Cherkley Court, With Attached Garden Walls

Cherkley Court, with Attached Garden Walls

Large house, originally built around 1870 for Abraham Dixon and substantially rebuilt after a fire in 1893. The rainwater heads bear witness to this history, dated 1869 on the service wing and 1893 on the main range. Around 1907, the property was acquired by Max Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook, who undertook internal improvements and made various additions.

The house is constructed mostly of stuccoed brick with some ashlar, with slate roofs throughout. It follows an irregular plan on a north-south axis, with a large U-shaped service block attached at the north-east corner and a flat-roofed pavilion, probably an addition, at the south-east corner. The architectural style is eclectic, incorporating classical features and rising to two and three storeys in height.

The facades are richly detailed with classical detailing. Banded rustication appears at ground floor level, while pilasters of two superimposed orders define the elevation—Tuscan at ground floor and Ionic above, with coupled examples at the corners. An intermediate cornice runs between the orders, surmounted by a modillioned eaves cornice and balustraded parapet carried around the building. The roofline features hipped and mansard forms with various tall corniced chimneys.

The east front projects a prominent 3-bay centre featuring a balustraded Tuscan porch protecting a wide round-headed doorway. The doorway surround is rusticated with a large keystone and carved swags, with panelled double doors beneath a semicircular fanlight. Sashed windows occupy both floors—those at ground floor level have keystones, whilst those above are segmental-headed with shouldered architraves, though the left-hand example has been altered to a casement. The parapet centre is decorated with carved upstands.

To the left of this centre projects a single-storey flat-roofed pavilion constructed of banded ashlar with vermiculated corner pilasters, a moulded cornice, and a balustraded parapet set with urns. A sashed window in the front is protected by a wrought-iron screen. To the right, a narrow one-bay link and a two-storey canted bay continue the composition with matching features and fenestration.

The service block forms a projecting wing at the north-east, rising to three storeys and measuring five bays by four in depth. It includes a plinth, first-floor sill-band, a banded corner pilaster, cornice and balustrade matching the main front. Windows at first floor have keyed architraves, whilst those at second floor have lugged architraves and are square-headed. The front wall's first bay contains no openings, a round-headed doorway occupies the second bay, and the remainder matches the general scheme. On the north side, an L-shaped single-storey outbuilding encloses a courtyard between the unequal rear wings.

The west front of the main range is symmetrical, with two-storey canted bays flanking a five-bay centre. At ground floor, a balustraded loggia of Tuscan columns and round-headed arches protects tall French windows, while the first floor contains three windows similar to those on the front, alternating with roundels containing statuettes. The flanking bays possess matching features and fenestration; their tall mansard roofs are equipped with projecting sashed dormer windows set under segmental pediments and flanked by oculi.

Attached to the north side and running northwards are the front and rear walls of a long terraced garden. The rear wall, which screens the garden from the service wing and courtyard behind, stands one storey high with pilasters, round-headed doorways, and niches. Both front and rear walls carry balustraded parapets set with urns.

The south front comprises three wide bays. Coupled round-headed French windows occupy the centre beneath a balcony with ornamental cast-iron railings supported by Tuscan columns and large brackets. Tripartite windows feature on both floors—those at ground floor sit within rectangular bays—whilst two mansard roofs complete the composition.

The interior has not been inspected for this survey.

The house became the principal residence of Lord Beaverbrook, the press magnate and politician, from around 1907 until his death in 1964. During this period it served as a meeting place for many leading figures of the day from the First World War onwards.