Elm Lodge

Elm Lodge

Elm Lodge is a house that originated in the early 18th century and was substantially enlarged in the early 19th century.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with limestone dressings, slate roofs and brick chimneystacks. The 18th-century rear wing retains some timber framing with brick infill.

The house has an irregular L-shaped footprint. The 18th-century range runs to the north-east, while the larger double-pile 19th-century range stands perpendicularly to the south-west.

The house consists of two distinct sections. The large early 19th-century range to the south-west has a symmetrical classical principal elevation facing south-west onto the garden. This consists of a three-bay, three-storey central section with a shallow hipped roof and wide stacks. Windows are hornless sashes with multiple lights that diminish in height with each storey, with dressed stone lintels to the openings. A French window with margin glazing is positioned centrally on the ground floor. Two-storey wings flank either side: the south-east wing has a window to each storey with a balcony featuring a pierced stone balustrade, while the north-west wing has a square stone bay window with a pierced parapet forming a balcony to the upper floor. A cornice and brick parapet with central moulding runs across, though the parapet to the north-west wing has been rebuilt in concrete. On the north-east side of the main range the building drops to two storeys with an attic. These less formal rear elevations have window openings with segmental-arched rough brick lintels. The principal entrance at the south-east corner of the 19th-century range has a replacement timber architrave with columns and pediment, and a partly-glazed early 19th-century door.

The two-storey north-east range retains small box framing on the upper floor of the north-west elevation. A break in the elevation and roofline to the north-east end indicates the phases of building, and the roof above the timber-framed section has been raised. The ground floor features a pair of glazed patio doors, with other windows being casements in irregular openings. The south-east elevation facing the forecourt has been rebuilt in brick with irregular window openings and modern windows. An external stair provides access to a modern inserted doorway on the first floor. The roof is shallowly-pitched with overhanging eaves and a hip at the north-east end.

The interior features a hall with an arched opening leading to an open-well stair with stick balusters and a ramped and wreathed moulded oak handrail rising through the three floors. A white marble fireplace is present in the lounge, with further 19th-century fireplaces elsewhere. Doors are six-panelled with reeded architraves, and there are panelled shutters to the windows. Various other joinery and plaster mouldings survive. In the attic and north-east wing are reused early 18th-century doors with H and H-L hinges. The rear wing has a stop-chamfered spine beam and fragmentary timber framing.