Tewin Water School With Former Stable Block

Tewin Water School with Former Stable Block

A country house, now a school, with an attached former stable block. The main house was rebuilt in 1789 for the 3rd Earl Cowper, then remodelled in 1798 by J.T. Groves for H. Cowper. It was altered in 1892 and substantially enlarged and renovated in 1902 for A. Beit. The former stable block was converted to school use in 1798.

The main house is constructed of stuccoed brick with shallow hipped slate roofs, designed in the Greek Revival style on an H-shaped plan. It is two storeys with attics.

The entrance front displays a symmetrical 2:5:2 arrangement. Giant Ionic order pilasters define the outer bays, with a tetrastyle in antis portico to the recessed centre featuring paired columns and a continuous entablature. The ground floor has a central early 20th-century double door with 2/3 glazing and panelling with ironwork and margin lights, set within an Ionic pilastered architrave beneath a segmental relieving arch. On either side are full-length tripartite sashes with blind boxes and 9-pane sashes in projecting outer bays, all with segmental relieving arches. A plat band separates the ground floor from the first floor, which has central tripartite casements with pilastered architraves and rosettes, flanked by tall casements. The attic contains mixed small sashes and casements below a cornice to the parapet.

The left return elevation shows a 3:1:3 arrangement with a central Giant Ionic distyle in antis portico, pilasters to the outer bays, and continuous entablature. The central door is largely glazed with a reeded surround and rosettes. A central first-floor window opens onto a curved balcony with iron railings. The outer bays are shallow two-storey bows with casement windows.

The garden front is astylar, arranged 2:3:2, with the central bays set well back. A early 20th-century flat-roofed ground-floor projection contains five round-headed windows, with pilaster strips and large festooned urns on the parapet above. The first floor has a central Venetian window with tripartite sashes (one dummy), flanked by tall casements. The plat band and cornices continue around the front. The outer bays have segmental ground-floor relieving arches and round-headed first-floor relieving arches.

The interior was substantially remodelled around 1902, featuring neo-classical plasterwork, panelling, and columnar screens. An open well staircase has a scrolled iron balustrade with a moulded ramped handrail and paintings at the top, lit from above. A ground-floor room to the rear right has elephant hide on the walls above panelling.

Attached to the right of the main front is a two-bay early 20th-century service block set back slightly, with a cornice to the coped parapet. A six-bay single-storey range has been added to its front, featuring five full-height casements and one glazing-bar sash, all with segmental relieving arches. To the rear stands a one-bay two-storey service block with a one-storey hipped outshut, linked by a five-bay curved range with relieving arches over glazing-bar sashes and urns on pilasters to the former stable block.

The former stable block is pebbledashed brick with a hipped slate roof. It comprises a 3:3:3 bay arrangement, extended to the right, rising two storeys. The centre projects with a plinth and features a tall round-headed recess with a loft door and 20th-century casements. All other ground-floor openings are round-headed. The first floor has flush-frame three-light small-pane casements. An eaves cornice runs around the building, and a central shallow pediment contains a clock. Louvred gabled ventilators sit on the ridge. To the right stands a two-bay former coach-house with iron columns. Red brick faces the rear elevation.

In 1799, H. Repton visited Tewin Water and submitted a Red Book for H. Cowper's consideration in conjunction with Repton's scheme for Panshanger, Hertingfordbury Civil Parish.