Congham Lodge At Tf 713 247

Congham Lodge is a house built around 1800 on the site of a former oil mill, with a substantial addition dated 1914. The building is constructed of pink brick with black glazed pantile covering to the hipped roof.

The house is T-shaped in plan, double pile with a rear wing, and comprises nine bays arranged over two storeys. The west facade reveals its two building phases clearly: bays 6 to 9 date from the 18th century, while bays 1 to 5 were added in 1914 to match the original work. Three drain heads are dated 1914. The base of bays 6 to 9 is built in gault brick, with a stone parapet and modillioned cornice above. Windows are recessed sashes with glazing bars set under flat arches; those added in 1914 and the first-floor sash of bay 6 have single brick voussoirs. Ground-floor sashes contain 5 by 3 panes, whilst the sash to bay 9 is a dummy. The principal doorway is positioned in bay 6 and is sheltered by a semi-circular flat canopy with triglyphs and guttae, supported by two fluted Tuscan columns and two fluted pilasters. Two semi-circular stone steps lead to a six-panelled door flanked by margin lights, with a semi-circular fanlight above containing glazing bars and a decorative frieze below. Chimney stacks throughout are finished with stone strings and caps.

The south facade comprises three bays. A central doorway is sheltered by a semi-circular lead-covered flat canopy suspended by wrought iron hooks with scrollwork, its soffit decorated with a green man mask and radiating rays. The doorway contains a double-leaved door glazed with crown glass and glazing bars, with a fanlight above having delicate curved glazing bars. Flanking pilasters feature floral decoration to consoles. Bays 1 and 3 project as full-height canted bays, each containing three recessed sashes with glazing bars and flat arches per floor, with one additional sash above the doorway. To the left, a return wall is built of flint with a glazed door and glazing bars opening to a loggia. The loggia features brick columns at ground level in front of a lower wing of one-and-a-half storeys, which has a roof dormer and a tall axial stack, with a tripartite sash to its gable end. The rear of bays 1 to 3 is constructed in red brick. A curved stair turret, built in header bond, projects to the rear of bay 4 and features a leaded transomed and mullioned stair window.

A three-bay wing projects eastward, with a first-floor addition containing sashes. A two-bay return to the east features a doorway and a wide three-light window above with glazing bars under a segmental brick arch with keystone. To the rear of the one-and-a-half storey east wing, two bays are built in galletted Sandringham sandstone with brick dressings and brick fragments. A door opens to the left, with a large tripartite sash containing glazing bars under a segmental arch with keystone to the right. The first floor contains a flush sash of 2 by 3 panes to the left and a three-light flush casement to the right.

The interior is notable for its quality and detail. A central passage behind bays 6 to 9 contains a series of semi-circular headed arches. Behind bay 4 sits a curved cantilevered staircase with an open string, wreathed oak handrail and cast iron balusters. The room to the right of the south doorway has an oval south end and features a curved door aligned with the dummy window of bay 9 on the west facade. This room is ornamented with two fluted Ionic columns with egg-and-dart echinus to the north and swags to the entablature above. Rooms to the left and right of the south doorway are fitted with moulded friezes and six-panelled doors with panelled reveals. A closed string dogleg staircase in pine, with turned newel and ramped handrail, serves the east wing.

Attached to the east of the east wing is a single-storey red brick building with pantile roof and cast iron glazing bars to one window. A mill leet flows beneath this building.