Apkil 29, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
700
BRISTOL: ITS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT,
BY WILLIAM STURGE, P.P.S.I.
The paper read by Mr. William Sturge at the Bristol meeting of the Surveyors’ Institution on W ednesday was interesting from the commencement to the end. The many historical references contained therein went to show that the ancient city early became a port of great commercial importance. Mr. Sturge had something to say about the manufactures of Bristol, the places of recreation provided for its people, the educational establishments standing within its walls, its water supply, tramways and street improvements. Perhaps the most interesting part of the paper, so far as the members of the Institution were concerned, was that in which references were made to the tenure and the value of property in Bristol. “ There is in Bristol,” said Mr. Sturge, “ no great dominating proprietor able to dictate the tenure on which land shall be granted for building. By far the greater part of the property is held by a numerous body of proprietors on freehold tenure, free from ground rent, or subject only to a small quit rent. The system of granting land for building on leases for 99 years does not prevail, and is regarded with such disfavour that for residential purposes this tenure is almost unknown. The usual practice is to grant land for building in perpetuity, subject to ground rents locally known as ‘ fee farm rents,’ which are similar to the Scotch ‘feu.’ V/ell-secured ground rents could formerly be purchased for 20, 22 or 25 years’ purchase they now freely realise from 28 to 30 years’ purchase. The Corporation of Bristol is the largest property owner in the city, owning property producing about £20,000 per annum, besides the docks and markets. Some of their property is granted on the antiquated tenures prevalent two centuries and century and a half ago. Queen-square and Prince-street and other places were granted on leases for 40 years,
! renewable for ever on payment once in every 14 years of ‘ one full year’s rack rent or yearly ' value,’ subject to applications for renewal being made within one year after the renewal becomes due, and to the premises being kept in repair. The effect of ■this tenure is to bar almost all improvements for fear of increased fines. Much of the corporation property was 1 formerly held by lessees for lives, and previously׳ to the year 1849, it was the practice 1 to put in new lives on payment of an arbitrary fine, but this was not compulsory. In that year all the lessees were offered to commute their life leases into the term of 75 years absolute, on payment of an additional reserved rent calculated on the difference in value. Many, but not all the lessees, availed thern-selves of this offer. There are still a few outstanding life leases, which are allowed to fall in hand as the lives drop.”
| Dealing with the increase in the value of property, Mr. Sturge proceeded as follows: — The value of property in the principal busi-i ness streets has very largely increased during the | last 20 years; in Corn-street and Clare-street,
1 where most of the banks and insurance offices are situate, transactions have taken place at ! from £50 to £65 per yard super, including 1 buildings a century old, in most cases taken , down to clear the site. In one case of a corner | plot, about £110 per yard was paid. In New | Baldwin-street the average ground rent has j been 10s. per yard, and one comer plot | 13s. 4d. per yard. In Wine-street (the chief seait of the drapery trade), a plot of vacant land containing 204 square yards realised by auction last year the ground rent of £250 per annum, equal to £1 4s. 6d. per yard, which at 30 years’ purchase amounts to £36 15s. per yard in fee. An adjoining plot of 251 yards, with larger frontage, realised the ground rent of £380 per annum, equal to £1 10s. 3d. per yard, worth at 30 years’ purchase £45 7s. 6d. per yard in fee. The rents of shops and business premises in the main streets have been steadily rising. A house in Clare-street, which sold for £5,000 ten years ago, has just been resold for £9,000, an advance of 50 per cent. On the other hand, the rents and selling value of residential property in Clifton have depreciated 20 to 25 per cent, within the last 20 years, especially those of the larger and older houses, not adapted to modern requirements. In the case of more modern houses, I think the heavy ground rents (often equal to one-fourth of the rack rent), affect the market value. There is less disposition ■than formerly to purchase houses for investment. Water side property has increased in value. Under the compulsory powers of the Bristol Dock Act, 1897, the corporation purchased last year, 11a. 3r. Op. of waterside property for £69,350, being at the i׳ate of £5,900 per acre.
