St Saviours Vicarage

St Saviour's Vicarage

A vicarage built in 1886-7 by J D Sedding in Gothic style, located on the west side of Vicarage Road, Sunbury on Thames. The building is constructed of yellow brick with red brick banding and features stone door and window surrounds. The first floor is partly tile-hung over a brick dentil course. The roofs are tiled with decorative ridge cresting, and grouped stacks with banded decoration.

The building is two storeys with irregular fenestration. The entrance front has stone window surrounds with label mouldings over on the ground floor. Labels continue as a string course and hood mould over the main entrance door at the left end of the elevation with uncarved end stops. An uncarved keystone block sits over the door with a carved date plaque to its left. Gothic style footscrapers flank the entrance. The first floor features oriel windows on small brackets; one retains original leaded lights while the individual casements are 20th century replacements. The left side return front has three two-light leaded oriel windows on shallow brackets. The right hand return front has a hipped roofed porch extending down onto a solid circular stone column. Original coal hole and storage room doors and frames survive. The rear elevation has renewed tile-hanging and 20th century first floor casements.

The interior survives remarkably intact. The entrance hall contains a bell fitting formerly used for church council business and features a black, red and cream patterned tiled floor that extends into the corridor. The study has a deep dado rail and a fine fireplace of stone and red rubbed brick in a radiating pattern with double roll moulding, and a deep coffered hollow oak ceiling with chamfer decoration. The dining room has a similar deep dado rail and ceiling, with a fine fireplace of limestone and rubbed brick featuring a four-centred arch. Wooden benches made of Scots pine sit on turned logs either side. The small sitting room has similar dado and ceiling treatments with a simpler fireplace with wooden mantlepiece over a stone arch.

Throughout the house, the majority of doors follow a Gothic arched pattern with original furniture. The staircase has turned balusters and panelled newels under ogee section finials, with an applied fret of tulip pattern to the strings. Bedrooms generally retain their original fireplaces, with the main bedroom featuring decorative tiles. An unusual feature of the house is the ventilation system incorporated into the ceilings, probably designed to ameliorate the effects of gas lights.

The service wing is particularly complete. The original kitchen retains its dresser and deep fireplace with chamfered edges and stone hearth. A complete larder survives with an arched door, gauze ventilating panel and wooden shelves. The north larder and scullery have stone flagged floors, and a complete set of offices remains. The pneumatic pipe system for summoning servants is also present.

The vicarage was originally built as the vicarage to a temporary church and now serves the Church of St Saviour, which was built in 1912. Sedding exhibited designs for the church in Building News on 27 June 1884 and 26 June 1885, but neither was carried out. The land for the vicarage and its cost of £1600 were provided by a local estate agent, Mr Cough. Original documentation relating to the vicarage is held by the church.