Kings Worthy House

Kings Worthy House is an 18th-century house with evidence of earlier fabric and early 19th-century alterations. It was substantially remodelled and extended to the designs of HJ Austin for himself in 1905-1906. The building has received further alterations since that time, with subsidiary portions of the house and linked service buildings having been demolished.

The house is constructed of red brick with roughcast in some areas and some tile-hanging. It has clay-tiled pitched roofs and tall brick stacks enriched with banding. The window openings mainly hold early 20th-century horned sash frames or leaded casements of the same date, with wrought-iron fittings. The original rainwater goods, with striated rainwater heads, survive and are now painted.

Plan

The 18th-century house consists of a main rectangular range set on a west-east axis, with the principal entrance to the south, and with three parallel ranges extending to the north. These ranges have been subject to extensive early 20th-century rebuilding, with some small extensions. The western range appears to have 17th-century origins.

Exterior

The principal south elevation consists of three central bays arranged over two main storeys with attic. The ground-floor windows to either side of the entrance have been converted to paired sash windows, each with a central mullion. These are flanked by broad, double-height bows, thought to be an addition of the early 19th century, each with four windows to the ground floor and three windows to the first floor. The bricks are set in header bond on the bows. A deep modillion cornice extends unbroken around the bows at eaves level. The central entrance is protected by a timber Tuscan porch with a fluted frieze. The six-panelled door is set within a panelled recess, beneath a fanlight with teardrop glazing. The window openings have flat arches; the horned sash frames are set almost flush with the wall. In the roof above are three dormer windows, the central one pedimented; the frames are leaded casements with some replacement in plate glass.

The west elevation, which shows evidence of substantial rebuilding, has a Domestic Revival character, with the modillion cornice carried across the elevation. On the main range is a single-storey extension bay in Queen Anne style: lit on three sides, its leaded roof has a central barrelled section terminating in a round-headed pediment. Between the pediment and the large tripartite window below is a pulvinated frieze. The junction between this main range and the north-west range is marked by a projecting stack. The north-west range has multi-pane leaded casement windows, the openings having segmental arches to the ground floor. At the north end is a doorway in an 18th-century-style doorcase, thought to be Edwardian, with fluted pilasters, scrolled brackets and a shallow hood, possibly resited following the demolition of the north-west service range. Above the cornice, the attic storey is roughcast with applied timber studs. Two gabled windows in the roof slope above have tile-hung gables; the gable end of the main, southern range is also roughcast.

The north elevation has a somewhat uneven appearance, resulting from the removal of the remodelled 1890s north-western projection. The area of the building from which this extension was removed is now blind, apart from a panelled door, again possibly resited, filling what was once an internal opening. This part of the building is roughcast, contrasting with the area of brick treatment which turns the corner from the west elevation, to face the enclosed yard which formerly occupied the space to the west of the extension. In the gable are set irregular attic windows. The ends of the central and north-east ranges conform to Austin's design, with tiled gables and a combination of brickwork and roughcast. The set-back central range has a canted bay lighting the stair at first-floor level, set off-centre and sandwiched between a projecting ground-floor section containing the rear entrance and a jettied attic floor. To the east is a tile-hung double-height bow with a modillion cornice and mullioned windows, the upper window with a pulvinated frieze.

The east elevation faces the road, in line with the property's boundary wall. There is a projecting stack to the centre of the main range, with irregularly placed windows to the north; the elevation is rendered above ground-floor level.

Interior

The interior of the older building was very extensively remodelled by Austin in 1905-1906. Room names referred to are taken from his plans of 1905. The house retains extensive joinery and detailing of this period, including cornices, skirting boards and dado rails, panelled doors and door surrounds (those to the principal ground-floor rooms having lugged architraves); some earlier features also survive. The majority of the rooms have chimneypieces – mainly Edwardian neo-Georgian – enriched with 17th or 18th-century Delft tiles, arranged into groups by subject and design. A number of iron firebacks have recently been removed but remain by the fireplace to which they belong; these look 17th century but may have been produced in the mid 20th century by the Kings Worthy Foundry, which specialised in reproduction firebacks.

The main range now consists of three rooms: the central Hall, the Drawing Room to the west, and the Dining Room to the east. The central entrance opens directly to the generous Hall, to the rear of which a passageway is formed by a timber screen with Georgian detailing – keyed semi-circular archways flanked by fluted pilasters – and balustraded openings of an Edwardian character. The screen both shields and displays the wide open-well stair beyond, defined to the east by an arcade which also spans the passageway. The stair has a closed pulvinated string and a toadsback handrail. The balustrade is Jacobean in style with vase-shaped splat balusters, and the newel posts are fluted, with ball finials; there is a stepped newel at the half-pace landing. The leaded canted bay window has oval panels painted with flower motifs. Within the Hall, the original ceiling survives with moulded plasterwork to the transverse beams. The Edwardian windows flanking the door have window seats. The chimneypiece in this room appears to be a composition, including an 18th-century wreathed laurel frieze.

