Clock Tower at Inglewood House, Kintbury, West Berkshire

Description

145/0/10004
14-AUG-09

KINTBURY
TEMPLETON ROAD
Clock Tower at Inglewood House

Clock tower at Inglewood House, built between 1844 and 1863, architect unknown, late C20 internal partitioning.

MATERIALS: A Classical building of stucco rendered brick, slate roof, wooden clock tower.

PLAN: An octagonal tower of three storeys with square clock tower. External door to the north-east; door to former linking range to east. Internal spiral-staircase to south-east and pair of bedrooms to north on each floor.

EXTERIOR: Clock tower to the west (rear) of the main house within its former gardens, with stucco rendering, incised to give the appearance of masonry and enhanced with blind arcading and pilasters, cornice and parapet. Although it is clear from its external composition that it was built as a stand-alone structure it was, since at least 1877 attached to ranges of ancillary buildings (now demolished). The square wooden clock tower sits at the apex of the slate roof and has clock faces set in diamond-shaped plaques above small louvre openings on all four elevations and is surmounted by a weathervane. Limited windows, to the north-west and south-east, are multi-paned sashes without horns of different sizes on the different floors: the first and thus middle floor has the largest windows giving a 'piano nobile' effect. Modern door to the north-east in a historic opening. Further doorway to the east which provided access between the tower and the ancillary ranges.

INTERIOR: Not inspected internally although the ground floor could be viewed though the windows: plastered internally with inserted modern partition walls dividing the northern part of the building into two small bedrooms with radiators. Metal modern spiral staircase to the south-east provides access to the upper floors. Upper floors are presumably of similar form. Roof and clock mechanism accessed via a hatch on the second floor landing ceiling (Wessex Archaeology 2007).

HISTORY: The Clock Tower at Inglewood was built between 1844 and 1863 and is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1877. Inglewood was owned by the Dunn family from 1829 when it was bought by one Thomas Dunn, Judge of the King's Bench of Quebec and Senior Member of the Executive Committee of Lower Canada. His brother, Major William Dunn, substantially enlarged and improved the house and built the clock tower. This expansion is evident on the 1877 OS map with the accommodation considerably enhanced by additional ranges of buildings to the south-west, including the clock tower, all linked to the house.

In 1893 the house and estate was bought by the Walmsleys, a Catholic family of Lancastrian origin, who relocated to Berkshire in the late C19. They made various alterations to the main house and presumably the ancillary buildings also. The De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order, bought the estate in 1928 and converted it for use as a seminary and school. This use continued until 1971 when the estate was sold to Champneys who converted it into 'Inglewood Health Hydro' which operated from 1975 until its closure in 2004. The clock tower was converted for use as hydro staff accommodation with six small bedrooms, two to a floor. The clock tower is currently (2009) unused.

SOURCES: Sutton Griffin Architects (2007), Inglewood House, Kintbury, West Berkshire. English Heritage Level 3 Survey, 27th February 2007. Unpublished report accessible through the West Berkshire Sites and Monuments Record.
Wessex Archaeology (2007), Inglewood House, Kintbury, Berkshire: Historic Building Recording. Unpublished report reference 65720.02, September 2007, accessible through the West Berkshire SMR.

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: The clock tower at Inglewood House is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Of special architectural interest given its carefully composed and executed classical design;
* A mid C19 'eyecatcher' garden building to Inglewood House in the continuing tradition of the classical temples and follies of the Georgian English country house;
* As a reminder of this imposing country house and its landscape.

Reasons for Listing

The clock tower at Inglewood House, an octagonal, classical-style garden building of mid C19 date, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Of special architectural interest given its carefully composed and executed classical design;
* A mid C19 'eyecatcher' garden building to Inglewood House in the continuing tradition of the classical temples and follies of the Georgian English country house;
* As a reminder of this imposing country house and its landscape.

External Links

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