Wrencote

Wrencote is a large town house dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, possibly designed by Henry Joynes. It was later converted into offices in the mid-20th century. The house is constructed of fine red brick in a Flemish bond, with black headers, and features carved wooden joinery. It has a mansard tiled roof with brick chimneystacks at each end.

The plan is a half H-shape, with a narrow central section containing a staircase hall. The main west-facing front has a recessed centre of three bays, flanked by projecting wings of two bays each. The mansard roof has three flat-roofed dormers with six-over-six sash windows. A deep, carved eaves cornice runs along the roofline, featuring two bands of carved mouldings and heavily enriched console brackets. The centre of the cornice displays deeply carved garlands, and it projects around corner pilasters on the wings, incorporating carvings of a cherub with swags and grotesque masks with foliage surrounds. The recessed centre has a six-over-six sash window and narrower similar windows, with rubbed and moulded brick aprons. The central entrance is accentuated by a projecting wooden cornice, supported on grotesque masks, with pilasters, a rectangular fanlight with glazing bars, and a six-fielded panelled door. The inner returns feature semi-circular headed niches on the first floor and square-headed niches with architrave surrounds and cornices on the ground floor. The entrance is accessed by a platform with scrolled iron panels and curved iron railings leading to semi-circular stone steps. The projecting end bays have rubbed brick angle pilasters with cut brick bands between floors and six-over-six sash windows with rubbed and moulded brick aprons. The south side has a shallow projecting chimney with a blank round-headed arch to the ground floor, elliptical or flat blank arches above, and a curbing stone. The east side, restored in the mid-20th century, also has seven bays. The north side has a side brick chimney but is mostly hidden by an adjacent building. Inside, the original staircase remains, featuring twisted balusters and panelling.