Description

BRENTWOOD

TQ5993 SHENFIELD ROAD
723-1/12/106 (South side)
21/10/58 Roden House
(Formerly Listed as:
SHENFIELD ROAD, Shenfield
Roden House)

GV II*

Formerly known as: Roden House ROMAN ROAD.
House. Early C18, on 1717 map of Brentwood, 1724 on
waterheads, wings added 1725. Preparatory school for Brentwood
School 1918-1947. Headmaster's house from 1962. Red brick with
chequered burnt headers, clay tiled roof behind parapet. Plan
rectangular with cross-wing slightly forward of main range,
irregular additions at W end.
EXTERIOR: 2 storey and attics. 5 bay principal block with
2-bay cross-wing at E end with Dutch gables and cement copings
towards front of E and W ends. Pairs of stacks for double
depth house at E and W ends, also between cross-wing and main
range. N front elevation. Main block, all windows sashes with
glazing bars, 3x4 panes, rubbed brick voussoirs, ground floor
with brick keystones, first-floor outer and central window
heads have shaped voussoir soffits, central window also has
rusticated brick surround rising to brick cornice at base of
parapet. Front door now moved from centre (below rusticated
window) one bay to E. Door has 8 fielded panels and fretted
rectangular doorcase has panelled reveals, fluted pilasters,
triglyph frieze and segmental pediment. A moulded stucco band
runs between storeys, absent at original site of door (a sash
window now in original door position) 3 dormer windows behind
parapet. 2 outer with triangular pediments, central one
segmental. At W end, secondary ground-floor lean-to with
partly chequered brickwork behind, 2nd floor lean-to with
chequered brickwork and sash window, upper sash with glazing
bars, 2x2 panes, lower sash plain. Dutch gable parapet. Also
small intermediate lean-to rises from lower roof. Cross-wing
windows similar to ground floor ones in main range. Ground
floor window blocked, attic window of triple casement with
glazing bars, 6x3 panes, rubbed brick voussoirs with brick
keystones and cornice. Rear, S elevation. Division of main
range and cross-wing marked by hipped cross-wing roof. Main
range has 2 bows with plain brick cornice and parapet,
brickwork of bows without chequering. Deep stair window
between bows, glazing bars, 3x7 panes plus arched head with
`Gothic' treatment of glazing bars, recessed panel in parapet
above. Below, simple 4 panelled door, upper panels glazed,
lower with beaded panels, wooden trellis porch. Bows - ground
floor to W triple window with C20 door inserted, upper glazing
with glazing bars, 3x4 panes, lower panel, upper and side
lights remain. E bow, triple window , now with supporting
metal stanchions to head, central C20 2-panel glazed door and,
each side, a C19 French window with glazing bars, 4x4 panes. 3
dormer windows, outer 2 with flat heads, central one with
pediment, boarded sides and 2 casements with glazing bars, 4x3
panes. Cross-wing at E, end, 2 window range with moulded
string course between floors. First-floor windows sashes with
glazing bars, upper sashes 3x2 panes, lower renewed with
single central vertical bar. Ground floor, large C19 triple
window similar to those in bows with central C20 door, fully
glazed with upper and lower panels. Dormer window in roof hip
with cornice to sides and triangular pediment, 3 casement
windows with glazing bars, 6x3 panes. E end elevation plain,
string courses continue round from front. Attic window with
glazing bars, casement 2x3 panes between stacks. Dutch gable
above. W end elevation, irregular added units with C19 horned
sash windows and simple boarded side door, brickwork chequered
with burnt headers, 3 rainwater heads dated 1724 and Dutch
gables between pair of stacks.
INTERIOR: entrance hall, one ground-floor room (to E) and one
first-floor room have C18 fielded panelling. Fireplace of
ground-floor room has a bolection moulded architrave.
Staircase of C18 delicate open strings with barleysugar
banisters, shaped handrail and carved bracket tread ends
(upper part now boarded over), also panelled dado. The
addition of the 2-bayed cross-wing in the earlier C18 to the
main 5-bayed C18 range is obvious. Marks on the ground floor
ceiling show the site of the original central passage and
archway to stair has secondary blocking as part of the
alteration. It is curious that it was thought appropriate to
move the front door one bay in order to retain symmetrical
bays, 3 each side of the door when it so obviously upset the
symmetry of the original range. No attempt was made to rework
the front (other than inserting a window). The disrupted
middle string course and isolated enriched first-floor window
were simply left unmodified. The name of the building comes
from John of Routhynge, who had a house on the site in 1351.
Roden House with wall to E (qv), Mitre House (qv), Newnum
House (qv) of Brentwood School, together with Old House (qv)
and The Hermitage (qv) and monument to William Hunter (qv)
form a group.
(Lewis RR: The History of Brentwood School: 1981-: 237).

Listing NGR: TQ5978293917

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17544962

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)