Sidcup Place (Including Ha Ha To East)

Mansion house on Chislehurst Road, Sidcup. The core dates from around 1750, with extensions added in 1853, around 1896, and during the 1920s. The building is constructed of red brick with a tiled roof.

The earliest part of the house occupies the south-east, where a three-window range survives from the mid-eighteenth century, flanked by angled projecting towers or 'bastions'. This section is thought to have been consciously designed in imitation of a fort. Three bastions were originally built; the third survives only in part, and the fourth has been entirely lost. The house was extended northwards in two campaigns, from the 1850s onwards and again in the mid-1890s. Late 18th and 19th century stable ranges surround a yard, which were rebuilt in the 20th century. To the east, 20th-century brick ranges date from the building's occupation as a school.

The south-east front presents a two-storey, three-window range flanked by two-storey angled bastions, with a tall three-flue stack. To the right is a mid-19th-century addition: a two-storey, three-window range with a dentilled cornice and brick parapet above. The ground storey features an open arcade leading to a square tower of three storeys, each stage lit by a single arched window. An entrance porch sits at the base of the tower. The north elevation displays a two-storey range with gable and three arched windows with blind tympana. A panel above bears a coat of arms, with a smaller gable to the right.

The interior varies in quality and interest. Two mid-Georgian rooms at the south-west end of the house are separated by a stack and feature timber moulded archways with carved woodwork in the spandrels, moulded cornices, and panelling. A polygonal wooden panelled niche survives in one room. An early 19th-century fire surround, evidently assembled from separate carved marble panels dating from around 1823, has been installed in one room. Above this is a late 19th-century painted scheme depicting a north European Romantic landscape. An 18th-century staircase, removed from its original location, now leads from the first floor service area to the attic. It is an open-string design with two turned balusters to a tread and a fluted newel. The large stair hall in the north-eastern part of the house dates from 1853 and features a staircase in the Jacobean style with heavy wooden balusters and newels. A Rococo-style fireplace adorns the hall. The stained glass in the large windows lighting the hall was installed in 1923.

The house is documented from 1780 but is thought to have been built in 1743. It has passed through many owners. Henry Berens, a Dutch barrister, lived there from 1822. Upon his death in 1852, his nephew Henry Hulse Berens purchased the house and remained there until 1883, extending the building. His daughter and son-in-law continued enlargements into the early years of the 20th century. The house subsequently became a school and, in the 1920s, served as council offices for the Borough of Sidcup and Chislehurst. The London Borough of Bexley continues to own and occupy the building. The listing principally recognises the early Georgian fort-plan design and interior features.

The listing also includes a ha-ha to the east of the house, constructed of flint, approximately one metre high and 90 metres long. The garden walls are not included, as they have been largely rebuilt in recent years.