Tour, Part 2

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Sheffield, Flower Estate, , 39-41 Primrose Avenue
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Sheffield, Flower Estate, 59-63 Primrose Avenue

Opposite on the junction with Jessamine Road is one of the best designs: Nos. 59-63 by W. Alexander Harvey & A. McKewan. It is built of red brick with coggingGlossary Term below the eavesGlossary Term and tile hung full height bayGlossary Term windows, reminiscent of some of Harvey's early Bournville cottages.

Next, one of the most distinctive designs: Nos. 39-41, by Claude Batley of London. It has a "Noah's ArkGlossary Term" roof (hipped mansardGlossary Term) and dormers.

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Sheffield, Flower Estate, 50-52 Primrose Avenue
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Sheffield, Flower Estate, 17-19 Primrose Avenue

On the north side of Primrose Avenue, Nos. 50-2 by C. J. Innocent & Son, has two-bedrooms under a gambrel roofGlossary Term. Similar styles of house were built in Letchworth in 1905 and the design seems to have enjoyed some popularity for the cheapest type of cottage, with a number of examples illustrated in Lawrence Weaver's "Country Life Book of Cottages".

Also in Primrose Avenue, the attractive Nos. 17-19 by Pepler & Allen of Croydon. These are perhaps the closest to the traditional Garden Suburb image with rounded tops to the ground floor windows; prominent brick arches above them and a roughcastGlossary Term upper storey.

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Sheffield, Flower Estate, 9-15 Primrose Avenue
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Sheffield, Flower Estate, 161-3 Foxglove Road

Next a terrace of four houses, Nos. 9-15 by J.C. Brameld & Son with the centre pair distinguished by being slightly higher than the other two.

Back on FOXGLOVE ROAD to the S, Nos. 161-163 with half-timbered gables are by Benton & Roberts.

To serve all this housing, although located on the edge of the estate and having no visual relationship with it, there is one especially good inter-war church: ST HILDA, Windmill Lane by Leslie Moore, one of his best designs. Drawings were produced in 1922-23 for a church with a crenellated tower and windows with GothicGlossary Term curvilinear traceryGlossary Term, a design which mirrored Temple Moore's conception at St Mary, Nunthorpe. By the time funds were raised in 1935, the design was modified. On sharply sloping land, the church appears long and low from the road but towers above the valley on the N side. Temple Moore's influence is still evident in such details as the lancets and the individually designed capitals of the piers. The extensive glazing represents Leslie Moore's first attempt at flooding an interior with natural lightGlossary Term and the effect is enhanced by the open scissor braced roof of unstained pine. A very effective oak chancelGlossary Term screenGlossary Term (well classicised by George Pace in 1952) provides the only decoration. C18 organ case from St James' church.

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Sheffield, Flower Estate, Church

Glossary

Ark

Chest or cupboard housing the tables of Jewish law in a synagogue.

Bay

Division of an elevation or interior space as defined by regular vertical features such as arches, columns, windows etc.

Chancel

The eastern part or end of a church, where the altar is placed; usually set apart for the clergy.

Cogging

A decorative course of bricks laid diagonally.

Curvilinear tracery

Bar tracery with uninterrupted flowing curves, typical of the 14th century; also called flowing tracery.

Eaves

Overhanging edge of a roof; hence eaves cornice in this position.

Gambrel roof

A hipped roof which turns to a gablet at the ridge.

Gothic

The style of the Middle Ages from the later 12th century to the Renaissance, with which it co-existed in certain forms into the 17th century. Characterized in its full development by the pointed arch, the rib-vault and an often skeletal masonry structure for churches, combined with large glazed windows. The term was originally associated with the concept of the barbarian Goths as assailants of classical civilization.

Light

Compartment of a window defined by the uprights or mullions.

Mansard

A roof of two pitches, the upper one less steep than the lower.

Roughcast

Wall plaster mixed with a coarse aggregate such as gravel.

Screen

In a medieval church, usually set at the entry to the chancel. A parclose screen separates a chapel from the rest of the church. A rood screen was placed below a representation of the Crucifixion (called a rood).