Of
the houses the Bostock family have owned, rented and built in
Stafford here is a list of the notable ones:-
Thomas
Bostock (1777-1865) – Rickerscote
Edwin
Bostock (1807 – 1883) – Green Hall and The Hough
Edwin
Bostock (1838 – 1901) – Tixall Lodge
Henry
Bostock (1841 – 1923) – Greenfield Cottage and The Oaklands
Alice
Susanna Bostock (1844 – 1931) – The Ancient High
House
Henry John Bostock (1870 – 1956) – Shawms
Frederick
Marson Bostock (1871 – 1945) – Upmeads
Godfrey
Stafford Bostock (1915 – 2008) – Tixall House
Shawms
and Upmeads
Shawms
was built in 1905 on Radford Bank for Henry John Bostock J.P C.B.E and his wife, Eleanora, by the Stafford architect Henry T Sandy. Sandy came from a religious family and two
of his brothers became priests. Sandy commenced his training in the
office of
Basil C Champneys, architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners,
where he remained for 18 months and then for six months was assistant
to Elijah Jones. In 1891 he returned to Stafford to commence
independent practice and about 1900 he acquired the practice of
Nicholas Joyce in Stafford. By 1914 he had established a second
office in Birmingham. Sandy completed some major buildings for the Catholic church, including the Chapel at St Paul's Convent and St Edward's Church, Selly Park, as well as St Paul's School, Edgbaston and St Edward's Care Home, Coleshill. He was highly skilled in a number of architectural styles. Henry John Bostock was a religious minded man
so it is no wonder he chose Sandy, who was also a fashionably arts
and crafts architect. Eleanora Bostock also came from a family with distinct architectural taste - her brother lived at Edgemoor, Hale, and commissioned a marvellously Arthurian mural in the billiards room there. Henry John shared his modern taste in
architecture with his brother, Frederick Marson Bostock, who in 1908
completed an internationally important house, Upmeads. It was probably competition with his older brother that led to Frederick, and the redoubtable Mabel Bostock, commissioning Edgar Wood to design their house.
Shawms was named 'The Shawms' because
of the nearby public house, 'The Trumpet'. Henry John was obviously
possessed of a sense of humour as well as a sense of religion. 'With
trumpets and shawms' indeed!
Shawms c.1906 - part of the pergola on the left is now at Upmeads
Stained glass with the 'Shawms' from Shawms and now at Dallowgill
Henry John Bostock masterminded the
formation of Lotus, which was amalgamated from the original companies
of Edwin Bostock of Stafford and Frederick Bostock of Northampton.
Lotus became a public company in 1920.
Henry John Bostock C.B.E, Alderman and Mayor of Stafford and High Sheriff of Staffordshire
Eleanora Bostock (nee Handley)
Eleanora Bostock
The Billiards Room at Edgemoor, home to Eleanora Bostock's brother, George Forrester Handley
Gilbert Handley Bostock and James Forrester Bostock at Shawms
Henry John Bostock by Frank Salisbury RA
Henry John Bostock photographed by Howard Coster
The pioneer skier!
Henry
John Bostock became Managing Director of Lotus in 1920, and Chairman
in 1923. He held the two offices until 1945 when he gave up his
managing directorship but continued as Chairman until 1953.
Lotus c.1925
Lotus in the late Forties
Although
the running of Lotus Ltd with its three thousand employees
was his main concern he found time to serve in other spheres, and was
President of the Incorporated Federated Associations of Boot and Shoe
Manufacturers from 1922 to 1925, and took a prominent part in
negotiations with the Trade Union.
In
civic affairs he gave outstanding service after his first election to
the Stafford Town Council in 1902. He was Mayor of Stafford (like his Uncle, William Albert Marson and Grandfather John Marson before) in 1914, became Alderman in 1918,
and served on the council until 1956. He was made a Freeman of the
Borough in 1942, after 40 years service.
He
was a member of the Staffordshire County Council for many years, a J.P, and
was High Sheriff of Staffordshire from 1948 to 1949. He was awarded
the C.B.E in the 1953 Coronation Honours and attended the Coronation in Westminster Abbey with Mrs Bostock and their son, James Forrester Bostock and his wife, Isabel (James was High Sheriff of Staffordshire for the Coronation year).
