Edgecroft, Manchester Road, Heywood, Manchester.

Edgecroft is almost certainly the last building designed and built by Wood prior to his retirement to Italy and is sited on the east side of Manchester Road on the outskirts of Heywood. It is a small house which sits within a well-planned garden, and is separated from Manchester Road by a lofty wall which incorporates wrought iron fences and gates.

The arrangement is orderly, crisp and attractive. The front entrance, wide and generous as with all of Wood's houses, is set within a porch, also semi circular headed, maintaining the theme from the entrance gateway and, by being open on a second side facing south, it frames the view. The massing and proportions of the house are absolutely distinctive, without report to any affectation, and the authorship is unquestionable. [John Archer]

LISTING TEXT  House. 1921.By Edgar Wood. Brick with stone slate roof and sandstone dressings. Two rooms wide by two deep with corner porch, hall and stairs. An added garage is attached to the north east. 4 bay, 2 storey front elevation with semi circular opening to the recessed corner porch. Plain 2, 3 and 4 light casement windows, the ground floor being of 3lights with timber mullions and transom, and a tall opening in bay 3 lighting the stair and landing. The eaves overhang except at the corners where a large parapet continues round into the coped gables. Steeply pitched roof. The right hand elevation has a canted bay with unmoulded mullion and transom windows to ground floor and mullioned windows to the first. All windows are leaded. The rear has a similar bay window with timber casements in place of the mullions and transoms: the roof to the rear is flat. The interior is virtually complete and includes an angle fireplace with blue bell pattern tile surround by F. Day and cavetto surround: a 1920 fireplace by J.H. Sellers with yellow Sienna marble mantel and surround, another fireplace which Wood designed for F.W. Jackson in 1908 and a panelled staircase. The gardens, walls, gates and house were all designed integrally and form a remarkably fine example of Wood small domestic work. His last work before retiring. Listing NGR: SD8595509312