Upmeads And Attached Terrace Walls

Upmeads is a house with attached terrace walls, built in 1908 by Edgar Wood in an Edwardian Free style. It is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings, and has a flat concrete roof. The building is double-depth in plan.

The north, or entrance, front is symmetrical, featuring a recessed concave centre with a central attic storey rising behind it, and recessed moulded corners. The parapet is plain, but enriched towards the centre. The recessed entrance has an ashlar surround with an enriched projecting lintel, while the flanking entrances are simpler, one concealed behind a wall leading to a kitchen court. All windows have flat-faced mullions. The ground floor has three-light windows either side of the entrance, with four-light windows at the ends. The recessed centre has a three-light first-floor window and an attic window, with a low relief panel incorporating initials between them. The first floor features single-light windows flanking the recess, and two-light windows to each side. The kitchen court has two round-headed entrances with slatted panel doors, one with a rounded notch.

The right return showcases three-light windows and a full-height canted bay window at the right end, incorporating 1:5:1-light windows; the central ground floor window is transomed. A rainwater head is dated 1908. A lateral stack is present, alongside lights flanking a forward break, with a four-light transomed window and a smaller inserted window to the ground floor. The garden front mirrors the recessed centre entrance features an ashlar canopy and glazed door, with a tall ashlar panel over, housing a tall window to the first floor. The ground floor has two transomed two-light windows to the left and a seven-light transomed window to the right, with similarly styled first-floor windows lacking transoms.

The terrace has a low stone-coped wall, a central recess with opposed steps leading to a round landing, and a wall behind, exhibiting a concave centre with projections to each end, topped with ball finials.

Inside, the two-storey entrance hall to the garden front includes a groin vault, a round-headed entrance with a glazed door to the rear, and below, a round arched opening with a balcony. A room to the left has a concave end wall with panelling, cupboards, and a marble fireplace with simplified Ionic pilasters. A room to the right features later 17th century style panelling, a fireplace of two coloured marbles, and a radiator concealed within a wooden cover. A groin-vaulted corridor leads from the rear of the entrance hall, with a staircase rising between walls to the right. Original three-panel doors are found throughout. The first floor has a corridor with round end skylights. A right-hand room retains its original cornice and wallpaper, characterized by stylized flowers on narrow vertical stripes, alongside a marble fireplace. Another right-hand room has a panelled end wall and a marble fireplace. Two rear rooms boast relief plaster friezes and ceilings, one with a corner cupboard and strapwork fireplace.

The formal garden lies to the south and west. Upmeads is an example of advanced design for its date and retains a well-preserved interior, considered “one of the most interesting houses of that date in the whole of England” by Pevsner.