Holywell House is a Grade II* listed building in the St Albans local planning authority area, England. First listed on 8 May 1950. House. 6 related planning applications.
Holywell House
- WRENN ID
- veiled-newel-claret
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- St Albans
- Constituency
- St Albans MP: Daisy Cooper (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 8 May 1950
- Type
- House
- Address
- Holywell House, 40, Holywell Hill, AL1 1BX
- OS grid reference
- TL 146 069
- Coordinates
- 51.74966, -0.34073
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Holywell House is a substantial three-storey, five-window yellow brick house built in 1785. It was designed by Sir Robert Taylor for Sir William Domville, who later became Lord Mayor of London. The house has a low parapet and a prominent pediment over the three central bays, set above a full-width cornice. A stone string course runs along the first-floor cills, and there is a band at first-floor level across the three centre bays. A balustrade is located in front of the central window. The recessed sash windows have gauged, flat brick arches and glazing bars. Six steps lead to the front door, which consists of six fielded panels, a corniced head, and a decorative fanlight in a deep, plain reveal. The door is framed by a doorcase of Ionic columns and an entablature with an enriched cornice. Cast iron area railings and a handrail are present, along with a wrought iron overthrow incorporating a lamp holder in front of the door.
Inside, a first-floor room features an Adam fireplace constructed of marble, with flanking round arched niches. A ground-floor room has another Adam fireplace with a decorative plaster composition above, matching niches, an ornamental frieze, and enriched door and window architraves. Several other fireplaces from the period are also present, along with a staircase, though the lower flights are not original.
Holywell House is part of a group which includes numbers 36 to 58 (even) along Holywell Hill.
Local climate
Holywell House sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 87% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 61% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 3 transactions since 1995
- Related listed building consents — 6 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings