|
Little Orchard, Bull Lane
Alan Payne April 2018 Illustrations Sandie Roach, except where stated Most houses in Box are built of traditional stone blocks or rubble stone. In style they are often cottages or semi-detached villas. One exception is Little Orchard, Bulls Lane, which is a truly unique property. The building divided opinion, shocking to some but modern to others. This is the story of the house and its owners. |
Illustration of the original house (courtesy Stiles & Stiles)
|
Original House
The house was built about 1930 deliberately designed to stand out in the village. Its style is modernist, using new techniques and new styles of design. It was based on the Art Deco style of the 1930s which sought to have simple lines and be a machine for living. It originally had a flat roof, strip windows and an open-plan interiors.
The house was always difficult to describe. The sales particulars of Stiles and Stiles in 1988 called it of individual architectural design and then went on to incorrectly call it having many Georgian traits - couldn't be more wrong on that! They did say it was well positioned as the photo below shows to be correct.[1] It was a large, modern property. It was described in 1988 as highly desirable, mature residence, set in delightful grounds, having reception hall, 2 downstairs claokrooms, lobby with shower, lounge, 5 bedrooms, kitchen with walk-in pantry, bathroom, dining room and outside garage, 2 workshops and workshop / studio in grounds of about half an acre.
The house was built about 1930 deliberately designed to stand out in the village. Its style is modernist, using new techniques and new styles of design. It was based on the Art Deco style of the 1930s which sought to have simple lines and be a machine for living. It originally had a flat roof, strip windows and an open-plan interiors.
The house was always difficult to describe. The sales particulars of Stiles and Stiles in 1988 called it of individual architectural design and then went on to incorrectly call it having many Georgian traits - couldn't be more wrong on that! They did say it was well positioned as the photo below shows to be correct.[1] It was a large, modern property. It was described in 1988 as highly desirable, mature residence, set in delightful grounds, having reception hall, 2 downstairs claokrooms, lobby with shower, lounge, 5 bedrooms, kitchen with walk-in pantry, bathroom, dining room and outside garage, 2 workshops and workshop / studio in grounds of about half an acre.
White building with flat roof seen in the foreground (courtesy Stiles and Stiles)
Charles Oatley
The style was chosen by Charles William Bond Oatley, local auctioneer, Justice of the Peace and chairman of Box Parish Council from 1945 to 1948. He was a dynamic force in Box and a very well-known local person: trusted estate agent and auctioneer, a leading light in the Methodist movement, trustee of Box School and chairman of numerous local charities.[2]
The style was chosen by Charles William Bond Oatley, local auctioneer, Justice of the Peace and chairman of Box Parish Council from 1945 to 1948. He was a dynamic force in Box and a very well-known local person: trusted estate agent and auctioneer, a leading light in the Methodist movement, trustee of Box School and chairman of numerous local charities.[2]
|
He married Hilda Maslen of Tisbutts House, Box Hill, in 1905. She had formerly been a teacher at the village school and was the organist at Box Hill Methodist Chapel for many years.[3]
He had already used a modern design at his warehouse at the Studio built in the grounds of the Oatley family home at Quarry Hill. He conceived his main house as similarly striking, a cubic modernist building, without ornamental additions and built using a new material, concrete. Unlike Box stone, the new material was constructed on site, caste in situ using wooden shuttering. Charles clearly had architectural ambitions. Charles and his wife, Hilda, brought up their family in the home. In 1939 they lived their with their younger daughter Ethel, a state registered nurse. Their eldest daughter, Margaret Ellen was renting accommodation in Victoria Terrace, Bath. Charles died suddenly in 1950 and Hilda, a semi-invalid for forty years, followed him in 1953. Charles William Bond Oatley as an elderly man (courtesy Heather Meays) |
|
Miss Oatley at Bull Lane
Margaret Ellen moved into the house on her parents' death. She never married and worked as a domestic science (mostly cooking) teacher in Corsham. She was a prolific smoker and had a rather fierce reputation as befitted the Jean Brodie of Box.
She found the house too much for her needs in her elderly years and she built a new property next door in her garden, Cherry Tree. Margaret Oatley died in 1995.
