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Summary

Description

James Pearson Alison, 1904. 2-storey and attic, L-plan, Arts and Crafts, multi-gabled villa with prominent porch to entrance (N) elevation, central verandah/balcony to S elevation, shouldered gablet dormerheads, overhanging eaves and finialled conservatory. Squared, snecked, bull-faced yellow sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. Deep base course. Stone mullions and transoms to stair and most ground-floor windows; mullions to some other windows; quadripartite, flat-roofed dormers to entrance and rear elevations.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: Entrance elevation to N with 2-leaf, 6-panel timber door in deeply projecting, central, piend-roofed porch supported on twinned, squat, Doric columns and deep, stone base; gabled bay to left; quadripartite mullioned window to right, with twinned, bipartite, stair windows recessed above; advanced, irregularly fenestrated service wing to outer right, forming courtyard. E elevation with shallow, 5-light bow window with central glazed door to left, bipartite window to right, and 3 evenly spaced dormers above. Central Tuscan-columned verandah with balcony above to broad, 3-bay, symmetrical S (garden) elevation, with glazed central doors flanked by narrow lights at ground and 1st floors; advanced, shouldered-gabled outer bays, with quadripartite windows at ground and 1st floors of right bay, 2-storey canted window to left bay, and tripartite windows in apexes of both gables; brick-based, timber-framed, cast-iron-bracketed conservatory to outer left. Plain, irregularly fenestrated W (rear) elevation, with conservatory to outer right and 2 stone steps to back door in slightly advanced section to left.

Plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Corniced stacks with circular buff clay cans. Predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods .

INTERIOR: Terrazzo flooring to lobby. Drawing room with decorative oval plasterwork to ceiling, opening out to cross-shaped room beneath, with fluted timber pillars supporting corners and inglenook to one side. 2-bay arcade with central timber column between central hall and principal stair. Curved, timber stair with square newels and balusters, curved timber handrail, curved gallery landing, and oculus rooflight. 3-panel timber doors to principal areas; 4-panel timber doors to service areas. Timber chimneypieces, some with stucco detailing, some with Arts and Crafts copper grates and glazed, tube-lined ceramic tiles. Some plain and some decorative cornices. Decorative cast-iron radiators. Shanks low canopy bath (see NOTES). Boarded timber cupboards to butler's pantry.

Statement of Special Interest

An extensive, substantially unaltered, early-19th-century, Arts and Crafts-inspired villa with an exceptionally well-preserved interior and fine detailing, designed by James Pearson Alison (1862-1932), Hawick's most prominent architect.

Alison commenced practice in the town in 1888 and remained there until his death. He designed a large number of buildings of widely varying types and styles, many of which are listed. He was responsible for several villas in Wilton, including Langlee and Woodgate (both built in 1907 for local mill owners), Norwood's nearest neighbours on Roadhead, which likewise display strong Arts and Crafts overtones.

Norwood was built for Peter Scott, founder of the knitwear company. The initials 'PS' can be seen in the decorative guttering above the canted bay on the south elevation, whilst 'MB' (probably the initials of Scott's wife) appears on those above the bow window on the east elevation. Cinefilm footage held at Peter Scott's factory shows fashion parades of the firm's hosiery taking place on the lawns at Norwood, and the house is designed very much which garden access in mind, as all the principal ground-floor rooms have doors leading directly outside. The Scott family remained in the house until 1964 when it was bought by the current (2008) owners.

The interior of the house contains an unusually high proportion of its original fixtures and fittings, including cast-iron radiators and a fully functioning Shanks low canopy bath. The latter is equipped with a curved panel at one end which is fitted with vertical lines of shower holes, as well as taps for bathing, and was one of the latest innovations of the time the house was built. The drawing room is cleverly planned, with its oval core opening out to a cross shape overall, providing more intimate areas at its outer edges; and the detailing is of very high quality, including fine plasterwork and a door that is curved on the drawing-room side but flat towards the hallway.

References

Bibliography

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