BALCONY RAILINGS IN KENT
By D. STEPHENSON, B.SO., F.P.S.
THE ironwork to be described will be restricted to that made and
erected or designed near the end of the eighteenth century and during
the first half of the nineteenth century. I t will include window-guards,
area- and step-railings since cast-iron panels could conveniently be
used for all these purposes.
INTRODUCTION
The kind of iron most used on houses during the eighteenth century
was wrought iron, so caUed because it is ductile and can easUy be shaped
by hammering whilst hot. I t was the material used by the blacksmith:
forges were numerous in the eighteenth century and domestic ironwork
was frequently of local manufacture. Towards the end of the century
exterior domestic cast ironwork began to supplant the individual
craftsmanship of the blacksmith. By this time, cast iron could be made
in vast quantities in the blast furnaces which had been developed using
coke instead of charcoal.1
Unhke wrought iron, cast iron is brittle; it cannot be shaped by
hammering even when hot: rather than bend it breaks. I t is not unusual
to see cast-iron raUs from which pieces have been broken away, whereas
wrought iron balconies often have scrolls or uprights which have been
deformed. Where breakages in wrought iron do occur they are often in
places where welds have been weak. Designers would often embellish
their wrought ironwork by the addition of ornament, in the form of
fohage or medallions, which might be made of other materials such as
brass or lead and, frequently, cast iron. Such additions are comparatively
easily lost. Cast iron is more resistant to corrosion than wrought iron;
it rusts comparatively slowly in sea-water. I t is admirably suited for the
mass-production of articles to a fixed pattern. Cast-iron articles were
made by foundrymen who poured molten cast iron into suitable moulds,
frequently made in sand-mixtures on the foundry floor. I t was obviously
more economical to cast the finished articles, whatever their size and
form, where the raw material was made. I t was more economical, too,
for foundries to specialize in particular forms of ironwork.
One of the earliest of the great companies of ironfounders was the
Coalbrookdale Company which began in Shropshire in 1708. Although
1 H. R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry (1957), 331 ff.
173
D. STEPHENSON
'as early as 1731 a large consignment of paUisades, pillars, rails, scroUs
and spears had been cast for Preston Hospital and the interest in
railings and other architectural cast iron work had continued in a
quiet way which made it easy . . . to expand to the heights of the Hyde
Park Gates and the Vienna Exhibition Gates',2 the company seems not
to have been much concerned with the design and casting of balcony
raihngs. In 1929, the company was incorporated with Allied Ironfounders
Limited and, in 1959, the Coalbrookdale Museum was opened.
WhUst the great iron-works was spreading in Shropshire another
famous company had its beginnings at Carron, near Falkirk, in Scotland.
The 'Carron Company', as it was soon caUed, made a reputation for
casting rehable short cannon with which it furnished its own ships as
well as those of the Royal Navy. As at Coalbrookdale, the prosperity of
the Carron Company involved the acquiring of mines for the working
of local ironstone, coal and hmestone and the buUding of dams for the
water to drive the large beUows and hammers. In 1764 John Adam
became a partner in the company. John was himself an architect and a
clever designer: his more famous brothers, Robert and James, were at
the height of their fame and engaged on their great housing project,
the Adelphi, London, from 1768. In the official history3 of the Carron
Company, the author remarks that 'in addition to those from the Adam
family designs were provided by the Haworths'.4
In 1810,5, 6 a number of enterprising employees of the Carron
Company broke away and founded the Falkirk Ironworks. I t became the
second largest foundry in Scotland and joined the Allied Ironfounders
Group in 1929. There is an early catalogue of the company, without
cover or date, preserved in the Coalbrookdale Museum.
There were, of course, many other foundries at work during the
period but the three mentioned, so far as the writer has yet discovered,
are the only ones whose records have survived in sufficient quantity to
indicate whence our balcony railings may have come.
