Wrencote

Large town house of late C17 or early C18 date, possibly designed by Henry Joynes (1684-1754), converted into offices in the mid C20.

MATERIALS: red brick with black headers in Flemish bond, much of fine rubbed quality. Carved wooden joinery. Mansard tiled roof with end brick chimneystacks.

PLAN: a half H-shaped plan with a narrow central section containing staircase hall. It is of two storeys plus attics and a basement, and of seven bays.

EXTERIOR: the principal front faces west and has a recessed centre of three bays flanked by projecting wings of two bays. The tiled mansard roof has three flat-roofed dormers with six-over-six sash windows. Below is a deep carved and enriched moulded wooden eaves cornice with two bands of carved mouldings and heavily enriched console brackets. In the centre is a panel of deeply carved garlands, and the cornice breaks forward round corner pilasters to the projecting wings and is enriched by carvings of a cherub with swags and grotesque masks with foliage surrounds. The recessed centre has a six-over-six central sash window and narrower similar side windows with rubbed and moulded brick aprons. The central entrance has a wooden cornice projecting forward at the sides, supported on grotesque masks, with pilasters, rectangular fanlight with glazing bars and a six-fielded panelled door. The inner returns have semi-circular headed niches on the first floor and square-headed niches with architrave surrounds and cornices on the ground floor. The central entrance is approached from a platform with scrolled iron panels and curved iron railings leading to a flight of 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 wall 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, also of seven bays, was restored in the mid-C20.

The north side has a side brick chimneystack but is otherwise concealed by no. 121.

INTERIOR: contains the original staircase with twisted balusters and panelling.