John William Wilson, PC, JP (22 October 1858 – 18 June 1932) was a British chemical manufacturer and politician who served for 27 years as a Liberalmember of parliament (MP) for North Worcestershire.[2] His father, John Edward Wilson, had founded the chemical manufacturers, Albright and Wilson, in 1856, in partnership with his fellow Quaker, Arthur Albright.[3] The firm specialised in phosphorus production, principally for the making of matches and became extremely successful. John William Wilson followed his father onto the board of Albright and Wilson, and also held directorships with other major concerns, including Bryant & May and the Great Western Railway.[a][2]
Wilson knew the area of the Malvern Hills through family connections, and it was proximate to the Oldbury site of the Albright and Wilson works. In 1893 he bought 80 acres of land around Colwall and commissioned Charles Vosey to design a country house. Pevsner records the price as £4,900.[4] Perrycroft was Vosey's first major commission and did much to establish his reputation.[b][6]
Perrycroft remains privately owned but the gardens and house are occasionally opened for visitors.[7][8]
Architecture and description
The house is designed in Vosey's trademark Arts and Crafts style.[6] The hipped roofs are of green/grey slate, with sweeping eaves, and five monumental chimney stacks.[1] The bell bracket on the "pagoda-like"[1] tower at the entrance front displays another typical Vosey feature; the bracket is a stylised human face or grotesque, a device he often deployed.[9]Historic England considers it "one of Vosey's best houses".[1] Vosey's 21st century biography, David Cole, in his study, The Art of CFA Voysey, describes it as "the very essence of a 'Vosey house', not only in its catalogue of Vosey details and palette of materials, but also in its form and .... composition".[10] Perrycroft is a Grade II* listed building.[1] Other listed structures on the estate include a summer house,
[11] a lodge,[12] a coach house,[13] and two sets of stables.[14][15]
Gallery
Illustration of Perrycroft from Modern Homes, 1909
Illustration of Perrycroft from Modern Homes, 1909
^Vosey became a favoured architect of the English upper-middle classes, designing houses for businessmen, politicians and artists. The First World War virtually destroyed his architectural practice, and his last decades saw him largely focused on furniture and fabric design.[5]
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