While Lotus would play host, at times, to Royalty - it was Shawms that formed the backdrop to the Bostocks' social life. Houseparty guests included Conservative politician William Ormsby Gore, 4th Baron Harlech, Liberal politician and philanthropist Lord Charnwood, famous church musician Herbert Howells, Conservative MP and one of the architects of the League of Nations Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, Labour MP James Lovat-Fraser, Scottish Unionist Party MP Walter Elliot, founder of Aiglon College John Corlette,the 10th Duke of Devonshire, Conservative MP Viscount Dunrossil, Liberal politician Nelia Muspratt, Director of BBC music Adrian Boult, the Organist of Trnity College, Cambridge, Hubert Stanley Middleton and the industrialist Sir Charles Bruce-Gardner.
Henry John Bostock in Stafford
James and Isabel Bostock's invitation to the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II
Commemoration window in the Guild Hall Stafford in honour of Henry John Bostock. The Bostock family coat of arms is in the bottom central panel, and shawms in the panels either side.
Henry John Bostock (right) with a group including Lord De L'Isle and Dudley (left)
A presentation certificate presented to Henry John Bostock in his mayoral year in 1915. Shawms is at the bottom right
Henry and Eleanora Bostock at Shawms
A garden display in honour of Henry John Bostock
Stained glass window in Holy Trinity Church, Baswich, donated by H.J. Bostock in thanksgiving for his fifty years residence in the area.
Detail of the window
Henry
John, Frederick Marson Bostock and their brothers and sisters were
brought up at The Oaklands, which their Father, Henry Bostock, had
built on land bought in Rowley Park to designs by Henry's brother in law, Samuel Dorman in 1879. This was a large Victorian house with stables, cottages, formal gardens and was of an interesting design; red brick with stone
dressings, timber framed sections and a profuse use of leaded panes
in the mullioned windows with stained glass. The front door was beneath a Mediaeval-style gothic arch and Mrs Bostock's boudoir was above, which took the form, externally, of a realistic attempt at timber framed Tudor re-creation. The central staircase hall had a mosaic floor and a galleried oak staircase. In the house were the Drawing, Dining and Morning Rooms, numerous service rooms, the Boudoir, nine bedrooms, Dressing Rooms, Day and Night Nurseries, School Room and store rooms. There was a Conservatory, Carnation and Cucumber Houses. There was a formal walk on axis with the Dining Room windows and the grounds, rich in fruit trees, gave on to a small park. There was a small jersey herd to complete the picture. The Oaklands was demolished in the 1980's and houses built on the grounds. It is now known as 'Oaklands Drive'. Henry Bostock also built a holiday house on Cannock Chase called 'The Besoms', which looked straight over the Chase and had a large garden. Henry's major building work was the truly palatial factory on the Sandon Road, which he had built in 1901 to designs by W H Simpson.
Henry Bostock of The Oaklands c.1860
Samuel Dorman, architect of The Oaklands and first cousin of Henry Bostock
Henry bostock's new factory
A later image of Lotus with Henry Bostock's factory building on the left
The gates to The Oaklands in c. 1910. A Bostock dog is to the left of the gatepost
1931
The entrance front of The Oaklands as built and designed by Samuel Dorman
The service wing elevation of The Oaklands
The garden front of The Oaklands
(These three images are copyright of The Staffordshire Record Office)
The Bostock family at The Oaklands. Henry is sitting between the two youngest, Alice is standing at the centre. Henry John Bostock of Shawms is on her right and Frederick Marson Bostock of Upmeads on her right.
Emily Gertrude and Madeline Louise Bostock at The Oaklands
Samuel Dorman also built Rowley House in 1882, which was later lived in by Dudley Bostock, It was extended by Henry T Sandy for Dudley in 1921.
Rowley House, Stafford, designed by Samuel Dorman in 1882
Rowley House today - with extra wings!
Emily Gertrude Bostock and her husband, Professor Edward Provan Cathcart CBE at The Oaklands
The Oaklands after the wedding of Emily Gertrude and Edward Provan Cathcart in 1913
Professor Edward Provan Cathcart
Henry Bostock (far left) and Alice Bostock (far right) at The Oaklands in 1913
Henry and Alice Bostock with their family at The Oaklands in 1909
Alice Bostock in the Dining Room at The Oaklands
The Oaklands in 1931
The Besoms, Brocton
Henry Bostock by George Percy Jacomb-Hood, M.V.O, R.B.A
Henry Bostock's Sandon Road factory in 1996 before demolition
The front door of the Henry's factory
Henry
Bostock's wife, Alice, was the daughter of John Marson, who was Alderman and Mayor of Stafford in 1847. John Marson
owned The Ancient High House, reputably England's largest timber
framed townhouse. This skyscraper of an Elizabethan house still gazes
down on Stafford. Built for the Sneyd family in the Sixteenth Century
it was bought by John Marson, in the early 1820's. He
lived in the house and converted the ground floor in to shops. His son, William Albert Marson, took over the house on his death and ran a successful business from it. The Marson family owned various parts of Stafford and the nearby Butterhill estate in Coppenhall. Alice Bostock's mother, Jane (nee Cramer's), family lived at Greenfield Cottage, a handsome late Georgian villa surrounded by a small park and large grounds, where Cramer Street now stands. Henry and Alice spent their early married life at Greenfield and Henry John Bostock was born there. This was originally the home of Alice's Grandfather, James Cramer, Gent.