WROUGHT IRON BALCONIES
Some popular designs of wrought ironwork used for balcony raUs
and panels and for staircase balusters towards the end of the eighteenth
2 A. Raistrick, Coalbrookdale, 1709-1966 (1966), 16.
3 R. H. Campbell, Carron Company (1961), 78.
4 The brothers Henry and William had been students at the Royal Academy
School. Henry started work with the Carron Company as designer and carver in
1779, but died two years later. William took his brother's place and 'continued in
vigour as a carver until his death in 1838'; see The Story of Carron Company,
Bicentenary Commemorative Volume (1959).
6 Miss P. M. Tarver, Allied Ironfounders Limited, personal communication.
6 Gloag and Bridgwater, 78, give the date as 1819.
174
BALCONY RAILINGS
century were illustrated in a catalogue7 by I. Cruickshanks, a copy of
which is in the library of the Sir John Soane's Museum. Diagrams of
three of the designs are reproduced in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The segmental
balconies at the three first-floor windows of the house no. 42 High Street,
Rochester, are of a pattern similar to that in Fig. IA, except that the
ornaments at the centres of alternate uprights are circular bosses with
a hint of a floral pattern. Each medalhon consists of two similar hollow
discs with the concave sides inwardly opposed; in a few cases, the outer
disc is missing. The scroUs at the lower ends of the uprights are much
deformed. The house is of 17788 date, and the balconies are almost
certainly contemporary.
No example of wrought-iron balconies with central loops is known in
Kent, but the staircase raUs in the George I I I customs house in Gravesend
are ofthis pattern (Fig. 2).
The trellis pattern, with or without ornament at the junctions of
the diagonals, is reproduced for balconies from wrought iron and from
cast iron; the design is more suited to casting than to shaping in the
blacksmith's forge. The balcony above the shop at no. 20 High Street,
Rochester, consists of trellis panels of two different widths reheved by
the addition of Adamesque balusters like that pictured in Fig. 4. The
work has the appearance of wrought iron.
At no. 24 Star HUl, Rochester, built about 1790, segmental balconies
at three first-floor windows are composed of balusters of a design
similar also to Fig. 4, alternating with plain uprights. Next door at
no. 22, over the porch, is a wrought iron raU consisting of uprights with
scroUed ends; alternate uprights dividing at the centres into diamonds
connecting them to the uprights on either side. Each upright is further
embeUished by the addition of two pairs of simple opposed leaves
(see Fig. 5). Another example ofthis simple leaf ornament can be seen
on a low window guard in Mercery Lane, Canterbury.
Prominent amongst the motifs used by the Adam brothers in their
new style of classical decoration was the anthemion, an ancient Grecian
ornament derived from a pattern of unfolding leaves. Other architects
adopted the new style, especially James Wyatt who used it even more
successfuUy than the Adam brothers.9 The work of Samuel Wyatt has
sometimes been mistaken for that of his younger brother James. The
house at Belmont Park, near Faversham, the home of Lord and Lady
Harris, is considered to have been designed entirely by Samuel Wyatt
about 1792. The plain uprights of the balcony railings are reheved by
' I. Cruickshanks, Eldorado Metal and Wrought Iron Sashes, etc., etc., also
all sorts of Iron Bailings at the Metal Sash Manufactory, Oerrard Street, Soho,
London. Date thought to be around 1790—Miss Dorothy Stroud.
8 John Newman, West Kent and the Weald (1969), 474.
0 Nigel Nicholson, Great Houses of Britain (1968), 270 ff.
175
D. STEPHENSON
the use at intervals of elegant balusters with the anthemion device in
the centre, a star below and fohage above (Fig. 6A). SimUar balusters
are used for the staircase in the house. The design is illustrated by
Cottingham (Plate I, 'Patterns for Gates, Window Guards &c.', No. 8)
modified and added to by the artist10 (Fig. 6B).
CAST-IRON BALCONIES
The writer had been aware for a long time that the houses in the
Adelphi, London, designed and buUt under the direction of the Adam
brothers had balconies at the -windows. I t was natural then, when interest
(rfysi^^
A ,, ooooo
24-SK& j f c . §§§§§
FIG. 1. FIG. 2. FIG. 3.
