York Mansions is one of the seven Victorian blocks of flats on Prince of Wales Drive, London, between Albert Bridge Road and Queenstown Road, in Battersea, in the London borough of Wandsworth. The four-storey building is portered.
York Mansions is one of the seven Victorian blocks of flats on Prince of Wales Drive, London, between Albert Bridge Road and Queenstown Road, in Battersea, in the London borough of Wandsworth. The four-storey building is portered.
York Mansions was designed by Frederick Thomas Pilkington, and was constructed on the former gardens of the defunct Albert Palace. Pilkington incorporated the very latest thinking in his design.
Construction began in 1897 and was completed in 1901 – Pilkington did not see the completion of York Mansions, as he had died in October 1898. The first work undertaken was the laying of the drains in May 1897. Construction was completed from west to east, and the building was constructed from London stock brick and Yorkstone.
When built, York Mansions consisted of 100 flats, which were arranged around 3 internal courtyards. The flats at the front of block overlooked Battersea Park, whereas flats at the back of the building overlooked Battersea Polytechnic. Flats measured approximately 1,500 square feet (140 m2) for a 3-bedroom flat, and 1,800 square feet (170 m2) for a 4-bedroom flat, and included a drawing room, dining room, bathroom and rooms for a maid to live and work.
A below-ground corridor ran the full length of the building, which provided internal access to the three separate courtyards and also acted as a servant’s corridor (servants did not use the main entrance to the building). In addition, the building was equipped with service lifts which led directly from the courtyards to the kitchens.
As had become standard, a small servant’s corridor was separated off within each flat and a separate servant’s lavatory (but no bathroom) was provided. Except at the ends of the building where it would have been considered too public and unseemly, the servants lavatory was outside, accessed from the balcony beside the kitchen door.
No separate scullery was provided and the original plans show the kitchen sink in the same room as the range and always in front of a window. At the time this was unconventional arrangement, and was later termed ‘American style’.
The flats at the rear corners of the building offered an unusual scenario where the maid, working at the sink, looked out at Battersea Park and had one of the best views in the whole flat.
When built the flats were modern, and had Queen Anne and Kate Greenaway style fire-surrounds, corrugated brass finger plates and plain ceilings. Ceiling roses were still being installed in many new houses but, by this date, were increasingly being viewed as somewhat "lower middle class". The flats also had a chrome postal handle, some of the York Mansions' flats still make use of the original fitting (the postal handle is a horizontal post flap with a fixed handle just below the opening, which is used to pull the flat door shut).
Although electricity appears to have been laid along Prince of Wales Drive, London at a very early stage, it was not extended into York Mansions until after the First World War. Lighting was by gas, utilising the new incandescent mantles, which concealed the naked flames and produced a softer, pleasanter light.
Cooking was by solid fuel, using the rather square-rather-than-wide kitchen ranges. A coal-bin for each flat was provided in a cupboard outside the kitchen door in the servant’s corridor.
Elevators were installed in the building in 1922.
The block had cast-iron fence railings across the front, but they were removed to make munitions during the Second World War, and have not been replaced. The building also had a false parapet running along the front roof-line, but it was removed when it became unstable.
When the flats were constructed they were rented out, however, the flats gradually moved from rental and were sold on the standard lease of 99 years. In the 1960s, many owners purchased the freehold for their flat and took 999 year leases – today, very few York Mansions' flats do not own a share of the freehold.
In 1901, resident's occupations included: solicitors, an electrical engineer, artist, bankers/stockbrokers, writers/journalists, military (some worked in a medical capacity), a medical inspector of H M Prisons, ministers, a patent agent, a barrister, medical students, a solo violinist and conductor, a manufacturer of bitters, and an assistant schoolmaster. Others were living on their own means. 1901 notable residents included Laurence Housman and his sister Clemence Housman. A caretaker, called Harry Bright, and his family also lived in the building. [1]
Between 1904 and 1919, residents included military personnel, ranking from captain to colonel. However, in 1916 and 1917, Major General Henry Jardine Hallowes; 1916 to 1918, Rear Admiral Manuel Diaz; and 1918 and 1919, Major General Stewart M. Hutchinson also lived in the block. From 1914 to 1919, York Mansion's residents included reverends and a medical doctor.