Alice Bostock's maternal grandparents's home, Greenfield Cottage
Henry and Alice Bostock at The Oaklands
Alice Bostock (nee Marson) in 1864
Alice Bostock (nee Marson)
John Marson (1805-1864), Alderman and Mayor of Stafford
The Ancient High House at the time of the Marsons
The Ancient High House now
The Ancient High House from the tower of St Mary's Parish Church
William Albert Marson was also Mayor of Stafford (in 1906), as was his brother, James Cramer Marson (in 1876) and his first cousin, Frederic Marson, in 1878. It was Frederic who presented the town of Stafford with the mighty Marson Mayoral Cup. One
wonders whether the timber framed elements of The Oaklands were a fond
reference to Alice Bostock's magnificent Tudor birthplace and childhood home.
Susanna Marson - 1783 - 1854 (nee Rogers of Normicott Grange, Staffordshire), Grandmother of Alice Susannah Bostock (nee Marson)
Portraits of James and Susannah Marson (nee Rogers)of Acton Trussell in William Albert Marson's dining room in Stafford
Mayor and Mayoress Marson of Stafford in 1906
Mayor William Marson of Stafford, 1906
William Albert Marson with his Magic Lanterns in 1871. He used to put on displays for the people of Stafford
William Albert Marson at a Ball he gave at The Ancient High House in 1884
Mayor William Albert Marson (centre) with Mrs Marson and, fourth from the left, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. 1906
The William Albert Marson memorial window in the south aisle of St Mary's Church, Stafford. The window shows Saints, including Bertelin, who were connected with Stafford. The Marson family arms is at the bottom in the centre.
Henry's Father, Edwin Bostock J.P, had also lived in important buildings, the
first of which was Green Hall (at that time known at Forebridge
Hall), which he moved his young family in to at the end of the first half of the Nineteenth Century.
This house is still standing, grand, clean and four-square on the
corner of Stafford's main roundabout. It used to be outside the town
walls and had large gardens and a park, lodges, stables and an ice house.
Green Hall (formerly Forebridge Hall)
Green Hall
Green Hall (centre) with its park and its relation to stafford. The lodge of The Hough can be seen in the far right hand corner. This was drawn in 1881 just after Edwin had left Green Hall for The Hough
The Bostock family then moved to The Hough, also off the
Lichfield Road, which Edwin built. This must have been a very attractive house, with its canted bays, high ceilings and formal gardens. The house still stands and is now Lloyd's bank. Edwin's Father, Thomas Bostock, was the first of the family in Stafford and he lived at Rickerscote and farmed one hundred acres there.
The Indentures of Thomas Bostock, 1777-1805
The Indentures of William Bostock, 1745-1809, Grandfather of Edwin of Stafford, Frederick of Northampton and Thomas of Stone
The Hough, built by Edwin Bostock
Edwin Bostock's house at The Hough is the large one opposite Hough Villa. St Paul's church at the top left adjoins the park of Green Hall. This was drawn in 1881, by which time Edwin Bostock was living at The Hough.
The fire at Edwin Bostock's Stafford factory at Foregate Street in 1901
The Lotus fire brigade
The Lotus Great War Memorial
The Staff Bar at Lotus in the 1950's. The Bostock crest of the muzzled bear is on the bar
In Northampton the family had also owned important houses. Frederick (1812-1890), the brother of Edwin, lived at a handsome Georgian mansion in Northampton at Sheep Street. This large Georgian townhouse is standing, alongside its stable block, bereft of its formal gardens. The interior is grand and spacious. Frederick founded, what was, the oldest shoe manufacturer in Northampton. Frederick's son, another Frederick D.L (1859-1940), lived at Springfield, Cliftonville, in Northampton. This is a large elegant house on the edge of Northampton. He then bought and rebuilt Pitsford House completely. Frederick added two large Elizabethan-style wings to the house and festooned the front of the house in Bostock heraldry…as befitted the newly landed gentleman and great-grandson of the original Bostock Derbyshire cordwainer.
