lines of a model village, with the intention being that small groups of children would reside in cottages overseen by a housemaster and be taught on the farm and at a central school house. Trustees met in January 1914 to consider the layout of the site and instigate an initial building programme. Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) was appointed to advise the Trust and was given responsibility for selecting an architect to create plans for new buildings under his direction. The architect that Blomfield recommended to the Trust, selected in July 1914 from a field of five candidates, was Guy Dawber (1861-1938); a former President of the Architectural Association, principally known for his designs for many small country houses and writings on vernacular architecture. The earliest work on the estate was divided, apparently with ‘some friction’, between the two architects (Podger, p20). Blomfield assumed responsibility for the lodge and main entrance gates, for which plans were produced in July 1914. In the same year Blomfield also designed Shepewood House and several estate cottages. Additionally, in collaboration with C S Orwin (Director of the Institute for Agricultural Economics at Oxford), he produced plans for the extensive Hyde Farm buildings to the west of the site. Dawber’s early work included a power house and laundry block, designs being produced in February 1915, along with a series of cottages completed by October 1916. Plans for a grand range of school buildings produced by Dawber, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915, were interrupted by the outbreak of war with only the Administration and Engineering Blocks completed. Further buildings were constructed to Dawber's designs into the 1920s, including School House and Junior House.

The Power House (or Engine House) was one of Dawber’s earliest designs for the Trust, providing an important functional building and source of power for the estate in its earliest phase of development. In contrast to Blomfield’s contemporary Queen Anne style lodge and Edwardian Baroque gates - which determined the main approach to the college set the prevailing architectural tone for the rest of the college – this utilitarian building was designed in a restrained, vernacular manner by Dawber. Plans for the building dated February 1915 show the engine house occupying the central portion of the front range, with space marked out for two flywheels. To the west was a tank area, whilst a repair shop and store were originally situated at the eastern end of the building. The northern range, marked as the battery room, was distinct and accessed separately from the east elevation. The Power House was the main source of electricity for the estate in its early years, though was decommissioned in 1934-35 when the cost of connecting to the national grid became the cheaper option for the college and the space was required for teaching. At this stage, the flywheels and machinery were removed and the front range of the building was converted to a woodwork classroom and the north range became a motor and electrical engineering room.

Between 1964 and 1966, as part of a programme of works to expand the college under the direction of Alexander Henderson, the Power House was extended with the flat-roofed extension built at this stage to increase the capacity of the Crafts, Design and Technology Department. Following the extensions, in 1971, the northern range of the building was converted to the Music Block, which it remained through until the completion of the Music and Drama Centre in 2001. In the following year, the northern block was converted to expand the rooms for Design and Technology and IT classes, establishing the existing arrangement of these rooms.

Reasons for Listing

The former Power House (Engine Hose) at Lord Wandsworth College is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a restrained but accomplished work drawing on the vernacular tradition, built to designs of Guy Dawber, a leading architect of the period;

Historic interest:

* as a well-preserved, early component of an important educational trust focussed on agricultural training, established as a legacy of the Liberal politician and philanthropist Sydney James Stern, Baron Wandsworth (1844-1912);

Group value:

* with the other early Lord Wandsworth College buildings, particularly the adjacent core college buildings also by Dawber. The buildings throughout the estate have a strong collective value, demonstrating careful planning by Blomfield and Dawber, manifest in the varied yet harmonious arrangement of distinguished buildings which draw on vernacular and classical traditions.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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