2 Chelsea Embankment (Dawliffe Hall) and associated railings

Town house known as Dawliffe Hall, built around 1881-1885 by an architect unknown. The building was altered in 1894 by George Campbell Sherrin, extended to the rear in 1896, and further extended in the late 20th century.

The structure is constructed of red brick laid in English bond with Portland stone dressings. The roofs are covered in clay tile and Welsh slate.

The building is rectangular in plan, comprising four storeys plus basement and attic, with a two-storey plus basement extension to the rear. The main interior feature is a ground-floor double-height Great Hall located at the north-east of the original range, with other principal rooms occupying the south-east. Additional rooms are arranged off axial corridors along the west side.

The principal south elevation facing Chelsea Embankment is rendered in red gauged brick with fine lime putty pointing in English bond, with Portland stone dressings and banding. The frontage comprises two bays with a shaped gable. Fenestration consists of mullion and transom windows with metal casements containing leaded lights. The eastern bay features a canted bay window added during the 1894 alterations, rising from basement to third-floor with alternating flush quoins at the angles and topped by a stone balustrade.

The arched stone entrance in the western bay is reached via a bridge over the basement light well and has an inset porch. The arch sits within an aedicule with fluted pilasters bearing Ionic capitals. The entablature carries the name 'DAWLIFFE HALL' in bronze lettering. Above is a relief panel depicting the coat of arms of the Barons of Rayleigh with lush foliage and ribbons incorporating the family motto 'TENAX PROPOSITI' (tenacious of purpose). The porch entrance has a moulded stone surround flanked by paired narrow side lights with curvilinear ironwork security grilles. The lintel bears a cartouche dated '1894' and above this another cartouche displays a monogram with the initials 'MD'. The four-panelled hardwood double doors have glazing to the upper sections.

The rear north elevation of the main building comprises four bays in red brick laid in Flemish bond, with a large 20-light mullion and transom window serving the hall. Regular fenestration to the second and third floors consists of replacement uPVC casements in square-headed openings with gauged brick lintels. The western two bays are occupied by successive later extensions, the earlier in red brick and the later in yellow stock brick.

The entrance hall features a black and white chequered marble floor, timber panelling, plaster dentil cornice and a black marble fireplace with tiled hearth surround. The front room, accessed from the entrance hall, contains late 16th-century style dado-height hardwood panelling with a row of carved decorative panels, probably introduced from another building, along with a timber-surrounds fireplace.

At the north end of the entrance hall stands a screen in the form of a serliana with a three-centred arch and moulded keystone, supported on veneered columns with Scamozzi Ionic capitals. A panelled corridor entered through double doors with glazed lead-light upper panels leads to a colonnade of identical columns on the west side of the double-height main hall. The colonnade continues on the first floor with Doric columns defining a gallery extending round the south side of the hall to form a minstrels' gallery, which features a decorative organ case with carved timber panelling. The hardwood balustrade displays bulbous splat balusters and a moulded handrail. The gallery is reached via a dog-leg staircase at the north-west corner of the hall.

The panelled main hall contains a stone 20-light mullion and transom window with leaded lights and heraldic stained glass in the north wall. The main fireplace in the east wall has a timber fire surround with carved panels dated '1881' and bearing Richard Strutt's initials. The space beneath the minstrels' gallery on the south side has been infilled to create a reception office. The floor retains its timber surface and the ceiling is divided into compartments by moulded timber beams creating a large matrix of coffered panels.

The northern ground-floor extension contains a later oratory with timber panelling, dentil cornice and canted bay windows with metal casements containing leaded lights.

On the first floor, the front room, originally the sitting room, has modern moulded plasterwork panelling, though the neo-Jacobean plasterwork to the ceiling and frieze probably dates from the 1894 remodelling. An elaborate viewing window in the upper part of the north wall features a decorative apron, frame and cornice, with double casements containing multi-pane leaded lights allowing views into the almost double-height room from the second-floor mezzanine of the main central staircase.

The principal rooms on the upper floors retain later partitioning to create bathrooms, but preserve original fireplaces and plaster cornices and friezes. The fourth-floor room displays the same late 16th-century style panelling as the ground-floor room and a fireplace with Delft-style blue-and-white tiled surround.

Openings from the main staircase landing feature original mahogany doors. A lift shaft adjoining a secondary stair on the east side contains a lift car of 1930s date by Aldous and Campbell Ltd.

The basement largely retains its original plan, though most original features have been lost except for an original fireplace to the east wall of what was probably a servants hall or dining room. This room also features parquet flooring, moulded timber skirting and dado rail.

The bridge crossing the basement light well to the entrance has white marble steps with solid Portland stone parapets flanking the sides, which have chamfered coping and piers bearing the number '2'. Adjacent to the eastern pier are ornamental iron railings above a chamfered stone plinth, featuring spear-head tops and decorative openwork panels with paired urn finials.