Leigham Court Estate: where eclectic gothic revival and vernacular meet

Again the streets are laid out on a grid pattern of long parallel streets flanked by long terraces. On the Leigham Court Estate the buildings are mostly 3 storeys high with an attic or attic rooms with dormers, making the buildings effectively 3 floors. The streetscape is very similar at first glance as few materials are used.

The central church of St Margaret the Queen, within the Diocese of Southwark, was built between 1889 and 1907 after designs by Plumbe and Harvey This red brick and red stone building in a mixed style closer to Arts and Crafts than true Gothic Revival was consecrated in 1906.The housing (on the right) is constructed of the same materials and has many terracotta mouldings used as structural ornaments.

Although mostly classified as Gothic Revival architecture, the style of Leigham Court Estate is more eclectic with a wide mix of stylistic details making up the architecture. These high-class terraces for clerks and office workers are inspired by Dutch Gables of the Baroque, although the banding is more typical of Rhineland Renaissance Architecture. The festoons above the doors are also quite baroque. The high bays are evidence of Arts and Crafts influences.

These triangular pediments above the entrance porches (left) are inspired by Greco-Roman architecture. This robust covered entrance on a corner is more neo-byzantine mixed with Arts and Crafts.

The vary varied facades counter the length of the blocks. Especially high gable ends with decorative gable tops and protruding sections and bays are used to create a variable building line and give the impression of many separate buildings along the long straight streets.

On the left, another example of mixed idiom with a Gothic Revival style facade in yellow brick with red dressing combined with Classicist triangular pediments and Romanesque round arches. The gable tops are treated in English vernacular. These buildings have one-down-one-up flats with two doors behind every arch. On the edge of the estate these Arts and Crafts inspired apartment buildings were built with details taken from classical architecture.

This mixed idiom is also expressed in the design of this terrace with a rendered upper storey with asymmetrical twin gable ends with a round window in the gable top. Heavy chimney stacks and fire wall create a picturesque effect from the ground floor up. At street level the building is similar to the brick and stone buildings in other parts of the estate.

After 1907 the style changes from a mixed eclectic idiom to standard English vernacular as advocated by the Garden City Movement and popular with developers at the time. The buildings built between 1907 and 1928 are mostly semidetached houses for the lower middle-class. After WW1 there was also a tendency towards specialised housing. The pensioner cottages -shown on the right- that were built along Hillside Gardens are a good example.

The long streets with long terraces and linked semidetached houses create a semi-urban rather than suburban feel. This is exacerbated by the paving over of the original front gardens for parking. The houses are much lighter than the older section of the estate which creates a strong contrast between these subsequent styles of architecture.