WILLIAMS-ELLIS, Clough (1883-1978) A signed typewritten letter dated 1919

WILLIAMS-ELLIS, Clough (1883-1978) A signed typewritten letter dated 1919

The letter was addressed to H.F Brown Esq, at the Crypt Chamber, Eastgate Row in Chester and reads:

'Dear Sir,

The book of which I enclose a prospectus is just published and deals with Pisé building very fully. You will also, no doubt, be interested in the enclosed reprint from the "Spectator".

Should you ever have the opportunity, I should strongly recommend your visiting the pioneer house at Newlands Corner, 4 miles from Guildford, via Merrow, which you are very welcome to do at any time, and which tell you more than anything I can write.

Yours Faithfully'

Notes on the recipient:

The recipient is likely to be Harry Faulkner Brown, of the famous Browns of Chester store family. The iconic Browns of Chester independant department store was indeed set at this same address for decades. Although he was a solicitor, H F Brown was still associated with the family business. He also became Mayor of Chester in 1919. He was married to Louisa Phyllis Brown (known as Phyllis), who in 1920 became the first woman member of the Chester City Council and who would later on be the first woman Mayor of Chester (in 1938). The Browns were leading figures in Chester's civic, retail, and preservation movements during the same mid-20th-century era. Notably, in 1928, they purchased over 64 acres of land for the price of £5000, ‘for the land to be forever maintained and preserved as recreation ground for the use of citizens'. It is now known as The Meadows. Later that year they purchased a further two plots of land on the meadow and again gifted them both to the City.

Notes on the sender:

Sir Clough William-Ellis is probably best known as the mind behind the creation of Portmeirion Village, but he was also a relentless conservationist. He campaigned for the environment and was a founding member of both CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) established in 1926 and CPRW (now Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales) in 1928. An influential advocate of the establishment of National Parks in England and Wales, he was responsible for the demarcation of Snowdonia National Park's boundary which he presented to King George and Queen Elizabeth in 1951. His contribution to architecture has been considerable.

Notes on the content of the letter:

The book mentioned in the letter is William-Ellis' work 'Cottage Building in Cob, Pisé, Chalk & Clay: A Renaissance', published by Country Life also in 1919.

Clough also refers to a reprint from the 'Spectator' he enclosed with his letter. It is interesting to point out that in 1915 he married the writer Amabel Strachey, whose father, St Loe Strachey, was the editor of The Spectator from 1887 to 1925. The two had previously met and Clough had taken up a challenge set by his future father-in-law to design affordable rural housing. Clough delivered the "Hundred Guinea Cottage," successfully addressing the need for cost-effective, practical rural housing. He went on to become a contributor to the magazine on matters of architecture.

The 'pioneer' house at Newlands Corner Clough refers to in this letter, now known as White Cottage, he built in 1919 using the pisé method - an ancient construction technique using compacted clay and earth to form walls. The house still stands today, although now much modernised. For further information, the 20th Century Society's website features an article on the building and its history (see Building of the Month, October 2024).

Although we have no knowledge of further correspondence nor information on a relationship between the sender and recipient of the letter, the two men had obvious shared interests in both environmental and architectural matters, on which it is possible Brown might have consulted Clough.