Description

SP 01 NW DOWDESWELL LOWER DOWDESWELL

5/32 Dowdeswell Court
GV II

Country house. Built for the Rogers family 1833-4 by Rowland Paul
of Cheltenham, and the remains of a C17 outbuilding. House;
ashlar, slate roof, stone stacks. Rectangular plan to main body
with wings extending forwards right and left of entrance on south,
service wing extends away right of right-hand wing. Symmetrical,
2:5:2-windowed, entrance front; 2 storeys with cellars under west
side extending southwards under terrace, 1:2:1 windowed service
wing on right. 8-pane sashes with marginal glazing bars and
moulded, lugged architraves with keystones within and either side
of porch to main body. Central first floor window; plate-glass
sash with brick keystone and triangular pediment, all other windows
12-pane sashes with aprons. Central, double, fielded 6-panel door
within projecting central portico with 8 fluted columns with
Corinthian capitals, frieze and moulded cornice. Large Corinthian
pilasters at corners of projecting wings and at junction of wings
with main body of house. Parapet with moulded cornice. West
front; rectangular panels within moulded surrounds and grilles
ventilating cellars, set into plinth. Late C19 plate-glass sashes
to ground floor. 12-pane sashes to first floor. All windows within
moulded, lugged architraves, triangular pediments over central two
windows on each floor. North front; small projecting C19 porch
off-centre left with round-headed sash windows with marginal
glazing bars. Windows mostly plate-glass sashes. Chimneys with
moulded cappings and fielded panels.
Interior; hall remodelled 1847-1848 by Samuel Omley of Cheltenham,
formerly with colonnade of Corinthian columns running across length
of hall (2 columns now removed). Ornate cornice. C17 stone
fireplace with bolection moulding probably reused from earlier
house. Stone staircase with cast iron balustrade and wreathed hand
rail. Fireplace copying that in hall, but in wood in room at rear
of hall. Ballroom/dining room within left-hand wing, ornate
cornice and marble fireplace with bolection moulding. Subsidiary
features; stone balustrading forming 2 sides of square at entrance
front with access to terrace down steps flanked by small piers with
pointed finials on west. Access on south flanked by small piers
with moulded cappings formerly with finials. Former C17
outbuilding below south-west corner of square now entered from
terrace below house via C19-C20 entrance. Two tall stone-mullioned
cross-windows (now blocked) on north with flat-chamfered doorway
between. Two 2-light stone-mullioned windows in south wall.
Central square pier (now enclosed in concrete). Stone cross
vaulting. Square stone-lined trough set into floor. Vaulted stone
cellars also entered from same terrace with square stone piers with
imposts (possibly C17) rising up to brick cross vaulting, probably
C19. Former access to cellars on north front now blocked with 2-
light stone-mullioned window inserted. Present house originally
had 3 storeys and was built on site of earlier house from which the
C17 outbuilding and possibly parts of the cellars remain. (David
Verey, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire; The Cotswolds,
1979.) -

Listing NGR: SP0015219797

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26590793

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)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)