Mr. Sturge had also something to say as.to rateable value and taxation. He quoted figures showing that the gross estimated rental of the city had increased from £508,988 in 1861 to £1,420,000 for the extended city in 1898. The last half-year’s rates were as high as 3s. 9d. in the £, and if, as is probable, the next half-year’s rate should be equally high, this will make 7s. 6d. in the £ for the year.
bird with huge beak and wings. Again, in his bedsteads, consoles, and lamp-stands, there are j seen the broken scrolls and curved lines of the Louis XV. decorators, but frequently carried to an excess.
It is essentially as a designer of chairs that Chippendale has come down to us ; and, though little referred to by his contemporaries and successors, except by Sheraton, who regarded his designs as obsolete, he holds a unique position in the annals of furniture, in having given his own name to a wonderful style, while other styles are called after monarchs or dynasties. His early ornament was doubtless copied from Continental models ; some of the work is, in fact, identical with the style of Louis XI\., as the ribband-back chairs; but these, like all his other works, have a good English foundation.
The previous Dutch character of English chairs was maintained in the broad back and bandy leg, and the claw and ball foot, but there was the addition of the rococo carving of the Louis XV. period.	|
The old and the new styles may be compared in one view at Sir John Soane’s Museum. Here is a suite of eight chairs from the house of Sir Gregory Page, Wricklemarsh, Blackheath. I The splats are inlaid with mother-o’-pearl carved with Sir Gregory’s arms. The legs are very . characteristic; and a curious cross-bar runs upward from the lower part of the legs to the frame of the seat. At the same time the arm-chair of the courteous curator, Mr. Birch, and the half-dozen chairs en suite, have lattice-like backs in a modification of the Chinese style. |
Other fine specimens of the style are the chair of the Master of the Barber-Surgeons’ j Company, and the Master’s chair of the Tallow Chandlers’ Company in the court room on Dow-gate-hill. This has a top rail carved in festoons, fluted legs and fluted padded arms. There j are 36 chairs en suite, all having fluted legs. Then there are the fine Chippendale chairs in 1 the private rooms at Knole, sometimes shown by special favour of the Hon. Mrs. Sackville-West.
Actual Chippendale work is mostly in mahogany, without inlay. The wood was always carefully selected and well seasoned, hence its durability. So determined was this artist to produce only enduring work that when frets came in and were adopted by the brothers Adam, Lock, and other designers, Chippendale, instead of carving them out of a single piece of wood, glued several thin pieces together, having their grain running in different directions, thus forming a strip of immense strength, one way of the grain protecting the others. Strength was further gained by joining the “splat” of the chair into the framework, a plan neglected by the later English and French makers.
French influence was very conspicuous in his armchairs, the arms often ending in lions or goats’ heads, dolphins or dragons, though more frequently in curved endive scroll-work. The effect of his mingling of the French, Gothic and Chinese styles in his more imposing work was so perfect as to require no enrichment of painting or inlay.
Gothic was elsewhere rampant; for Horace Walpole commenced his pinnacled house at Strawberry-hill in 1753. Adam designed Alnwick and Colzian in this style; while Wyatt in Fonthill challenged comparison with Walpole.
Thomas Chippendale would ■appear to have lived through nearly the whole of the grand English period, surviving till about the year 1800, which witnessed almost the last of the high-class designs that made the latter half of the eighteenth century so famous.
His son was still living about 1825; but by that time furniture had again reached a very low stage of art.
The Chippendale style, therefore, had its rise, development, zenith and fall within the limits of the eighteenth century.
(To be continued.)
By order of Mr. Fitch Kemp, the trustee of Messrs. Eliot’s estate (in bankruptcy), Mr. A. C. Higgs will, on Wednesday, May 3, offer by public auction, at the King’s Arms Hotel, Dorchester, the valuable agricultural and sporting property known as the Plush Manor Estate. This estate, of which an illustrated descriptive article appeared in our issue of April 30 of last year, formed one of the principal assets of the late banking firm ; it occupies a delightful position in the parish of Buckland Newton, is in the midst of a good social and sporting district, and is within easy reach of the meets of the Blackmore Yale, C'attistock, and South Dorset Hounds. The property to be sold includes the manor or lordship of Plush, with the fine old Manor House, which is most pleasantly situated and well sheltered, and possesses picturesque views over the pastures and woodlands by which it is surrounded. The premises are well built and are of an unusually commodious description. It has a long carriage drive, is surrounded by pleasure grounds, and has a good kitchen garden with southern aspect. It is important to note that the premises, which have good stables and outbuildings, have an excellent water supply. With the Manor House will be sold the Manor Farm, with its excellent farmhouse and ample buildings, and seven labourers’ cottages. The total acreage of this desirable farm is 493a. lr. 7p. The other lot to be offered comprises the Home or Harvey’s Farm, with its convenient buildings and three labourers' cottages and bakehouse (altogether 418a. lr. 32p.). Both lots comprise 911a.	2r.	29p., and produce
a gross rent roll of £649 per annum. The farms are most desirable holdings, and the farmhouses are in a thorough state of repair.
Jnrnituit (№ anit JUhi.
XXXIY.
THOMAS CHIPPENDALE.
READY NEXT WEEK.
Grown 8vo, Price 6s. For Gash with Order 5s. net.
THE VALUATION OF LAND
HOUSE PEOPEETY.
BY
CHARLES E. CURTIS, F.S.I.,
Professor of Forestry, Field E ngineering and Surveying and General Estate Management at the College of Agriculture, Downton : Consulting Forester to the Eight Hon.
Lord O'Neill, Shane's Castle, Antrim ;
Author of “Estate Management” (Fourth Edition) ‘‘Practical Forestry ” (Second!Edition), etc., etc.; with
VALUATION EXAMPLES
BY
D. THOS. DAVIES, F.S.I,
AND
IVOR CURTIS, B.A. (Cantab.).
FRANK P. WILSON,
‘־Estates Gazette” Office, 6. St. Bride-street,Lon ion, B.U.
In dealing with the interior decoration of houses, it has been seen that though designers like the brothers Adam claimed to have derived their inspiration from Greece and Rome, yet their critics labelled much of their work as French. The same remark applies to Chippendale, whose detail has in part been traced as far back as Du Cerceaux, who published in 1576 his “ Plus Excellents Bastiments,” and in 1582 his “ Livre d’ Architecture ” ; and in part to Berain’s “Orne mens” (1670 to 1700), and Lepautre’s “ Œuvres d’Architecture,” published 1751, and “Les Cabinets, et Livre de Miroirs, Tables et Guéridons.”
Chippendale, the date of whose birth is not known, was of a Worcestershire family ; and his father came to London ■about the beginning of the last century. He describes himself in 1752 as a cabinet maker and upholsterer, of St. Martin’s-lane, London, where his father was a carver of mirror frames. His famous folio, “ The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director ” was first published in 1754, the second edition following in 1759, and the third in 1762. It contains some 200 engravings of bedsteads, tables, cabinets, chimney pieces, mirror frames, girandoles, brackets, stands and jardinieres.
While the rococo style of the Louis XV. period is very evident in his bombé fronted commodes, his tea-caddies, lamp-stands and mirror-frames, as well as in some of his chair backs, many of the latter are directly based upon the fanciful designs of Sir William Chambers’ Chinese drawings. Nevertheless, Chippendale was no slavish imitator ; he gives to his book cases and clothes-presses “ different ” doors and to his tables “ different ” feet, and divides glass wherever he uses it unequally, acting on a plan as far as possible removed from the symmetrical guise of French furniture.
Though Chippendale’s plates doubtless disclose the principal elements of his Style, they cannot be held to represent the bulk of the work which he turned out	in St.	Martin’s - lane.	The style
itself seems to have originated about 1730 ; and its flowing lines are in marked contrast with the arcades and pilasters of the preceding epoch. William Jones, in “ the Gentlemen’s or Builders’ Companion,” the first of the long series of folio works, published in 1739, shows himself the precursor of Adam and Chippendale in his mirror frames with tabernacle tops and neat entablatures ; and in fact the demand for these neo-classic frames had unmistakeably a large share in the inception of the movement.
In Chippendale’s actual work, along with the flimsy “ baroque ” of the prevailing French taste, there is found a tendency toward severer style which seems to be suggested by the works of his contemporaries, Sir William Chambers and the brothers Adam. Some of his designs contained in the “Director” are, however, positively ultra-French, that, for instance, of a chimney piece and mirror, in which appear Chinese figures on bridges, imita tions of rockwork and water, and an unidentified
PROPERTIES IN THE MARKET.
