Ditton Place Including Attached Terrace Wall And Sandstone Wall To West

Ditton Place, including attached terrace wall and sandstone wall to west

Ditton Place is a large house, later converted to a school, built in 1904 by the architectural firm Cecil Brewer and Dunbar Smith in Neo-William and Mary style. The client was A B Horne, owner of Prudential Insurance, who used the house as a summer residence. The building is constructed in red brick with stone dressings and features a hipped Cumberland slate roof with six tall brick chimneystacks. The main house comprises two storeys and attics across eleven bays, with a further service wing of two storeys and four lower windows to the north. Windows are predominantly sashes, with casements to the service wing.

The principal east or entrance front is dominated by a central projecting curved pediment with brackets and end quoins. Below this sits an elaborate first floor window with finialled keystone. The main entrance consists of a semi-circular balcony with a curved stone porch supported by four Ionic columns and two pilasters, with double doors each having seven panels and elaborate doorknockers. The balcony is dated 1904 in stone diamond-shaped tablets, with a central tablet bearing a raised arm motif and the letter H (for Horne) and the initials J A B D. Three recessed bays flank the central feature on either side, each with cambered dormers and twelve-pane sashes to the first floor and fifteen-pane sashes to the ground floor. The end two bays on each side project under a hipped roof with similar dormers and sash windows; the left hand side has no ground floor windows, whilst the right hand side has a further doorcase with flat hood and brackets. The service end displays casements to the first floor, mullioned and transomed casements to the ground floor, and a doorcase with round-headed hood on brackets.

The south elevation contains six windows arranged in careful asymmetry, including one oval window with deep carved floral decoration and two similar blanks to the first floor, along with a canted bay to the ground floor.

The west or garden front features a recessed centre of five bays with a slightly projecting central bay containing a colonnade below with round-headed windows. The two end bays on each side project under hipped roofs with oval windows on the returns. To the left is a section of four bays comprising the owner's flat on the first floor and Dining Room on the ground floor, with cambered windows to the ground floor and a doorcase with cambered stone hood supported on brackets, topped with a two-light fanlight and two-panelled curved-top door. At the corner stands an ornamental dovecote with dove holes, a stone flight perch, and weatherhood. An 18th-century or earlier sandstone wall from the earlier house on the site remains attached to this front, along with attached terrace walls. The north side has a gable end with six casement windows and a round-headed arch leading to the former stables.

The interior is almost entirely intact with high quality fittings throughout. The central vestibule features a green marble bolection-moulded fireplace and black and white marble floors. The long gallery has a vaulted roof, marble bolection-moulded fireplaces, two round-headed niches, and a carved surround to the mahogany Drawing Room door with ebony infill. The Drawing Room or Salon to the south has a plastered ceiling, walnut doors, carved bolection-moulding, and a marble fireplace with overmantel incorporating console brackets, clustered pilasters, and round-headed niches. The Library in the south-east corner displays a ribbed ceiling with rectangular and circular panels, a wooden fireplace with square panel and paterae, pilasters, and five built-in library bookshelves. A rear room retains a green marble bolection-moulded fireplace with oak surround, deep panelling with dado rail, and two-panelled doors. The Dining Room has a fireplace with cast iron firegrate, two round-headed niches with keystones, and carved heads to doors. The service quarter preserves original fittings including a cellar with slate wine bins, gun cupboard with safe, scullery with roof light and original cupboards, one larder with tiles and wooden shelves, and another with marble shelf and tiled walls. The service staircase is of dogleg type with stick balusters and square newel posts. The main staircase features a wide enclosed flight with dado panelling leading to a semi-circular feature with balustrading, with an original gas chandelier hanging above. A gallery with four tapering piers and turned balusters is also present.

The first floor contains Mr Horne's flat with marble and wooden fireplaces with cast iron firegrate, panelling, and cupboards. A bathroom retains original green tiles, original wash hand basin, and towel rail. The corridor incorporates a tiled fireplace. Two front bedrooms have original fireplaces, whilst a rear right-side bedroom houses a jewellery safe and a fireplace with anthemion motifs, green marble, and cast iron firegrate. Mrs Horne's Dressing Room has built-in cupboards and a corner fireplace. A front bedroom features a corner bolection-moulded fireplace with stepped display unit and built-in wardrobe. The nanny's room has a plain marble fireplace, and the maid's room retains a fireplace and cupboard.

An unusual feature of the attics is two dormitories designed to house the owner's cricket team, brought in to play against the Duke of Arundel's team. Each dormitory has a brick fireplace with round-headed arches; one incorporates built-in seating and the other has tiles on edge. The attics also contain a large linen store, a Butler's bedroom with round-headed fireplace, and a staff dormitory with marble fireplace incorporating wooden seats.

Ditton Place was built in 1904 to replace an older manor house, subsequently called "Sunnyside", which was home to the English author and playwright Charles Reade in the late 19th century. The gardens were designed for the older house by Reginald Blomfield and were left undisturbed when the new house was built. The house remained in single residential use until the Second World War, when it served as a base for Canadian forces. It was subsequently taken over by the ILEA for use as a special needs school.