Building Details

The Estate has about 6 different basic property types but these are then subjected to a wide variety of different treatments in order to add variety to the street scene. It would have been so easy and cheaper to have built each house of the same type with the same format. Instead houses side by side can be quite different.

We will look at some of these differences.

The Listed Flats on Ravenhurst Road

These are built in 2 blocks either side of what was originally the way down to the Valley allotments and now Winterbourne Lane.

The block on the left consists of 6 flats with brick and render facing. On the other side the flats have a wood pannelled front facia. Why did they not build them the same?

The left block has a bridge to the upper flat upstairs front door whilst those on the right have steps to the upper front door. The flats have a shared front garden and an individual area of garden at the rear.

Part of the Harborne Tenants' Estate Limited of circa 1908, by Martin and Martin. An asymmetrical block of 6 flats. Red brick and roughcast: tiled roof. Two storeys; 3 flats wide, each with a projecting roughcast gabled bay with battered sides. In the projecting bays the recessed and arched entrances to the flats, those on the ground floor slightly below pavement level, those on the upper floor reached by bridges supported on exposed steel joists. All windows casements, those of the ground floor with segmental heads.

Rooflights are a feature of many of the Estate properties. These are simply flat sheets of glass set below the roof tiles with lead flashing to weatherproof. They are usually over stairwells to provide additional light. Being flat and flush they are very unobtrusive compared to modern alternatives.

Some properties were built with folding partition doorways between the front and rear rooms. They also had parquet flooring.

As far as we know all the houses had an outhouse. This consisted of the outside WC and a coal store. In addition the rear roof was continued to form a small covered area. Perhaps this was for garden tools or equipment. The configuration of the outhouses is broadly similar. Often there is a passage between the rear door of the property and the outhouse with a verandah covering. Some outhouses have a side door.

In 1980 our house only had the outside WC and there was no light!

Chimneys

There are several distinct styles of chimney. A few have been lost and others altered in the past as the chimneys have been modified to accomodate modern eating systems. They are a distinctive aspect of the estate and protected from removal or alteration by the conservation status and article 4(2) direction.

The left view shows the particularly decorative design with layers of tiles.

On the right is the layered brick finish. A more appropriate description of these styles and the construction would be welcome.

Harborne Tenants manhole cover. An easy to see example is at the top of the pathway by the side of the Moor Pool off Ravenhurst Road.

The original letter box of which many examples still exist.