Windleshaw House and associated garden structures, Withyham, East Sussex

Summary

Windleshaw House, 1906-1908, by W A S Benson for himself and his wife; the builder was a Mr Holland. The house was divided in the 1960s, involving some reconfiguration, and there are small additions of 1978 by Julian St Leger. A little lean-to shed, with a later open-sided store, is excluded from the listing.

Description

House, 1907-1908, by W A S Benson for himself and his wife; the builder was a Mr Holland. The house was divided in the 1960s, involving some reconfiguration, and there are small additions of 1978 designed by Julian St Leger. In 2021, the house is a single dwelling.

A little lean-to shed, and the later open-sided store attached to it, are excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: the walling of the projecting parts of the building is in yellow rock-faced sandstone from East Grinstead, with brick footings; the gables are rendered and painted. The remaining walling is of stock brick, also from East Grinstead, laid in Monk bond, this originally having been yellow-washed with lime and sulphate of iron stain. There is some detailing in blue-black brick; in the gabled wings is a corbel-table consisting of bull-nosed corbels of blue-black brick set against two courses of red brick, supporting two projecting courses of ashlar. The window frames and lintels, except in the attics, are of unpainted teak; the window sills are formed from sloping tiles. The casement windows – again, except in the attics, and those originally lighting the kitchen/service areas to the east – are of cast iron in ornate geometric patterns, painted white, and made expressly for the house; Benson produced a cheaper patented version of these frames which could be installed to transform the appearance of existing windows. There are tall red-brick stacks, also originally lime-washed, with tiled capping. The attic and service area windows are painted timber casements. The hipped roofs are covered with plain red tiles. The external walls are understood to have been backed with ‘Texyl’, the system of corrugated iron panels, linked and reinforced for a number of applications, which was patented by Benson in 1901; the 1911 article noted that the sandstone was ‘very porous when new’. The majority of the original external doors, panelled with glazed sections, survive.

PLAN: the house is roughly rectangular on plan, on a west/east alignment, built with projecting wings to west and east, and with a projecting porch at the centre of the north elevation. The north and south elevations are symmetrical, with an additional lean-to section at the eastern end, providing additional space on the ground floor for what was the original service area, and also on the first floor. There is a small lean-to attached to the north elevation of the west wing, at its western end; this has traditionally been known as an apple store. The very small lean-to added at the eastern end of the north elevation, and the later open-sided store erected against it, are excluded from the listing.

EXTERIOR: the north-facing, entrance elevation of the house has a central projecting two-storey porch, and projecting gabled bays to each end, these three elements being faced with stone; in between are recessed brick bays. The shouldered gable of the porch is supported on concave kneelers. The entrance has a round-headed brick arch with a stone keystone, springing from a blue-black brick band. Above this at first-floor level is one of Benson’s iron-framed windows, set in a tripartite teak frame; each light contains a circular panel, within a framework of uprights. The porch is floored with black and cream chequered tiles. The house is entered through a teak screen within which the door is set, with an upper tier of arched glazed lights: the door has three glazed lights above short raised and fielded panels, with long recessed panels below. A carved ornament usually fixed above the door, though not in place at the time of inspection (April 2021), is thought to be a later addition. To either side of the porch, the recessed brick bays have six-light horizontal windows with timber mullions, containing cast-iron frames with central oval panels. Below are single-storey 1978 additions of brown brick with tiled lean-to roofs, the original cast-iron windows having been re-set within the additions. An additional section encloses the corner of the western wing. Stacks rise against the wings, at the junctions with the recessed bays. Each wing has a tall central first-floor cast-iron tripartite window, each light containing an arched panel with a concave-sided lozenge below and uprights above. The western wing has a pair of cambered-arched window openings to the ground floor, lighting what was originally the kitchen, with painted timber mullions and casements. The ‘apple store’ projecting from the western wing is pebble-dashed, with timber casement windows. The tripartite timber casement windows in the gables are set beneath drip-moulds, each supported on a row of blocks. In the roof to either side of the porch are dormer windows.