Frederick Bostock of Northampton
The Bostock mansion in Northampton at 47 Sheep Street
The Georgian front staircase, now enclosed, at 47 Sheep Street
Springfield, Cliftonville
Springfield
Pitsford House, Northamptonshire
Pitsford House with the Bostock crest, with the muzzled bear, above the door and the shield and initials of Frederick above the window to the left
Frederick's sister, Louisa, had married James Manfield, son of Sir Moses Philip Manfield. Sir Moses was one of the great names in the Northampton shoe scene. Louisa and James Manfield built Weston Favell House (now Manfield Grange) in 1901. This is one of Northamptonshire's grandest late Victorian houses.
Weston Favell House (now Manfield Grange)
Within
just a century the style of houses built by Bostocks in Stafford had
gone from Neo-Classical, through Neo-Tudor to Arts and Crafts and
beyond.
The entrance front of Shawms in September 2015
The garden front of Shawms in September 2015
Shawms in 1939
The top terrace at shawms
Shawms was built of very fine
materials; brick and tiles with roughcast walls and Hollington stone
mullioned windows. The entrance facade seems to be 'more glass than wall', with two asymmetrical gables at each end and one in the centre, under which is a stone plaque with the date of the house. When built the main rooms faced south west across Thomas
Mawson's gardens, which meandered down to the canal, which was
expertly incorporated in to the plan. The ground floor of Shawms
consists of various small rooms and several principal rooms
overlooking the garden; the sitting room/hall, drawing room, dining
room and study. The entrance hall had stained glass incorporating the
Bostock family coat of arms and pairs of Shawms. These were removed and placed in windows at Godfrey Stafford Bostock's shooting lodge at Dallowgill in Yorkshire. The floor of the hall was paved in mosaic in geometric patterns incorporating the initials of Henry Bostock and Nora Bostock. A similar, though grander, floor scheme was carried out by Sandy at St Paul's School, Edgbaston.
Mosaic-work in the entrance hall at Shawms
The similar floor at St Paul's School, Edgbaston
The hall, staircase and sitting room opened-off one another. The sitting room at Shawms has an oak
fire-surround surmounted by a remarkable deeply coved plaster over mantel covered in Elizabethan-style plasterwork incorporating strap work and a 'green man'. The drawing room is a much more feminine room and has panelling with shelves and a
convex mirror with a Baroque-style surround with festoons and ribbons. The dining room has a large bay window. The impressive carved chimneypiece and over mantel have been removed. On the first
floor there were six bedrooms and two bathrooms and the second floor
had bedrooms for the servants. Each of the nine bedrooms in the house
had a fireplace, which explains one of the crowning architectural
features of Shawms, its huge tapering chimney stacks.
The coved over mantel in the Hall at shawms
The over mantel convex mirror in the Drawing Room at shawms
The Bostock heraldic window from Shawms and now at Dallowgill
Mrs Bostock and family in the Dining Room at Shawms
Another view of the Dining Room showing the carved overmantel - now removed.
Henry John
Bostock was very widely travelled and Shawms, in the early views,
appears almost un-English. To me it is a little like a lake house in
Switzerland, indeed it would not be out of place on the banks of lake
Geneva. Henry John was one of the pioneer British skiers and had
spent much time in Switzerland. He also sent his youngest child, my Grandfather Godfrey, there
to school at the Alpine College in Villars.
Shawms is most similar, albeit on a far reduced scale, to Sandy's now-demolished St Edward's Home, Coleshill, of 1905. Here the symmetry is strict and the architecture is grand and not vernacular. The arched hood to the door is seen again at Shawms, as is the triple gable facade. Sandy's skill with Baroque motifs is much more clearly seen in his palatial work for Lotus.
St Edward's Home, Coleshill
Henry Sandy's 1921 elevation for Lotus
The building as built, with added roundels above the windows in the pavilions
Adjacent to Shawms was a lodge
with garages for three cars and numerous domestic sheds. Next door was 'Little Shawms' and
the house was approached by a private road and was surrounded, at that
time, by open fields. Stafford was then two miles away rather than
surrounding it! The house is an extremely fine example of a medium-sized Arts and Crafts country house with a wealth of fine internal decoration.
