Terracotta

The use of a mosaic image removed the need to write the name of this Mill on its tower. Built for the Bell Mill Co. Ltd. to the design of the firm of Potts, Son, & Hennings in 1904 this mill has a completely different look to a Stott product.

The terracotta decoration on the Municipal Buildings, Hewlett St, Wigan, is extensive and spectacular. Constructed in 1900 to the design of architects Bradshaw and Gass of Bolton, the building was originally built for the Royal London Friendly Society as seven shops with upper floor storage and private offices.

Yellow Great Central Railway terracotta blends surprisingly well with today's franchise experience at Marylebone Station in London. Best viewed large . The terracotta work is by Doulton.

Portman Mansions on Chiltern Street, Marylebone has gables topped with a range of fierce and threatening terracotta beasts. The block was built between 1890 and 1900 by Henry Saxon Snell, an architect who usually specialised in workhouses and hospitals. Rather surprisingly it appears that the building is not listed.

The decorative work around the doors on these 1891 built terraced houses on High Street in Winsford is unusual in that it mixes brickwork with carved stone pieces. It is a pity that the door has been changed.

Another example of terracotta and stone decoration in High St, Winsford. Griffiths Villas date from 1897. The stonework has darkened in the polluted atmosphere when this town was based around open pan salt production, whereas the terracotta and brick has survived well.

Moravian School, Main Road, Oldham. Designed by architect CT Taylor and completed in 1906. The building is listed Grade II.

The house have been cleared from around, but the Britannia still stands proud. The quality of the building will have significantly exceeded that of the terraces whose inhabitants it once served. The terracotta decoration can be seen here in close up .

This distinctive house was the home of the architect Larner Sugden who, with his father William was responsible for many of the buildings in Leek that were erected in the later nineteenth century to the designs of the architectural business of W. Sugden & Son. Larner was active in the Arts and Crafts movement and will have associated with William Morris who came to Leek in 1875 to experiment on dyes.

Decorative details on the house built for architect Larner Sugden in Leek . 1877 is quite early for finding terracotta decoration of this sort on houses in the UK and the flower motifs are very distinctive.

This evening I was in Buckley looking at industrial things when I espied two of these fine beasts sitting high up on a shop premises that looked as if it might well have been a Co-operative stores at one time. I have no idea what this mythical beast is meant to represent, but it is certainly top quality terracotta work.

Terracotta lettering on the old co-op shop in Marple Bridge.

Having established the Hawarden Bridge Steelworks at Shotton by the beginning of the twentieth century John Summers & Sons Ltd built these General Offices for the business. Dated 1907, the building was completed in 1908 and the company then moved its headquarters here from Stalybridge. It was listed Grade 2 in 2005. The CADW description for the listing states: "A large prominent office building of 1907 by the architect James France, in Freestyle with Continental and Art Nouveau influences. Constructed of red brick with yellow terracotta detail under slated gambrel roofs, it has two storeys with basement and attics; the main (south) elevation is symmetrical with a central castellated tower. The building has a fine Art Nouveau interior." I have been unable to identify the supplier of the terracotta but would expect it to have been on of the manufacturers from the Ruabon area. Today the building stands empty and offered To Let along with the later adjacent canteen, office and laboratory buildings.

Stone and terracotta mix well on the side of the Boars Head at Higher Poynton.

I returned to Buxton on a sunny day to have another go at photographing this wonderful piece of terracotta ornamentation. Having looked again at the creature depicted I can see that it only has two legs and must therefore be a wyvern rather than a dragon.

Whilst in Buxton I was tipped off about another terracotta beast in the town. This one is in much better condition than the previous example but looks almost identical in design. The house on which it sits is dated 1901.

I am always on the lookout for terracotta figures and beasts on buildings and was delighted when a friend mentioned that he had seen this one in Buxton. It's a bit the worse for wear, with part of a wing and lower jaw missing, and also rather green with lichen. However it's still very handsome and a fine adornment for the house. I wonder where it was made?

Terracotta gatepost tops on Victoria Rd, Macclesfield. Sadly the house has been demolished and the site awaits better times for the building industry. I would love to know where these tops were manufactured. The facing bricks are by the Randlay Brickworks at Stirchley in Shropshire, but I cannot find and evidence of that works producing this sort of decorative feature. I suspect that the tops are a product of one of the Accrington brickworks.