Charles Brooking

 

The Woking Rescues

Charles Brooking is a fascinating and knowledgeable collector of architectural detail, The Brooking Collection of Architectural Detail, and as a Chartered Surveyor we find his lifelong quest to collect British building details unique, informative and valuable and a collection that must be kept intact for years to come. If you need help and advice with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects report, dilapidations or any other property matters please free phone 0800 298 5424.

The following is one of a series of interviews with Charles Brooking, Historic and Listed Buildings Detail Expert, The Brooking Collection of Architectural Detail and an Independent Chartered Surveyor where we have recorded his comments and various aspects that have affected windows and doors and other collectibles. The interviews outline how his collection started and built over the years and gives an insight into the amazing architectural features housed in his fine collection.

Surveyor: Did you rescue any architectural details from Woking, Surrey ?

Rescue defined

Charles Brooking defines a rescue as saving a window or door or staircase that would be doomed.

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Charles Brooking was a pioneer in the rescue of architectural detailing as many years ago it was very much considered a strange and an unusual past time to want to rescue old parts of buildings with everything new and shiny being so important.

Charles Brooking: I carried out many architectural detail rescues in Woking , which has been the scene of a lot of buildings being demolished from the early 70's onwards. I took part in a series of important rescues and finds in Maybury Road , where H.G. Wells lived for a time. More recently I've recovered some fine late Victorian windows and details, but going back to the 70's it was an interesting hunting ground. I rescued items from villas in Stanley Road, Portugal Road and Duke Street . There was a fascinating site, where they demolished some shops which were built in 1907and was a mixture of Arts and Crafts and other styles a sad loss pulling these down. 

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In Vale Farm Road they demolished some of the oldest, I suppose, quite humble semi-detached villas which were built in the 1860's, when that part of Woking developed, and a whole terrace of houses too. They refurbished the terraced houses in 1972 to 1973, taking out the fireplaces, which were Art Nouveau. This was Vale Farm Terrace, I think, built in 1905 they were gutted and refurbished; I recovered some of the interesting Art Nouveau grates before they were demolished.

Victoria Hospital , built in 1899, was another site where I recovered examples of early steel windows with Padsey backplates and other details.

Another major rescue was the London South Western Railway Children's Orphanage in Oriental Road , which had opened in 1909 with an extension of 1935. I recovered some sections of staircase balustrading, Art Deco balustrades from the 1935 section, door furniture, sash windows, a small fire grate. I rescued quite a lot of material from therein when it was demolished in1988 and a housing estate was built there.

In 1972-74 I recovered a great deal of material from houses in large villas in Mount Hermon Road. Also, I rescued items from houses in Guildford Road and the old Council offices in York Road, Woking. I recovered a typical 1890's Police Station window which had the overlo mouldings externally expressed on the glazing bars, from the porch of Woking Police Station, rescued in the early 1990's.

Several very interesting large villas built by a Woking builder, with the same sash windows you can find throughout Woking, in Heathside Road was another scene of my rescuing work these were demolished in the 80's and 90's.

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More recently I had a tip off and rescued two hopper lights from the Catholic Church in White Road Lane which was built in a conservative style, in a short of Gothic style, which was being demolished.  

I rescued Crittall windows from 1930's houses in Oriental Road and features from villas in Pembroke Road . Woking was a typical Victorian town and a source of great architectural detailing interest to me with so many of the buildings being demolished to make way for new housing etc. All these houses were built between, in this part of Woking which is Old Woking , with the development of the railway, the London Acropolis Company built the Cemetery. Most of the villas dated from the 1880's onwards, with a few exceptions. 

Another major rescue I carried out was at the Convent in Maybury Hill.

Surveyor: Was this classic Victorian architecture?

Charles Brooking: Yes houses on the corner of Lavender Road and Maybury Hill built by a Woking builder, possibly Smith.

I gathered a great deal of material from Old Woking, from various sites, including the old Kenwood factory, built between 1955 and 1961, where my father worked, in fact he was involved with the reconstruction, to some degree, of the works. This was built on the site of a tobacconist shop, confectionary shop, and other shops, from 1957 onwards. There was an earlier building at the back that was demolished in 1989 and I recovered sections of Williams & Williams wall span curtain walling amongst other things.

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Surveyor : Where are Williams & Williams from?

Charles Brooking : Williams and Williams are from Chester . They were one of the largest manufactures of standard steel windows and aluminium window sections.

Surveyor: What is curtain walling?

Charles Brooking : Curtain walling which was known a wall span was their product. 

Surveyor: Please describe curtain walling?

Charles Brooking : Well, basically it's a complete outer skin of walling, basically constructed of opening windows and panels which cover the floor area, often asbestos. So it's a whole system which is bolted onto the front of the concrete frame and this was exposed very clearly when they demolished it because they basically got all aluminium walls or the aluminium curtain walling off and exposed the concrete frame behind it. It was built by Simmons of Woking. The first bit was built about 1957/1958 and the second bit was extended in 1961.

Surveyor: Is that Simmons builders?

Charles Brooking : Yes, Simmons builders they were the same builders who actually did the alterations to my house in White Lane . That's one of my earliest memories of the building industry, meeting the foreman there and learning a bit about watching the joiners at work.

If you found this article on The Brooking Collection of Architectural Detail interesting you may also be interested in the following articles on our website

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References:

TheBrookingCollection.com DartfordArchive.org.uk IHBC.org.uk ProjectBook.co.uk

Independent Surveyors

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