Greenhill Lane B6016
Derbyshire- Lost Houses
The client at this stage was Thomas Evans , and his house was three by three bays , with a façade overlooking the mills , another facing south down a modest piece of parkland , most of which lay to the west and contained the modest entrance , and a third facing west where the ground rose . There was a pyramidal tiled roof crowned by a battery of large chimneys . For the modest Thomas Evans , this was enough , but by the time the house was completed he had entered his seventies , and he was joined in partnership in the mills by the eldest son of his second alliance , Walter .
What with Walter and his family and several as yet unmarried daughters , the house desperately needed enlargement , so a second range was added . To the SE angle . This consisted of a second three bays facing south , but set back from the original south front by about six feet , and a long east front overlooking the mills , of five widely-spaced bays , with another addition and a service wing to the north . The windows on the east front ( bar the attics ) were fitted with sliding cast iron sashes of the sort later made by Weatherhead , Glover & Co . in their Duke Street foundry . As this was not up and running ( on what had been William Strutt ’ s St . Helen ’ s parkland ) until 1818 , these may not have been fitted until c . 1820 , for it has proved difficult to establish where earlier ones might have come from or even if such luxuries had actually have been developed before then .
What the house was like inside can only be gleaned from later sales particulars , but the staircase was a cantilevered Hoptonwood stone one with wrought iron balustrade , but set in a smaller hall than the final proportions of the house might suggest , having been provided for the house in its first guise as a simple mill-owner ’ s villa . The rooms had local polished limestone chimneypieces and simple cornicing , but nothing showy , despite the stupendous wealth of the family , this in stark contrast to the original plans for Willersley Castle for Sir Richard Arkwright . A large projecting glazed porch was added on the south front c . 1820 by Richard Leaper , very like the one he added to Aston Hall , Aston-on-Trent and the hall was enlarged to some extent to suit the grander entrance .
The kitchens were equipped with the latest devices to aid domestic economy : running water heated from the cooking ranges from a back boiler as at St . Helen ’ s House , using a system pioneered by John Whitehurst FRS and ‘ improved ’ by William Strutt , who inevitably claimed the entire invention for himself . He also installed hot air heating ducts and ducts to aid the draw of the fires .
Here the widow of William Evans , Walter ’ s elder half-brother , entertained the poet Coleridge in 1796 when the house was still very newly enlarged . He wrote to a friend :
‘ Perhaps you may be so fortunate as to meet with a Mrs . Evans whose seat is at Darley about a mile from Derby . Blessings descend on her ! Emotions crowd on me at the sight of her name ; we spent five weeks at her house – a sunny spot in our life .’
The young widow offered Coleridge the post of tutor to her children at a salary of £ 150 , but the rest of the family , suspecting the presence of too
Bathroom Images of Leabrooks .
44a Charles Street , Leabrooks , Derbyshire DE55 1LZ warm an affection between them , talked her out of it .
On the death of Elizabeth , the survivor of two unmarried daughters of William Evans , who had remained there when the rest of the family moved to Darley Hall in 1835 , the house was let to Col . James Charles Cavendish VRD , a director of what by that date was Crompton & Evans ’ s Union Bank ( now the Natwest ) who lived there until his death in 1918 . Thereafter the house became a preparatory school run by William Henry Cooke , which it remained until 1930 , when it fell victim to the aftermath of the Great Depression and closed down .
KITCHENS , WET ROOMS , BATHROOMS & SHOWER ROOMS
Main Road B6016
To Swanwick
KITCHEN SHOWROOM OPENING SATURDAY 1ST APRIL
Offers from now until end of April .
FREE dishwasher with every kitchen ordered *
JUST 10 % VAT on kitchens , bathrooms and bedrooms *
To Somercotes
LEABROOKS
Charles Street
Opening times : Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm , Saturday 9am to 2pm .
E : bathroomimages @ btconnect . com T : 01773 608531 * Not in conjunction with any other offer
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