Rose Hill House

Rose Hill House is a large villa dating to approximately 1810, with later additions and alterations. It is situated in spacious grounds and is now used as St Richard's Hospice. The house is constructed of painted stucco with a hipped slate roof, wide overhanging eaves supported by brackets. Stucco ridge stacks feature brick oversailing detail and terracotta pots.

The plan consists of a double-depth layout with a central through-hall containing a staircase. To the right is a wing of matching style, and to the left (west) are a lower wing and service ranges.

The south-facing elevation, overlooking the garden and London Road, is symmetrically composed with flanking asymmetric ranges. It has two storeys with an attic and basement, displaying eight first-floor windows arranged in a 4:3:1 pattern. Stucco detailing includes a plinth and a first-floor sill band. The windows on the first floor are 8/8 sashes, while those on the ground floor are 8/12 sashes, all set in plain reveals. A plinth also serves as the ground-floor sill band. A semi-circular headed stair light, with a 9/9 sash window, is centrally positioned on the upper floor; below it are paired 2-panel doors with glazed upper panels. A late 20th-century flat-roofed conservatory now covers the entrance. The wing to the left has a mix of 3/3, 6/6, and 8/8 sash windows, including a canted oriel window to the first floor with 1/1 sashes in each section. The wing to the right has a 1/1 first-floor sash and a French window with an overlight below.

The north-facing elevation, fronting the principal carriage drive, displays some symmetry in the main block, with asymmetric flanking ranges. It features similar stucco detailing to the south elevation, with windows all being 6/6 sashes in plain reveals. A central 4-panel door is complemented by an overlight. Flanking bow windows are present; the one on the left is smaller than the one on the right, each incorporating three windows. A late 20th-century Tuscan-style porch has been added. The left wing has 1/1 sashes, and the wings to the right have 4/4 and 6/6 sashes. A post-1886 canted bay window with a tripartite arrangement (1/1:1/1:1/1) includes a roofed balcony on the east return.

The interior retains many original features, including an open-well staircase with scrolled wrought-iron balusters, a wreathed handrail, a polychromatic ceramic tiled floor to the hall, panelled internal shutters and doors, architraves, skirtings, dado and picture rails, and moulded plaster cornices.

Historical records indicate that the building was not originally named Rose Hill. The First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1886 identified a nearby property (demolished around 1965) as Rose Hill House. The name transferred to the current building in the 1940 revision of the 1928 Ordnance Survey map, with the 1886 map showing the building with a plan similar to the current layout.