Description

SS 92 NE MOREBATH

2/119 Morebath Manor -

II

Country house. 1892-4, built for Charles Digby Harrod, the owner of the Knightsbridge store, following his retirement in 1891. Architect unknown to date. Cavity wall construction of yellow brick and Bathstone dressings and quoins; slate roofs; brick chimneys with tall red brick shafts with ornamental brick mouldings and cornices. The rear elevation is rendered. Eclectic mixture of free Jacobean and Classical style with some Art Noveau detail. Plan: Approximately rectangular but irregular at the rear with a rear stair wing, single storey billiard room and servants' hall. Off-centre entrance into the main block into a small heated entrance hall; axial passage to rear of entrance hall; open well stair opposed to entrance hall; L plan drawing room to left of entrance, dining room and library to right. Service block slightly set back at right end is double depth with a kitchen and scullery at the front, an axial passage and a range of subsidiary service rooms to the rear of the passage. Billiard room in rear left wing at right angles to main range. Exterior: Modest slightly asymmetrical exterior of 6 plus 3 bays, the 3-bay service block set back at the right end; platband with moulded cornice, stone quoins to the outer and entrance bays. The outer bays of the 6-bay main block are gabled to the front and broken forward; entrance in third bay from the left also broken forward with a curly gable and ball finials. Large gabled glazed porch with good ornamental ironwork to the front and iron trusses; half-glazed outer door with round-headed fanlight flanked by round-headed windows. 2-light timber mullioned and transomed window above porch, similar windows to adjacent bay to the right; other windows on the front elevation are 2-pane plate glass sashes. The gabled left hand bay has 3 ball finials and a 2-storey canted bay which has a triple sash window above. Above the sash, a stepped panel of Renaissance style carving and 2 slit windows in the gable. The lower-roofed service block at the right end has 3-bays of sash windows. The left return of the main block has a 2-storey canted bay, the stair wing at the rear has a mullioned window with stepped lights. Apart from a glazed hood which formerly projected from the porch, the exterior is absolutely complete including rainwater heads and carved oak fascias in front of the sun blinds. Interior: Remarkable for the completeness of its fittings including original light switches and electric fittings, wallpaper and speaking tubes. Embossed wallpaper of various designs, compressed paper decoration to the ceilings based on ornamental plasterwork; egg and dart, dentil, and bead and reel plaster cornices; ornate overdoors; original joinery and door and window furniture. The entrance hall has a panelled outer door and 2-leaf inner door with delicate wrought iron foliage in front of frosted glass. Free Jacobean style open well stair behind a 3-bay timber arcade with an arcaded stair gallery. Stair window with ornamental leading using diverse designs of patterned white glass; section of original silk wall-hanging survives in stair hall which has its original stair carpet. The L plan drawing room has Adam style decorated ceilings and 2 matching chimneypieces; it has been divided into 2 on the line of paired fluted columns which survive intact. Free Jacobean style chimneypieces to library and dining room. Absolutely complete billiard room with original light fittings, table, chimneypiece and ornamental coloured stained glass. The unmodernised kitchen includes a fitted dresser; service stair with turned balusters. First floor rooms equally intact including a ladies' drawing room; more modest chimneypieces, original joinery and further surviving lighting fittings some with glass shades said to be by Lalique. A rare example of a completely unaltered country house of the 1890s: the survival of vulnerable interior detail is of especial note.

Listing NGR: SS9673325603

External Links

• Wikidata Q26611225

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Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)