The Lawns

The Lawns, Alvechurch

Nursing home, formerly rectory. Designed by William Butterfield in 1855-6 for Archdeacon Sandford. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond with stone dressings and timber framing, beneath a steep plain-tiled roof. It is a two-storey structure with an L-shaped plan, incorporating a lengthy service wing extending to the north.

The south or garden front displays brick walling at ground floor level with trellis diapering and stone dressings, while the first floor features timber framing with three timber-framed gables adorned with decorative bargeboards. To the right of centre stands a canted bay containing sash windows set within stone surrounds with trefoil heads. Similar lancet lights flank this feature, with a garden door to the left. Projecting gabled wings occupy the far right and left positions. The right-hand wing contains two pairs of sashed lancets divided by a squat buttress and a shield-shaped datestone reading "JOHN SANDFORD B.D./RECTOR/1856", above which rises a gabled oriel extending into the gable itself. The left wing has a two-storey canted bay window. Small twentieth-century casements have been inserted adjacent to both lateral wings. The remaining first floor windows are all sashes with trefoil heads.

The east front features a slightly projecting gabled wing near the centre, with an oriel at first floor level supported on a central buttress. This oriel contains a large arched chapel window which has been partially altered. To its left is a chimney stack with diapering, with an inserted twentieth-century window, and further inserted casements appear at both floors to the right. The chapel gable marks the division between the taller main house to the left and the lower servants' wing to the right, which has a varied roof pitch. The rear elevation displays a projecting gabled wing at the left with small-framing to the first floor and a large staircase window whose glazing bars continue the pattern of the framing. A lean-to porch is positioned to the right. Several chimney stacks have been shortened.

Interior

The interior has been substantially altered through the subdivision of rooms into bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms and corridors, though most of these divisions consist of stud walls that could be readily removed. At ground floor level the principal features remain legible and the plan is largely intact, with library, ante-room, drawing room and dining room arranged along the south front and interconnected by doors. The entrance porch and entrance hall are substantially unaltered, as is the panelled spinal corridor with the principal staircase leading off. The library and dining room have been subdivided with fireplaces removed, but the drawing room and its ante-room retain most of their original condition, including arched alcoves and tracery roundels in the panelling. In the servants' area, the backstairs remain in place and the housekeeper's room has been converted to the kitchen. At the north end, the single-storey block containing the laundry, scullery and dairy has been demolished, as has the coal store. At first floor level, the former chapel retains its impressive double doors with elaborate strap hinges facing the top of the staircase, though the interior has been subdivided and the fenestration altered. The staircase and first floor landing demonstrate considerable architectural refinement in the treatment of the pierced screen between staircase and ground floor hall, the handling of different levels, and the detailing with a wooden arcade at first floor level above the balustrade.

The building possesses strong group value with the Church of St. Laurence (grade II), whose nave and chancel were largely rebuilt by Butterfield, and the Windsor Memorial Cross (grade II) in the churchyard. This is a large and important rectory which marks a significant development in Butterfield's stylistic evolution. The design proved influential, notably upon Philip Webb, who adopted the arrangement of the plan and several of its details when designing the Red House, Bexleyheath for William Morris.