Clock Tower and attached former stable block to Mount Felix

The Clock Tower and attached former stable block to Mount Felix

The Clock Tower is the former coach house and coach horse stables to Mount Felix, which has since been demolished. The coach house was remodelled from an 18th-century brewhouse and laundry in 1837-1839 by Sir Charles Barry in Italianate style, and extended and converted to commercial use in the later 20th century. The coach horse stables to the rear date from the mid to late 19th century, and were extended and improved probably in the early 20th century. Both buildings were refurbished in the early 21st century, when a covered corridor was installed linking the two, and are in use as a nursery in 2024.

The Clock Tower has stucco-rendered brick elevations with a hipped roof. The former coach horse stables are of yellow stock brick laid in a mix of bonds, over-painted for the most part, and a hipped roof. Both buildings have replacement pantiles.

The plan is symmetric, with a central entrance bay surmounted by a clock tower, historically flanked by two sets of wide entrances providing access to garaging space for coaches and other horse-drawn vehicles. The first floor was probably accommodation for grooms. The coach horse stables are single storey, with entrances to stabling historically; the openings are remodelled.

The Clock Tower has 2 storeys and is of 5 bays with quoins to the corners and a hipped roof with a lateral chimney to the east. There are two set-back single storey wings to each return elevation with large window openings. There is a flat storey band at the first floor and a modillion eaves cornice. At the ground floor are six partly-glazed doors, installed in 2023, to the former vehicle entrances, each with strip surrounds. Above at the first floor are six-over-six pane sash windows with strip surrounds. The central clock tower bay projects slightly with quoins to each corner and an incised ashlar pattern at the first floor, at the centre of which is a Diocletian window, through which the pendulum can be observed. Above is a square tower with ashlar corner piers topped by ball finals; a blind panel to the front contains a circular clock face. Above is a moulded frieze cornice topped by an open turret beneath a lead-covered pyramidal roof surmounted by an ornamental weather vane. The rear elevation has a central main entrance flanked by a niche to each side, and a blocked doorway with strip surround to the west and at the far east of this elevation. An arch-headed, four-over-two pane sash window and an elliptical-headed, one-over-one pane sash window are to the east of the rear entrance. On the first floor are six-over-six pane sash windows, most with secondary double glazing. The west elevation is obscured. The east elevation has an external stair leading to the first floor and blocked openings with strip surrounds.

The former coach horse stables to the rear are single storey with remodelled openings and a roof with renewed pantiles and inserted Velux windows. The eastern bay is separate to the rest of the range and has a modern rooftop extension. A covered corridor between the Clock Tower and former stables was constructed in 2023.

There are no historic fixtures in the Clock Tower apart from one hob fireplace and surround on the ground floor to the rear and the clock mechanism and pendulum in the clock tower. The clock mechanism is by local craftsman John Johnson of Walton, dated 1772. An inscription notes that it was examined in 1868 by JP Bayly of Weybridge and restored in 1980. The clock movement and strike mechanism are each powered by weights and the anchor-type escapement is rocked by the pendulum, located behind the Diocletian window. The building has been thoroughly refurbished and has renewed finishes; the stairs are entirely modern but are located in the original position at the ground floor of the central bay. The former coach horse stables have no historic fixtures and fittings, although the lower part of the Pratt roof trusses are exposed.