Wolverhampton's Locally Listed Buildings

Compton Court

Compton Road

Listing: Locally Listed, approved March 2000. Inter-war private flats. Designed in 1937 by S D W Timmins. Fine example of the period. Some interior detailing survives.

Comment: a 1930s infill in a road with many Victorian houses and the rest rather nondescript suburbia. It makes an interesting change. Wolverhampton expanded more than many places during the depression and this is one of a reasonable number of good inter-war buildings in the town.

Duncan Nimmo writes:

The expansion of private housing was a key theme of inter-war Britain.  Most of the expansion was in suburban estates but blocks of flats did play a part (see, for example, David Dean, "The Thirties: Recalling the English Architectural Scene").  Compton Court is one of a very small number of inter-war blocks of flats in this area of the city.  I know of only one other - the closely related St. Jude's court.
Compton Court, like St. Jude's Court, was designed by the local firm of S. D. W. Timmins.  

It is a fine example of the 30s style and it is, apparently, intact throughout.  

External characteristics include the way it is set back from the road, allowing space for the forecourt, trees and grass; the handsome brick construction, with stone trimmings for effect; the strong horizontals of the windows and the stone string course;  the symmetry, combined with strong 3-D geometrical design in volumes as well as shapes;  and, on the sides, the highly characteristic windows which "go round the corner".
The 30s style continued in the interior, for example, the door furniture and the somewhat art deco stair railing (see photo above).  

Many other characteristic features survive internally, including this tiled fireplace in one of the flats.
And also art deco-style door furniture such as these.