York Historic Environment Record

Ecus Ltd were commissioned by Lindum York to undertake Historic Building Recording of the Burnholme Social Club in Heworth, York, located at SE 62396 52602. The programme of work was required to discharge a planning condition placed on the planning permission 13/01538/FULM by City of York Council, and carried out in accordance with a brief issued by the council (Appendix 1.) The proposed development is for the demolition of the Social Club and the construction of a new social club and several dwellings within its grounds. An analytical record was undertaken in line with English Heritage’s Level 3 Survey (2008) comprising historic research, the production of plans and photographic record. The building research and survey was undertaken between 03/03/14 and 12/03/14. Burnholme Social Club is a two storey building with attic and cellar, possessing a footprint measuring approximately 33 x 33 m, and situated within the eastern corner of a large associated plot. The principal elevation of the building faces south onto Burnholme Drive. The building was designed in the Gothic revival style by the York architect W.G. Penty, and was built c.1882 as a suburban villa residence for John Bellerby, a retired timber merchant. The building remained in domestic use until 1935 when it was acquired by the Burnholme Social Club under whose ownership it still remains. The building forms four principal structural units, comprising:  The Main House, comprising the main two-storey building with corner tower and projecting gables.  The Cottage, comprising an adjoining two-storey, but slightly lower, building on the western elevation;  An adjoining single storey flat roofed modern extension to the north; and  An early 20th century T-plan structure adjoining the northern modern extension. The exterior of Burnholme uses a broad selection of materials and styles with half-timbered gables, classical sash-windows, redbrick and terracotta ornament and decorative plaster panels. Timber framing and woodwork is used extensively along the roof-line with a wide variation of design in often simple patterns. Five phases of construction, occupation and alteration can be distinguished within the surviving building fabric and through analysis of historic documents. Despite the impact of a change from domestic to public utilisation, Burnholme has retained a good number of original architectural details and its original plan has remained largely evident. Modern surface finishes and the gradual decline in the condition of the building have however significantly reduced the original intended design and aesthetic values of the architect, and the exact original function of the majority of the rooms is uncertain. The rooms inside the house do, however, reflect a clearly defined social order. There are the large hall and high ceilinged rooms of the ground floor where guests were received and entertained and on the first floor there are the bedrooms and dressing rooms of the family. Alongside this there were extensive servants’ quarters in the Cottage and attic of the Main House. The attention of servants could be gained through a system of bell presses within the rooms, which may well have replaced an early bell pull system. Internally the building retains much of its original plan, although several rooms have been knocked together to form large function spaces. The social gradations of the building were also expressed architecturally in the complexity of the mouldings, the height of the ceilings, and in the size of the fireplaces. Where visual inspection has been possible outside of the modern alterations and above the suspended ceiling the building does evidently retain evidence of its former use, and thus it is considered that further examination following soft strip of the interior would be beneficial in enhancing the record.