The ancient town of Newbury, Berkshire, has a double claim on our attention. It is interesting on account of its remarkable historical ■associations, and it appeals to lovers of the picturesque on account of the beauty of its situation. The town stands in a fertile valley, amid pleasant environs, and consists mostly of broad and well-paved streets. About two miles from Newbury is the freehold residential and sporting estate of nearly 400 acres, known as Bagnor Manor, which Messrs. Dreweatt and Watson have for sale by private treaty. The estate consists of a picturesque manor house, with gardens, grounds and stabling, besides 14 small residences and cottages, a public-house, and farm buildings. It is hounded on one side for a length of one and a quarter miles by the river Lambourn, one of the finest trout I streams in the south of England.
Within 30 minutes’ drive from the centre of Leeds, and so positioned as to enjoy the full benefit of the bracing air and pleasing scenery for which Adel is so justly appreciated, is the attractive freehold residential estate known as Adel Towers, which Messrs. Hollis and Webb will sell by auction at No. 26, Park-row, Leeds, on May 10. The mansion, which was erected about 24 years ago, is an example of the Gothic style o’f architecture, the details being Early English in character. In designing the interior, a striking effect has been obtained by the formation of a grand central hall and stair- ! case saloon, which rises from the tesselated ground floor to the roof, and is lighted by numerous dormers filled with tinted cathedral glass. The whole of the woodwork in tne principal rooms on the ground floor, and in the hall and staircase saloon, is of pencil cedar, relieved with zebra wood. The grand staircase is of chestnut, pencil cedar and oak. There are extensive kitchen and fruit gardens, and well-planted ornamental grounds of considerable extent, with a grass paddock, through which there is a carriage drive from the mansion to ■the lodge entrance.
The charming freehold residential estate known as Clayton Priory, hitherto the seat of the Patton-Bethune family, is to be offered for sale by Messrs. Maple and Co., at the Mart, Tokenhouse-yard, on June 14. The estate stands in a splendidly-timbered park and possesses nearly a mile of frontage to the main London and Brighton road. It includes the old manor house, known as Hammond’s Place, with cottages and lands adjoining, forming a total area of over 257 acres. There is stabling at the Priory for six horses, coachhouse, living rooms, 13 extra loose boxes, delightful pleasure grounds, walled kitchen garden, two vineries and small farmery. The estate is a little more than a mile from Hassocks station, and about	miles from
Brighton.
It is impossible in the limited space at our disposal to describe the varied attractions of the fine residential property, known as the Ring-wood Hall estate, near Chesterfield, which Messrs. Nicholson, Greaves, Barber and Hastings will offer for sale at their estate auction mart, No. 2, High-street, Sheffield, on May 16. The mansion—the rooms of which are all of handsome proportions and beautifully decorated —has a southern aspect, stands in a well-timbered park, and is 335ft. above sea level. There is also an excellent farm homestead, with the usual outbuildings and a cottage, all in very good condition. They are let, with about 47 acres, at a rental of £40. The lake in the ])ark adjoining Ringwood Hall is leased to the Great Central Railway Company for a term of 60 years, at a rental of £200 per annum. The pleasure grounds include beautiful Italian garden, tennis lawn, two conservatories, greenhouses, etc. There are in all about 110 acres of land.
It majr he said without hyperbole that some of the most magnificent scenery in the United Kingdom is that which surrounds the historic town of Bewdley, Worcestershire. Here, on the summit of a hill, 450ft. above sea level, is the freehold residence and estate known as Park Attwood, which Messrs. Jennings and Eell offer for sale by private treaty. The mansion is fitted throughout with the latest improvements, and the rooms are handsome and beautifully decorated. There are excellent outbuildings, stabling, coachhouse, and a capital lodge. The land surrounding is finely timbered, many of the trees being splendid specimens of oak and ash, estimated to be worth in all at least £3,000 ; and there are good beds of stone and gravel, also coal, in some places at very little depth. The entire area comprises 390 acres, carrying witn it manorial rights (the lordship of the manor), and several other minor rights, and consists of pasture, arable, orchards and woods all within a ring fence, the major portion of which is let at about £617 per annum. The price asked for the estate is £18,000, of which two-thirds could remain at four per cent., if desired.