Description

SU 56 SW KINGSCLERE NEWBURY ROAD
3/21 (Headley)

Cheam School

II

1870, 1911, and 1934. Once a C17 house with a larger early C18 extension of 5
windows, known as Beenham Court; about 1870 this was rebuilt as a large Victorian
baronial house of irregular form. The front wall (east) remained in the present facade,
when the house was transformed and extended in a regular fashion (by the architect
Detmar Blow) with elevations of Wren character, the openings in the old front being
filled with stone frames, with mullions and transoms. Front (east) of 3 storeys, 6
windows. Hipped tiled roof with 3 wide flat roofed dormers. Red brick walling, the
second floor (above cill height) using small bricks in English Garden Wall bond, the
other (of 1870) in English bond, with flush blue header bands at the levels of the
ground-floor and first-floor window-heads and the ground-floor cills, projecting bands
to first-floor cill level and (thin) first-floor level, plinth (with blue set off). A
low parapet has a blocking course and a full cornice in moulded brickwork. Leaded
casements. The ground-floor of most of the front projects (1911) with a brick
cornice, pilasters enclosing an arcade at each side (the south being open as a porch)
and a wide triple window. The south side has slightly-projecting units to the west,
to produce 3.2.2 windows, the 2 eastern parts continuing other fronts 2 storeys, the
other (of 1911) being of 2 storeys and attic (the parapet cornice being continuous)
with quoins and first floor band. The west elevtion (1911) has a narrow projecting
2-storeyed porch, with 2 windows on each side, continuing (from the south side) the
taller 2-storeyed arrangement. Similar details are used, the doorway in stone being
an elaborate Corinthian Order, with a shield in a segmental pediment, pulvinated
frieze, rusticated half columns against rusticated grounds,an arched opening with
fanlight and panelled doors, above 5 splayed steps; the window above is enclosed by a
stone architrave, cornice and brackets. A further unit at the north side of the west
elevation has 2 windows and continues the treatment, and beyond are single-storeyed
ranges. A large classroom block of 1934 (when the school moved here from Cheam),
extends eastwards from the north side of the east front, forming a forecourt built-up
on 2 sides. Inside, the classical detail (of Wren style) is followed, with a tall
staircase hall having a rich Corinthian elevation of the Hampton Court design.

Listing NGR: SU5186762086

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q67599426

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)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey