Kelston Park And Adjoining Service Wing And Coach House And South Retaining Wall

Kelston Park and Adjoining Service Wing, Coach House and South Retaining Wall

Country house built circa 1760s by John Wood the Younger of Bath for Sir Caesar Hawkins, physician to the King. The main house is constructed in ashlar with a hipped slate roof (now tarred) concealed behind a parapet and moulded cornice; ashlar chimney stacks with cornices. It comprises two storeys with a basement and attics, arranged in a 2:1:2 bay configuration. The centre section projects slightly and is topped by a pediment. The windows are glazing bar sashes set in moulded architraves, with cornices and bracketed cills on the ground floor. The central first floor window is tripartite with a central swan-neck pediment. A central projecting porch features paired Tuscan columns with alternate blocking stones, a plain frieze, cornice and balustraded parapet, with a central panelled door in a round-headed opening.

To the right of the main house stands a three-storey single bay section that links the principal building to the service wing and coach-house. The service wing and coach-house have a north elevation consisting of two blocks, each two storeys and four bays, constructed in ashlar with hipped slate roofs set back behind a parapet and cornice. These blocks feature glazing bar sash windows, some of which are blocked on the left side. The blocks are connected by single-storey wings and a central archway with imposts and keystones, topped by a broken pediment.

The coach-house west elevation has a 2:3:2 bay arrangement, with the central three bays advanced and crowned by a pediment containing a circular window in the tympanum. The first floor has glazing bar sash windows, while three round-headed coach entries occupy the centre, flanked by two-light round-headed casement windows and panelled doors under overlights. The east elevation of the coach-house is similar, but features a central panelled door flanked by round-headed two-light casements instead.

The south elevation of the main house contains five bays with glazing bar sash windows in architraves, frieze and cornices on the ground floor, and later blind boxes. Access to the ground floor is via a terrace with a rusticated retaining wall pierced by four arches. A central flight of steps with balustraded parapets and panelled piers provides access to the house. A set-back two-storey linking block with a Venetian window on the ground floor adjoins the south elevations of the service wing and coach-house at the left. The south elevations of these buildings feature outer blocks with four glazing bar sash windows each and a central slightly recessed block with an advanced first-floor centre containing a Venetian window beneath a pediment.

Interior

Most of the original plasterwork, fireplaces and doors survive throughout the building. The entrance hall features two Ionic columns at the top of the stairs and an enriched dentilled cornice. Doors throughout are of raised and fielded panels in lugged architraves with open pediments. A cantilever dog-leg stair with enriched cast-iron balustrade rises through the space.

The lounge (drawing room) to the south has a panelled plaster ceiling with circular centre and modillioned cornice. The walls are finished with moulded dado, wall panels and pier glasses. An enriched carved fireplace with Corinthian columns and overmantel bearing a landscape scene occupies one wall. An archway with paired Ionic columns and enriched swags provides access to an inner room with a dentilled cornice and a second fireplace with overmantel.

The library or office to the north-east has a panelled ceiling with octagonal centre and modillioned cornice, with extensive guilloche moulding. A marble fireplace with carved surround is fitted within this room.

The four main bedrooms on the first floor each retain moulded cornices and enriched fireplaces, two of which include overmantels, one bearing a portrait.

The south retaining wall has rustication and is pierced by four arches, with a central flight of stone steps and balustraded parapets featuring panelled piers.