The south-facing garden front also has projecting wings; at the centre of this elevation is a narrow double-height polygonal bay. Cast-iron windows with arched tracery wrap round the bay to ground and first floors; the faceted intermediate section is rendered. To either side, in both the recessed sections and the projecting wings, each bay is occupied by a single large window. At ground-floor level the windows have cambered brick arches, the teak frames having sturdy mullions (behind which are internal columns); between these are set four cast-iron window frames with arched tracery, and circular lights over. The window to the western wing, lighting the drawing room, is tripartite; the window to the eastern wing, formerly shared between the ante room to the dining room, and the pantry, has a single dividing mullion. At first-floor level are shorter flat-arched window openings with teak colonnettes fronting the mullions (these first-floor windows being slightly set back to allow for this); these contain cast-iron windows with arched tracery. At the junctions of the wings are round-arched doorways in angled stone surrounds; the double doors have arched glazed panels beneath fanlights. Chimney stacks rise from the roof above these doorways. The gable and dormer windows are treated as on the north elevation.

The west elevation has a central ground-floor bow-window, with six cast-iron window frames with arched tracery, and circular lights above. To either side are narrow cambered-arched window openings each having two window frames of the same pattern. At first-floor level are two window openings with sliding timber sash frames, and sliding jalousie shutters. A triangular gable rises from the centre of the roof above, containing a tripartite casement window; its weatherboarded apex, originally painted white, is now painted black.

The easternmost part of the building is formed by a slight extension of the roof eaves over a short first-floor section lit by a row of cast-iron-framed windows; eight at the north end, and a pair at the south end. Below these is a deep lean-to roof, enclosed at either end by a brick wall set back slightly from the main elevation, with a parapet following the line of the roof, and a stack rising at the junction with the roof of the wing. At the north end of the lean-to section is an additional small lean-to, originally just an externally-accessed WC, but now extended to enclose the eastern entrance, with a large window and flush door. A small cambered-arched window lights the former scullery at the north end of the easternmost section; a doorway at the south end was inserted as an entrance to the east wing when the house was divided. A gable breaks the roof on the east elevation, as on the west elevation.

INTERIOR: The Buildings of England notes that the interior of the house has ‘a more directly Arts and Crafts character’ than the exterior, but also suggests a relationship with the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (a visitor to Windleshaw, as noted above) and George Walton; this perhaps is best seen in the central staircase, described below. The internal features and fittings of the house are almost exclusively designed by Benson, the majority having been designed and made specifically for Windleshaw, some incorporating elements produced commercially by Benson. The survival of internal joinery is very good: the doorcases have architraves with elongated cyma recta-moulded cornices whilst the doors have triplets of tall recessed panels below a horizontal raised and fielded panel; the doors retain their elliptical brass knobs and escutcheons. Internally, the windows of the principal ground-floor rooms have timber columns in front of the mullions. Original skirting boards and picture rails survive. The ceilings of the principal rooms on the ground and first floors have moulded cornices, and exposed painted beams. Bell pushes survive by fireplaces. The cast-iron window casements have internal Art-Nouveau foliate and floral detailing, with curved handles; the timber casement windows retain their iron furniture. The room names used below are those given on the original plans of the house.

The main entrance opens into a large lobby, within which the chequered floor continues from the porch, and extends to the west into a passage under the stair; an opening to the north provides access to the additional space in the extension. A doorway to the south opens into a passageway from which the stair rises to the west, with access to the dining room and to the hall to the south-west and to the dining room to the south-east. This passage is separated from the hall by paired arched openings, with a balustraded screen filling the western arch between stair and hall. The hall is partially panelled with Japanese oak, now painted, with raised and fielded panels above and plain panels below; a cupboard under the stair, probably always used for drinks, has a small hatch corresponding with the passage behind. The panelling incorporates the fire-surround, with elongated cyma recta-moulded shelf, and overmantel mirror. The chimney opening has slips of green marble, and the cheeks are lined with the original green and white tiles with moulded decoration; the hearth is of green tiles. There is an arched display alcove above the panelling to the north of the fireplace. The floorboards are of maple, originally slightly darkened; here, as in the drawing room, a pattern of punched holes denotes the line of the pipes which originally provided underfloor heating. The hall can be entered from the garden front through the western angled doorway, via a small triangular lobby. The doorway to the lobby is at right-angles to that leading into the drawing room to the west.