Margaret Ellen moved into the house on her parents' death. She never married and worked as a domestic science (mostly cooking) teacher in Corsham. She was a prolific smoker and had a rather fierce reputation as befitted the Jean Brodie of Box.
She found the house too much for her needs in her elderly years and she built a new property next door in her garden, Cherry Tree. Margaret Oatley died in 1995.
The modern appearance of Little Orchard with its pitched roof and entrance porch (courtesy Carol Payne)
Norman and June Jefferies
The modernist architectural movement was always divisive in a period when continuity and certainty were in short supply during the Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War. For many people in the village, Little Orchard was too different, too modern and not built of local materials. There were many village detractors. Geoff Bence called it a hideous building.
On Miss Oatley's relocation to Cherry Tree, the house was bought by Norman and June Jefferies in 1988 but they didn't move in until 1993. Norman was involved with an independent cinema which had operated from the 1930s until 1976. Norman and June first ran the Regal Cinema, Corsham, which they then converted to the Corsham Film Theatre. Later they opened three Gemini Cinemas in Bath, in 1976. The Egg Theatre is now located on the Bath cinema site.
The Corsham project was a cult cinema, often called a cinema treasure, operating on the Pickwick Road, and in its time beloved by a loyal clientele. Norman started as the projectionist and took over the cinema in 1958.[4] By 1976 local cinemas had been superseded by wide-screen, better furnished, complexes in cities and the old Regal closed.
Either for aesthetic or practical purposes, Norman and June altered the appearance of Little Orchard, putting on a pitched roof and front porch. Amazingly the lintel of the original building was re-used and can still be seen in Box outside Pleasant View, once owned by Charles Oatley's mother. Norman died in 2009 and June continued there until her death in 2011.
Modernist styles have divided opinion since they shocked the world in the 1930s. Matisse's use of colour often seems naive but the music of Schoenberg, with its atonality, is complex. So it was with Little Orchard. Modernism continues to fulfil its intentions - to divide and challenge accepted opinion.
The modernist architectural movement was always divisive in a period when continuity and certainty were in short supply during the Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War. For many people in the village, Little Orchard was too different, too modern and not built of local materials. There were many village detractors. Geoff Bence called it a hideous building.
On Miss Oatley's relocation to Cherry Tree, the house was bought by Norman and June Jefferies in 1988 but they didn't move in until 1993. Norman was involved with an independent cinema which had operated from the 1930s until 1976. Norman and June first ran the Regal Cinema, Corsham, which they then converted to the Corsham Film Theatre. Later they opened three Gemini Cinemas in Bath, in 1976. The Egg Theatre is now located on the Bath cinema site.
The Corsham project was a cult cinema, often called a cinema treasure, operating on the Pickwick Road, and in its time beloved by a loyal clientele. Norman started as the projectionist and took over the cinema in 1958.[4] By 1976 local cinemas had been superseded by wide-screen, better furnished, complexes in cities and the old Regal closed.
Either for aesthetic or practical purposes, Norman and June altered the appearance of Little Orchard, putting on a pitched roof and front porch. Amazingly the lintel of the original building was re-used and can still be seen in Box outside Pleasant View, once owned by Charles Oatley's mother. Norman died in 2009 and June continued there until her death in 2011.
Modernist styles have divided opinion since they shocked the world in the 1930s. Matisse's use of colour often seems naive but the music of Schoenberg, with its atonality, is complex. So it was with Little Orchard. Modernism continues to fulfil its intentions - to divide and challenge accepted opinion.
References
[1] Stiles & Stiles Sales Particulars, 1988
[2] The Wiltshire Times, 9 December 1950
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 26 September 1953
[4] There is a marvellous article about the cinema and pictures of Norman and June at http://www.corshamcivicsociety.co.uk/2013/03/step-back-into-corshams-cinematic-past/
[1] Stiles & Stiles Sales Particulars, 1988
[2] The Wiltshire Times, 9 December 1950
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 26 September 1953
[4] There is a marvellous article about the cinema and pictures of Norman and June at http://www.corshamcivicsociety.co.uk/2013/03/step-back-into-corshams-cinematic-past/