Shawms today
Eleanora and Molly Bostock at Shawms
Shawms
Godfrey Stafford Bostock (right) at Shawms in 1937 after a minor road collision
Nancy and Mary - maids at Shawms
Godfrey Stafford Bostock in the garden at shawms with the domed garden house behind
James Forrester Bostock playing tennis at Shawms with the pergola in the background
The grounds were large and there were
greenhouses and a domed cedarwood garden house. Along the garden front of the house ran a long terrace culminating, at the northern end, with steps and a five bay pergola and, at the southern end, with the domed garden house. Thomas Mawson designed the
gardens at Shawms. This was one of his lesser known works. He was one
of the greatest of the early Twentieth Century garden designers. He
had also designed the gardens at Little Onn Hall, childhood
home of Diana Bostock (nee Heywood). Along the garden front of Shawms
was a paved stone terrace with stone steps leading to a large rose
garden. There were lawns, herbaceous borders, rockeries and arbour
walks. The canal was expertly incorporated in to the grounds. It was
filled with lily pads and the family used to row on it. One of Henry John Bostock's favourite pastimes was weeding the lilies on the canal.
Henry John Bostock weeding the lilies with Joe Johnson on the canal at Shawms in 1956
After the death of Eleanora Bostock
Shawms was sold and divided in to apartments. These are looked after beautifully by the current owners. The garden has been largely built on apart from the lawn and terrace by the garden front. After Mrs Bostock died the family donated part of the grounds of Shawms at Baswich to the public in memory Mr and Mrs Henry John Bostock.
Henry and Eleanora Bostock
The Bostock open space (formerly part of the grounds of Shawms)on the east side of the Meadows Canal Bridge outside Stafford
An aerial view of upmeads in its heyday
Upmeads, as it was built, in the countryside outside Stafford
Frederick Marson Bostock was the second
son of Henry Bostock, after Henry John Bostock of Shawms. He was a a
glove manufacturer and Managing Director of Lotus Ltd, Director of
Earl and Earl Ltd, Chairman of Henry Venables Ltd, Director of
Highfield Tanning Co Ltd, Director of Sutor Ltd, Chairman of vik
Supplies ltd and Director of W.H. Peach & Co Ltd. He was also
closely involved with Evode Ltd and the creation of Bostik, which looks like a family punn. He married Mabel Winifred Dorman, a cousin.
The Dormans and Bostock family were closely entwined; Edwin Bostock had
married Joanna Dorman and one of Henry Bostock's daughters had
married John Ehrenfried Dorman. Joanna's brother, William Henry Dorman (founder of Dorman's) lived on Eastgate Street at what is now The William Salt Library. Sir Maurice Henry Dorman, Governor
General of Sierra Leone and Malta was a nephew of Frederick's, as is Richard Bostock Dorman CBE. Their parents, John and Madeleine (nee Bostock) Dorman lived at 77 Eastgate Street. Shawms was lived in by the Bostock family and their kingwood descendants until it was sold in 1985.
The Rev William Henry Dorman, brother-in-law of Edwin Bostock
Rev William Henry Dorman's wife, Selina Augusta Robinson.
Joanna Dorman, wife of Edwin Bostock of The Hough
William Henry Dorman, Junior - founder of Dormans and father of Mabel Bostock of Upmeads
Mabel Winifred Bostock (nee Dorman)of Upmeads
Mabel Bostock by William Cartledge
A colour image of the original portrait showing Mabel Bostock. She always wore a velvet ribbon around her neck with a diamond brooch at the centre.
The Dorman's first Stafford home on Eastgate Street, which is now the William Salt Library
77 Eastgate Street, Stafford - The Dorman family house
W.H Dorman & Co's First World War Memorial painted by H. Clewlow
Sir Maurice and Lady Dorman by Bassano
The Lotus & Delta shop in Princes Street, Edinburgh, in 1928. The shop was designed by Joseph Emberton
Umpeads drawn by Edgar Wood in 1908
Upmeads soon after it was built
Frederick Marson Bostock by William Cartledge.
Another portrait of Frederick by William Cartledge.
Mabel and Frederick Bostock in the grounds of Upmeads
Fred and Mabel Bostock (left and centre) in the Drawing Room at Upmeads
Anthony, one of their two boy twins
Upmeads is situated off the Newport
Road outside Stafford. When it was built in 1908 it was surrounded by
countryside and overlooked a golf course. Built by Edgar Wood Built
in 1908 Upmeads, in John Archer's opinion, "is the best
preserved of Wood's experimental designs, and is, therefore, the most
fully expressive of his thinking." Archer goes on to say that,
"The house can be considered boldly experimental in almost every
respect, prophetic of great changes in architectural thinking and not
least, a highly accomplished architectural design..... Upmeads (built
when Wood was 48 years old) stands pre-eminent amongst Wood's
experimental work and it is doubtful if there were any comparable
houses produced in Britain until after the First World War." It is extremely similar to Dalny Veed in Hertfordshire, which Wood built in 1907.
