South Hill Park

South Hill Park

A large country house, now an Arts Centre, originally built in the late 18th century and rebuilt externally in 1906 for Lord Haversham. The house is constructed in orange brick laid in English bond with Bath stone dressings and a tile hipped roof.

The building follows a long rectangular plan and is styled as Georgian. It comprises two storeys over a cellar with attics. The exterior features several chimneys, all of which have been altered, and small dormer windows with semi-circular pedimented heads. Sash windows with glazing bars are set in moulded stone architraves. A projecting brick plinth with stone capping runs at the base, with stone quoins at the corners. Small string courses mark the heads of the ground floor windows and the sills of the first floor windows. A stone blocking course and plain brick parapet with stone coping complete the exterior composition.

The entrance front faces north. The main section spans eight bays with dormers featuring casement windows, some of which have been altered. To the right is a two-bay projecting wing with a single bay return. This wing contains an attic window with a scrolled stone surround and pediment. To the left of the main section, rising above it, stands a single-bay entrance tower with a parapet and flat roof. The tower contains three windows on the fourth level and windows at the second and third levels with stone surrounds and pediments. At ground floor level are a pair of panelled entrance doors set within an elaborate stone baroque doorcase with a semicircular pediment resting on carved console brackets. A coat of arms appears in the tympanum above. To the left of the tower is a two-storey section featuring a full-height cant bay of three windows. To the left of this, at ground floor level, are three windows set in a large stone surround. Above these is a stone panel with a pediment and heraldic device at its centre. The ground floor windows are taller than those on the first floor.

The interior contains an entrance lobby with tall columns topped by moulded capitals and bases enriched with egg-and-dart ornament. Panelled pilasters on the walls feature similar decoration. To the left of the lobby is a double-height hall with a gallery on the south side, featuring a balustrade of vase balusters and a moulded handrail. The gallery is supported on two fluted Corinthian columns, with walls behind panelled in fluted Corinthian pilasters. A dentilled cornice with egg-and-dart enrichment runs above, complemented by a frieze of garlands and swags. The pilasters extend the full height and are surmounted by elaborately carved wooden panels at their bases, decorated with fruit and flowers. The ceiling features shallow coffers enclosed by a projecting border with floral decoration. A marble fireplace sits within a panelled wooden surround. The staircase hall contains a dog-leg staircase of three flights with a panelled dado, vase balusters, a large moulded handrail, and square panelled newel posts. The stairs lead to a galleried half-landing with three semicircular arches supported on fluted wooden columns with tall panelled bases and moulded heads. The gallery balustrading matches that of the stairs. A deep cornice moulded in two stages with acanthus leaf ornament crowns the ceiling.

The house was originally altered by Sir John Soane in 1801, though none of these works remain. Further alterations were carried out in 1856, and some ceiling plasterwork from this period may survive. The house was owned by two Prime Ministers: William Pitt and George Canning. In the late 19th century, William Ewart Gladstone stayed there and planted a tree in the grounds.