Summary

Thatched machinery shed, dated 1934.

Description

Thatched machinery shed, dated 1934.

MATERIALS: The roof is thatched with Norfolk reed, and the walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with sandstone dressings.

PLAN: The building is L-shaped on plan with a vehicular entrance at the west end, a pedestrian entrance at the north end, and a curved south-east corner.

EXTERIOR: The machinery shed is L-shaped on plan with a curved south-east corner and is one-and-half-storeys high with mezzanines over the north and west ends. The roof is pitched and gabled to the north and west with moulded bargeboards; it is thatched in Norfolk reed and has an ornate ridge, with eyebrows or segmental arches over some of the ground-floor windows on the south and east elevations. The walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with a moulded plinth, and stepped and angled buttresses to the corners of the north and west gables. The west gable (the vehicular entrance) has a wide door opening comprising a four-centred pointed arch with a sandstone hood moulding and moulded recessed arches. The oak door is also of a four-centred arch, with long vertical panels arranged in four leaves, which slide back into the building along the north wall on a runner. Over the door, the mezzanine has a sandstone pointed arch and a leaded light. The south and east elevations each have two four-light windows with moulded sandstone dressings and lozenge-shaped leaded lights, and the south-east corner features a curved window. Between the two windows on the east elevation, the wall bears a bronze roundel of a squirrel with acorns and oak leaves, very similar to that on the platform above the tennis court. The north gable features a pedestrian door under a hood moulding, a three-light window to the right of the door and a pointed-arch mezzanine window over, each having a moulded sandstone surround. The oak door, formed of long vertical panels, is ornately inscribed with the date ‘1934’.

INTERIOR: The interior has two rooms with timber-floored mezzanines over: a long L-plan room at the south end for storing machinery, and a smaller rectangular-plan plant room at the north end. Within the plant room, the interior of the window lintel is inscribed ‘1934’, and the room contains a Neckar water softener, manufactured by the Neckar Water Softener Co of London, probably dating from the time of construction.

History

The machinery shed 50m south-southwest of Burefield is part of the property of Burefield (NHLE 1494727). It dates from the period in the 1930s when the main house was extended and other ancillary service and garden buildings were erected in a picturesque style. The north door of the machinery shed and interior of the north-east window lintel are inscribed with the date ‘1934’. The east elevation features a bronze roundel of a squirrel with acorns and oak leaves; a similar roundel is seen on the platform above the tennis court. The building is shown on the Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1938 and published in 1941.

For a more detailed history of Burefield see NHLE 1494727.

Reasons for Listing

The machinery shed 50m SSW of Burefield is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as a distinctive estate building, developing on the cottage orné style favoured for the earlier buildings at Burefield and the waterside chalets in the northern Broads;
* for the architectural quality of its elevations, windows and doors, which retain finely carved sandstone dressings and original window and door furniture;
* for its strong vernacular quality and craftsmanship, employing locally sourced Norfolk reed for its thatched roof.

Historic interest:
* as evidence of the evolving social, ecological, sporting and recreational history of the Broads in the late C19 and C20, and the increased demand for a quieter life in the countryside during the C20.

Group value:
* for the historic and functional group it forms with Burefield, a holiday cottage built around 1911 and extended as a family home in the mid-1930s, and its numerous estate buildings including a barn, moon gate and garden wall, tractor shed and apple store, car garage, tennis court, boat shed 65m south of the house and summerhouse, each listed at Grade II.

Recommended Books

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  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
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  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)