Winterbourne House & Garden - Arts & Crafts In The Birmingham Suburbs

On Tuesday Liz and I caught the X51 bus over to Birmingham, hopped on the X21 outside New Street Station and forty-five minutes after leaving Walsall we'd arrived at our destination, Winterbourne House & Gardens in the leafy suburb of Edgbaston and, for once, it wasn't raining!

You may remember Nikki and I visiting Winterbourne last year. If not, here's a recap and be warned, this post is very image heavy. 

A rare surviving example of a suburban villa and garden built in the Arts & Crafts style, Winterbourne was designed by architect Joseph Lancaster Ball in 1903 for John and Margaret Nettlefold. John was elected as the Liberal Unionist Member for the Edgbaston and Harborne ward of Birmingham City Council in 1898.

“Mr Ball has devised it on those simple and reasonable lines which so surely achieve success, while there is everywhere evidence of thoughtful design, expressed in a reticent way”

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE JULY 1ST 1911

A pioneer of housing reform, having at heart the desire that all classes should live in decent dwellings, a quote from John Nettlefold's obituary which was published in the Birmingham Daily Gazette on November 6th, 1930 and said to sum up his commitment to the provision of good quality housing for working people. Housing reform was his passion, but his achievements came at personal cost. His eldest daughter Evie was interviewed by the Birmingham Daily Post in 1973, at the age of 80 and offered a poignant insight into John’s political struggles: “[It’s] a great mistake to be a pioneer.  It’s a killing job. They all argue with you and they don’t believe you.”

John MacDonald Nicolson was the last private owner of the house and, as a keen gardener, developed many new ideas. Upon his death in 1944 he bequeathed the house and garden to Birmingham University. The garden became the University's Botanic Garden and is still used by students to this day.

Winterbourne House was designed to be ‘cutting-edge’ with all the modern conveniences of electric lighting, hot running water and a telephone line. Rooms were light and airy, with views over the garden. The Arts and Crafts inspired design employed local materials and craftspeople to provide an enduring feel of quality. We spotted J Sankey & Sons metalware, Ruskin ceramics and needlepoint stitched by Margaret Nettleford herself as well as a wealth of Morris and Co. textiles and wall coverings and William de Morgan tiles.

Having grown-up in an Arts & Crafts house, stepping inside instantly transports me back to childhood.

 I just love how the mix of William Morris textiles & wallpapers, antique artwork and Persian carpets work so beautifully together, all stunning in their own right, co-existing in perfect harmony, never fighting for attention. A masterclass in pattern mixing!

Margaret Nettlefold by John Byam Liston Shaw (1872-1919), pictured looking out into her garden...we spotted the exquisite the lace collar she's wearing is on display elsewhere in the house. 

Mirror selfie! We got stopped and complimented on our outfits by lots of the female visitors, many commenting on how they wished they could "get away" with wearing a dress.  Listen up, ladies, wearing a dress isn't committing a crime, nobody needs to get away with it! Anyone can wear a dress, they're a hell of a lot more comfy than trousers and you can even wear your jeans or leggings underneath, no one will ever know!

Margaret Nettlefold plant hunting in 1919.

We love these lino prints created by Sarah Moss, Winterbourne's official artist in residence. This is a quote from Margaret's diary from her time at the Birmingham College of Art of which I shared a photo on my post HERE.

Winterbourne has strong links with Guest, Keen & Nettlefold (GKN), originally a small enterprise dating back to the age of the Industrial Revolution which went on to become the huge multinational car and aerospace components manufacturer still in operation today. John Nettlefold's grandfather founded Nettlefolds and John himself worked for the family firm at the start of his career.

 Winterbourne runs some really interesting creative courses including one on print making.

How fabulous are these 1920s Socialist Feminist meeting posters?

Inspired by the books and garden designs of Gertrude Jekyll, Margaret Nettlefold designed the six acre garden herself. The garden was Grade II listed by English Heritage in 2008.

“The Garden is singularly well-furnished, and the path below the terrace fringed with a wealth of flowering shrubs and aubrietias…Unhappily however, there is no subject to which the camera so steadily refuses to do justice, and this outcome of Mrs Nettlefold’s taste must therefore go unpictured.”

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE JULY 1ST 1911

We couldn't believe how much further ahead the blooms were than in our own gardens, Winterbourne must have its own microclimate. 

 

After a stroll around the gardens we had lunch in the tearoom, the vegan rainbow roll with salad, homemade coleslaw and chutney was absolutely delicious, huge and brilliant value for money (menu HERE).

My enthusiasm for gardening has waned of late but a wander around the Gilbert Orchid House, the Arid House and the numerous greenhouses offered so much inspiration I can hardly wait to get back from my holidays and get planting. 

I'm seriously tempted to create a shed like this at home. I could sit in there with a book for hours on end surrounded by plants and hopefully the sand should keep the slugs & snails at bay.

I love the cacti gardens we've visited in The Canaries and it's wonderful to see them reproduced on a smaller scale in the suburbs of Birmingham.

The gardener's office is equally fascinating.

Fancy seeing it for yourself? 

Winterbourne House and Garden, 58 Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2RT

Open daily:

10.30 - 5pm (March to October)

10.30 - 4pm (November to February)

Adult Admission: £8

Back in the city centre we popped into London & North Western, the snazzy New Street Station branch of Wetherspoons, for a beer and a look at the carpet before catching the bus back to Walsall.

Thanks for a bostin' day out, Liz !

Well done if you're still with me, I hope your virtual visit to Winterbourne gave you as much inspiration as it did us.

Greece is calling....see you soon (ish!)