Description

TQ 55 41 SPELDHURST SPELDHURST HILL (south side),
SPELDHURST
12/586 The Manor

GV II

House. Circa 1840 (dated roof timber) with alterations of the circa 1880s for
Charles W. Powell some refurbishments of 1907 and late C20 renovations. Very
fine sandstone ashlar masonry brought to course with thin joints and diagonal
rustication with a smoother border to each block; slate roof; stacks with
ashlar stone shafts.

Plan: Deep rectangular plan, 2-rooms wide. Shallow slate roof, stacks with
tall shafts with stone cornice. The present entrance front is on the west
side, the house sited to take advantage of views to the east, across the
garden. The original arrangement was 4 principal rooms on the ground floor,
which may have been entered on the south side. A 3-storey block to the north
contained the service rooms and dining room. This arrangement has been
altered: there are still 2 principal rooms on the ground floor, facing east,
but in the 1880s the rear rooms were re-arranged to provide a large entrance
hall containing the stair and a small room facing south. In the late C20 the
service block was reduced to a single-storey over cellars, separated from the
main house by a glazed passage. A conservatory has been added to the centre
of the west front.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Deep plinth, platband at first floor level, platband
below chamfered stone eaves cornice. All the principal windows have flush
keyblocks. Asymmetrical 1:3:1-bay west front, the centre 3 bays projecting.
Probably late C19 2-leaf panelled front door in the centre with a fanlight
with spoke glazing bars; the door framed by smooth ashlar masonry with
pilasters and a moulded cornice above a dentil frieze, moulded stone doorframe
with a reeded keystone. Above the front door a pair of one-light windows with
late C20 glazing, flanked by blind recesses. The left return of the central
projection has one first floor one-light window with late C20 glazing and 2
probably late C19/early C20 round-headed windows with moulded frames and a
shared hoodmould. The first floor windows in the outer bays are early C19 4-
pane sashes with margin panes, the left hand ground floor windows have been
altered. The right hand bay has a late C19/early C20 single-storey flat-
roofed addition with 2 round-headed windows with a shared hoodmould. 3-bay
symmetrical garden (east) elevation with canted bays to left and right with
plate glass C19 sash windows with margin panes: 4-pane to the first floor 8-
pane to the ground floor. The windows have stone sills and the first floor
windows have panels below the sills. C19 2-leaf glazed garden door in the
centre with a deep overlight. 1980s conservatory added in the centre. At the
left (north) end a late C20 archway links the main block to the remains of the
service wing, which has matching sash windows. The 3-bay south elevation is
asymmetrical, the middle bay slightly projecting with a separate hipped roof
and a probably late C19 2-leaf glazed garden door with a deep overlight. C19
sash windows with margin panes. The dining room and service block appear
always to have been divided from the main range by a service passage running
from west to east.

Interior: The entrance hall, which has been reduced in size in the late C20,
is lined with circa 1880s Jacobean style panelling and has a coeval stair with
turned balusters. The principal east facing room, to the south has a fine C18
white marble chimney-piece with carved figure panels and inlaid yellow marble.
The chimney-piece is said to be an original Adam design and has a brass plaque
with an inscription recording that it originated at Mercers Hall and was given
to Charles W. Powell, Master of the Mercers Company, in 1907. The room has an
Adam style wall frieze and oval ceiling decoration presumably of 1907. The
wall frieze is interrupted by a pair of timber Doric columns that nominally
divide the room from a passage to the doors on the east elevation. The
northern principal room has a probably 1840 white Italian marble chimney-piece
and plaster cornice. Extensive stone cellars with stone vaulted roofs survive
under both the main block and service wing.

Roof: Not inspected but said to include a timber dated 1840.

Baden-Powell, a relation of Charles Powell wrote Scouting for Boys while
staying at the Manor and established a group of scouts in the parish.

Listing NGR: TQ5544841443

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26534498

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair