Strawberry Hall House, Buxted, East Sussex

Summary

Mid-C18 house, extended and remodelled in the mid-C19 and further extended in the C20.

Description

Mid-C18 house, extended and remodelled in the mid-C19 and further extended in the C20.

MATERIALS: the principal C18 south range has buff stone and brick dressings and is built or clad in alternating bands of red and buff coloured bricks laid in English bond to the south front, red brick with grey headers to the east and west elevations, and brown brick laid in Flemish bond to the north elevation. The C19/C20 north range has red brick with grey headers in Sussex bond to all elevations at the west end and brown brick in Sussex bond to all elevations towards the east end, where it is also tile hung. The roofs are clay-tiled.

PLAN: the building has a double pile plan of two parallel ranges broadly aligned east to west, each with a pitched roof creating an axial valley. The southern C18 range has three storeys and a cellar. The principal entrance is to the south leading to a hall and stairs. There are two sitting rooms to the ground floor, bedrooms to the first floor and storage rooms in the attic. On the first floor a corridor is aligned east to west and serves rooms to both ranges and has a stair to the attic over the southern range. The north range is single-storey to the west end and two-storey to the east end. It has a front entrance on the west elevation, a central kitchen and a utility room to the east end with back door. On the first floor there are bathrooms and a bedroom.

EXTERIOR: the southern range faces south and is symmetrical with two visible storeys over three bays. It has a deep, coursed-stone plinth. The central projecting, gabled entrance bay is characterised by sturdy stone detailing of Gothic-revival character, including alternating quoins, two breather windows and a gothic-arched door case. The front door has four panels, the upper two of which have stained glass lights. Above the entrance, the gable end is clad in hung tile and projects slightly to rest on modillions. It has timber side posts which rise to a pierced and scalloped bargeboard, underneath which is a central casement window with leaded lights, fronted by a decorative cast-iron balconette. The flanking bays have alternating stone corner quoins and a tripartite, leaded-light window set into a buff-brick architrave, to both storeys. The eastern bay has two, red-painted support plates for structural strengthening. Slightly off centre to the west side of the roof, there is a substantial axial chimney stack with two canted and corbelled brick shafts. The west elevation has a gable end and is of three visible storeys. The red brick work is patterned with grey headers and there is a deep stone plinth. The corner quoins to the south side alternate in size while those to the north side are more strip-like. The ground and first floor have a central, tripartite casement window, and in the apex of the gable there is a top-hinged single casement, all of which have leaded lights and are set into buff-brick architraves. The barge board of the gable is rather plain and appears to be C20. The east elevation is of the same design to the west elevation, however the quoins to both sides alternate and the moulded barge board has a central pendant. The rear (north) elevation is only visible at its western end and probably represents the original external finish of the C18 house. There is a blind, recessed window opening to both storeys, infilled with diaper brickwork; the ground-floor opening is taller and has a carved, buff-coloured keystone, set into a brushed-brick flat arch and the first-floor opening has the remains of a flat brick arch; further east there is a small casement window with leaded lights.

The northern range is entered from the west where it is gable-ended and has a moulded barge board. At ground-floor level there is an outshut with a slate roof. This has a tripartite casement window with leaded lights and a C20, glass-paned door, both under flat, brick arches. To the north side of the main roof there is a tall, corbelled brick chimney stack (substantially rebuilt). The north (side) elevation has regular leaded-light casement windows (the easternmost example is plain and C20), and is mainly tile hung to the first floor. At the west end the red brickwork has grey headers, but as it passes the chimney stack it becomes brown and plainer, suggesting that the range is of two phases. The east elevation has a tile-hung, projecting gable with a single leaded-light casement window at the first-floor level. The gable has a moulded barge board and is supported by C20 posts on the ground floor. The undercroft is faced in brown brick and has a C20 glazed door.

INTERIOR: the entrance hall has a pointed arch ceiling and a plain, straight stair to the north. Within the envelope of the C18 range, most rooms have C19, four-panel or planked doors, architraves and skirting, the best examples being within the eastern sitting room and bedroom, which also includes fielded panelling. The fireplace surrounds are all C20. The cellar has a brick floor and piers, supporting chamfered spine beams. It has a mullioned window to the east end and a smaller timber example to the south side. There is also a blocked-up stair which rises to the west. The attic has a narrow and steep stair and has wide floorboards. It has C20 pine panelling to the walls and ceiling, except at the east end where the timber-framed and lath and plaster construction is evident. The C19/C20 range is more plain and the fixtures and fittings are predominantly C20.

History

The site of Strawberry Hall is referred to as Pickbones on a map of 1740 for the estate of William Pettit and a building is also shown at the location on a draft surveyors map of 1800. Archive records (see Sources) of 1833 describe the site as a 'messuage' of a house (Pickbones) a barn and a stable. In 1825, Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828) and the Prime Minister of the day, made nearby Buxted his principal home and set about moving the existing village to enable the extension of his park. By 1839, Pickbones had also become part of the Buxted estate.

The Tithe map of 1840 shows an L-shaped house aligned east to west and projecting to the south-west corner, along with an outbuilding to the south-west. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1874) show the house with a more rectangular footprint. The south-west projection is no longer shown and a north range has been added, aligned east to west. The outbuilding to the south-west is no longer in place and the oast house and stowage have been added. This coincided with the development of a courtyard of barns to the west which was probably part of a mid-C19 improvement of the house and farmstead. In 1880 the house passed by marriage to Viscount Portman and around this time the site became known as Strawberry Hall Farm. By 1899, a bakehouse with covered area and a storage barn, had been constructed to the north of the farmstead.

Reasons for Listing

Strawberry Hall a mid-C18 house, extended and remodelled in the mid-C19 and further extended in the C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a representative example of a mid-C18 farmhouse, carefully remodelled in the mid-C19 to a Gothic-revival design;

* for its distinctive detailing including the use of patterned, coloured brickwork, multi-paned windows, medieval-inspired stone detailing, tall canted chimneys, overhanging gables and decorative barge boards;

* the principal elevations survive very well, along with characteristic mid-C19 fixtures and fittings;

* the mid-C18 core of the house retains elements of its historic fabric, including the cellar, mullioned window openings and fragments of architectural detail to the rear elevation;

* the mid-C18 plan of the southern range retains a good level of legibility.

Historic interest:

* a good example of a C18 farmhouse, evolved into a remodelled C19 dwelling with associated agricultural buildings as part of a wider estate.

Group value:

* as an integral part of the historic farmstead, located adjacent to its oast house and bakehouse, both of which are listed at Grade II.

External Links

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