The interesting stone pictured can be found high above a yard, once known as Smithy Fold, off Lidget Street. The horseshoe, hammer and tongs are symbols
of the blacksmith’s trade and the initials are those of Joseph and Elizabeth Gledhill. Joseph was a blacksmith, as was his grandson Gideon who built the Victorian block in front of the yard and had his initials and the date 1859 inscribed there. His sons, John and Edwin, founded a firm of crane manufacturers and built the former St Stephen’s Ironworks, on which their initials and the date 1878 is engraved.
Edgar Wood and Lindley
Edgar Wood, one of the finest architects of his day, was born in Middleton near Rochdale on 17th May 1860, the son of Thomas Broadbent Wood, a cotton mill owner, and his wife Mary. His father wanted him to go into the family business, Edgar wanted to be an artist, so they compromised and Edgar trained with Manchester architects Mills and Murgatroyd passing his RIBA exams in 1885.
He favoured the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts styles and incorporated them into his buildings, but he was also innovative and added his own flamboyant touches and he also believed in 'Total Design', that is designing not only the building but everything that went into it. He worked at first in the Middleton and Manchester areas but later his Sykes relatives in Lindley and their associates commissioned him to build for them. Wood was related to the Sykes family through his mother, Charlotte, and it was his uncle, John Sykes who founded the company which later became Joseph Sykes Brothers of Acre Mills, Lindley.
Lindley Wesleyan Methodist Church, East Street
In 1894 Wood was commissioned to build a 2 storey rear extension to the church
which was originally built in 1868. The extension comprised a new chancel, vestry, organ space and boiler house. Uncharacteristically restrained, he designed it to harmonise with the existing style, but he also designed an oak communion table for it in his own style, with carved allegorical panels, an angel, foliage and biblical inscriptions which the Sykes family donated to the church.
Briarcourt, Occupation Road
Briarcourt was commissioned by John Sykes in 1894 as a wedding present for his son Herbert Higginson Sykes and his bride Annie Eliza Thompson.
It has romantic touches such as heart emblems in bronze, intertwined roses in the glass panels, and doves and angels in the plasterwork. It demonstrates Wood's attention to detail in the decorative features, detailed stonework, door finishes and plasterwork. Sadly Herbert, whom it was built for, died in 1916 after an accident 9 years previously at Acre Mill. He had fallen, breaking a kneecap which led to long years of paralysis and his eventual death.
Lindley Gatehouse Low Hills Lane, 1900
This formed the entrance to J. N. Sykes' Field Head estate.
Banney Royd Hall, Edgerton
One of Wood's most important Yorkshire designs, Banney Royd Hall was built for accountant W. H. Armitage in 1902. It has some of Wood's favourite features such as heart shaped emblems on the doorways, gables, mullioned windows, inglenook fireplaces, rooms radiating out from a central hall with good views and plenty of daylight.
Azo House, 90 Birkby Lodge Road
Azo House is actually 2 semi-detached houses made to look like one.
Built in 1903 for clients Joseph Turner and W.H. Hughes. Turner was chief chemist
at Read Holliday chemical works and the name comes from a range of textile dyes they produced.
Lindley Clock Tower was commissioned by James Nield Sykes, J.P. in 1901 and designed by renowned architect Edgar Wood. It stands on the corner of Lidget Street and Daisy Lee Lane.
The Sykes family owned the textile card manufacturing business at Acre Mills and James Nield Sykes had a mansion, Fieldhead, nearby.
Lindley Clock Tower is regarded as one of Wood's Art Nouveau masterpieces.
The clock tower stands 83 feet high, square with diagonal corner buttresses which exaggerate the height of the tower, with a concave copper pagoda roof. It is built from local stone. The sculptures on the tower have underlying meanings related to the passage of time, the seasons, the Eternal Virtues of truth, love, purity and justice, and the gargoyles represent "The Beasts Fleeing from the Towers of Time".
Sykes gave the tower for the benefit of his native village, but some say also to remind his workers to get to work on time. The clock, built by Messrs. William Potts of Leeds, could be seen and heard from a considerable distance. As well as the four clearly visible clock faces, each 6ft 6inches in diameter and illuminated at night, chimes rang out on the hour and every quarter. From the entrance hall of the tower a spiral staircase with 69 steps climbs to a platform just below the clock mechanism, whilst the chimes are kept in the belfry above.
In 1902 members of Lindley Mechanics Institute met to decide on a way to show their appreciation of James Nield Syke's magnanimity to the village and agreed on commissioning a 32" high replica of the tower in silver to present to him. Sadly James Nield died in March 1903 before the gift was ready, so it was presented instead to his daughter, Miss Sykes, on 1st June 1903. On her death it passed to a grandson of Mr Sykes and eventually found its way back to Huddersfield Town Hall where it is currently on display in the foyer.
