St Bennet's and boundary wall to north, 37 Vicarage Road, Cromer

St Bennet's and Boundary Wall to North, 37 Vicarage Road, Cromer

St Bennet's is a Queen Anne-style house built in 1893, forming part of a terrace attached to its west end. It is constructed of knapped flint with red brick quoins, window dressings and other architectural features, and is roofed with red clay plain tiles.

The building comprises two storeys, a half-basement and an attic beneath a steeply pitched roof with moulded kneelers and crow-stepped gables. The north gable head has a small corbelled shaft rising through the apex and surmounted by a ball finial. The south gable end has a wide chimney stack with circular pots and moulded banding, the upper band enriched with a dentilled course. A similar stack rises through the west pitch and is incorporated into the right-hand side of the porch. A plainer stack rises at the north end of the east pitch. A modillion course appears at eaves level and on the two-bay windows of the west elevation.

The principal west-facing façade is dominated by a projecting three-storey porch rising through the eaves and resembling a battlemented gatehouse. It has splayed corners with quoins, slim pilasters on the outer edges, and prominent moulded storey bands. A flight of steps leads to the elaborate ground-floor entrance with a central projecting section under a moulded triangular pediment enriched with egg-and-dart moulding. The multi-panelled front door is recessed behind a depressed archway with double roll moulding and small spandrels. Above this are two arched stained glass windows with decorative glazing bars and similar roll mouldings. The projecting section is flanked by two narrow stained glass windows with similar surrounds. Above is a frieze enriched with egg-and-dart moulding, flanked by panels of carved brick depicting flowing foliage and two banners carved with "St Bennets" and "1893". The first floor of the porch has a group of five leaded casements divided by mullions and a single transom, with ovolo mouldings and fillets. The lintel and transoms are shaped brick giving the impression of keystones. Above is a wide moulded triangular pediment. The second floor has a group of four leaded casements with mullions treated similarly, a moulded and dentilled string course above, and a crenellated parapet with moulded caps. In the centre, a corbelled shaft rises through a brick arch spanning two merlons and is surmounted by a ball finial. The outer edges are also surmounted by ball finials.

To the left of the projecting porch is a rectangular bay window under a hipped roof rising from the basement to the first floor, with slightly projecting brickwork at the edges and moulded, some dentilled, storey bands. Large two-over-two pane horned sash windows have segmental arch heads at basement and first-floor level with gauged brick arches; the ground-floor window has a cambered head. Between the basement and ground floor are lozenge shapes in knapped flint. Between ground floor and first floor is a frieze of carved brick depicting crabs and fishes amidst intertwined foliage. The sides of the bay have narrow windows with the same dressings and panels of carved brickwork depicting fish and seaweed.

To the right of the porch are similar sash windows in wide brick surrounds decorated with narrow panels of knapped flint, with a panel of knapped flint also forming a panel between the ground and first-floor windows. To the right of this is a double-height rectangular bay window breaking forward at an angle from the corner of the building, producing an M-shaped hipped roof. It has similar treatment to the left bay, except with paired sashes. The frieze between ground and first floor depicts deer framed by foliage with side panels depicting a rabbit and a fox.

The south elevation has two small attic-level windows (uPVC replacements) and a two-storey projection under a hipped roof. This relatively plain projection has the greatest expanse of knapped flint on the building, interrupted only by red brick quoins and window dressings. The west face has a one-over-one pane uPVC replacement window positioned under the eaves. The south face has a 20th-century fire escape leading to the first floor and a single ground-floor window.

The single-bay north elevation is dominated by a canted bay window rising from the basement to the first floor, similar to the rectangular bay on the left of the porch but with a brick parapet. The carved frieze depicts a peacock and peahens framed by foliage with side panels showing partridges and pheasants. The attic is lit by a group of four leaded casements divided by mullions, with a wide lintel and moulded triangular pediment.

The interior has not been inspected but is reported to survive with a high degree of intactness, including joinery, ceiling roses and ten fireplaces.

Along the north boundary is a low wall of knapped flint and red brick with vitrified brick coping. A pair of red brick gate piers have knapped flint panels and shallow pyramidal stone caps.