Wesley House, With Steps And Walls To Front

Wesley House, with steps and walls to front

Former offices of Leatherhead Urban District Council, located on Bull Hill, Leatherhead. Built in 1935 by architects C H Rose and H R Gardner.

The building is constructed in red brick with grey brick dressings and pilasters. Stone architraves and coping finish the end bays, while the rear elevation is rendered. The roof is pantiled with a hipped design, end stacks, and a central copper fleche in Scandinavian style.

The building rises to two storeys with an attic level and sits prominently on a hillside. The plan centres on a central entrance and staircase flanked by a suite of offices on either side. Behind sits a semi-circular council chamber with a public gallery beyond, accessed via a modest public entrance at the rear. A projecting single-storey council chamber with double doors provides access to the public gallery.

The main elevation presents a classical composition of nine bays. A central round-headed window to the staircase sits beneath a pediment and is flanked by rusticated pilasters. The first-floor windows at either end are set in stone moulded architrave surrounds with console brackets beneath swan-necked pediments; tiny attic windows are inset into these pediments. Similar tiny attic windows run the length of the façade above a stone cornice and linking band. Double panelled doors are reached by a flight of brick steps, with brick walls of red and grey brick completing the formal composition to the front. The central fleche features delicate original glazing bars and a weathervane set on an attenuated knop. Side elevations follow similar treatment with round-headed dormers; the rear elevation is simpler. The fenestration has been renewed in uPVC but respects the pattern of the original glazing. A late 20th-century single-storey extension at the side is of no special interest.

The interior contains two major spaces of special interest. The entrance hall, with a landing above, leads to an imperial staircase of terrazzo with terrazzo-clad walls and balustrading. Art Deco-style metal balustrading ornaments the landings. A memorial to past chairmen of Leatherhead District Council is a prominent feature, incorporating a pair of Atlantes and a large overmantel surmounted by more slender figures and a pediment. Plaques commemorate the War Savings Campaign of 1943 and 1944, presented by the War Office.

The council chamber, entered from the half landing, survives completely with fine fixed furniture. Curved leather-covered benches for members feature inlay details and built-in rests with ink wells. A higher bench for council members, similarly treated, sits in front of a panelled wall incorporating the council emblem. Decorated grilles over panelled double doors feature lozenge lights filled with reeded glass and original door fixtures. The ceiling is trabeated with an original hanging light fixture. Behind a low fixed timber barrier to the rear are simple benches for the public and press. An adjacent members room has a glass brick opening that provides light onto the corridor.

The building is included as a small but prominent example of a town hall. 1930s town halls of this scale are rare. Though the fenestration has been altered, the council chamber and staircase survive as fine and complete examples with good original details.