The dining room can be entered from a doorway to the east within the former service area of the house as well as from the hall passage. The room is lit from the south by both the central polygonal bay, framed by an architrave, and by one of the large tripartite windows. The woodwork in this room is of Borneo cedar; a 1911 photograph indicates that this was originally darkened. The eastern wall has half-height panelling, with recessed panels, which incorporates both the fireplace and two tiers of full-length shelving, the upper shelf supported on pairs of turned balusters. The chimney opening has grey marble slips; the grate is a replacement. Along the north wall, framed by the two doorways and forming a continuous feature with the doorframes, is a fitted buffet with a large arched opening containing shelves supported on paired balusters, with drawers and cupboards beneath. The north-east corner is occupied by a fitted glazed cupboard with a central open shelf. In the south-east corner is a cupboard of similar form, without the central shelf; this appears originally to have been the doorway from the ante room, through which the dining room was accessed from the garden front.

The drawing room occupies the western end of the ground floor. At the centre of this room is the western bow window, which provides a curved seat framed by an opening in the form of a Serliana, with a semicirular arch supported by timber columns with flat-topped openings to either side; the lower part of the seat is panelled. The fireplace opposite is framed by an elaborate chimneypiece with overmantel: the jambs have incised foliate decoration; the edge of the shallow-curved mantel-shelf also has carved decoration, whilst the overmantel has a central arched alcove flanked by mirrors (currently painted over), and on the upper tier, three recesses with plaster figures of putti playing musical instruments cast in high relief, and two arched display alcoves below a carved cornice. This fireplace arrangement is known to have been used by Benson, with variations, in other schemes. Within the chimney opening, the surround has Morris & Co tin-glazed tiles painted with stylised artichokes; these tiles are thought to have been designed by William Morris and produced by William De Morgan. The grate has a twin-arched opening, with a tier of brass balusters above. The hearth is of yellow tiles. In the north-east corner of the room is an original fitted bookcase, with a projecting central section, and grilles to the upper doors. The ceiling in this room is compartmented, with moulded beams. The floorboards are of maple, as in the hall. At the north end of the room, a doorway has been opened into the lean-to known as the apple store.

The area to the south of the dining room, within the former service area, was originally a passage with a small WC cubicle; now enlarged by the southern extension, this has become a kitchen. The secondary stair hall to the east retains its original proportions, with the stair rising to the north west with a quarter turn to the landing. The newel posts have moulded square caps, and stick balusters rise from a closed string to support a moulded handrail. The panel to the south has been replaced by projecting boarding. In the south-east corner of the hall is the housing for the original dumb waiter. The former kitchen to the north has a large chimney opening which originally held the stove. An original dresser, the side cupboards with strap hinges, is fitted across the west wall, with cupboards in a similar style on the south wall. A doorway to the south of the chimney which originally connected with the scullery beyond has been blocked; the scullery is now a utility room and does not appear to retain historic features. The larder to the north of the east entrance retains what may be historic timber shelving. Small roof-lights above the eastern entrance and the larder are thought to be original. On the south side of the house, the former pantry and ante room (this having been the ante room to the dining room, and thought also to have functioned as a servery) have been combined into a single space, lit by the large four-light window originally shared between the two rooms. This large room is accessed externally from the eastern angled doorway on the south elevation, which originally gave access to the ante room. The original fireplaces have gone from both parts of the room, with a modern chimneypiece having been attached to the centre of the east wall. A doorway at the bottom of the stair leads to the cellar, which contains wine bins – the shelving made from corrugated iron – and formerly housed the boiler. The boarded cellar doors have ventilation holes.

The principal stair, of elliptical form, which rises to the north of the hall, is of Japanese oak the stairwell panelled with vertical boards, with rounded fillets covering the joints. The closed-string stair turns around an octagonal newel, from which extends a moulded handrail supported on stick balusters; the balustrade continues to enclose the stairwell at first-floor level, where two tapering posts rise to the ceiling terminating in moulded capitals. Where the stair reaches the landing, the square newel post is topped by a delicate bespoke lantern of Benson’s design, with slender uprights of patinated iron clasping the post and twisting upwards to enclose the light-fitting with a shade of vaseline glass in an ovoid cage; the light is wired through the newel.

