Roden House

Roden House

A house of early 18th-century date, first shown on the 1717 map of Brentwood and documented on waterheads in 1724. Wings were added in 1725. The building later served as a preparatory school for Brentwood School from 1918 to 1947, and has been the headmaster's house since 1962.

The house is constructed of red brick with decorative chequered burnt headers and a clay tiled roof behind a parapet. The plan is rectangular with a cross-wing slightly forward of the main range and irregular additions at the west end.

The building is two storeys with attics. The principal block comprises five bays with a two-bay cross-wing at the east end featuring Dutch gables with cement copings. Chimney stacks are positioned in pairs at the east and west ends, and between the cross-wing and main range.

The north front elevation is the principal facade. The main block has sash windows throughout with glazing bars in 3x4 pane arrangements and rubbed brick voussoirs. Ground-floor windows have brick keystones, while first-floor outer and central window heads are finished with shaped voussoir soffits. The central first-floor window is distinguished by a rusticated brick surround rising to a brick cornice at the base of the parapet. The front door, now repositioned one bay to the east of its original central location, comprises eight fielded panels with a fretted rectangular doorcase featuring panelled reveals, fluted pilasters, a triglyph frieze and segmental pediment. A moulded stucco band runs between the storeys, absent at the original door position where a sash window now sits. Three dormer windows are positioned behind the parapet: the two outer windows have triangular pediments, whilst the central one has a segmental pediment. At the west end, a secondary ground-floor lean-to with partly chequered brickwork is accompanied by a second-floor lean-to featuring chequered brickwork and a sash window with 2x2 pane upper sashes and plain lower sashes, together with a Dutch gable parapet. A small intermediate lean-to rises from the lower roof. The cross-wing windows match those of the ground floor in the main range. Its ground-floor window is blocked, whilst the attic window is a triple casement with glazing bars in 6x3 panes, rubbed brick voussoirs, brick keystones and cornice.

The south rear elevation is marked by a division between the main range and cross-wing, indicated by the hipped cross-wing roof. The main range features two bows with plain brick cornices and parapets; the brickwork of the bows lacks chequering. A deep stair window between the bows has glazing bars in 3x7 panes with an arched head and Gothic-style treatment of glazing bars, with a recessed panel in the parapet above. Below stands a simple four-panelled door with upper glazed panels and lower beaded panels, accompanied by a wooden trellis porch. The west bow has a triple ground-floor window with a 20th-century door insert, whilst its upper glazing retains glazing bars in 3x4 panes with lower panel, upper and side lights. The east bow contains a triple window now supported by metal stanchions to the head, with a central 20th-century two-panel glazed door and French windows on each side featuring glazing bars in 4x4 panes. Three dormer windows punctuate the rear elevation; the outer two have flat heads whilst the central one has a pediment, boarded sides and two casements with glazing bars in 4x3 panes. The cross-wing at the east end has a two-window range with a moulded string course between floors. First-floor windows are sashes with glazing bars, upper sashes with 3x2 panes and lower sashes now renewed with a single central vertical bar. A large 19th-century triple ground-floor window similar to those in the bows features a central 20th-century door, fully glazed with upper and lower panels. The roof hip dormer has a cornice to its sides and triangular pediment, with three casement windows featuring glazing bars in 6x3 panes.

The east end elevation is plain, with string courses continuing from the front. An attic window with a two-by-three-pane casement and glazing bars sits between the stacks, beneath a Dutch gable. The west end elevation shows irregular added units with 19th-century horned sash windows and a simple boarded side door. The brickwork is chequered with burnt headers, and three rainwater heads are dated 1724. Dutch gables sit between a pair of stacks.

Internally, the entrance hall and one ground-floor room to the east, along with one first-floor room, retain 18th-century fielded panelling. The ground-floor room's fireplace features a bolection-moulded architrave. The staircase is of 18th-century date with delicate open strings, barleysugar banisters, a shaped handrail and carved bracket tread ends (the upper part now boarded over), together with a panelled dado. The addition of the two-bayed cross-wing in the earlier 18th century to the main five-bayed range is evident. Marks on the ground-floor ceiling reveal the site of the original central passage, and the archway to the stair shows secondary blocking as part of the alteration. The relocation of the front door one bay to retain symmetrical bays disrupted the original symmetry of the range. No reworking of the front was undertaken beyond inserting a window, leaving the disrupted middle string course and isolated enriched first-floor window unmodified.

The name of the building derives from John of Routhynge, who occupied a house on the site in 1351. Roden House, together with its associated wall to the east, forms part of a significant group including Mitre House, Newnum House, Old House and The Hermitage, all connected with Brentwood School, along with the monument to William Hunter.