The entry in Pevsner's
Cumbria (with
Matthew Hyde, 2010) reads:
MOOR CRAG, a little s of Broadleys, and on the other
side of the road. By CFA Voysey, 1899-1900, for JW Buckley of Altrincham
near Manchester, where he had a house called Westwood.
The quintessence of the Lake District, despite the
fact that Voysey had one style wherever he built, and of the vernacular,
even though it copies no local precedent. Muthesius's admiration was echoed
by Pevsner in 1969, who said of Moor Crag and Broadleys that 'there is
nothing of the date on the Continent to come up to their standard. The
future and the past blend effortlessly indeed. They are C20 pioneer work and
yet free Tudor'. Yet the sweet simplicity of the house, and its absolute
rightness in the landscape, were not arrived at without effort. Moor Crag
was on the drawing board in 1898 but it was more than a year before the
design was finalised, and the catslide roof sweeping down at the lake end
was the result of changing its position (like Blackwell it is end-on to the
lake with long N & S sides). The great swept roof is the thing, punctuated
by dormers and gables on both main sides, without formal correspondences,
and set off by the massive verticals of the chimneys, and the long
horizontals of the eaves and dripmoulds. There is no service wing to disturb
the perfect 'house that Jack built'; services were accommodated in an
existing building down the garden path. The window dressings and mullions,
absolutely flush and unmoulded, the steps and the floors of Buttermere
slate, of a most beautiful blue; a different palette to Broadleys and
Blackwell. The three upper cross-windows on the entrance side represent the
staircase landings. (Staircase again with close vertical slats). Voysey took
double care to ventilate the house when empty, with tiny opening lights in
each window, and an extra chimney flue connecting to all the little air
vents: typical of the extreme thought lavished on what was, after all, only
a holiday home.
Thomas Mawson did the site survey and blasted out
the romantic drive.
CARTMEL FELL NEWBY BRIDGE ROAD SD 39 SE (East side) 3/26 Moor
Crag 25.3.70 I House, now with flat to west end. 1898-1900. By C.F.A. Voysey.
Roughcast with slate dressings and hipped slate roof. North facade of 2 storeys
and 7 irregular bays, the end bay is of one storey. 1st and 6th bays under
gables, that to 6th bay is swept down over 7th bay, emphasising the slope of the
ground. Dripcourse over ground floor windows of 6th and 7th bay and over 1st
floor windows of 1st and 6th bays; gables have 3 slots under dripstone. Wide
eaves and moulded bargeboards. Raking buttress to left of 6th bay. Windows have
flat slate dressings and mullions; leaded glazing with rectangular quarries; 1st
bay of ground floor has canted bay window of 2+2+2 lights with cornice and flat
lead-clad roof extended over verandah to right, which has timber posts on
slate-coped walls and 4 steps. Single light and 2-light window flank entrance,
with half-glazed door; single light to right of verandah. 6th bay has 3+3-light
window; single light to 7th bay. 1st floor has 4-light window to 1st bay;
2-light window with single lights to left and right; 3 cross-mullion windows, 2
are paired; full light to right of buttress has transom; 6th bay has single
light and 3-light window. Lead downpipes have scrolled clasping supports.
Bootscraper by steps has tall handle. South facade of 5 bays, the 1st 2 bays
gabled with roof swept down to left, the 5th bay gabled, the 3rd bay a 2-storey
canted bay window with top cornice and later slate-hung apron. Roof of 4th bay
swept down over verandah with trellis supports and extends to right over canted
bay window. Dripcourses over windows to 1st, 2nd and 5th bays. 1st 2 bays have
3-light windows; canted bays have 2+2+2-light windows, that to 3rd bay with
half-glazed door to right return; 4th bay has 4-light window with round window
to left, and 3-light flat-topped roof dormer with cornice; 5th bay has 4-light
window to 1st floor. Entrance to left hand end. Large stack to roof slope has
typical Voysey tall pots. Gutter downpipe to left of 3rd bay. West facade
dominated by roof slope; 2 single lights flank round arch with recessed door
with strap hinges, similar door to entrance to right; triangular dormer over
arch and 3-light dormer higher up to left, large stack with tall pots at top of
slope. East facade has projecting lateral stack with tall pots in gabled
projection, flanking 2-light windows. Interior not inspected but said to have
original fittings: panelling, stair, fireplaces, etc. Moor Crag is one of
Voysey's finest houses and one of the most important of its date in Europe.
