Beechwood Park School And Walls Of Walled Garden Adjoining

A country house, now a school, with an exceptionally complex building history spanning over four centuries. The present house was built circa 1664 for Thomas Saunders (d.1693), probably incorporating part of an earlier house built for Sir Richard Page (d.1548). Page had been granted the lands in exchange for his own estates by Henry VIII in 1539. These lands had belonged to the Priory of St. Giles in the Wood, a Benedictine nunnery founded circa 1120 and suppressed in 1537, whose buildings stood some 100 metres to the east of the present house.

The hearth tax of 1663 recorded 9 hearths; by 1673 this had increased to 13 hearths. In the late 17th century, Chauncy noted 'the Manor House is a fair brick house of the figure of a Roman H'. A front block was added between 1695 and 1702, forming a closed courtyard, for Sir Edward Sebright, 3rd Baronet, who had married Ann Saunders. The date '1702' and the initials 'S/E.A' appear on rainwater pipes of this front block.

Circa 1744, a Great Room was added to the north-west facing west, attributed to Roger Morris for Sir Thomas Sebright. During the 1760s and 1770s, some interiors were remodelled by Sir William Chambers, and north and south pavilions were added to the east front. These additions followed unexecuted schemes prepared by Lancelot Brown (1754) and Matthew Brettingham (circa 1759). Brown also landscaped the grounds in the 1750s.

By circa 1800, a cupola had been removed from the centre of the house. The Great Room was remodelled as the library in 1804 by Thomas Cundy, after earlier schemes by Sir John Soane and Alexandre-Louis de Labriere. In 1851–4, William Burn roofed the courtyard as a saloon (with a chimneypiece and doorcases carved by Barbetti circa 1860s) for Sir Thomas Gage Saunders Sebright, 8th Baronet. In 1863, he also formed three arches in the rear wall of the entrance hall and added a lean-to roof on the library.

In the later 1860s, for Sir John Gage Saunders, a billiard room and new stables were grouped around the north courtyard, and a clock tower and service buildings were added to the south-west of the house. In 1905, M.H. Judge and Sons architects converted the billiard room to a coach house and the chapel to a motor house for G.C. McCorquordale Esq. The front block was restored in 1933 for Sir Giles Sebright, 12th Baronet. The house opened as a school in 1964.

Construction and Materials

The oldest parts are in red brick laid in English bond with stone quoins and steep pitched roofs now slated. The front block is in chequered red and purple brick with stone dressings, stucco window surrounds, and a steep pitched hipped old red tile roof above a wooden eaves cornice. The 18th-century north and south pavilions are in red brick, English bond, with stone dressings and hipped slate roofs. The north stable court and south service wing have plum brick and hipped slate roofs. The library wing is red brick with Portland stone dressings and a lean-to slate roof behind a parapet.

The 1664 House

The 1664 house was of two storeys and attics, with a main range facing east flanked by north and south cross-wings projecting more to the east than to the west. Two large external lateral chimneys remain symmetrically placed on the west front, capped off at the eaves. Staircases were built in the middle of each wing (the north wing more elaborate), with tall diagonally set chimney shafts in groups on the north side of the north wing and south side of the south wing. Partly blocked hollow moulded mullioned and transomed stone windows survive in the north and south wings, and an oak panelled room with stone fireplace remains in the south wing (now the housemasters' room). The stone quoins of the south wing were uncovered during 20th-century alterations to the saloon.

The central east entrance probably led into a hall extending to the north, with the kitchen and other services in the south wing. The parlour was probably to the south of the hall.

The 1695–1702 Front Block

The taller new front block is U-shaped with a grand front range, short wings at the north-west and south-west linking to the wings of the old house, and a shallower stair hall between, lit from the courtyard and originally with a cupola over. The entrance up steps is central on the east into a large nearly square entrance hall with a fireplace on the south and access to the stair at the rear. To north and south are two large reception rooms: the Dining Room on the south (now Staff Common Room) and the Drawing Room on the north. Both were possibly enlarged by taking in small end corner rooms during mid-18th-century alterations.

18th-Century Additions

The addition in the 1740s of the tall single-storey Great Room to the north end of the old house was presumably the start of a redevelopment of the west front, abandoned when the east front was extended circa 1760s by north and south pavilions linked by short arcades (replaced in the 19th century by recessed linking blocks), with a new kitchen and offices in the south pavilion and a chapel in the north pavilion. In 1804, the Great Room was remodelled as the library.

