Description

TL 4113 HUNSDON HUNSDONBURY (west side)

8/22 Hunsdonbury

-

GV II

Country house, reduced by demolition of centre. Rebuilt 1832 (blundered inscription in cellar noted by Gibbs (1915) 22 'This house rebuit 1832 at the expense of the Revd R U Calvert Rector. C. Kemp. architect'). Altered in later 1840s when Calvert family abandoned Hunsdon House and moved here to former Rectory. Centre part demolished c1950 and 2 wings became separate premises. White brick with stone dressings and stucco in parts. Red tiled roof behind parapets and gable parapets. A large irregular rectory in Tudor style recorded in Buckler drawings of 1835 (HRO) and the Tithe Map of 1842 (HRO). Shallow W entrance wing and its 2 storeys porch are alterations of the later 1840s. The present house is a compact rectangular 2 storeys house facing N. The 2 window N front shows marks of the original single storey porch around the W window, and the E window is probably a modern copy since a similar sized wing ran northward from this wall and had the other surviving part of the house (now called The Gate House qv) connected with its NE corner. Single storey vaulted stucco cloister on E end with 3 pointed arches, angle buttresses and fine moulded figures as hood mould stops to windows. Lofty stuccoed buttressed wall with open work cusped parapet, links house to a tall octagonal stucco pillar to the W, carrying a lion rampant holding a vane. The wall is partly concealed by the 2 storeys brick and stucco W entrance wing with a 2 storeys parapeted porch. An 8-panelled door under a 4-centred arch. Single storey canted bay window on S;front at E end. Plaster rib vaulted passage leads from a Gothic half-glazed garden door at the NE to the stair hall with flat panelled ceiling, stone arched moulded fire surround and Gothic staircase. An elaborate Gothic rectory of 1832 of outstanding architectural and historical interest, and especially notable for the contemporary interiors and the vigorous grotesques used as label stops. Reduction in size has not reduced its interest. Part of a grout with The Gate House. (RCHM Typscript: Gibbs (1915) 22: HLHS 1979) 41).

Listing NGR: TL4136013035

External Links

• Wikidata Q26395869

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Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990