Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 15 September 2021 to remove superfluous amendment details and to reformat the text to current standards

SU 7433
11/21

SELBORNE
HIGH STREET (WEST SIDE)
The Wakes (including Museum Flat and the Flat)

(Formerly listed as The Wakes, previously listed as The Wakes, with garden wall, brick path and sundial, and 2 cottages which terminate the main range at either end)

31/7/63

GV
I

Famous as the home of Gilbert White (1720-1793) the naturalist, and now a museum. The front wall is mainly brickwork of the C19, with C18 Flemish bond to the dining room, while the service wing uses the local style of malmstone ashlar with brick dressings. Complex tiled roof arrangement, with mainly hips to the front (east) and gables to the rear, and an assortment of Tudor chimneys. Of C16 origin as a timber-framed hall (of local type), the building has been extended, to become an irregular group close to the High Street, the various stages of growth and change from the Vernacular house of the early C18 being traceable from the illustrations published in the several editions of 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.

To the south end is a service range, altered from smaller buildings, of 1910. Two storeys, irregular fenestration. Sashes to the central part (the C18 house) and casements else-where. The entrance is a gabled porch, with an open decorative timber-frame on a base wall. At the rear the C18 house and the service wing have malmstone walls with brick quoins, first floor band, some cambered arches, and plinth: casements and traditional doors; the north side is brickwork with tile-hung upper floors, casements (including two large two storeyed bays).

Interior: the central hall has a low ceiling with C17 beams and a fireplace (insertions into the open structure) and there is a C17 room (study) associated with a staircase tower (altered) at the south west side, the south east side having a room (dining room) of 1794. North of the hall is the Great Parlour built by White in 1777 as a single storeyed large room, and beyond it is the library of c 1850. Parlour and library were given an upper floor c 1880, and a billiard room (also two storeyed) was added to the north end in the early C20, with a passageway connection to the hall along the front of the house, which was then given a porch.

Listing NGR: SU7408333677

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17528329

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

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)