Talk on the fascinating history of Huddersfield’s arts and crafts houses

Local historian David Griffiths gave a talk titled Shaping Huddersfield’s suburbs – the Arts & Crafts influence to more than 50 members and guests of Huddersfield Civic Society.

From the 1880s to the 1930s Huddersfield had a strong tradition of domestic architecture rooted in Pennine vernacular styles, documented in David Griffiths’ new book, Huddersfield’s Arts & Crafts Houses. 

David has researched the topic in depth, both in local archives and by visiting the current owners of many of the houses mentioned. This resulted in a wealth of information, plans and photographs of both handsome exteriors and exquisitely ornamented interiors.

In his richly illustrated talk David showed how the design of houses such as Briarcourt (Edgar Wood 1894) had developed from earlier Jacobean houses of the area and was followed by a flourishing of a distinctive local style from around 1900.

The roles of Huddersfield Corporation, landowners such as the Ramsden Estate and influences such as the Garden Suburb movement contributed to a succession of developments taking place slightly away from Huddersfield’s established areas of industrial housing.

Not all of these developments succeeded as planned but, over a period of around 40 years, a number of local developers, architects and builders worked to provide a range of distinctive housing in this local vernacular style, much of which survives and contributes positively and uniquely to Huddersfield today.