South Stoneham House

South Stoneham House is a manor house built in 1708, almost certainly designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. It was constructed for Edward Dummer and later served as a University Hall of Residence following the First World War (1914-1918). In around 1900, alterations were commissioned by Samuel Montagu MP, who became the first Baron Swaythling in 1907; a British financier, liberal politician and founder of the Orthodox Federation of Synagogues.

The house is primarily red brick with a raised band of rubbed brick, nine courses high, at ground floor level, and a similar band with moulded stone cills at second floor level. A moulded stone cornice sits above the second floor. An attic, embracing the second floor, features moulded stone coping and a small central pediment supported on a stone, triglyphed and modillioned broken entablature.

The roof is hipped and covered with old red tiles. The north front has seven original window openings with modern windows on the second floor. Nine tall, narrow windows with wide frames, stone cills, and deep, rubbed brick arches are positioned on the first floor. Eight windows, including two on the left-hand side of the door, were altered in the late 18th century. A glazed central door is set within a heavy, moulded and coved architrave, featuring acanthus console brackets at 45 degrees to the wall face, supporting a moulded cornice with a carved keystone. This doorcase is currently concealed by a modern brick Doric porch. A later extension rises the full height of the building to the left-hand side. The attic storey has been extended by one bay on each side at a later date. Two modern wings of red brick flank the original building.

The south front mirrors the design of the north, featuring a large, two-storey, half-octagonal bay in the centre, with three windows on the first floor. The ground floor mirrors the north door’s design with two windows and a central glazed door, approached by four Portland stone steps with Portland stone balustrading. Four cast lead rainwater heads are present, two on the north and two on the south front, each inscribed with "EDS”.

The interior includes a contemporary staircase with carved tread ends (scroll, flower, and leaf decorations), three twisted balusters per step, and a moulded handrail. The staircase hall features an 18th-century ceiling painted with pelicans, trumpets, and swags, alongside panelling to dado level. The Music Room boasts a cornice with swags and patterae, alongside a marble fireplace decorated with cupids, urns, and swags.