Friday, August 29, 2014

Northampton


A ‘sort of Jacobethan’

This doorway in the middle of Northampton, sandwiched between two shops, is easy to miss. Easy to miss, that is, until you look up, when you realise that it’s part of quite a large corner building full (above the modern shopfronts) of big windows, banded masonry, and curvy gables. But what kept my eye engaged, and my mind boggling, was the busy collection of carved stone motifs above the doorway. Pevsner describes this 1902 structure as being ‘in a sort of Jacobethan manner’ and notes that the architect was J P Sharp of Birmingham.

The architect certainly threw the kitchen sink at this entrance. The carved crosses, roundels, and nail-heads certainly seem to be straight out of the pattern-book of standard Tudor-Jacobean patterns – but perhaps you’d be as likely to see them around a 17th-century fireplace as framing a doorway. There are classical motifs too and some of these, like the little Ionic capitals, are highly ornate, again in the manner of Jacobethan builders, who got their classicism as much from Renaissance buildings in France as from Greece or Rome. Put all these elements together and you have a very ornate, turn-of-the-century sort of Jacobethan.

This is confirmed by the lettering, which has eccentric touches (the bulbous lower portion of the B, the rather oddly proportioned M) that don’t look Jacobean at all. These forms are very much of their time: not quite Art Nouveau, but very nearly. This, and the curious cornice above, which comes to a sharp point but does not quite turn into a pediment, are the crowning touches – eccentric, to be sure, but offering a welcome bit of visual incident amidst the more commonplace shop fronts on either side.

7 comments:

Peter Ashley said...

Funny thing is, some bits and pieces are so out of scale now that they look as if lifted from Kirby Hall. Well you never know, not that far away.

Angela said...

That is quite incredible, was born and brought up in Northampton and while it is rather familiar, I cannot for the life of me remember quite where it is. Is it in the Drapery? Or down nearer to the Guildhall road. Hope you will elaborate further. Best wishes

Angela

Philip Wilkinson said...

Angela: Yes, it's in the Drapery. The shop on the right is Carphone Warehouse I think.

Philip Wilkinson said...

Peter: There is something odd about the scale - you're right. If not literally lifted, maybe copied?

Angela said...

Thanks Philip, will have a proper look for it next time I visit.

Joseph Biddulph (Publisher) said...

I like this kind of thing - much underrated. The building has a practical purpose - which it served, and probably continues to do so in many cases (even perhaps despite lack of car parking space), and at the same time gives the visitor something to look at and interpret. I don't think we have to be sniffy because it's eclectic and makes historical references, or even make up a word "Jacobethan" as if it has misrepresented the past (I imagine Pevsner sneering as he writes it!): perhaps a certain irresponsibility adds the element Pevsner was not so good at - jollity. .

Philip Wilkinson said...

Yes, in fact there's a double sneer from Pevsner: it's not simply Jacobethan but 'sort of' Jacobethan.