PROPERTY / LIVING HISTORIES: Directory: 4 The Edwardian House

Saturday 26 September 1992 23:02 BST
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Lighting: Around the end of the 19th century, when electric lighting came into better-off homes, W A S Benson turned the electric light into a new art form characterised by elegance of line. So claims expert Fritz Fryer, 12 Brookend Street, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 7EG (tel 0989 67416), specialist in antique decorative lighting, who still discovers and sells Benson's original work. Other delights in his shop include Edwardian hanging ceiling lights, brass table lamps and standard lamps.

Bathrooms: By the Edwardian era most homes had a bathroom and separate lavatory. Old cast-iron enamel baths that have lost their sheen can be properly re-enamelled through Drummond's of Bramley, Birtley Farm, Horsham Road, Bramley, Guildford GU5 OLA (tel 0483 898766). Baths are sent to a specialist plant in Eastern Europe where the thick, glossy, slightly undulating surface that characterises a period bath, is recreated. Drummond's also has lots of antique roll-top and canopy baths, cisterns, taps, washbasins and toilet bowls. Stained glass: The Arts and Crafts movement helped revitalise the craft of stained glass. Designs were sinuous, with the convolvulus and tulip popular motifs. Ian Caldwell of Caldwell Designs, 48 Angus Drive, South Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 OSB (081-845 3375) repairs and restores stained glass.

Ironmongery: Arts and Crafts architects took inspiration from the vernacular, respecting simple materials. Doors, for example, often had wrought-iron fittings to emphasise craftsmanship. A tiny smithy, Forgeries, The Old Butchery, High Street, Twyford, Winchester, Hampshire S021 1RF (0962 712196), uses the hammer and the fire to forge authentic-style ironmongery to order - latches, levers, bolts, strap hinges and so on, along with handmade rose head nails and studs.

General background: The Victorian Society has produced the first two guides of a series dealing with the restoration of Edwardian (and Victorian) houses ( pounds 3 each, inc p & p). It is at 1 Priory Gardens, Bedford Park, London W4 1TT, tel 081-994 1019 (the number we gave last week was incorrect).

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