Grafham House

Grafham House, Bramley

Originally built as a vicarage in 1863, this house was constructed by the prominent architect Henry Woodyer at his own expense for the Reverend T T Trenow, the first incumbent of the adjoining St Andrew's Church. Woodyer lived at nearby Grafham Grange and designed both the church and this vicarage as a memorial to his wife. Both he and his wife are buried in the churchyard. The house remained in use as a vicarage until the 1960s, when it became a private residence.

The original building is designed in Gothic style as an asymmetrical two-storey structure. The ground floor is constructed in brick, part of which was later painted, while the first floor is tile-hung. The roof is slate with tall ribbed brick chimneystacks. Windows throughout are a mixture of mullioned and transomed casements and lancets set in stone surrounds, with some retaining their original leaded lights.

The south or entrance front displays two gables hung with alternating courses of plain and curved tiles. The first floor contains two four-light pointed arched windows in sandstone surrounds, the left one being mullioned and transomed. The ground floor has original mullioned and transomed windows. An elaborate datestone of 1863 features a shield bearing the cross of St Andrews and the initials C A S (Church of St Andrews). A gabled brick porch with side lancet windows and an original plank door with elaborate iron hinges serves as the entrance.

The east elevation originally had three windows, two of which remain from the original build. The first floor southern window was altered in the 1950s, probably by David Nye, to form a French window with sidelights above a projecting single-storey flat-roofed brick extension. The west elevation retains all four of its original windows: pointed arched windows of one, two or three lights, and a four-light mullioned and transomed window in a projecting gable. An ornamental rainwaterhead is dated 1863. The north elevation features a tall ribbed brick chimneystack, originally external but now incorporated into an Edwardian lean-to kitchen extension.

Minor alterations were carried out around 1900. In the 1950s, a two-storey brick extension in stretcher bond with metal-framed casements was added to the north by David Nye, the Diocesan Architect, along with a small south-west ground floor extension.

The interior contains several original features. The porch retains its wooden seats and original pointed arched half-glazed door, leading into a full-height staircase-hall with a well staircase featuring turned balusters and a chamfered newel post with multi-faceted finials. A built-in bookcase occupies the landing.

The ground floor south room has an original coved cornice and six-panelled door, though it contains an early 20th-century four-centred arched stone fireplace. The window arch and wooden window seats are original. The central room similarly retains a four-centred arched stone fireplace and original door, which is now blocked by a later bookcase. The rear room preserves a rare original Woodyer wooden fireplace, wooden doors, wooden shutters and wooden windowseat.

The service end of the house contains the original service wooden winder staircase, a scullery with original shelves and sink, a pantry with shelves, and a kitchen with a 19th-century built-in wooden dresser. The first floor south room retains an original 1863 wooden fireplace with brackets, and the corridor has a coved ceiling.

The house was constructed at a cost of £1,500 and forms part of a significant group of buildings designed or modified by Henry Woodyer.