19th-Century Alterations

After 1850, the open central courtyard with covered passage across was replaced by a top-lit saloon rising through two storeys. The central part of the old house was remodelled as a single large room on the ground floor with a central stone bay window set out between the projecting west chimney stacks, and three arches were formed to link the entrance hall to the stair hall and the new saloon.

Since 1964, the school has moved the elaborate Renaissance-style carved chimneypiece by Barbetti from the south end of the saloon; it now forms the altarpiece of a chapel in the recess facing the foot of the main stair. The saloon is now the Great Hall, and the large room in the central part of the old house is the Dining Room. Subdued brick and tile low buildings have been built in the walled gardens linked to the house on the south-west to replace a block of temporary buildings at the rear.

East Front

The symmetrical east front has a tall central chequered brick block of two storeys and attics raised on a high plinth. It is nine windows long with six pedimented dormers on the steep roof slope. Features include a double-chamfered stone plinth, stone plat-band, and deep modillioned wooden eaves cornice. A three-window central pedimented projection has stone quoins, as do the corners of the block.

Six broad stone steps and a landing with iron handrail lead to the central doorway. This has a moulded stone surround with Corinthian fluted pilasters and broken segmental pediment, and half-glazed double doors. The triangular pediment to the roof contains a cartouche of Sebright arms flanked by putti.

The recessed tall sash windows have six over six panes and V-jointed stepped rustication at the jambs. The head has stucco chamfered rusticated applied flat arch with raised keystone. The upper edges of the voussoirs flanking the keystone have been cut down to give it more prominence. Windows on the north and south ends of the block have similar rusticated surrounds but a chamfered lintel in stucco with raised keystone no deeper or higher than the lintel. (This may be an earlier 20th-century alteration rather than the addition of these window surrounds as suggested by Pevsner.) Iron guards protect the lower part of each window. The dormers have sash windows with eight over eight panes.

The ends of this block continue the architectural treatment of the front, with two similar sash windows to each floor and three dormer windows with sashes and triangular pediments on the roof slope. Rectangular rainwater pipes around the block have a decorative garland in relief on each length between eared brackets, with '1702' and 'S/E.A'. One replacement pipe at the south end bears 'SHS/1962'.

Matching hip-roofed north and south pavilions are linked by recessed lower two-storey, three-window wide brick and slate blocks. The pavilions are two storeys, five windows long with a slightly projecting three-window centre topped by a triangular pediment. Features include stepped rusticated stone quoins, double-chamfered stone plinth, hollow chamfered stone plat-band, and moulded stucco cornices. Flat gauged arches top recessed sash windows of three over three panes to the first floor and six over six panes below.

Stable Yard and Service Buildings

Extending to the north, a plum brick screen wall with central iron gates leads to the north stable yard, with red brick gate piers having stone plinths, caps, and finials. The L-shaped two-storey plum brick stables and coach house have hipped slate roofs, red brick gauged arches, sash windows with eight over eight panes to the ground floor, and eight-pane pivoted upper windows.

The tall square clock tower set back among kitchen buildings at the south end is in similar plum brick with a pyramidal metal roof with vane. A moulded stone frame surrounds the circular dial on each face, with a bell on a bracket on each face below. Although fixed here in the 1860s, the clock is marked Northampton 1764 and presumably came from the Worcestershire estates of the Sebright family.

West or Garden Front

At the north part of the west or garden front is the distinguished facade of Roger Morris's Great Room. This is a tall single storey with parapet, four windows with the north window designed as an entrance to a vestibule leading to the three-bay Great Room, with swept architraves carried lower. The construction is tuck-pointed red brick and Portland stone, with a low stone plinth, plain stone projecting dado band, and very deep modillioned cornice, frieze, and moulded architrave in painted wood.

Four equally spaced very tall windows have Portland stone moulded and carved surrounds, each with a pulvinated frieze and triangular pediment with egg-and-dart bedmould and enriched architrave with bead-and-reel. The architraves sweep out at the base to meet the plain sill projecting flush with the stone plinth. The vestibule has tall cross-windows and glazed double doors.

To the south, the old house of two storeys and attics has gabled two-window wide wings projecting symmetrically at each end of a four-window centre. The plinth was faced in the 18th century with Portland stone slabs with tooled margins similar to the Great Room. There is a stone plat-band, with an upper band across the gables of wings at eaves level stepping up over first floor windows. Totternhoe stone stepped quoins at the angles are flush with English-bond 17th-century brickwork, with remains of 18th-century tuck-pointing. Carved bargeboards with moulded pendants are probably mid-19th century by William Burn, along with the central large stone canted bay window up three steps with flat roof and two-light casement windows with plate glass, set between twin projecting massive chimneys with the plat-band continued across them. Small two-light windows appear in the gable tops, and cross-windows have plate glass casements and flat gauged arches in red brick. Lower 19th-century plum brick slated buildings extend to the south.

