Brightwell House

Brightwell House

House, later incorporated into a theatre. Built between 1792 and 1795 by local builder Thomas Turner, the property was substantially remodelled around 1827 and had a west wing added around 1852 in matching style. Originally constructed in brick, it was stuccoed with incised lines in the 1820s. The roof, originally slate, was replaced in the later twentieth century with fibre cement slates.

Exterior: The entrance or east front presents two storeys with originally three window bays, though the right side bay was demolished in the early 1970s. The right side former central bay projects slightly forward and is wider than the others. An eaves band and hipped roof complete this elevation. Plain pilasters flank the left hand end and centre bay. The left bay contains a nine-pane sash to the first floor with a blank ground floor window, while the right side has a 12-pane sash. A pro-style Ionic porch in antis adorns the right side, with a segmental headed doorway, segmental fanlight with radiating tracery, and an original six-fielded-panelled door with reeded design.

The south-east front, facing Brightwell Gardens, is of two storeys with four window bays. The first and third bays from the south-west end feature splayed bays rising through both storeys. A moulded eaves cornice and band between first and ground floors articulate the elevation. Plain giant pilasters stand at the ends and flank the splayed bays. Nine-pane sashes in reveals light the first floor, with nineteenth-century style French windows below. A veranda on metal columns with nineteenth-century capitals spans between the splayed bays. A 1970s theatre construction adjoins to the north and west. The west wall of stucco with incised lines survives; the north wall could not be accessed.

Interior: The staircase hall retains three 1820s doorcases with pilasters and paterae, together with remains of an early nineteenth-century well staircase with scrolled tread ends, though the lowest six feet of treads, balustrading and handrail were missing at the time of survey. The corner east room preserves 1820s architraves with paterae, shutters, and a circa 1850s black marble fireplace. The central room features a moulded cornice, two pilasters divided by a wide opening with a plastered design of paterae and sunflower, a nineteenth-century marble fireplace in rococo style with grotesque male masks and console brackets, two elaborate ceiling roses, heavy cornice with floral motifs, and four French windows with architraves containing paterae. The end room has three French windows and a cornice of paterae and ovolo moulding. The former stairwell on the first floor displays an early nineteenth-century ceiling rose of leaf motifs and moulded cornice. The south-east room contains an early nineteenth-century marble fireplace with reeded pilasters, paterae and central panel with oval decoration, shutters to the window, and a wide early nineteenth-century doorcase with four panels, original architraves and skirting boards. The original central room has been subdivided but retains part of the original cornice and original window shutters.

History: The property was built between 1792 and 1795 on part of an estate known in the early eighteenth century as Canterburies and described in an indenture dated 1795 as "a brick messuage or dwellinghouse". In 1827, the house was left in trust to Richard Garth, who inherited the title of Lord of the manor of Morden and a considerable fortune. A condition of the will stipulated that this house should be his habitual place of residence. Richard Garth was a barrister and Member of Parliament for the Guildford constituency, which also included Farnham; he was knighted in 1875 and served as chief Justice in Bengal until 1886. The property appears on the 1839 Tithe Map. In 1852, a further acre of land was acquired to the west and a two-storey wing added, first shown on the 1871 Ordnance Survey map. The house, then called Lowlands, received notable visitors including Florence Nightingale and Sir Arthur Sullivan. Later in the nineteenth century, Colonel Patrick Paget of the Scots Guards, related by marriage to the Garths, succeeded to the estate; his widow lived here until her death in 1912. In 1905 the name was changed to Brightwell, after Brightwell Baldwin in Oxfordshire, home of one of the first owners of the property. In 1920 the house and grounds were acquired by Farnham Urban District Council and used successively as a library, a health clinic, and offices for the local housing department. In 1967 it was offered to Farnham Repertory Theatre Trust as a site for a new theatre. The north-eastern bay and stabling were demolished to provide space for a purpose-built theatre, with the remainder becoming part of the Redgrave Theatre, providing green room, dressing rooms and bar facilities, until the theatre closed in 1998.