Norton House

Norton House

A house, now converted to include flats in the rear wing, located on West Street in Hertford. The main building dates from the early to mid-18th century, with a 19th-century rear wing added later.

The front elevation is constructed in pale red brick laid in Flemish bond with cherry red dressings. The rear wing is built in red brick. The main roof is old tile, parapeted on the right (east) side, while the rear wing has a hipped Welsh slate roof. The building comprises two storeys and attics, arranged on a single-depth plan at the front with a central staircase and five bays. A basement extends under the rear range.

The first floor features five recessed 12-pane sash windows with painted reveals set beneath red rubbed brick flat arches, positioned immediately below a wood cornice. A first-floor level plat band with cavetto mouldings runs across the facade. The ground floor has four nearly flush-set 12-pane sash windows with exposed boxes, also set under red rubbed brick flat arches positioned immediately below the plat band.

The central doorway is a notable feature, with a six-panel raised and fielded door beneath a fanlight incorporating Gothick tracery. The doorway surround consists of panelled reveals, a moulded architrave, and carved moulded brackets supporting a moulded cornice hood.

The roof is punctuated by three box dormers containing small-paned casements, positioned above an elaborate modillioned and moulded wood cornice that runs across the front elevation. A red brick chimneystack with an external breast occupies the right (east) side, featuring a band and three orange pots. The rear slope has a gabled casement dormer.

The right flank (east) elevation contains flush-set 12-pane sash windows on both ground and first floors, positioned under rubbed brick flat arches. The long four-bay rear wing dates from the mid-19th century. It has been altered, extended, and converted to two flats in the mid-20th century, with sash windows on the first and ground floors and a triple sash at the right.

The rear (north) elevation contains a single window with 19th-century sashes featuring divided glazing on the first and ground floors, along with mid-20th-century small-paned French windows opening to a semi-basement.

Interior Features

The ground floor has been modified to create a new kitchen and cloakroom at the east end. An arch that originally opened into the rear staircase hall has been blocked off. The east room, reduced by one bay to accommodate the kitchen, retains bolection-moulded panelling above and below the dado, a double cyma wood cornice, and a six-panel door in a broad architrave frame. The hall contains an early to mid-19th-century plaster frieze with Greek key and scotia mouldings. The sitting room features a plaster cornice with cyma moulding, modillions, and egg-and-dart ornament, along with a 19th-century white marble fire surround containing a cast-iron grate with firebasket.

A dogleg plan stair rises above the first floor in a rear gabled projection. The lower part has been blocked off during the conversion. The staircase features a close string with barleysugar-twist balusters on urns, with handrail and newel caps that are splayed and moulded on one side. The dado incorporates a moulded rail and simple recessed panelling.

The front first-floor corner room has been reduced in area. It retains panelled walls, partly reset as a partition, a double cyma wood cornice, and a fire surround with bolection and roll moulding containing a 19th-century cast-iron grate. The main front bedroom has a cornice with egg-and-dart ornament and cyma moulding, and a bolection-moulded fire surround with Dutch tiles and a 19th-century grate and firebasket.

Three attics are present, fitted with two-panel doors. The west attic contains a mid-18th-century bolection-moulded fireplace surround. The east attic has a late-19th-century fireplace with 'aesthetic' Japanese ornament. The roof structure incorporates reused medieval timber, including a rafter bearing imprints of mullion mortices.

Cellars beneath the building feature brick walls and floors. The rear door is a two-panelled example with HL-hinges, set within an outer surround with a triple keyblock. The rear hall now provides access to the flats and contains a dogleg stair, the lower flight of which corresponds to the main staircase described above.

The interior of the flat conversion was not inspected at the time of listing.