On the first floor, the layout of the rooms in the central and western part of the house remains largely unchanged. The bedroom on the south front above the dining room includes the hexagonal bay, framed by an architrave. In the east wall is a painted timber chimneypiece; the overmantel has paired colonnettes supporting a cornice and framing a looking glass, whilst the grate is surrounded by green and white tiles. A doorway which originally connected with the dressing room to the east has been removed, reflecting the division of the house. A connecting door does lead to the dressing room to the west; this room was originally divided, with a small section accorded to the eastern bedroom, and the majority belonging to the bedroom in the southern part of the western wing. This dressing room, also accessed from the landing, has recent fitted cupboards. The bedroom in the southern part of the west wing retains a painted timber chimneypiece incorporating a looking glass, the tiles surrounding the opening having a floral motif. The smaller bedroom in the northern part of the west wing does not retain its fireplace. The bedroom windows on the eastern elevation, which have sliding sashes, are fitted internally with cast-iron detailing, creating an impression of ornate geometric glazing bars, in the manner of the bespoke cast-iron windows found elsewhere in the house. Above the porch is a bathroom, as in the original plan. To the north of the master bedroom, a small bathroom has been enlarged incorporating part of the corridor, to provide a connecting bathroom. This change reflects the former division of the house, since access to the west wing is thereby cut off at first-floor level. A small open-well timber stair has been added to access the attic at this point. The east wing has a large room across the north end, originally the study; this room has lost its fireplace. Across the landing, the former dressing room and bathroom have been somewhat reconfigured; the window which was originally shared now belongs to the former dressing room, whilst the bathroom and WC have been combined. Modern kitchen units have been fitted against the south side of the generous landing; an original cupboard with a boarded door survives against the east wall. The attic stairs are accessed through a doorway with a plain panelled door, contrasting with the adjacent study door; the doors to the former study and former dressing room have six panels rather than the usual four. The attic originally provided bedrooms for servants; the space has seen some reconfiguration. Sloping ceilings reflect the form of the roof. There is a simple cast-iron fireplace with an Art Nouveau register grate in the main room of the west wing, and a number of original plain doors with four recessed panels survive throughout the attic.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES

The site retains WALLING and STEPS constructed from roughly-shaped stone found on the site. The drive to the north of the house is framed by the original curved dwarf walls, shaped to form raised beds, with taller planted walls to the west and north; an opening has recently been made through the northern wall giving direct access from the house to the former tennis lawn. To the east of the house, an original brick archway gives access to the paved garden, enclosed to the east by low walls with steps, their outline corresponding with the arched form found frequently within the house.

History

Windleshaw House, originally ‘Windleshaw’, was built in 1907-1908 to designs by William Arthur Smith Benson for himself and his wife, Venetia. The house was built on a south-facing site with fine views towards the Ashdown Forest, within sight of Buckhurst Place, the home of Benson’s cousin Robin Benson. The house was intended as a country retreat for entertaining, within reach of London; the Bensons also had a flat in Montagu Square in London, and in 1909 bought a smaller house at Manorbier in Pembrokeshire.

Work began in March 1907 on the cottage to the north-east, which was to provide both a gardener’s residence and a stable and coach-house; now Windleshaw Lodge, this building has been considerably altered. The Bensons moved into the cottage that summer, to await completion of the main house in October 1908. In 1911 the house appeared in the architectural publication Recent Domestic Architecture, which provides detail about the original uses of material, and the layout and room names; photographs taken by Bedford Lemere the same year – some of which appear in the article – provide evidence of the appearance of the exterior and principal rooms at that time. The kitchen offices and servants’ room were originally on the ground floor of the eastern wing of the house, whilst it appears that a covered way led from the entrance in the eastern elevation to an additional range containing a laundry, coal area and other offices; this has now been much extended and converted to domestic use as Windleshaw Mews.

