Oaklands House

Oaklands House is a house, now a museum, built in 1865 by architect Charles Pertwee for Frederick Wells, a director of the Chelmsford Brewery. A late 20th-century extension to the south has no historic interest.

The building is constructed of gault brick laid in English bond with a chamfered plinth, rising two storeys. It has an L-shaped plan with the main range to the north-east and servants quarters in a side wing. The main range is covered by three slate-covered hipped roofs with a central cupola. The side wing has parallel slate-covered gable roofs with clasped purlin roof and ridge piece. Seven ridge stacks with shaped brick caps pierce the roofline. Overhanging eaves are supported by wooden brackets and moulded stone end-consoles. Saw-tooth dentilled cornices and projecting stone string courses run across all elevations. An unusual four-storey campanile rises at the right-angle of the L.

The exterior displays one-over-one vertical sliding sashes throughout the main range. Ground-floor windows have carved half-pilaster jambs with key motif and carved lintels with decorated heads. First-floor windows have simpler chamfered lintels and jambs. The side wing features six-over-six vertical sliding sashes with stone lintels bearing enlarged keystones and undecorated stone jambs and sills.

The west-facing facade features a projecting main range with a central porch supported by two pairs of stone Doric columns. A six-panelled front door, part-glazed and part-panelled, sits within an arched doorcase. Above runs a frieze with triglyph motifs and plain cornice, supporting a stone balustrade. A projecting bay under a gablet to the left contains tri-partite windows with dressed and carved stone arched heads, lintels and mullions. The campanile has two pairs of one-over-one vertical sliding sash windows at ground and first floors, with a moulded stone balustrade above the ground-floor windows. Above the first floor sits a roundel with the carved initials 'FW'. The fourth storey, where the bell (now removed) was formerly housed, features a projecting dentilled cornice and string course with tri-partite openings, carved stone mullions, moulded stone heads and sills, and a weathervane on the gablet. The servants wing at the south end has a projecting end bay under a gablet with a roundel in the apex and tripartite vertical sliding sash windows with stone mullions at ground and first floors.

The north elevation has a projecting panel at the west end and a projecting bay to the east. The central panels contain two first-floor windows above two full-height ground-floor windows. A semi-circular niche with intricately carved foliage and a central shield with decorated boss sits above the central ground-floor window.

The east elevation features a central projecting bay under a gablet and a projecting panel at the south end. The central panel displays carved foliage around a central roundel in the apex bearing the initials 'FW'. A tri-partite bay window at ground floor has pilaster mullions and full-height windows, with a balustrade above the central window. A rear door adjacent to the bay has a single light above and a gauged brick head. The servants wing to the south has a projecting bay at its south end, under a gablet.

The interior retains a substantially intact plan-form. The front door opens into a vestibule with a tiled floor, which leads to an oak-panelled hall with marquetry flooring, now covered. The main open-well staircase rises from the hall, lit by the central cupola. The stairs feature richly carved newel posts, cast-iron balusters, decorative string brackets and rounded hand rails. The cupola contains 14 lights with projecting bars, decorative central and side panels and enriched plaster edging.

The principal range displays high-quality decorative plasterwork with enriched cornices and ceiling roses featuring rosette, anthemion, swags, greek-key and foliage motifs. Alcoves throughout the house include a contemporary mahogany-framed mirror in the dining-room alcove. All ground-floor rooms retain working full-height folding shutters and shutter boxes. Back stairs are located at ground and first-floor level of the campanile. Despite the addition of some 20th-century fire doors, the six-panel doors, window frames and skirting boards remain throughout. One stone fireplace with a hob grate and carved initials of 'FW' remains in the former day nursery on the first floor.

Oaklands House was built on land purchased from the estate of the influential Mildmay family. The Italianate design is said to have been inspired by Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, which Wells greatly admired. Architect Charles Pertwee (1833–1905) was related to Wells by marriage. With offices in Essex and Suffolk, Pertwee became a member of the RIBA during the 1880s and produced small-scale work in both counties. None of his other work is listed, though Pertwee undertook some 19th-century restoration to the Grade I listed All Saints Church, Brightlingsea. The building served as a hospital during World War One and is now the borough museum.

Oaklands House is a good example of a High Victorian suburban residence, notable for its asymmetric Italianate design with an unusually elaborate campanile. The interior plan-form remains substantially intact with contemporary fixtures and fittings of good quality in materials and craftsmanship.