(After Cruickshanks c. 1790.)
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FIG. 4. FIG. 5.
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FIG. 6A. FIG. 6B. (After Cottingham.)
Designs for Wrought Iron Rails.
10 As is the case with many of the designs in this work.
176
BALCONY RAILINGS
was aroused in this form of ironwork on seeing so many houses with
balconies being demolished in towns in Kent, that attention should
first have been given to the houses there. No. 7 Adam Street, Adelphi,
is generally regarded by writers on architecture as being very much
as Robert Adam left it.11"13 At the first-floor windows are heavy cast
iron 'balconettes', each consisting of five upright elongated anthemia
with a border of circles above and one of diamonds below, the whole
forming a curved projection. Cottingham illustrates a window-guard of
a similar pattern in his Plate xvi, no. 7 'Patterns for Window Guards &
Balcony Railing. Executed in London', but the anthemia are stouter
and have fewer 'leaves' (Fig. 10). Cottingham's pattern must have been
taken from window-guards which were later removed from the Adelphi:
the Victoria and Albert Museum has, in the architecture room, an
example with three anthemia hke Cottingham's, but lacking the upper
border of circles. The balconies, at the second- and third-floor windows,
are rectangular in plan, and the fiat castings which form the rails are
much hghter and more dehcate. The front panel is composed of two
horizontally opposed anthemia in heart-shaped scroUs with an elliptical
device between them. There is an upper border of a wave-like pattern
comprising seven 'waves' (see Fig. 8A); the pattern is drawn from the
inside. Cottingham illustrates this also as 'erected in London' in his
Plate ii, no. 8, but alters the design a httle,10 increasing the number of
waves in the border and modifying the side panels. In a drawing of
his design for the Royal Terrace in the Adelphi, now in the Sir John
Soane's Museum, Robert Adam has shown window-guards very like
Fig. 10, but with quite different borders. The upper border, although
on a very small scale, is a wave pattern exactly like that in Fig. 8A the
'heart and honeysuckle' pattern14 at the upper windows of no. 7 Adam
Street. At the sides of the balconies, there are narrow cast-iron panels
of a quite different design consisting of a horizontal ellipse above a
device of two opposed vertical anthemia with a floral medalhon between
(Fig. 11). If the large panel is an Adam design dating back to about
1774, the year of the building of no. 7, then the side panel must be of
the same period and wiU probably be the work of the same designer.
Some early records of the Carron Company are preserved in the
11 Arthur Thomas Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam,
ii(1922), 30 ff.
12 N. Pevsner, The Buildings of London, Vol. I, The Cities of London and
Westminster (1957), 295.
13 John Summerson, 138, 299.
11 This apt and easy name was suggested by Miss A. Chatwin of Cheltenham.
Peroy Fitzgerald writing in the Architectural Review, vii, 274, in 'The Life and
Work of Robert Adam', refers to 'the pleasing pattern of the balconies . . . the
ornament being his hyacinth sprays to which he was very partial'. Sir John
Summerson, 139, writes of Adam's use of 'gay strips of honeysuckle embroidery'
when referring to the use of the anthemion device in stucco. Nikolaus Pevsner too,
writes of 'giant pilasters with honeysuckle decoration'.
177
D. STEPHENSON
Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh.15 They consist largely of account
books dealing with land, colhery and ironstone purchases. Of four
smaU books of drawings one proved particularly interesting. It is16
a printed catalogue on paper water-marked 1818 (1823 on one sheet)
and a pencU note reads, 'Note the goods shown in this catalogue are
mostly in the Empke Period and decorated by Wm. Haworth who was
in vigour as a carver until his death in 1838'.4 The goods illustrated are
chiefly stoves, fireplaces and chimney-pieces, but at the end of the smaU
volume are three pages of balcony-rail designs which are reproduced in
Figs. 7, 8 and 9. Fig. 7 shows four panels of differing widths but
Jf't.
(.. to
FIG. 7.
