Description

ROBOROUGH
SS 51 NE
8/176 Roborough Grange
-
II

Rectory, now house. Dated 1842. Squared and coursed sandstone with tooled ashlar
dressings. Welsh-slate roofs, gable-ended to front with M-shaped roof at right
angles to rear and gable-ended over the rear wings. Rendered stone axial stacks.
Plan: Irregular square plan, facing south-east. Dining room to front at right and
drawing room to left, central staircase hall to rear with library to left, former
study to right and entrance passage leading to a porch on the right-hand side.
Kitchen and other service rooms in basement, approached at ground level from the
rear. Two full-height wings projecting at right angles at rear with external end
stacks, the south east wing incorporating a possible former coach house in the
basement and the north-east wing formerly including the nursery. Small service
courtyard between wings, enclosed by a wall at the rear. Tudor Gothic style. Two
storeys over basement.
Exterior: Chamfered plinth. Parapeted gables with shaped kneelers, chamfered
copings, and square finials at the apices of the principal gables with moulded bases
on small shaped corbels, chamfered corners with runout stops, and moulded cornices to
hemispherical tops. Mid C19 chamfered mullioned and transomed wooden windows with
glazing bar sashes and returned hoodmoulds. Symmetrical south-east (garden) front
has 2 full-height projecting square bays which have 3-light panels between. Central
first-floor one-light window between bays and central ground-floor carved stone
shield dated 1842 (in raised lettering). North-east (entrance) front has a first-
floor canted stone oriel window in the gable end to left with a double-curved moulded
base, 1-:1-:1-light window (margin-light glazing bar sash to centre and 4-panes to
side lights), and moulded cornice to flat top, and barred 2-light basement window to
left. Set-back part to right has a gabled semi dormer with a 2-light window, ground-
floor 2-light window, one-light staircase window to right (lighting back staircase)
and barred 2-light basement window to right. Central chamfered Tudor-arched doorway
with C19 plank door, wooden frame and splayed reveals. Gabled stone porch with 5
stone steps up to a continuously-moulded Tudor-arched entrance with a straight
moulded weathering above. Interior of porch has pointed segmental-arched recesses in
side walls. South-west (garden) front has a first-floor blind 2-light window in the
gable end to right and a ground-floor projecting square bay below with 3-light
ground-floor window, 2-light basement window with one-light windows to sides, and
hipped slate roof. Full-height projecting gabled square bay to left has ground-and
first-floor 3-light windows with blind 3-light panel between (ground-floor window
with one-light windows to sides) and basement C20 sixteen-pane glazing bar sash.
First-floor one-light window to left of bay and ground-floor doorway with C20 door
and approached by C20 steps (possibly formerly a window). Large mullioned and
transomed staircase window at rear (3 x 4 panes) with returned hoodmould. End stacks
of both service wings are corbelled out from the first floor. Tudor-arched basement
doorway in the gable end of the right-hand (south-west) wing with 2 large C19 plank
doors and dressed voussoirs. The right-hand side of the right-hand wing has a
corbelled first-floor shallow bay window with a 2-light window and the left-hand side
of the left-hand (north-east) wing has a gabled semi dormer with a 2-light window and
2 ground-floor 2-light windows. Wall enclosing rear service courtyard with chamfered
plinth and coping and central gateway with square piers.
Interior: Largely complete early to mid C19 rectory interior. Central staircase
hall with moulded skirting board and picture rail. Three-flight rectangular-well
staircase with landings, closed string, stick balusters, square newel posts with
chamfered corners, moulded caps and moulded pendants. Balustrade returns on 2 sides
of landing. Large staircase window with engraved glass and engraved coloured glass
in margins. Ground-floor 4-centred arched recess in wall opposite the side of the
lower flight and 4-centred archway underneath the staircase (formerly with door)
leading to the service roms. Wooden inner draught lobby to main entrance has a pair
of half-glazed doors with carved spandrels in cinquefoil-headed lower panels, and
painted panelled surround with trefoil-ended panels at top and carved floral motif.
Back staircase with stick balusters, square newel posts with chamfered corners, and
gate at the top in a Chinese Chippendale style. Study (to right of entrance) has a
painted stone 4-centred arched chimney-piece with carved spandrels and flanking
hexagonal piers with battlemented tops. Dining room has an introduced late C19
Jacobean/Baroque wooden chimney-piece and overmantel. Drawing room has a moulded 4-
centred arched stone chimney-piece with carved spandrels, frieze above with
quatrefoiled circles and flanking hexagonal piers with battlemented tops. Moulded
picture rail. Library has a painted stone moulded 4-centred arched chimney-piece
with carved spandrels and raised surround with flanking pilasters. Four fitted
recessed wooden Gothic bookcases with shelves above and cupboards below with 2 doors.
Pierced cinquefoil-heads with pierced pendants and carved spandrels, and cinquefoil-
headed panelled doors with carved spandrels. Moulded picture rail. Six-panelled
doors throughout ground and first floors with beaded-flush reveals. Windows formerly
with internal shutters. Straight-flight service staircase leading to basement with
closed string and stick balusters. Basement kitchen has a segmental-arched fireplace
with a plain architrave and mantelshelf. Dairy in basement has slate shelves around
the walls resting on brick piers, and stone-flagged floor. In the centre of the
dairy is a stone salting table with an elongated octangonal top and a single central
tapered square pier with chamfered corners.
This is a complete example of a mid C19 rectory.

Listing NGR: SS5797316764

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398964

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

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair