Brooklands

Brooklands is a former house, now a school, built in several phases beginning around 1827. Later additions were made in the mid-19th century, with a possible contribution from the architect Alfred Waterhouse before 1874. The south wing, dating from circa 1827, is constructed of stock brick with a slate roof and features two tall brick chimneystacks. The east front, two storeys high, has five windows, predominantly 12-pane sashes with some marginal glazing. A stuccoed Tuscan porch with marginal glazing to the door sits centrally, alongside a mid to late 19th-century three-light canted bay to the left. Giant pilasters mark the ends and divide the central bay. A 20th-century dormer is also present. The south front exhibits three cambered 12-pane sashes on the first floor, and on the ground floor a marginal glazed French window and a contemporary Tuscan rendered bay with two 12-pane sashes and four pilasters. Pedimented dormers with casements are visible on the west front. The first floor has three cambered 12-pane sashes, noting that 20th-century replacements exist for the fourth sash from the left. A central round-headed staircase window with later 19th-century glazing is present, as are two bays on the ground floor: one smaller with three cambered 12-pane sashes, and a larger one with three French windows. Iron balustrading leads to five mid-19th-century cast iron steps with elaborate cast iron urn motif balustrading. A late 19th-century doorcase sits under the stair window and includes a wooden gabled porch. The north wing, believed to date from around 1850 and possibly designed by Alfred Waterhouse, also utilizes stock brick and a slate roof. The garden front features a three-storey gable with brackets and two cambered-headed windows with marginal glazing. The ground floor has two tall windows with marginal glazing and a 20th-century door with a rectangular fanlight above. Two-storey wings flank the sides, each with two cambered windows retaining original glazing. The east front includes a three-cambered marginal glazed window gable and a service doorcase. Internally, a circa 1827 staircase features a mahogany handrail with mother of pearl eyes, with two turned balusters to each step and scrolled tread ends. The hall displays a swag design to the cornice, and four doorcases with six-panelled doors and pediments featuring paterae and urns. An office contains a black marble fireplace with half columns, while a common room has a mid-19th-century marble fireplace, and a front room also has a marble fireplace.