Dalny Veed
The garden front of Dalny Veed.
The garden front of Upmeads.
Dalny Veed
Upmeads
Upmeads
Upmeads
Dalny Veed
Upmeads was a house built for the pre-War family with large rooms, servant's
quarters and extensive formal gardens. When complete, Frederick and Mabel Bostock moved in with their surviving twin son, Frederick Anthony Bostock. There they lived with several servants including Frederick's governess. The chauffeur and cook lived in a cottage in the grounds nearby. The purpose-built Motor House at Upmeads is one of the earliest in the Country and very likely the first in Staffordshire. The mechanic's well is still there as are the two entrances/exits, showing the problems the early cars often had with reversing…!
The entrance front of Upmeads
The garden front of Upmeads
The gardens immediately surrounding Upmeads
Upmeads in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century before Mrs Bostock had lowered the large fourteen light Dining Room window. Note that the roof is being used as an extension of the garden
Mabel Bostock (right) at Upmeads
Mabel Bostock (right) at Upmeads
A similar view of Upmeads in 1985 at the time the Bostock family (via the Lingwoods)were selling the house
The origin of the name Upmeads is unclear. The name did appear on Wood's drawings that were drafted two years before the family moved in, so it is likely that Wood gave the house its name. One clue to the origin may lie in Wood's involvement in the Arts and Crafts Movement and the prominent role that William Morris played in that movement. In 1896 Morris wrote a story called "The Well At The World's End" which begins:
"Long ago there was a little land, over which ruled a regulus or kinglet, who was called King Peter, though his kingdom was but little. He had four sons whose names were Blaise, Hugh, Gregory and Ralph: of these Ralph was the youngest, whereas he was but of twenty winters and one; and Blaise was the oldest and had seen thirty winters. Now it came to this at last, that to these young men the kingdom of their father seemed strait; and they longed to see the ways of other men, and to strive for life. For though they were king's sons, they had but little world's wealth; save and except good meat and drink, and enough or too much thereof; house-room of the best; friends to be merry with, and maidens to kiss, and these also as good as might be; freedom withal to come and go as they would; the heavens above them, the earth to bear them up, and the meadows and acres, the woods and fair streams, and the little hills of Upmeads, for that was the name of their country and the kingdom of King Peter.''
Richard Bostock, great great nephew of Frederick and great grandson of Henry John Bostock, recently commented to me that Shawms faces directly at Stafford Castle, so one wonders whether Henry John Bostock was equally interested in Mediaeval romanticism. The brothers, Henry and Frederick, clearly had modern ideas gilded with historic references.
Detail of the stone mullions and rainwater heads at Upmeads
Upmeads
was approached by a straight drive and avenue which lead to the Motor
House and
then curved to the left in to the courtyard in front of the house
itself.
Upmeads today
The
entrance front has an extraordinary concave centre, the centrepiece
of which is a three-storey stone confection. Above the door is, what can only be described as, a carved portcullis, which enforces the fortress-like appearance of the facade. This portcullis -like feature is most likely a reference to the Marson family crest, which is a portcullis. Surmounting the central first floor windows are the
carved initials of Frederick and Mabel Bostock within a carved stone cartouche. A wide tower-like
second floor then projects above the concave centre. The facade is
full of movement and Laurence Weaver in 'Small country houses of
today' writes 'The general aspect of Upmeads is fortress-like. It not
only lacks anything approaching prettiness, which is all to the good,
but presents an air of austerity, which shows the designer's devotion
to extreme simplicity and restraint'. He also comments that 'merits
of Upmeads are considerable, it will be generally agreed that the
house is unusual to the point of oddness.' Upmeads is odd, but
incredibly stylish. The garden facade is equally fortress-like and
has an art deco-style stone centrepiece and large mullioned windows,
the one in the Dining Room being an enormous fourteen lights. This window was not intended to be quite so large, but Mrs Bostock insisted it be lowered so she could see the garden when dining. The house cost the great sum of Three Thousand Three Hundred pounds to build in 1908.
