Lock House (Formerly Convent Of The Visitation)

Lock House (Formerly Convent of the Visitation)

A large house built circa 1900, first recorded on the 1911 Ordnance Survey map, designed in Vernacular Revival style. The house was significantly extended and altered during the 1930s for the Harvey family, with additions including a ballroom, loggia, extension to the service wing, and comprehensive refitting in matching style. Further alterations were made around 1970.

Exterior

The building is constructed of red brick in English bond with a hipped tiled roof and eight clustered brick chimneystacks. It is two storeys with attics. The fenestration is irregular, comprising mainly casement windows with leaded lights.

The north-west or entrance front features a central projecting gable with carved bargeboards and an oriel window to the attic, with three windows below. A four-centred arched oak door with plain spandrels serves as the main entrance. In front stands a timber-framed three-bay porte-cochere, and behind it is a four-centred arched doorcase with floral spandrels. On either side are set-back portions of two bays. The left side projecting wing contains a three-light dormer. At the extreme left is a two-bay single-storey 1930s ballroom with round-headed windows and keystones, extended by a further two bays in matching style with an additional floor added around 1970 to provide a chapel and accommodation for a convent. The right-hand projection features a square bell turret, timber-framed on a tiled base with an ogee top.

The south-east side displays four casement windows and a further 1930s four-window extension with a tiled porch in matching style. The south-west or garden front originally comprised twelve bays. A three-bay extension was added to the left in the 1930s, while a three-bay loggia and a two-bay ballroom extension were added to the right. A projecting tiled gable with bellcast is followed by a recessed section with five windows to the first floor and a central five-light mullioned and transomed casement to the ground floor, flanked by two carved oak four-centred arched entrances with half-glazed doors. The centre features three projecting tiled gables, the end ones with two-storey seven-light canted bays and the central bay with three-light casements.

At the extreme right of the original building is a three-light dormer and three windows to the first floor, including a canted bay with ground floor. A three-bay brick loggia with wooden double doors opens at ground floor level. Beyond this is the 1930s ballroom with round-headed windows, extended by two bays around 1970 and a further storey with three casement windows.

Interior

The Staircase Hall features a stone fireplace with strapwork frieze and foliate spandrels, a cornice with a frieze of beasts, and a ribbed ceiling. A Jacobean-style carved wooden well staircase with carved balusters and newel posts displays strapwork panels and elaborate finials.

The Drawing Room contains a marble fireplace with four alcoves. The Morning Room has a baronial fireplace bearing a coat of arms, panelled doors with four-centred arches, and dado linenfold-type panelling. The former Ballroom has panelled walls. The former Music Room includes a built-in china cabinet. The former Bar features a wooden fireplace with surround decorated with shell motifs and strapwork pilasters. The Dining Room is panelled throughout in maple in early 18th-century style and has a green marble bolection-moulded fireplace with a coved cornice.

The service wing is entirely of circa 1937 date and includes a tiled kitchen and scullery with original cupboards, a strongroom for silver, and a Housekeeper's Parlour with a bolection-moulded fireplace with tiled surround. A subsidiary staircase with moulded balusters and a service staircase with stick balusters and square newel posts serve this area. The first floor retains a few circa 1900 fireplaces in the servants' rooms but was largely refitted in the 1930s. Guest rooms feature panelling and fireplaces, including wooden Adam-style surrounds with marble inserts and Gibbs surrounds with marble inserts. The Master's bedroom has built-in cupboards, a marble washbasin, and a marble bolection-moulded fireplace. The Mistress' Bedroom features built-in cupboards, a marble fireplace, and four floral paintings over the doors.

The Dressing Room contains walnut built-in wardrobes with interior fittings and a fireplace with carved brackets and foliate motifs. Bedrooms for the Harveys' daughters Pat and Daphne also have built-in cupboards and wardrobes. Three Vitrolite-lined bathrooms retain original fittings, heated towel rails, and some original 1930s light fittings. Part of the attic was used as a playroom and is fitted with oak panelling.

History

The Harvey family are reputed to have owned Claridges Hotel. Their daughter Daphne was the first wife of Donald Campbell, holder of the world water-speed record.