The Bensons designed the grounds surrounding the house, with the drive forming an elliptical sweep to the north of the house; the main lawn was to the south, with a paved formal garden to the west and a walled kitchen garden to the east. Beyond the drive to the north was a lawn for tennis or croquet, and there were paddocks and orchards to the north-east and south-east. A dell was formed to the west, beyond which was the quarry from which the stone for the garden walling and paths was sourced. To the east of the walled garden, near the entrance to the property, was a pond, and sheds including one for the donkey which drew the luggage-cart from the station. Much of this original design remains, though the walled garden has gone. Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a visitor to Windleshaw, executed his 'Spurge' drawing there in June 1909.

The Bensons sold the house in 1922. In the 1960s the house was divided into two parts, with the east wing becoming a separate residence; a number of modifications to the layout of the building reflect this development. The house received additional alterations in about 1978, with the ground floor of the north elevation being extended between the projecting wings and porch. In 2021 the house is a single dwelling.

William AS Benson (1854-1924) was the son of a successful barrister; artistic and creative influences came from Benson’s mother, Elizabeth, and from his uncle, William Arthur Smith, who introduced him to the use of lathes and to elementary mechanics. Having begun a degree in Classics and Philosophy at New College, Oxford in 1874, Benson left in 1876 with the intention of becoming an architect. The following year Benson was articled to Basil Champneys, with whom he remained for four years. During this period he began designing and making furniture and metalwork, and in 1880, with the encouragement of his friends Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, and with financial backing from his father, established his first workshop in Fulham, for the production of domestic articles in metal, and furniture. The business quickly expanded and in 1882 moved to a larger factory in Hammersmith; unlike many contemporary designers, Benson was closely involved in production. A showroom opened in New Bond Street in 1887. From 1883 Benson contributed to the work of Morris & Co, producing lighting and furnishings for the firm’s decorative schemes, as well as designing for other companies. The early years of Benson’s career coincided with the expanding use of electricity, and his development of a wide range of electric light fittings, together with his expertise in the installation and use of electric lighting, contributed to his success; Hermann Muthesius identified him as the leader in this field in England, and the ‘fruitful instigator’ on the Continent. An active player in the Arts and Crafts movement – embracing industrial as well as small-scale production – Benson was a founder member of the Art Workers’ Guild, and was on the committee of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings; the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which held its inaugural exhibition in 1888, came into being through Benson’s initiative.

Following Morris’s death, Benson and his associate Henry Marillier bought Morris & Co in 1904, with Benson becoming chairman; from 1908 Benson focused on his own business, remaining a director of Morris & Co Decorators Ltd. Throughout his career, Benson continued to work as an architect, designing a relatively small number of new buildings, and extending or adapting a larger number. Interior decoration and lighting played an important role in all his architectural work, with the effect of fittings, electric lighting, and fenestration being a constant consideration. Muthesius named him as one of the small but influential group of English domestic architects (notably including CFA Voysey) who, as well as adopting new architectural forms, sought to achieve a ‘complete synthesis’ between architecture and decoration, the same designer being responsible for both. Benson married Venetia Hunt, daughter of the landscape painter, Alfred William Hunt, in 1886. Venetia was evidently involved in Benson’s work; an 1880s photograph shows them working at neighbouring desks in Benson’s Campden Hill Road studio, and Venetia’s diaries provide much detail about her husband’s life and work.

Reasons for Listing

Windleshaw House and associated garden structures, built 1907-1908, to designs of W A S Benson for himself, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* one of the finest surviving houses built by W A S Benson, renowned as an Arts and Crafts designer, which represents his accomplished and idiosyncratic but lesser-known work as an architect; the house demonstrates Benson’s design approach, with fenestration, lighting and internal fittings being integral to the architectural whole;
* Benson’s own elaborate cast-iron windows, being bespoke examples of the patent version sold more widely, survive throughout;
* the interior survives well, with the principal rooms remaining largely as originally planned, retaining features including panelling, window settings, and other joinery, together with chimneypieces, designed by Benson for the house;
* the principal stair, its newel post crowned with a Benson lamp, provides an elegant and original centrepiece to the house;
* garden walling, built from stone found on the site, relates to the design of the house.

Historic interest:
* the house was designed by Benson as a country residence for himself and his wife, and the planning of the house and garden powerfully reflects their intended manner of living and entertaining there, whilst the fittings of the house provide a strong link both to Benson’s own influential and prolific industrial production, and to the firm of Morris & Co, with which Benson was closely associated for many years.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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