Other notable residents of York Mansions included: E. W. Bullinger between 1905 and 1908, Pamela Colman Smith between 1907 and 1908, Frederick Joseph Harvey Darton, who was an early scholar of children's literature, in 1908 and Lady Mary Adele Hughes in 1908. Between 1906 and 1908 the caretaker, Percy Edward Briance, and between 1914 and 1919 the caretaker, Frank Thomas Montgomery, lived in flat 81. [2]
York Mansions does not have a blue plaque.
York Mansions has appeared in the following films:
York Mansions has also been referenced in P. G. Wodehouse's short story "The Romance of an Ugly Policeman".
In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the great hall was the largest room in castles and large houses, and where the servants usually slept. As more complex house plans developed, the hall remained a large room for dancing and large feasts, often still with servants sleeping there. It was usually immediately inside the main door. In modern British houses, an entrance hall next to the front door remains an indispensable feature, even if it is essentially merely a corridor.
Balham is an area in south London, England. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as Belgeham.
Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the 200-acre (0.81 km2) Battersea Park.
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) to the design of Leonard Pearce, Engineer in Chief to the LPC, and CS Allott & Son Engineers. The architects were J. Theo Halliday and Giles Gilbert Scott. The station is one of the world's largest brick buildings and notable for its original, Art Deco interior fittings and decor.
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The Holly Lodge Estate is a housing estate in Highgate, north London.
Battersea is a constituency in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It has been represented since 2017 by Marsha de Cordova of the Labour Party.
Servants' quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century, they were a common feature in many large houses. Sometimes they are an integral part of a smaller house—in the basements and attics, especially in a town house, while in larger houses they are often a purpose-built adjacent wing or block. In architectural descriptions and guidebooks of stately homes, the servants' quarters are frequently overlooked, yet they form an important piece of social history, often as interesting as the principal part of the house itself.
The A3036 is an A road in London, England, running from Waterloo to Wandsworth.
Frederick Thomas Pilkington (1832-1898), pupil of his father, was a "Rogue" British architect, practising in the Victorian High Gothic revival style. He designed mostly churches and institutional buildings in Scotland. Typical of his work is the Barclay Church in Edinburgh, a polychrome stone structure with early French Gothic details.
Edwardian architecture usually means a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to the year 1914 may also be included in this style.
The Wilbraham is an apartment building at 282–284 Fifth Avenue and 1 West 30th Street in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The nine-story structure was designed by David and John Jardine in the Romanesque Revival style, with elements of the Renaissance Revival style, and occupies the northwestern corner of 30th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was built between 1888 and 1890 as a bachelor apartment hotel. The Wilbraham is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Edward William Mountford was an English architect, noted for his Edwardian Baroque style, who designed a number of town halls – Sheffield, Battersea and Lancaster – as well as the Old Bailey in London. He served as President of the Architectural Association, and as a council-member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, but died young at the age of 52, "removing from the front rank of the profession a very able and distinguished architect".
The Belnord is a condominium building at 225 West 86th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 13-story structure was designed by Hiss and Weekes in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and occupies the full block between Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and 86th and 87th Streets. It was built between 1908 and 1909 by a syndicate of investors as a rental apartment building. The Belnord is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Prince of Wales Drive is a street in Battersea, in the London borough of Wandsworth. It is situated on the southern perimeter of Battersea Park.
The Albert Palace was a large building located in Battersea, in the borough of Wandsworth, London. It faced, and formed a backdrop to the lake in Battersea Park, and was a re-erection of an iron and glass structure, like The Crystal Palace of 1851, which had partly housed the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865.
Fortitude Valley Police Station is a heritage-listed police station at 119 Brookes Street, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Raymond Clare Nowland and built from 1935 to 1936. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 June 1999.
Battersea Town Hall, originally the New Parochial Offices, Battersea, is a Grade II* listed municipal building in Battersea, south London, designed by Edward Mountford and erected between 1891 and 1893 by the Battersea vestry to provide public halls and office space for its staff. The building served for 72 years as the hub of municipal Battersea until the centre of local government was moved to neighbouring Wandsworth in 1965, after which it transitioned to use as a community and arts centre, latterly known as the Battersea Arts Centre.
Battersea Central Library is a public lending library situated on Lavender Hill in Battersea, south-west London. The library was built by the Battersea Vestry between 1889 and 1890, to a design by Edward Mountford, and remains in use in contemporary times as one of Wandsworth Council's libraries, operated by Greenwich Leisure Ltd.
The Winstanley and York Road Estate comprises two large estates of predominantly public housing apartments in Battersea, London, adjacent to Clapham Junction railway station, although some have since passed into private ownership.
