Description

DIPTFORD
Bradridge House
SX75NW
4/193
9.2.61

GV II

Small Country house. Circa 1830 remodelling of an earlier house. Stone
rubble rendered and lined out. Rear wing rendered its inner face is
painted stone rubble with slate hanging above. Slate roofs; main range has
gabled right hand end and semi-conical left hand end with wooden finial;
parallel rear range and rear wing have lower roofs with hipped ends with
wooden finials; all with lead rolls to the hips and ridges and paired
shaped eaves brackets to wooden gutters.
Bitumen coated slate roof over the verandah. 2 plastered rear lateral
chimney stacks with 3 and 4 octagonal moulded shafts, and right hand gable
end stack with moulded cornice and set-offs.
Plan: The present house is largely the result of a substantial circa 1830
remodelling but the main front range appears to have the plan of an earlier
house of either a 3-room plan the lower end to the left, or a 2-room plan
the third room on the right added as there is a solid masonry wall between
the right hand room and the central room. Furthermore the rear wing behind
the right hand end has earlier (probably C18) roof trusses and there are
several C18 panelled doors on the first floor of the main range and the
rear wing. The circa 1830 remodelling created the existing house which has
a entrance hall to the left of centre with a staircase, a drawing room to
the left, with a segmentally bowed left hand end wall with a verandah, and
to the right of the stair hall a dining room; both the dining and drawing
rooms are heated from rear lateral stacks and the small room on the far
right end like an inner room of a traditional 3-room plan is heated from a
gable end stack. The circa 1830 remodelling involved the addition of a
shallow parallel circa 1830 remodelling involved the addition of a small
parallel service range to the rear of the main range containing a small
parlour to the left a rear porch behind the stairhall and a cupboard and
pantry behind the central room. There is a longitudinal corridor in the
rear service range with a bank stairs at the right hand end. The first
room in the rear wing behind the right end is the kitchen with what appears
to be servants' quarters behind with a smaller staircase to the servants'
rooms above.
Exterior: 2 storeys. South front 3:1 window range; the 3 windows to the
left are symmetrically early C19 2-light casements on the first floor, 8
panes per light and 2 C19 French doors on the ground floor with glazing
bars and margin panes; central doorway with moulded wooden architrave and
an early C19 glazed and panelled double doors with a rectangular overlight
and a shallow recessed porch with panelled inner doors and a rectangular
overlight. The right hand windows are early C19 sashes, 6 panes to first
floor and 20 panes to ground floor. All the windows have wooden louvred
shutters.
The left hand end is segmentally bowed with rounded corners and an early
C19 verandah on rustic wooden posts with a moulded cast iron gutter and the
soffit of the verandah is plastered; under the verandah are early C19
French doors and a 2-light window above the same as those at the front but
carved and complete with curved louvred shutters. The verandah continues
around to the left to meet the recessed end wall of the rear range which
has a C19 French window on the ground floor and a C19 casement above
similar to those at the front and also with louvred shutters.
At the back the 2-storeyed porch has a hipped roof C19 half-glazed door;
C19 casement to the right with margin panes and to left one ground floor
sash and 2 first floor early C19 12-pane sashes.
Inner face of the rear wing has C19 2-light first floor casements and C20
ground floor cabinets and 2 plank doors. The outer side of the rear wing
has 2 C18 3-light wooden mullion windows with leaded panes and some old
glass, and possibly 2 similar windows to the right and in the end which
while may be similar but are covered with zinc meds.
Interior: All the early C19 joinery is intact and most of the early C19
plaster cornices survive but some were replaced later in C19. The left
hand room has a white marble chimney piece with panelled pilasters and
anthelion decoration in the frieze; richly moulded plaster cornice and
centrepiece; the bolection moulded panelling must be late C19. The right
hand room has good moulded plaster ceiling elliptically arched recesses
with panelled dado cupboards. An archway was broken through in 1924 from
the right hand room to stairhall? The rear wall of the stairhall is curved
the open well staircase has an open string with shaped tread ends, moulded
balusters and a wreathed handrail. The first floor left hand room has a
C19 devonian limestone chimneypiece with a cast iron grate. The small room
behind has a smaller Devonian limestone chimneypiece with a gothic cast
iron grate. C18 fielded 2 and 6-panel doors on the first floor and rear
wing.
Roof. of rear has cranked collars lapped to the faces of the principals
which have halved apexes.
An attractive essentially early C19 house which has been very little
altered since the early C19.

Listing NGR: SX7365857523

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26610590

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

• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)