“Woodcote” Cunnery Road Church Stretton

"Woodcote" is a large and elaborate 2½-storey dwelling designed by the Parker and Unwin partnership and completed in 1898. Finished in buff and pink coloured stone, timber framing and roughcast render beneath a deep clay tile roof, it stands within an extensive plot of around half an acre in the southwest suburbs of Church Stretton. Surrounded by woodland to the north and west, it is the first of three properties approached via a shared private drive off Cunnery Road. This continues around the eastern boundary, along much of which is a hedge approximately 2 metres high. The ground beyond falls steeply down to Woodcote Edge, a mid-20th century cul-de-sac development lined with bungalows.

How beautiful is the view south from "Woodcote" at Church Stretton in Shropshire, and how fine also is the view east. Between these, however, the outlook was shut off by a hillock and group of trees on the grounds. As the laud fell rapidly to the east, a succession of walled terraces was created, so arranged that they could not be overlooked from the high road in the valley below, thus obtaining a privacy which had oeen lacking in the original slopes from which the terraces were formed. The house has two principal rooms, the living room and the hall. The first of these, being the most important, has windows to the east, south and north, thus securing for it the finest views. For the hall the choice was between a south and an east aspect, and the balance of advantages seemed to be in favour of the south. For the architect, a conservatory is a baffling problem at the best. In this instance it was necessary to obey the generally accepted rule that a conservatory should have a southern exposure. But I had no ground-floor wall on the south side against which it could be placed; this space was too valuable as a position for hall and living room windows. Hence the conservatory was j:)ut upstairs. But access to it without passing through the house was necessary, for it would have been quite impracticable for the gardener to use the main staircase. This created the opportunity for the outside staircase leading to the conservatory and to the two covered balconies shown in one of the accompanying photographs. The charm of a view into the conservatory from the house must not be lost, however, so a long window was arranged in the frieze of the hall (marked X on the accompanying sketch) through which those sitting around the hall fire could look into the conservatory and see, behind the flowers, silhouetted against the sky with the sunlight streaming through them, the green leaves of the vine which was trained over the glass roof. The effect of this arrangement surpassed our hopes. [The Craftsman September 1911 p603-4]

The original plan envisaged a drive leading to gates and a lodge on the Ludlow Road, but this appears never to have been built.

Major C W Campbell Hyslop was the owner of Stretton House Lunatic Asylum for Gentlemen.

Reference    Royal Academy Exhibit 1897(No 1814)
Reference    Builder 14 December 1901 Page 536 and sketch illustrations
Reference    The Craftsman  Volume XX Number 7 September 1911 pages 593-606; Barry Parker Modern country homes in England: number seventeen
Illustration    Woodcote Detail showing first floor conservatory etc. Craftsman Sept 1911 p595
Illustration    Woodcote External view Craftsman Sept 1911 p596
Illustration    Woodcote The hall, Craftsman Sept 1911 p602
Illustration    Woodcote Site and Garden plan, Craftsman Sept 1911 p604
Illustration    Woodcote Site and Garden plan, Craftsman Sept 1911 p604