Beatrice Webb House

Beatrice Webb House, now a conference centre, was built in 1893 by W. Flockhart for Frederick Merrilees. It is constructed in the Tudor style and was extended to the rear and right in 1906 by E. Lutyens. The house is built of brown brick to the lower levels with half-timbering above, with colourwash render infill and plain tiled Mansard roofs. The building follows a T-shaped plan, with a former service range projecting to the left, now linked to enclose an entrance court. It has two storeys and attics to the left of the centre, three storeys to the right, and two storeys on the left. Tall, panelled and ribbed stacks are visible at the left end of the left bay, where the ranges meet, and at the rear. A gable end is present to the right, with a projecting first-floor window. There are two first-floor and one gabled window across, alongside two 3-light leaded second-floor windows. A 7-light window is centrally located on the first floor, with the centre 3-lights projecting. A square bay on the ground floor right features two 10-light leaded windows under billeted lintels. Two flat-roofed leaded dormers are to the left of the center, and three 3-light leaded windows are on the first floor. A pentice runs across the ground floor, displaying four windows with stone dressings. The fenestration is irregular in the link bay to the left of a 6-bay stable range, which has three steep gables and six windows on the first floor, and eight windows below. A double door is located to the left. The main entrance is to the left of the centre, within a large gable, with a chamfered and moulded braced entrance to a porch recess, arched with a billeted lintel. A panelled door is recessed to the left wall of the porch, under a 4-centred arch with a keystoned, gauged brick lintel. Single-storey, flat-roofed extensions are located to the right. The right-hand return front features a massive offset plinth with three diagonal stacks, two windows set into the plinth, and a roofline sweeping down to a loggia. The rear elevation is in the shape of a half-H, with a recessed centre range and projecting end gables with attic windows; one first-floor window is present on each gable, with an oriel to the left. A large mullioned and transomed window is on the ground floor. Three leaded dormers are present. A square bay on the ground floor is located to the left of the centre, and a flat hood covers the centre ground floor recess. Internally, there is stained glass in one inglenook, designed by George Bernard Shaw and made by Caroline Townsend, depicting Shaw, Sidney Webb, and E. R. Pease (Secretary of the Fabian Society) in medieval dress, with other Fabians below, including H. G. Wells. A rock garden was laid out by G. Jekyll.