Durrants House with steps directly to south and associated walls and gate posts to west

Durrants House with Steps, Walls and Gate Posts

Durrants House is a substantial Victorian country house built in red brick with moulded brick and stone dressings, and red clay tile-covered roofs. The house displays an asymmetrical plan comprising a south-facing rectangular range containing reception rooms with rear service accommodation, a north-east wing housing a ballroom, clock tower and squash courts (the latter a 20th-century replacement for a late 19th-century conservatory), and a service courtyard to the rear with staff accommodation, former stabling and coach house.

The exterior is characterised by varied architectural treatment across its irregular elevations. Windows throughout feature blocked and moulded stone mullions and transoms, ranging from one to five lights. Gables are moulded brick-coped with kneelers, and the steeply pitched roofs are topped by tall decorative chimney stacks in moulded brick, either rectangular or octagonal, single or paired. Eaves feature brick corbelling, and a moulded brick string course runs at first floor level across the main elevations (absent from the service block).

The south front presents the most regular composition, dominated by a central recessed loggia of three stone arches with keystones and pillars formed as gaines. Above this sits a low carved stone strapwork parapet with a two-light mullion at first floor level. The entrance is flanked by single-stepped gabled bays with ball finials and arrow slits, with full-height square bay windows containing five-light mullions on either side.

The west elevation is divided between the service block (left) and the principal reception rooms (right). The reception rooms feature a single-stepped gabled bay with an elaborate Tudor-arched stone architrave to its porch, dated 1866 in the lintel and topped by a cartouche with cast-iron door knocker. Adjacent to the porch is a four-light mullion with a cross window above, while a chimney stack projects from the first floor through the gable apex, its right kneeler embellished with a winged gargoyle. To the right stand two mullions and another projecting paired chimney stack. The service block comprises two plain gabled bays, one deeply recessed, with a door on the left.

The east elevation of the main range is divided into four irregular bays, mostly with cross windows. The first bay contains one window and a wide projecting paired chimney stack. The second has two windows. The third bay projects further and features a narrow chimney projecting from the first floor, a full-height canted bay window beneath a hipped roof with four-light mullions on the front and one on each flank, flanked by ground-floor cross windows, followed by a tall one-light mullion on the ground floor with a cross window above. The fourth bay projects slightly further and contains a tall one-light mullion on the ground floor with a cross window above.

The south front of the north-east wing comprises two plain gabled bays, a clock tower, and a 20th-century squash court. The first bay has a recessed entrance porch accessing the ballroom with a five-light mullion above. The second features a canted bay window with three-light mullions on the front and two on each side, with a three-light mullion above. The clock tower displays an elaborate round-arched stone architrave with carved spandrels, keystone and corbels incorporating the owner's initials, surmounted by a cartouche flanked by urns. Above this is a cross window and the clock itself, set in a stone surround with a triangular pediment containing a shell design and dated 1867. The tower features louvre slats, a pyramidal roof covered with grey fish-scale tiles, and is crowned by a weather vane. The rear elevation comprises four plain gabled bays and incorporates part of the service courtyard following mid-20th-century remodelling. The service courtyard sides include a row of accommodation with cogged eaves and dormers, and a former stable block with arched gateway.

Interior

The interior retains many original fixtures and fittings, including extensive ironmongery (bell pulls, window handles, strap hinges, and handle and lock plates) and joinery (doors, dado rails, cornices, window shutters and surrounding panelling). The reception rooms contain the most ornate decoration, featuring panelled ceilings with raised geometric patterns in moulded wood, and fireplaces ranging from baroque to neo-classical styles, complete with basket grates and tiled surrounds.

The west porch leads into the large entrance hall, formerly used as a lounge hall and divided into two spaces by a wide shallow arch resting on corbels. The first half contains a 17th-century-style wooden fireplace, while the second contains the open-well staircase with quarter-pace landings. The staircase features small square panelling, a closed string, square-plan newel posts with elaborate finials and pendants, and two twisted balusters per tread continuing along the landing. The hall connects to the south-facing reception rooms via a Tudor-arched opening on the right.

The ballroom forms the showpiece of the interior, panelled to dado height with a wooden dentilled cornice and an elaborate ceiling displaying a raised white and gilded geometric pattern on a green background. A large square-panelled cambered alcove with fluted columns contains a 17th-century-style stone fireplace with carved dragons in the spandrels and coats of arms in the lintel, surrounded by a second carved wooden surround with jambs formed as herms and an overmantel incorporating a picture frame. The first floor features a panelled ceiling to the landing with Tudor-arched openings leading to bedrooms, which are comparatively plain with less elaborate fireplaces.

Setting and Subsidiary Features

A short flight of steps descends from the south front to a circular garden feature partly surrounded by a ha-ha constructed of brick and flint. The walls and posts marking the drive on the west of the house have been partially rebuilt. Associated with the listing are the steps directly to the south and the walls and gate posts to the west.