In the Drawing Room, with its broad alcove provided by the western extension, early 19th-century panelling survives to the bow windows. The room has a modillion cornice and a large Edwardian chimneypiece with lugged architrave; there is also a buffet alcove. The entrance to the Dining Room from the passageway is set diagonally; a cupboard to the north-west corner provides symmetry, both openings having arched surrounds. This room has a mid-18th-century character, fully lined with raised and fielded panelling which may be original to the house; over the fireplace are set egg and dart panels, thought likely to be re-used examples brought from elsewhere. The chimneypiece is Edwardian, in early 18th-century style, also with egg and dart mouldings. The ceiling is compartmented. The mullioned window to the north-east has oval leaded panes painted with traditional English motifs: oak, rose and pinks.

In the north-east corner of the building is the Breakfast Room, with an Edwardian bow window. The mullioned window to the east has oval panes painted with the initials 'HJA' and 'FA', and the date 'Ao Dm 1906'; the opening is now fitted with textured glass internally, the inscriptions clearly legible only from outside. The fittings in this room are relatively simple, including a bolection-moulded firesurround filled with plain brick.

The ground-floor service area to the north-west has seen considerable alteration, in addition to the loss of those areas converted and added by Austin further to the north-west, which included the Scullery, Servants' Hall and House Yard. The circulation route around the stair survives, though the original entranceway to the Kitchen to the west has now been lost. The large Kitchen has been subdivided; within this area is a chamfered beam with scroll stops to the west; one stop is just visible to the east where the end of the beam is enclosed by a later wall. The former Butler's Pantry to the east has been converted to WC use; the former Pantry retains its form but without historic features. There has been some reconfiguration in the area of the service stair to the north-east, which has undergone considerable change. The dog-leg stair originally had a moulded closed string and a modest balustrade with stepped newels; the balustrade has been partially replaced with an alternative model, the surviving balusters have been enclosed, and the feature is now partially painted.

On the first floor, the generous landing is defined by a modillion and rosette cornice. The circulation between the rooms on this floor is idiosyncratic, with some entrances set diagonally around the landing and multiple access to some rooms; the large south-east bedroom has a dressing room with which it shares a small lobby. There is a corridor to the west; what appears to have been a window opening overlooking the stair has been blocked. The Edwardian bathroom area in the demolished north-western projection has been lost; there is a WC in the north-west corner of the existing building. The large bedrooms retain their proportions, all but one having a chimneypiece, the majority of fairly standard Edwardian type (one is a composition reusing Georgian carved material), but all enriched with Delft tiles.

The second floor or attic largely retains its plan, with surviving details including panelled doors. Tiled chimneypieces remain in most rooms, though a small number have been removed or boarded over: some are of similar Edwardian type to those used elsewhere, and some more modest to fit smaller spaces. In the front rooms some roof timbers are exposed, illustrating the junctions between the front and rear ranges, with evidence of alteration. In the central front room, a pair of reused 17th-century heraldic demi-figures of painted stone are set as if to support the axial truss.

The cellar is located beneath the south-east portion of the house. The majority belongs to the 18th-century phase of the house, with brickwork walling and an arched niche, though some stone walling may be earlier. Two blocked openings to the south suggest the 18th-century building was originally flat-fronted, with the bows being a later addition. Austin extended the cellar slightly northwards, moving the position of the stair and providing a coal chute.

Subsidiary Features

The site of the house is surrounded by a wall to the south and east. The eastern section along Church Lane appears to be largely of 18th-century date, and is constructed of red brick laid in Sussex bond with a later coping, curving into the southern end of the house; the house's eastern elevation presumably originally abutted the road. There is now an Edwardian dwarf wall with railings alongside the house. A modified 18th-century section borders the terraced area behind the house. The 18th-century wall then continues, enclosing what is thought once to have been the kitchen garden. This section of the wall is of greater height, with short buttresses (reflecting the higher ground level within) and a brick coping; there is a large gateway with a cambered arch, probably a later alteration. To the south, along London Road, is a dwarf wall with railings dating from later in the 20th century. The higher canted corner between London Road and Church Lane is also of later date; these later sections are of lesser interest.