Facsimile reproduced by corniest/ of Carron Company and the Scottish Record Office
16 Personal communication from Mr. Claude Blair, Assistant Keeper of Metalwork,
The Victoria and Albert Museum.
10 Scottish Record Office, reference G.D. 58 16/6.
178
BALCONY RAILINGS
essentiaUy the same 'gothic' design. The bottom of the page has been
worn away and bears no date. Fig. 8 illustrates the large 'heart and
honeysuckle' panel and three smaller panels in which only one upright
anthemion is used and the heart-shaped scrolls are modified to give new
designs. The borders, whilst retaining a wave pattern (except in Fig. 8D)
are also different. The bottom of the page bears the words 'Drawn &
Printed by Simonau 1823'. Fig. 9 shows four new designs of a 'cobweb'
pattern. It will be seen that the widths of the panels on this page are
the same as those of the corresponding panels on Fig. 8, but the heights
are a httle greater. The words at the bottom of the page are 'Printed by
Simonau 1823'.
A search of the records preserved in the Coalbrookdale Museum
revealed only three pages of illustrations of balcony-railings or windowfl
+ e i 2
I
tl \,n i i AMW SniM
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2Wrn«'iKftU fe Jtw n i l
Facsimile reproduced by courtesy of Carron Company and the Scottish Record Office
179
D. STEPHENSON
guards. Two pages from the catalogue of the Falkirk Ironworks,
previously mentioned, picture railings which are to be found in Kent
and elsewhere. The third page, from a catalogue of the Coalbrookdale
Company, dates from the middle or the second half of the nineteenth
century; no raihngs have been found in Kent which closely resemble
these patterns.
Falkirk Ironworks records. Plate No. 284A, 'Balcony Panels' is
reproduced in Plate IA. The upper design with or without borders is
found widely in Kent. Plate No. 288, 'Staircase & Balcony Bars' is
reproduced in Plate IB. Pattern No. 6 is now widely distributed in
Kent, No. 17 has been found only once.
1 at
>JM
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11
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FIG. 9. „ ;X
B O D
Facsimile reproduced by courtesy of Carron Company and the Scottish Record Office
180
BALCONY RAILINGS
As cast iron is so readily reproduced in almost unlimited quantities
and to a fixed design, once a satisfactory pattern has been made, it is
not surprising to find that some cast-iron panels occur repeatedly in
widely separated places and over long periods of time. For example,
the large 'heart and honeysuckle' panel Fig. 8A may be seen in many
towns in Kent and as far afield as London, Bristol, Cheltenham, Weymouth
and in Northern England: the drawing of 1823 is reproduced in a
Carron Company catalogue of 1868. There was a considerable expansion
of domestic building, particularly after the battle of Waterloo, at a
time when Carron Company had its own ships, bringing castings from
Scotland to Enghsh ports.
Following is a list of the cast-iron designs of the period in Kent.
Design numbers are assigned in chronological order as closely as this
can be done.
Design No. 0. Seen only in the Adelphi. Consists of varying numbers
of upright anthemia which have different numbers of leaves. One
version pubhshed by Cottingham. A version with three anthemia and a
border of nine diamonds below is exhibited in the Architecture Room
at the Victoria and Albert Museum (see Fig. 10).
Design No. 1 (Fig. 8A). Probably designed by Robert Adam. Cast
by the Carron Company. Very widely distributed. Illustrated in Gloag
and Bridgwater 130, 131, 283. The smaU lugs between the heartshaped
scrolls and the rectangular frame are always present; they
probably assist in producing a strong casting. First erected at nos. 7
and 8 Adam Street, Adelphi. Oval strengthening pieces are added in
the version of the design used at the windows on the corner of John
Adam Street and Robert Street, Adelphi. A very unusual treatment of
a cast iron design is to be seen on Central Parade, Heme Bay, where
curved panels are used over the bow-windows of Marine House. This
design is most plentiful in Gravesend, Heme Bay, Ramsgate, Margate
and Tunbridge WeUs, but occurs also in Deal, Walmer and Folkestone.
