Christchurch Mansion

TM 1644 NE 2/2 19.12.51

Christchurch Mansion

GI A fine C16 red brick mansion with some blue brick diapering.It is E shaped on plan and stands in a large park,now the property of the town.It is now used as a museum.Built in 1548 by Sir Edmund Withipoll on the site of the C12 Augustinian priory of Holy Trinity.The south front has wings extending at the east and west ends and a central two storeyed balustraded entrance porch projects on the front,with heavy Tuscan half-columns at the corners,rising through two storeys.The upper storey and much of the interior was rebuilt after a serious fire which occurred shortly before 1674.The part of the building which survived the fire has blue brick diapering.The south front has seven Dutch gables surmounted by pediments,three on the centre block and two on each side wing.Two storeys and attics,the centre block has five window range and the side wings have four window range each,mullioned and transomed casements with glazing bars and small panes.The ground storey has eight-light windows with moulded architraves and pediments and there are two corner square bay windows.The side wings have central six-panel doors with moulded architraves,pediments and small bullseye windows above the pediments.The west front is C18,probably after 1732 when the house became the property of the Fonnereau family.A panel in a gable on the west front bears the date 1764.The windows are irregular in arrangement,mainly double-hung sashes with glazing bars(two windows are oriel bays).There is an eight-panel door with a rectangular fanlight with glazing bars,a moulded architrave and a cornice.A wing extends on the east front with two Dutch gables.The interior has panelling and fireplaces of the 1674/75 reconstruction.It is now used as a museum with a number of framed structures from other parts of the town re-erected inside.

Listing NGR: TM1659344957