Description

ARDINGTON CHURCH STREET
SU4388 (South side)
17/6 Ardington House
25/10/51

II*

Gentry house. c.1720, with some later alterations. Probably by Thomas Strong,
Junior, of Oxford; for Edward Clarke. Ashlar stone plinth; grey brick with red
brick dressings; complex roof of slate with lead ridges; brick end stacks and
ridge stacks. Baroque style. 3-storey, 7-window range, arranged 2:3:2.
Segmental-headed 6-panel door to centre, with stone architrave surround with
keystones, and rusticated outer surround. Segmental-headed 12-pane sashes with
segmental brick heads and brick keystones to left and right bays to centre. Two
12-pane sashes with flat brick arches and brick keystones to left and right.
Flat brick band between ground and first floors. 3 segmental-headed 12-pane
sashes with segmental brick heads having brick keystones, and brick aprons, to
first floor centre 3 bays. Two 12-pane sashes with flat brick arches and brick
keystones to first floor left and right. Flat brick band between first and
second floors. 3 segmental-headed 12-pane sashes with segmental brick heads
having brick keystones, and brick aprons, to second floor 3 bays. Two 12-pane
sashes with flat brick arches and brick keystones to second floor left and
right. Plain stone cornice at base of plain parapet. Pediment to centre 3 bays,
with mid C19 armorial cartouche. Rear: identical fenestration, except glazed
door to ground floor centre and C19 wood 2-light wood mullion and transom
windows to lengthened openings with flat brick arches and brick keystones to
ground floor left and right. Mid C19 wood loggia on Doric columns to ground
floor centre 3 bays. Left return: 3-storey, 3-window range. 6-panel door with
plain fanlight and round-arched surround having keystone and impost blocks.
Round-topped 12-pane sashes with round-arched surrounds having keystones and
impost blocks to ground and first floors, that to ground floor left shortened;
those to first floor have shaped brick aprons. Flat brick band between ground
and first floors, and between first and second floors. 3 round windows with
keystones to second floor. Interior: mid C19 wood panelling to hall, with
shell-topped niches flanked by paired Ionic pilasters to each side of hall.
Early C19 Imperial staircase which rises in 2 flights to half-landing and
returns in single flight to first floor. Balustrade of barley-sugar twist
balusters. First floor landing has mid C19 wood panelling in Baroque style.
Dining room to ground floor rear has probably early C18 Bolection moulded
panelling with some later alterations and early C19 plasterwork ceiling of
garlands of vines with central shaped moulding. Subsidiary kitchen pavilion, of
1961 by Hugh Vaux, is not of special architectural interest. History: built by
Thomas Strong, for Edward Clarke. Estate bought by Robert Vernon in 1833. Vernon
made a fortune selling horses to the British Army in the Napoleonic Wars, and
presented a collection of paintings to the nation. In 1861 Ardington was bought
by Lord Wantage of Lockinge.
(Ardington House, by Bervase Jackson-Stops in Country Life: 1981; Buildings of
England, Berkshire, 1975 p67)

Listing NGR: SU4329588273

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Ardington House official website
• Wikidata Q17549752

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living