Building record 2279/1 - Broomfield , Alderley Edge

<1> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1234595 (Web Site). SCH6528.

House: dated 1847 by Thomas Worthington for Mr Swanwick, with addition of 1875 for himself. Closely jointed random sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. Welsh slate roof and 2 stone chimneys with a row of square stacks. Originally T-shaped plan. 2-storey, 4-bay front. Left 2 bays have a mixture of 2 and 3-light mullioned and a 4-light mullioned and transomed windows. Right 2 bays step forward each under a gable. End bay has a canted oriel on upper storey on corbelling sprung from a carved head. To left is a rebated 4-centred doorcase with a label mould, containing a pair of studded oak doors with scrolled iron hinges, approached by 2 steps. Above is a Latin dedication "Haec Domus Aedificata Est" and date in medieval script and a 4-centred arched window of 3-lights. Stone gargoyle rainhead. Similar windows to sides and extension partly in stone and timber-framing. Interior: oak well staircase with chamfered square balusters and newels lit by octagonal glazed vault. Door openings as front doorcase with heavy panelled doors. Simple grey sandstone fireplaces. Jacobean style ceiling in added dining room.
This house is based on the Manor House at Great Chalford.

<2> Hyde, Matthew, 1999, The Villas of Alderley Edge, p.74-5 (Book). SCH8722.

Built 1845-7 by Thomas Worthington, then articled to Messrs Bowman and Crowther, for John Swanick with extensions after 1869. Pale sandstone with a heavy roof. First part is medieval or Puginian gothic with mullions and an oriel, but the later parts, also by Worthington are timber framed with sash windows

<3> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.93 (Book). SCH7059.

Broomfield of 1845-7 designed by Thomas Worthington in the Gothic Style of pale stone

<4> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2013, Broomfield House, Alderley Edge, Cheshire: Heritage Assessment, R4578 (Client Report). SCH9177.

Broomfield House stands on the north-western slopes of Alderley Edge, which was developed as a Manchester commuter settlement after the arrival of the railway in 1842. The property was an early work by the distinguished Manchester architect Thomas Worthington, and it later became his own home when the Swanwicks decided to move out to Hale Barns in 1869. The house was built in 1845-47, and the south wing and gatehouse in 1873. The Tithe Map dating from 1841 shows the area before any development took place. Broomfield House was one of the earliest properties to be developed, and can be seen on the c.1875 OS map before it was extended in that year. The 1910 OS map shows it after the extension and gatehouse were built, together with the winding drive and the stables.

Broomfield was Worthington’s first commission. The field on which it was built was covered with broom, hence its name, and the stone to build it was cut from an adjoining quarry. His inspiration for the design was the 14th century Manor House at Great Chatfield, Wiltshire, which had been illustrated by AWN Pugin in his book ‘Examples’. Aspects of the Vicars’ Close at Wells, and South Wraxall Manor, Wiltshire can also be spotted in the architectural composition, and Worthington was perhaps also influenced by the work of the contemporary Gothic Revival architect, William Butterfield, in the robust form and rough texture of the building.

The house was designed with a deliberately informal plan with steeply pitched slate roofs, high gables, buttresses, dormers and groups of mullioned windows. Rock-faced sandstone is contained by heavy ashlar dressings and there are tall stone chimneys with rows of square stacks. The right hand bay has a canted oriel at upper storey level on corbelling sprung from a carved head. To the left of it is a rebated 4-centred doorcase with a label mould, containing a pair of studded oak doors with scrolled iron hinges. Above it is a Latin dedication "Haec Domus Aedificata Est" and the date in medieval script. Further to the left is a stone gargoyle rainwater head. Originally the plan was T-shaped, but the extension of 1875, partly built in stone and partly in timber-framing, forms a wing to the rear, which is terminated in an octagonal turret. The gatehouse which was also added by Worthington has the date and initials 18TW75 on a tablet above the archway. In 1875 Worthington added the rear wing, which consisted of a nursery backing onto the morning room, lit by a window looking out to the service courtyard, and a large drawing room with a projecting bay window. A new lobby with a doorway leading out to the garden provided a connection between the morning room and the new drawing room. A scullery in stone and brick was added in 1875 at the same time that the gateway and kitchen court were formed.

Worthington had a strong strong commitment to social reform, and was a leading member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society and the Royal Manchester Institution. He was commissioned to design a number of public buildings, including schools, hospitals public baths and workhouses. He is best known as the architect of the Albert Memorial in Albert Square, Manchester (1862-67), but also designed the Memorial Hall (1864), Withington Hospital (1866), Minshull Street Police Courts (1868-71), Brookfield Unitarian Church (1869-71) and Nicholls Hospital (1879). He also built The Towers, Didsbury (1871), a house for J E Taylor, co-founder of the Manchester Guardian.