The portcullis and initials of Mr and Mrs Frederick Bostock of Upmeads
The
interior of Upmeads is marvellous. On entering there is a low vaulted
hall, off which are doors to the main stairs and various domestic
offices. This gives way to a truly remarkable domestic space, the
Hall. This is vaulted, double height and has a balcony from from the
first floor.
The low vaulted entrance hall in 2015.
The Hall when Frederick Bostock lived at Upmeads
Another early view of the Hall
Mabel Bostock in the Dining Room at Upmeads
The Hall from the balcony in 1985
The Hall in 1985
Looking from the Hall to the Dining Room. The portrait of Mabel Bostock over the door is by William Cartledge
The Drawing Room from the Hall in 1985. A portrait by William Cartledge of Frederick Bostock hangs above the door
The Hall today
To the left of the Hall is the Dining Room, lit by the
very large mullioned window. Despite Wood's love of simplicity the
dining room chimneypiece is a riot of green marbles, Swedish green
and Irish moss, while the lining above the shelf is Siena marble,
like onyx.
An early photograph of the chimneypiece in the Dining Room. This was taken before panelling was introduced to the room.
The Dining Room chimneypiece in 1985
The Dining Room in 1985
En
enfilade with the Hall and Dining
Room is the Drawing Room. This is a magnificent space and occupies
one whole side of the house, with a garden room beyond. In Wood's original plans this was two rooms, but the Bostocks, like many at the time, needed a large entertaining space, so these two rooms became one large space. The room is
lit by several large mullioned windows, one of which is a bay window
of fourteen lights. The entire north wall is wood panelled in a
concave with glazed cabinets and ionic pilasters. The capitals of the pilasters appear to be Ionic from a distance, but are in fact an extraordinary squared-off version of the Classical original. When the double doors between the rooms on the garden front are opened there is a sixty foot sweep of formal reception rooms. The house, albeit not huge, manages to combine grandeur and domesticity startlingly well.
The Drawing Room in 1985 when the Bostocks sold Upmeads
The Drawing Room's magnificent concave mahogany wall in 1985
The Drawing Room in 1985 showing the huge carpet specially commissioned from Morris and Co for the room
Dr Lingwood - the last of the Bostock/Dorman descendants to own Upmeads. Here he is in the Drawing Room at Upmeads
Upmeads from the air at the time the Lingwood family lived there
The garden at the time of the lingwoods
An event in the gardens of upmeads in the 1940s
The Art School, Birmingham, by Mabel Bostock. This is hanging in the Drawing Room in the photograph above
Another painting by Mabel Bostock
The Enfilade along the garden front
A painting by Mabel Bostock of a Bostock girl on the stoep at the Bostock family house, Langerust, in Simondium, South Africa
Langerust, the house built by Arthur Bostock on his farm at Simondium
The
first floor of Upmeads has a vaulted transverse corridor with the
balcony over the Hall with views of the gardens. The roof of Upmeads
was designed by Wood to be an extension of the living space.
View from the first floor corridor over the Hall from the balcony
The entrance front of Upmeads in 1985
The house from the Motor House in 2014
Outside it is thought that Edgar Wood also designed the gardens, which are a series of 'rooms' with fountains, statuary and intricate planting. The granden front of the house is sat upon a grand terrace, which projects like wings from either side. Sir Philip and Lady Hunter, who bought Upmeads from the Bostock family in 1985, have carefully restored much of the original planting. There is a sundial, long forgotten until found by the Hunters, presented to Frederick Bostock on his retirement from Lotus and there is part of the Pergola from Frederick's brother's house, Shawms. Much of the garden nearest the Newport Road was sold for housing but over an acre still survives to give the house a fitting setting.
Part of the garden at Upmeads in 1985 with the pergola from Shawms
Upmeads from the garden
One of the enchanting Arts and Crafts gates in the garden.
For
a traditional county family, albeit major industrialist, like the
Bostocks, Shawms and, in particular Upmeads, are amazingly
forward-thinking and un-traditional.
Upmeads is currently for sale for the only the second time in its history. I went to look at it on behalf of my family and it really is an utterly magical place. It is, in my opinion, one of the finest and most perfectly preserved Arts and Crafts houses in Britain. I know the Hunters leave Upmeads with a heavy heart. I just hope the next owners cherish it as much as the Bostocks and Hunters did. If it were mine I couldn't let it go. If only English Heritage, or the like, would buy it and preserve this exquisite house for the Nation. Upmeads has survived the destruction of much of Stafford's historic house architecture. Long live Upmeads!
