Sunderland was at the height of its prosperity during the Edwardian period (1901-10). In this halcyon decade, Sunderland created a series of Edwardian Baroque buildings that adorn the city like an architectural crown. The Police Station and Magistrates' Court on Gill Bridge Avenue (1905-7) was designed by Sunderland’s pre-eminent architects of the era, William and Thomas Ridley Milburn. The building has the Baroque flair typical of the period, but as an instrument of justice, many of its features are stern and monumental.
Reflecting the optimism of the age, Sunderland was expanding its educational and cultural provision. The Corporation used money awarded by the Scottish-born industrialist Sir Andrew Carnegie to build branch libraries at Hendon (1908), Monkwearmouth and Kayll Road (1909). Each was designed in the Baroque style, built of brick with stone embellishment.
Business was booming in Edwardian Sunderland and this necessitated a series of purpose-built office blocks. The architects Henderson & Hall designed two such buildings in Sunniside, inspired by the latest architectural trends. The Maritime Buildings (1900) were intended for general letting. Neighbouring Sunniside Chambers was built for the firm of Botterill-Roche (1900-2). Both buildings are executed in red brick with contrasting bands of golden sandstone.
As an industrial boomtown, Sunderland needed to provide recreational sites for its workforce. One expression of this was the building of opulent public houses. The Dun Cow (1901-2) is among the finest examples in Sunderland. Benjamin Simpson designed an eye-catching corner pub that would lure customers into its interiors of sparkling glass and lustrous wood.
Sunderland’s most prolific architects of the Edwardian period, W. and T.R. Milburn, designed a series of public and commercial buildings, which to a large extent define Sunderland’s architectural identity. The pinnacle of Sunderland’s Edwardian Renaissance is the Empire Theatre (1907), a Baroque palace overflowing with sculpture. Exemplifying the Baroque fusion of architecture and sculpture, the tower is adorned with lions’ heads and festoons of flowers. The figure of Terpsichore, the Greek muse of dance, stands at the summit.
A century of steady development culminated in the Edwardian period, when Sunderland was crowned with a series of public and commercial buildings. Law courts, libraries, offices, pubs and theatres were designed in the vigorous Edwardian Baroque style that encapsulated Sunderland’s civic pride. Together, these buildings represent the core of Sunderland’s architectural legacy.
Michael Johnson is a Director of Sunderland Heritage Quarter and the co-author of The Architecture of Sunderland, 1700-1914 with Graham Potts, a Senior Lecturer in History at Sunderland University from 1970 to 2000 and a Director of Sunderland Heritage Quarter.