Walled Gardens

Four-metre high red brick 17th- and 18th-century garden walls extend from the south part of the house to form a polygonal enclosure to the south-west with two similar cross-walls within.

Interiors: 17th-Century House

In the 17th-century house, the housemasters' room has early 17th-century oak scratch-moulded oak panelling on three walls and a four-centred moulded stone fireplace with foliate spandrels and stops halfway up the jambs. An arcaded carved oak Jacobean overmantle has terms between the round arches, with deep cresting dentilled and corbelled with four foliate brackets. A moulded panelled strip and shelf over the fireplace is an insertion. The panelling on the west wall is much made up. The features of this room pre-date the rebuilding of 1664.

More typical of 1664 is the north staircase in oak with closed string, dumpy balusters, heavy moulded rail, and heavy square newels with finials. The bolection moulded dado on the walls was probably added. The top of the south staircase has a simple heavy rail, infilled balustrade, and rectangular heavy newel with ogee finial. It is lit by a hollow chamfered two-light stone mullioned window. The roof structure is of butt-purlin construction. The south wing has in its attics plank doors with old iron hinges.

Entrance Hall and Reception Rooms

The east entrance hall has a freestone floor, bolection moulded panelling, moulded skirting and cornice, and a projecting chimney breast on the south with grey marble surround.

The large room on the south, designed by Chambers as the Dining Room, has three windows and a deep enriched dentilled cornice with egg-and-dart. There is moulded skirting and dado rail. Four moulded doorcases have six-panel fielded doors and cyma frieze to cornice over. Tall sash windows appear in moulded surrounds with fielded panels to reveals and shutters. The chimneypiece by Chambers is in veined and yellow marble. Tall fluted consoles carry a full entablature breaking forward over each in a frieze block with patera. A central block has relief carved gadrooned urn and the bedmould of the cornice breaks forward over it. There is a black iron inset and barred grate.

The corresponding three-window north room, the Drawing Room, is similar but more elaborate, with enriched cornice. Three six-panel doors have enriched moulded surrounds and dentilled cornice to enriched cyma frieze. A full dado has enriched moulding to skirting and capping rail. The white marble chimneypiece is attributed to Borri. Scallop and wreath appear in relief on the pilasters, Greek wave moulding is carved along the architrave, with garlanded frieze and enriched cornice breaking forward over a central block carved in relief with a head in a sunburst. There is a steel and brass inset with paterae and basket grate. A ceiling with papier-mâché decoration had to be taken down in the 1960s.

Main Staircase and Saloon

The main staircase has a cut string, scrolls to treads and twisted balusters (two per tread), moulded rail, and panelled dado to the wall.

The large rectangular saloon of 1851–4 has an arcaded gallery of five by three arches at first floor level above the plain walls of the lower part, with double doors in elaborate carved doorcases by Barbetti on north, east, and west. Two doors on the south formerly flanked a chimneypiece now in the chapel. The elaborate plasterwork ceiling by James Annan has a rooflight. A deep enriched cornice is interrupted by consoles with lion masks supporting a coved and beamed ceiling.

Library and Inner Library

In the tall three-window library, the ceiling has a deep cove springing from an egg-and-dart carved band which probably remains from the 1740s interior. A band with scale decoration and paterae blocks at corners has been added on the ceiling next to the cove. Above the bookcases on the wall can be seen painted decoration to represent oak panelling. The oak bookcases have swept corners, reeded frieze with ormolu anthemion ornament and central lozenge to each bay with index letter. Central on the east wall is a grey marble chimneypiece (Pevsner attributes it to M. Labriere) with segmental opening and fluted quadrant convex corners. Axial double oak doors appear to north and south.

Those to the north give onto the former vestibule, now the Inner Library, also 1804 by Cundy, with white-painted panelling and bookcases in Empire style with ormolu ornament of anthemion motif and acroteria. A white marble fireplace on the north side has ormolu mounts. Winged-rod and serpent motif appears on panels. Glazed doors lead to the garden; mirrored doors opposite on the east lead to a corridor. There is an enriched coved cornice.

Doors at the south end of the main library give onto a panelled passage with recesses for an outer pair of doors to close into, which lead into a vestibule (now the English room) with detailing similar to the library, with similar bookcase. Double doors on the south wall lead to the present Dining Room. Swept corners to the west wall have two openings, now a door and window. There is a plaster cornice of upright leaves and a four-panel door on the east with echinus moulding and narrow reeded architrave.