More information : Burnaston House was the officers mess at Derby/ Burnaston airfield: see number 7 on the accompanying map in the Airfield Review article. (1)
Burnaston House SK 2911 3096 (NAT). (2)
In 1810 Ashton Nicholas Every Mosley (1792-1875) acquired the Conygree estate, a farm at Burnaston, including its brick built 17th century farmhouse and farm buildings. The farm remained tenanted until 1824, but soon afterwards a new country house was erected to the south-west of the farmhouse and yard, built by Mosley as a home for himself and his family. The house was probably completed by 1825; a son was born 'at the conygree' in 1826, presumed to be the new house, and later to be renamed Burnaston House.
There is some doubt about whether the east and west end bays were part of the original design; it seems that either the plans were modified in the course of construction, or that the bays may have been a later addition. The arrangement of the interior also indicated an original entrance in the west elevation, although the 1882 OS map clearly shows that the carriage drive swept from west to east through the parkland in order to afford a fine view of the south elevation before arriving at the east end of the house.
The family continued to live at Burnaston House until the early 20th century, when it was let by Mosley's grandson Arthur in about 1908. In 1936 the house and 382 acres were purchased by Derby Borough Council for an aerodrome, with the house used as a clubhouse and terminal building. In 1939 Derby Municipal Airport Burnaston was opened, and by the 1950s was operating a service throughout Britain and to the Channel Islands. In 1965, when Derby Airways relocated to East Midlands Airport, the airfield was downgraded to a flying club and the house sold as a dwelling. The service wing was occupied, but the main house fell into a state of neglect, and in the winter of 1981-82 part of the first floor collapsed, although the list description of 1976 also refers to the loss of the east part of the south elevation. In 1987 the house was purchased with the intention of converting it into a nursing home, but shortly after this the estate was compulsorily purchased for development by Toyota as a car factory. The stonework was systematically dismantled and stored. The plan to rebuild the house in a new location has culminated in the present proposal, the intention of which is to 'incorporate the salvaged external stonework' into a new family residence, including rebuilding a slightly reduced service wing in reclaimed brick.
The design of the house has been tentatively attributed to Francis Goodwin (1784-1835). Francis Goodwin executed a number of designs for Commissioners Churches, eight of which in the midlands and north are listed. Secular listed buildings to his credit include the Town Hall, Macclesfield, listed at Grade II*, and the Old Parsonage, Wolverhampton (Grade II). He also designed the south front of the nearby Grade II listed country house, Meynell Langley, in 1829.
Three elevations of Burnaston House were built of ashlar sandstone; the east elevation was of rendered brick with stone dressings, while the service wing was of rendered brick. The roofs were slate. The ashlar stonework survives in storage, each stone identified and numbered on drawings of the main elevations made when the house was dismantled; however, the roofs and the brickwork of the north elevation and service wing no longer survive.
The house consisted of a main block with service wing to the north. The main south elevation was of six-bays, the four central bays of two-storeys, flanked by two slightly recessed single-storey bays. These formed one of two-bays in the east and west elevations, the second of which was of two-storeys. The house was designed in an austere neo-classical style, with hipped roofs concealed behind a low parapet, below which was a moulded eaves cornice. The two single-storey corner bays also had parapets forming balconies over, and a moulded cornice which continued as a string course across all three main elevations. The six full height sash windows to the south elevation were set in recessed blind panels, while the tripartite sashes to east and west were surrounded by shouldered architraves. The main entrance was in the east elevation. The main elevations of the service wing contained a regular arrangement of sash windows to ground and first-floor.
Although the house was in a poor condition in the 1980s, surviving detail included reeded architraves, decorative cornices and a staircase with cast or wrought iron ballusters. The only elements of this detail that survive are a plaster cast of a cornice and the staircase, reconstructed following damage and now installed in a new house.
Burnaston House, a country house built for A N E Mosley in 1825 and listed at Grade II in 1976, is recommended for delisting for the following principal reason:
* Intactness: Although at the time of listing it fully met the criteria for designating early 19th century country houses, much of its interior was damaged or lost by the time it was dismantled with Listed Building Consent in the late 20th century. Only the stonework of three facades was salvaged, therefore too little of the original fabric and architectural detail survives to reconstruct the house in its original form. (4)
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