manchester mancunians expats
Monday, 27th October 2003
Edgar the elegant
VICTORIA PARK, two miles south of Manchester city centre, has enjoyed mixed fortunes over the years. Once a leafy retreat for the wealthy classes, by the end of the 20th century its environs were beginning to look distinctly shabby. The big villas were given over to bedsits, and shabby shops replaced the businesses which had once flourished on the edge of the suburb. Now, happily, the area is on the up again, and the future is looking much brighter for one of its most distinctive buildings. Plans are afoot to find a new use for what is now known as The Edgar Wood Centre, on Daisy Bank Road. Formerly the First Church of Christ Scientist, its worshipping days are long gone, and it still faces an uncertain fate. There have been proposals for it to be turned into a distinctive arts centre. More radical plans might see it becoming a business or residential base. At present, the agenda is very far from set. But one thing that is certain: the unusual, Grade 1 listed building - new this year on the English Heritage buildings at risk register - is now protected and will, hopefully, always stand as a proud testimony to the talents of Manchester architect Edgar Wood. This influential architect enjoyed a national and international reputation in his lifetime, but ever since he has been pretty much unsung. According to the pundits, this is because much of his work was small in scale (houses, clock towers and so in) and carried out in the north west and West Yorkshire only. Much of his early work was in his home town of Middleton - Long Street Methodist Church, and a drinking fountain for Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887, were among his earliest projects. Wood designed almost 100 buildings in Middleton, ranging from small, simply-built terrace cottages to banks and schools. His clean, modern lines were praised, in particular, by German architects, at the turn of the 20th century. Like many of his generation, he was at the forefront of pioneering new ideas about house building and architecture in general. Wood, born in 1860, was at his peak around the same time as Charles Rennie Mackintosh was revolutionising design in his native Glasgow. Like Mackintosh, he was a follower of Art Nouveau. Unlike Mackintosh, he has not become revered after his death. As he rose to prominence, Wood had offices on Cross Street and King Street. He served as president of the Manchester Society of Architects in 1910-11. Though the son of a mill owner, Wood was a liberal by conscience - and very flamboyant in his dress. Apparently, his favoured garb was a black cloak lined with red silk, plus a broad-brimmed hat and silver-topped cane. Essentially, as he said at the time, he saw himself as an artist, but somewhat thwarted by his father's wish that he earn a respectable living. But functional he was not, and no expense was spared in his designs. Wood was a founder member of the Northern Art Workers Guild, who were dedicated followers of the Arts and Crafts movement, most famously promoted by the socialist William Morris. Their philosophy was complex - but today's fans of sustainable development projects would warm to their insistence on natural materials in keeping with local environments. They also refused any concessions to "historic" styles (unlike architects such as Alfred Waterhouse, who designed the gothic-style new Manchester Town Hall of 1877). A good look at the Victoria Park building - said to be Wood's finest - illustrates several key elements of his style. As an Art Nouveau fan, he was fond of elongated forms and motifs. The church, built in 1903, is constructed in the shape of an inverted Y. It looks today exactly as it would have done in its heyday. There is a steep gable with a stone chimneystack, with two wings projecting diagonally from the centre. Inside, there is a reading room, and a hall where churchgoers would have gathered. The tower, round with a conical roof, is as unusual as the rest of the building. What impresses most, though, is the overall sense of a truly creative design. The Pevsner guide - "bible" of the world of architecture - describes it as "one of the most original buildings of that time in England or indeed anywhere . . . the only religious building in Lancashire that would be indispensable in a survey of 20th century church design, it stands entirely on its own in England."
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