Description

5314
SK 93 NW 2/200A

ST VINCENT'S ROAD,
St Vincent's House

II

Small country house. Built c.1868 for Richard Hornsby, industrialist, who owned the local iron works, and agricultural engine works. Gothic Revival style. Rock-faced limestone, with ashlar dressings and steeply pitched Welsh slate roofs, with decorative ridge tiles. Ashlar coped gables with moulded kneelers and finials. Two external, rear wall chimneys, with tall, double columnar ashlar stacks, the remaining stacks have been capped. Moulded ashlar plinth, and flush quoins. 2 storeys plus attics. Irregular plan. North entrance front, has central projecting gabled wing, with single storey, lean to, porch to the left. The doorway has a pointed arched moulded ashlar surround, with marble shafts, and hood mould. Above is a moulded ashlar parapet pierced with quatrofoils. To the right a 2-light, chamfered window, with tracery, above a single plain sash, in a flat headed chamfered surround, with a pointed inner arch. Above again a 3-light, chamfered mullion window, with a taller central light with cusped heads. At the north-west corner a circular tower, of 3 storeys, the lower 2 storeys have 3 single light chamfered lancets, with quatrofoil tracery. The third floor has an 8-light glazed arcade, with marble shafted columns and cusped tops. Below is a moulded band decorated with quatrofoils. Above a conical slate roof. Similar west and south front. Interior: entrance hall, has encased marble pillars, and a carved stone staircase.
From 1922-77 this house was the property of the Air Ministry, and from 1937 to 1943 the Headquarters of No. 5 Group, Bomber Command. The famous "Dambusters" Air Raid on the Ruhr Dams, by 617 Squadron, was controlled from here. Various extensions and additions were added by the Air Ministry, most of these were removed, and the house restored after the property became the District Council Headquarters in 1977. None of the buildings in the grounds is of special interest.

Listing NGR: SK9247735066

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26552448

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)