Boathouse East Of Middle Wharf

Boathouse east of Middle Wharf, Wallingford

A boathouse with verandah and wet dock undercroft, built in 1882 for the artist GD Leslie RA. The design was by Messrs Christopher and White of Bloomsbury Square, London, and the builder was J Weller of Wallingford.

The three-bay boathouse stands on two levels facing east onto the Thames, executed in Queen Anne Revival style. The rectangular structure comprises a balustraded verandah and a two-bay single-cell room above, with a red brick undercroft wet dock below. The roof is hipped with Coalbrookdale plain tiles and sprocketed eaves. On the west side, a catslide canopy is supported by decorative oak brackets with pierced spandrels. The roof is surmounted by a prominent glazed cupola with ogee profile roof, topped with a ball finial and weathervane.

The east elevation features a large casement window providing views through to the river. Wooden steps with turned balusters lead up to the verandah, which is roofed and supported by square columned moulded corner posts, each flanked by Tuscan columns resting on pedestals. The river side displays a six-light pedimented oriel window in oak with floral device to the tympanum, glazing bars, decorative pilasters and carved decoration. The north elevation has an oriel window with glazing bars.

Access to the undercroft wet dock is via red brick steps from the central garden bay through an arched entrance with keystone. The undercroft extends the full length of the boathouse. A round-arched, keyed boat entrance on the south side originally gave access to boats at water level. A Diocletian window in the west wall facing the river would originally have been at water level, indicating the extent of subsequent changes to river levels.

The verandah floor is Victorian red tile, with a moulded cornice above the pillars and plastered ceiling. A pair of six-panelled doors lead inside from the verandah. The single room within has wooden panelled shutters and shouldered architrave to the windows. A moulded cornice supports tie beams bearing the queen post roof and collars which support the panelled cupola. Timber joists supporting the overhead structure are visible in the wet dock below. The boathouse is constructed throughout in oak woodwork.

The boathouse was commissioned by GD Leslie (1835–1921), a painter best known for landscapes and genre scenes of children and girls. Son of the painter CR Leslie, he lived in London, Wallingford and Lindfield, Sussex, studied at the Royal Academy, and exhibited there annually from 1859. He was a protégé of Edwin Landseer and friend of the illustrator Frederick Walker. Leslie was also an author, writing "Letters to Marco" in 1893 and "Riverside Letters" in 1896. The boathouse was originally part of Leslie's large waterfront property called Riverside, which was subsequently divided and sold. Middle Wharf, which included the boathouse, was one of these separate properties. A neighbour and friend of Leslie was the well-known artist James Hayllar, who also owned a boathouse nearby.

The boathouse originally stood in the River Thames; today it sits on the bank separated from the river by a small strip of lawn, reflecting changes in water levels over the 127 years since its construction.