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Barradale was one of Leicester's most successful architects. His work can be seen in many
areas of Leicester and Leicestershire. He was regarded by Pevsner
as arguably the finest architect of the Arts and Crafts movement in the
country.
He was articled to William Flint and set up his own business in 1870. Barradale had an important influence on the appearance of Leicester especially in Stoneygate where he popularised the English Domestic Revival Style for housing. It was Barradale to whom Ernest Gimson, the nationally-known architect and furniture maker, was articled between 1881 and 1885. |
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Totally Barradale.
His two buildings standing at the |
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Barradale's 'Leicester Style' was characterised by tall gables,
rough cast walls, heavy timbering and small-paned windows.
Examples of Barradale's work in Leicester include No 3 Greyfriars (1880), his own house `Stoneygate', St George's Chambers, the former Leif's Pawn Shop in Wharf Street. the Cottage Homes in Countesthorpe, and Fenwick's department store in Market Street. The building on the other corner of Belvoir Street and Market Street, opposite Fenwicks, was also designed by Barradale. It was built as a hotel.
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| The former Leif's pawn
shop in Wharf Street, a most successful use of a relatively small area
of land. The plot - between two older buildings - was formerly the entrance to the cricket ground behind Wharf Street. When the ground was developed for residential buildings, Barradale designed this building to occupy the space available. |
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| Fenwick's department store, standing proudly in November 2006, reflecting the afternoon sun | This picture (from a lantern slide) shows Fenwick's department store in Market Street in about 1897, trading then as Joseph Johnson & Co Ltd |
| One of Barradale's most delightful buildings is the house he built in Knighton for his friend Wilmot Pilsbury, the first headmaster of the Leicester College of Art and Design. The house includes fresco work by the artist and a studio with top-lighting. | ||
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This building displays
many features defining Barradale's style.
Note the tall gable and heavy timbering, and the prominent wyvern on the apex of the gable. The designs on the fresco below the roof line and between the timbering were created by the man who commissioned the build. |
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| These two outstanding houses by Barradale
are in Stanley Road, Stoneygate. The Croft was formerly known as
"Elmhurst". The house and the one next door to it, known as
"Carisbrooke", are almost identical built for two sisters by
their doting father. The sheer magnificence of the houses is
characterised by powerful eaves, towering chimney stacks and splendid
balconies. The Croft was converted into a school in the 1930s. During the Second World War the house was used both as a hospital for wounded air force men and as a secure billet for important visitors. Sir Winston Churchill was reputed to be one of them. After the war, it became a school again and was then converted into a dentist's surgery, changed back into a boy's school; was opened as a boarding house and then made into a hotel. |
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Barradale's gravestone at Welford Road cemetery bears the following epitaph: In
affect |