Of
the next generation James Forrester Bostock and Godfrey Stafford
Bostock (sons of Henry John Bostock) embraced the Arts and Crafts in
their own ways and Lotus was even given various stylish face lifts in a
strange Baroque/Deco style from the first quarter of the Twentieth century, largely designed by Henry Sandy and his office.
The new wing at Lotus
Another view of the new office wing at Lotus
James
Bostock owned Barn Bank, at Hyde Lea, near Stafford. This was firmly
in the Arts and Crafts mould, although in a more cottage-like style.
James Bostock's wife, Isabel Munro (daughter of famous author Neil
Munro, aka Hugh Foulis) had been brought up at an exquisite Georgian
house, Cromalt, in Helensburgh, Scotland. She must have had some sway
on the interior, which was Neo-Georgian in style. The James Forrester
Bostocks also owned Dinish Island in Kerry, with its Regency villa.
James Forrester Bostock
James Forrester Bostock, High Sheriff of Staffordshire, with HM The Queen Mother at Lotus in 1953
HM The Queen Mother with James Forrester Bostock at Lotus in 1953
James Forrester Bostock, High Sheriff of Staffordshire, with HM The Queen Mother in 1953 at Lotus
Cromalt, Isabel Bostock's Scottish childhood home
James and Isabel (nee Munro) Bostock on their wedding day at Glasgow Cathedral
Godfrey
Bostock, with his wife Diana, created the
magnificent gardens at their home, Tixall. There is an arboretum, Long Walk, rose
garden, orchard, pool and a lime avenue with the the Rotunda,
originally at nearby Ingestre, at one end.
The Long Walk at Tixall
Godfrey Stafford Bostock at lotus
James, Godfrey at Henry John Bostock at Lotus
Godfrey Stafford Bostock by Rosemarie Timmis - 2001
Diana's family, the
Heywoods, owned Little Onn Hall, near Church Eaton. This is one of
Staffordshire's grand Victorian houses and had famous gardens by
Mawson which incorporated an ancient moat and monastic site.
Little Onn Hall in c.1925, Diana Bostock's childhood home in Staffordshire
Diana and Godfrey Bostock
Godfrey Stafford Bostock in the drawing room at Tixall in his High Sherrif's uniform. He is holding the Bostock family High Shrieval sword
Diana Bostock with her sons, Simon and Nicholas Bostock, at Tixall in 1947
Godfrey, in the 1960's, built a new house at Dallowgill in Yorkshire in a very much Arts and Crafts style with the heraldic Bostock stained glass from Shawms and inglenook fireplaces and round windows.
1960's Arts and Crafts at The Moor House, Dallowgill
One of the newer wings at Lotus in the 1940's
The same wing in the 1980s
When
Lotus was redecorated in the 1940's it was perhaps more to the taste
of Diana and Isabel Bostock, with their Georgian bent, than Godfrey
and James. Classical niches, ionic pilasters, dentil cornicing and a
black and white marble floor graced this grand room which, from above
the brown and white marble chimneypiece, Thomas Bostock, founder of
the family firm, gazed down serenely. Little did the great man know that, as well as making sure the citizens of Stafford were well-heeled at all times, his family would leave a marvellous architectural legacy to their beloved County town.
Diana Bostock in the new office at Lotus in 1949
Annabel Darby (nee Bostock), Elspeth Curran (nee Bostock), Godfrey Stafford Bostock and James Forrester Bostock in the office at Lotus in 1953
Godfrey Stafford Bostock, Gilbert Handley Bostock and James Forrester Bostock in the office at Lotus in 1961
The Hall at Lotus, Stafford
The Lotus Victory Dinner in Brook Hall (the factory dining room) in 1945 - the Bostock family are standing in front of the stage
The Menu
A ball in Brook Hall - James Forrester Bostock is dancing in the front row on the left
Another menu showing the Bostock crest at the top
The Bostock family in the Hall at Lotus on the occasion of HM The Queen Mother's visit to the factory
With thanks to Manchester History.
This piece and photographs are copyright of Oliver Gerrish and other private individuals. Please do not use without prior permission. I would like to thank Richard Bostock Dorman and his wife Anna for all their help. I would also like to acknowledge Staffordshire Past Track for some of the family photographs of the Bostock, Dormans and Marsons and The Staffs Industrial Archaeology Society for photographs of the Lotus factory before demolition. Many thanks to the Staffordshire Record Office for all their help and to Liz and the team. Also thanks to Sir Philip and Lady Hunter of Upmeads and Norah Kendall of Shawms.
