Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 08/09/2020

SO 85 SW
3/929

POWICK
HAM LANE
Queensberry House

(Formerly listed as Ham Hill House and attached conservatory, POWICK)

28.10.87

GV

II
Country house, formerly hunting lodge. Early C19. Stuccoed red brick with plain-tile roof and brick ridge stacks with triple and quadruple linked flues. Elaborate cottage orné style. Two ranges, the larger set a storey higher with large gable to each front descending to first floor level.

Two storeys and single storey with attic and basement. Flight of steps rises to gabled verandah in re-entrant angle of lower range. Ornate Gothic part-glazed door with leaded lights. Projecting gables set at 90° to left and right have canted bay windows with leaded lights, that to left with Gothic tracery. Irregular fenestration further to right includes a canted four-light sashed bay window with arched lights and plain-tile roof. Further two- and three-light windows, those to lower floors with hood moulds.

Garden front to right in main range has large lean-to conservatoryspanning full width. This is canted forward and has a small square section at either end. Small glazed lights, those at eaves with Gothic heads. Pentagonal glazed-roof rising to elaborate finial half in front of central first-floor window. This is of three diamond-latticed lights with Gothic tracery and hood mould over. A similar single-light window to either side. Narrow blind window above. Glazed doors and window within conservatory which has stone-flagged floors. Irregular fenestration to rear includes two oriel windows with plain-tile roofs. A feature of the house is the series of elaborately carved and pierced barge boards with moulded pendants and carved and pierced eaves brackets.

Interior: Reception Hall has Gothic vaulted ceiling. Dining Room has Gothic vaulted ceiling with elaborate foliage corbels.Gothic doorcase and marble fireplace. Dado panelling. Staircase hall has oak staircase with turned balusters and late C19 oak panelling. Landing has Gothic vaulted ceiling. Drawing room has Gothic doorcases, details and a marble fireplace. Ante-room has iron ornamental fire-place in window reveal. Concealed mirrored sliding window shutter. Bedrooms have marble, wood or iron fireplaces and cast-iron grates. Old Kitchen has original fireplace with stone surround. Game larder has slate slabs, flagged stone floor and meat hooks.Estate Office has Gothic fireplace with ornate cast-iron surround and leaded lights to windows incorporating stained-glass etching of views of the house. These show the house was originally thatched.

History: a residence of Marquess of Queensberry in C19 and birthplace of Lord Alfred Douglas (Sale particulars in N M R). Lord Alfred, also known as Bosie, was the long term lover of Oscar Wilde His father, the Marquess of Queensberry, was pivotal in the arrest and trials of Oscar Wilde in 1895. The phrase ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ is a line from Lord Alfred’s poem ‘Two Loves’. It was made famous when quoted in Oscar Wilde’s trial for gross indecency in 1895.

Listing NGR: SO8255152158

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26632584

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

• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6