The Bee House

SU 44 NW 6/15

HURSTBOURNE PRIORS HURSTBOURNE PARK The Bee House

II*

Early C18, late C19. Probably built as a gazebo or garden pavilion, and could be the design of Archer, who prepared a house design for the landowner in 1712; now a dwelling of 3 storeys, following mainly internal alterations. The structure is a rectangular block with a symmetrical facade on 3 sides; a tall main storey above a basement and below a deep parapet. The narrow west elevation has a circular panel in the parapet (with the coping curving above the upper part), a moulded cornice, a tall central opening with a rubbed round arch, an impost band, a band at ground floor level, and a later entrance in the basement. Walling is in red brickwork in Flemish bond with blue headers, with flush panels of blue headers on each side of the main floor. Two casements within the single opening are separated by a later brick panel (masking the inserted floor); there is a 6-panelled door with a large canopy on brackets. The east elevation has 2 recessed panels on either side of the central wider opening (also with 2 windows), the parapet having 3 recessed panels and the basement 2 windows; the features are the same but the walling is in blue headers above cill level, with red brick quoins passing through as vertical lines, red brickwork in Flemish bond below cill level. On the north elevation the basement is hidden by the higher ground level; above the recessed arched side panels are circular panels in the parapet, and the cornice divides in the centre as a segmental pediment with a rectangular panel above; modern extensions and a doorway fill the east side. The east elevation has later outshots and reveals the slate roofing. The building appears to be one of 2 survivors in a once notable landscaped park, of the Earls of Portsmouth.

Listing NGR: SU4419846379