Hill House Little Court Pangbourne English Centre

Hill House, now forming part of the Pangbourne English Centre, comprises numbers 27, 29 (Hill House), and 31 (Little Court), and was built in 1898 by Leonard Stokes in a free neo-Georgian style. Later additions are set back to the right. The building is constructed of red brick with plum brick panels in the left-hand block, a rendered first floor in the centre, tile hanging in the gable end to the left and in the right-hand blocks, and a tile roof. Lead downpipes and rainwater heads are present. The plan is irregular, featuring two gables to the front.

The central block has a jettied first floor supported on shaped brackets with a fluted and moulded bressumer, a pulvinated frieze, and a deep dentil eaves cornice. There are segmental arched dormers with three-light casements in the return fronts, a stack to the left with arched panels and rusticated corners, and a stack to the right at the rear. A central first-floor canted bay features a cornice, and is flanked by two four-light casements with a radial fanlight over the centre two lights and a cornice above. The ground floor has two canted bays with large mullioned and transomed windows, and two central arched, half-glazed, panelled doors with three-light overlights and moulded architraves. An arched doorway is located in the right-hand return front, and a semicircular ground floor bay with a two-light casement and cornice is on the left-hand return front. The left-hand block features a plinth, a dentil eaves cornice, a long dormer with four four-light casements, and a tapered end stack. The right-hand block has two glazing bar sashes to the first floor and two ground floor casements flanking a central arched glazed door with a cornice. Further additions to the right are set back, with tile hanging to the first floor, a hipped roof, and two stacks.

At the rear is a projecting wing with pilaster strips supporting a pedimented gable end with a keyed circular window in a rendered tympanum. A canted bay is located to the east. The main entrance has two panelled doors, a heavily moulded stone architrave, a segmental stone hood with a dentil cornice, and a carved coat of arms within the tympanum. A segmental ground floor bay is located to the rear of the left-hand block, with a casement and cornice.

The interior features extensive painted panelling. A staircase has twisted balusters, and two ground floor rooms have delicate plaster ceilings and classical fireplace surrounds. The left-hand block was formerly a picture gallery. This building represents an inventive example of the free neo-Georgian style practiced by Arts and Crafts architects around 1900. It was formerly known as Shooter’s Hill House.