Norman Terrace, 1898
Norman Terrace, a group of 3 cottages on Lidgett Street, was built by James Neild Sykes for workers at his mill. The 3 bedroomed houses were advanced for their time, with indoor toilets, yet traditional too, echoing the design of weavers' cottages at the rear. The 2 storey bay window and canopied porch with window above are characteristic of Wood's style.
Around 1906 Edgar formed a partnership with architect and furniture designer James Henry Sellers (1859 -1918). The two absorbed the latest ideas in architecture and their style developed more towards Modernism. They designed buildings with flat reinforced concrete roofs, cubic forms and geometric patterns.
After the death of his father in 1909, Edgar Wood became financially independent and did not undertake any more commissions, reverting to his love of art. He became a painter and settled in Italy, designing and building his own home at Porto Maurizio, Liguria, where he died in 1935.
For more information about Edgar Wood see
www.edgarwoodinyorkshire.co.uk
F. W. Sykes and the "Venetia"
Frederick William Sykes (1858-1923) was a substantial, well liked and generous Lindley businessman. He was the grandson of John Sykes (d. 1830) the founder of the Lindley textile card making business. His uncle was Joseph Sykes who founded Joseph Sykes and Brothers and his father was William, one of the three brothers who founded that company and built Acre Mills.
His father, William, helped run the business but also became a County Magistrate, Director of the Huddersfield Banking Company and a member of the Huddersfield School board. He was a dissenter and laid the foundation stone of Lindley Zion Methodist Chapel in 1864. Eight years later, his son, F.W. Sykes, aged only 15, laid the foundation stone of the chapel's Sunday School.
Frederick William became chairman of the English Card Clothing Company formed from the Joseph Sykes company and 3 other companies. He was a huge benefactor to Lindley, helping found the Liberal Club in 1887(he was a staunch Liberal), laying its foundation stone and presenting it with land for its bowling green in 1911.
He supported the Royal Infirmary, Royds Military Hospital, the Orphan Home and helped buy back the Mechanics Institute for the people of Lindley in 1890.
He entertained important guests, such as the Prime Minister at his home, Green Lea, and at times treated his workers and the old, poor and needy of Lindley.
His wife, Catherine, assisted in his benevolent activities and pursued some of her own too. She re-opened the Huddersfield Orphan home in April 1900 and helped raise funds for extra clothing for local troops during the war.
In 1902 F. W. did something extraordinary – he commissioned a luxury single screw steam yacht to be built at Leith in Scotland. It was designed by Cox and King and built at yard 96 by Hawthorn's Shipbuilding Company during 1903 and launched
soon after, being christened “Venetia”.
Sykes travelled widely for his company, to America, India, Russia and Japan but it is not known why he bought this magnificent and expensive craft, although on 19th August 1904 the Hull Daily Mail reported that the yacht was anchored off Bridlington, suggesting it was being used to entertain clients or family members. This magnificent yacht carried 30 crew and many more passengers. “The Venetia” had 10 staterooms with bathrooms, unusual for that time, also a smoking room and library, an elegant dining room and lounge all with steam central heating. Extraordinarily again, he did not keep it for long. It was sold in 1905 and had 4 owners before wealthy John Diedrich Spreckels, San Diego's leading businessman, bought it in 1911 for leisure use.
In August 1917 the US Navy leased the yacht from Spreckels and added guns, depth charge and radio equipment to convert it into a World War I patrol craft.
The "Venetia" escorted Allied vessels in the Atlantic and the Med and was based in Gibralter. She was gaudily camouflaged with a pattern of pink, green, and blue spots and diamonds, in contrast to her former tasteful glossy white.
During the war, she is credited with sinking 3 enemy U-boats and was given a “Star of Reward” to display on her funnel. After the war, in 1919, she was returned to Mr Spreckels in poor condition, but converted back to a luxury yacht and used for vacations and business trips until his death in 1926. She was again sold on and eventually ended up plying the Great Lakes until her demise in the 1960s.
Oddly at F.W. Sykes's funeral in 1923 a Captain Harvey and Mr T. Fale were amongst the mourners, representing the yacht's officers and crew. It is not known if the yacht they represented was the "Venetia" or not.
A fine model of the yacht can be seen at Huddersfield's Tolson Museum.
Green Lea, the Sykes mansion and wooded estate of over 13 acres was purchased by the Royal Infirmary in 1925 for £10,000. The mansion was used as a surgical unit, then a private patients' ward but in 1957 was chosen as the site for the new hospital. The mansion and 300 trees were cleared away. The new hospital was opened by Harold Wilson in January 1967.