Description

SU 26 NW
6/155

MILDENHALL
POULTON
Poulton House

22.8.66

II*
House, 1706 for William Liddard; extended early-mid C19. Flemish bond red brick with vitrefied headers, rusticated stone quoins, stone stringcourse and cellar windows. Slate hipped roof with lead roll hips and ridge and a moulded timber modillion eaves cornice. Tall brick axial stacks with moulded stone cornices.

PLAN: symmetrical double-depth rectangular plan with two principal rooms at the front on either side of a central entrance hall with the staircase and two small rooms and servants' stairs at the back; the kitchen and service rooms were in the cellar before a service wing was built at the rear left in the early-mid C19. Queen Anne style

EXTERIOR: two storeys, attic and cellar. Symmetrical 2:3:2 bay south front, the centre three bays break forward with pediment containing an oval oculus and stone portal with a broken pediment on console brackets with arabesques and a cartouche. Twelve-pane sash windows in exposed cases, the thin glazing bars a later C18 replacement, flat rubbed brick arches; cellar windows in two-light stone frames; lead drainpipes with moulded hopper heads inscribe WL1706; Sun fire insurance plaque; two flat roof dormers with multi-pane sash windows. The right [east] side similar sashes and late C20 canted bay window. Rear [north] side wooden cross-mullion-transom windows with leaded panes; three flat roof dormers with leaded pane casements and later lean-to outshut on ground floor; circa early-mid C19 brick service wing to right with wooden mullion-transom windows with leaded pane casements and later brick extension in the angle; the west side of rear wing has twelve-pane sashes on the first floor and C20 casements on the ground floor.

INTERIOR: in the entrance hall, flanking the stairs, are two portals with elliptical arches and fielded panel doors leading to the back rooms. Fine early C18 staircase with twisted newels and two twisted balusters per tread, heavy moulded handrail ramps up to newels and fielded dado panelling; fine moulded plaster stairwell ceiling of late C17 type with an outer border of vines and an inner oval of fruit; the coved panel over the landing is plain; landing two-panel doors with moulded doorframes, the centre with pediment, ground floor right hand front parlour has late C18 marble chimneypiece and C19 ceiling border. The left hand front parlour has plaster ceiling cornice and neo-Classical wooden chimneypiece. Panelled window shutters and door. Little parlour at rear of left hand room has fielded panelling, bolection chimneypiece and pretty moulded plaster ceiling with trails of bay and oak leaves and Tudor roses; this ceiling is partly a late C20 restoration. Early C18 dogleg back stairs with square newels and turned balusters. Panelled doors to wide cellar stairs with brick and timber treads, the cellar partly vaulted.

SOURCES; Building of England, p336. Mowl, T. Poulton House, Marlborough, 1999; a report for the owner, Mr and Mrs T.R Otley.

Poulton House is a particular attractive example of an early C18 house, which if it contained a more complete interior might have qualified for listing at grade I.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26285634

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability