The Great House

BURFORD AND UPTON WITNEY STREET AND SIGNET (South side) SP2512 (Enlargement) The Great House 7/254 12.9.55

GV II*

Town mansion. First on Burgage Rent Roll in 1685. Ashlar with chamfered quoins, hipped Cotswold stone roof. Subdued English Baroque style with local characteristics. 2 storeys, built-up attic (ie 3 storeys) and basement. 7 bays. Moulded plinth over basement, flat string to attic windows; cornice and crenellated parapet with alternating vases and flaming urn finials; central pediment on cornice with in tympanum a Tudor rose with glazed centre. Large square plan. Crenellated end chimney stacks with chamfered quoins (see also Kingham House, Kingham C.P. q.v). Sash windows with single vertical glazing bars in moulded architrave with moulded cills; on ground floor with alternating segmental and triangular pediments over pulvinated frieze, the central window has garland drapery to frieze and pediment supported on brackets off slender pilasters. Alternating circular and octagonal attic windows below cornice in square architraves with panelled spandrels. Bullseye openings to basement in bolection architraves with panelled spandrels. Central C20 6-panel door approached by 4 D-plan steps, architrave, pulvinated frieze and segmental pediment, set slightly lower than cornice of ground floor windows. Lower 2-storey-and-basement wing to left, ashlar below coursed and dressed rubble, strings of main part continues over ground and 1st floors with pendant drips over windows, 2 to each floor with rebated chamfered mullion windows of 3-lights, altered to sash on ground floor right, moulded doorway to right with 6-panel door; plain 2-light opening to left. Gable ends ashlar with crenellated parapet and pine-cone finials and chamfered quoins; cornice interrupted by small corbels to heavy chimney with moulded offset, chamfered quoins and crenellation; outer bullseye attic windows with panelled spandrels,moulded architraves and flat linking cill string. East return has rainwater head with initials "CxR" over "F" (? Fettiplace) . 2 extensions to rear. To east with parallel ridge, 3 windows with pulvinated friezes and a plain parapet, linked to house by 2-bay block of c.1710-1720; blocked doorway in west gable with a double hollow chamfer moulding, bracketed shell hood over with foliage face in central ornamental bracket. The west extension gabled, 3 windows with rusticated surrounds on 1st floor. Small parallel ridged kitchen block to East probably of single storey and attic. A fine and imposing burgage house of late C17 with characteristics of competent Wren school masons, normally attributed to Christopher Kempster; but equally possibly by someone like say William Byrd. The similarity of chimneys to Kingham House about 7 miles North is striking.

Listing NGR: SP2528212145