It is an example of the long periods during which popular designs may
remain in use: the Ulustration in the catalogue of 1868 preserved at
Carron suggests a period extending over more than 90 years. Pattern
iUustrated by Cottingham, PI. U, 8.
Design No. 2 (Fig. 11). As old as design no. 1. Also occurs with
design no. 1 on houses in CamberweU New Road, London. The only
place where the design has been seen in Kent is at no. 4 High Street,
Gravesend.17 Probably a Carron Company design. Illustrated in Cottingham,
twinned, PI. ii, 7.
" The semi-detached pair of houses, nos. 4 and 5 High Street, Gravesend, is
said to be of 1736. I t was later an inn known as 'The Golden Fleece'. No. 5 housed
for some time before 1839 and up to 1852/3 an ironmonger's business and a small
foundry—see note 22.
181
18A
D. STEPHENSON
Design No. 3 (Fig. 8C). Carron Company casting. Most beautifully
displayed, with triangulated edges and spacing rods, on balconies in
St. Dunstan's Terrace and Orchard Street, Canterbury. This panel has
been frequently used as area-raUs and step-raUs on terrace houses,
particularly in Gravesend. Also in Heme Bay, Ramsgate (as windowguards
on Welhngton House, Welhngton Crescent), Deal (no. 50 Beach
Street) and on the 'Musick GaUery', The PantUes, Tunbridge Wells.
Inversion of the main panel is frequently seen as in The Pantiles;
in Central Parade, Heme Bay, the borders are placed at the bottom.
Design No. 4 (Fig. 8B). Carron Company design. Not frequent in
Kent. Used as side panels with design no. 1. As window-guards on no. 53
Parrock Street, Gravesend, now demohshed, and on no. 4 High Street,
Gravesend. As step raUs in Edwin Street and Darnley Road, Gravesend.
Design No. 5 (Fig. 8D). Carron Company casting. Rather more
frequent in Kent than design no. 4. GeneraUy used as side panel with
design no. 1, as in Bath Street and Windmill Street, Gravesend; on
Central Parade, Heme Bay; in Church Street, Tunbridge WeUs, and in
Fort Crescent, Margate.
Design No. 6 (Fig. 12). Consists of the main panel of design no. 5,
Fig. 8D inverted, with a portion of the 'wave' border from design no. 1
and a small wedge shape added to improve the pattern. Seen only at
nos. 16 to 20 Church Street, Tunbridge Wells, with designs nos. 1 and 4.
(Also in Church Street, Tunbridge WeUs, on nos. 33, 35 and 37, are
ornate railings with anthemia above heart-shaped scroUs separated by
decorated uprights. The effect is 'fussy' but the design is obviously
an elaboration of the 'heart and honeysuckle' concept.)
Design No. 7 (Fig. 13). Origin unknown. Inner part of the design
resembles the lower panel of design no. 2. Similar castings occur on
old buildings close to the Adelphi. The design is widespread in Kent,
and is used for verandahs, step- and area-raUs as well as balcony-raUs.
It is to be seen in Deal (Albert Road), Dover (Castle Hill), Gravesend,
Heme Bay, Maidstone (Albion Place and Marsham Street), Margate
(Bridge House, King Street), Ramsgate (two sides of Spencer Square,
finely at no. 38 West Cliff Road and with a splendid gas-lamp on the
Iron Duke Inn, BeUe Vue Road) and on Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge
Wells. IUustrated with a cresting in Cottingham, PI. i, 4.
Design No. 8 (Fig. 14). Origin unknown. Not frequent in Kent.
Regarded by Gloag and Bridgwater as belonging to the early nineteenth
century.18 Like design no. 7, it has five pairs of prominent uprights in
each panel. It occurs as area railings in Welhngton Street, Gravesend, in
Albion Place and in Marsham Street, Maidstone, and in Nelson Crescent
and in The Paragon, Ramsgate.
18 Gloag and Bridgwater, 286.
182
PLATE IA
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Reproduced by courtesy of Allied Ironfounders Ltd.
I face p. 182
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