Ashley House And Attached Railings, Rear Wall And Gate

Ashley House is a house located on Somerset Street in Kingsdown, dating from the late 18th century, with some parts rebuilt in the 19th century. It is constructed of brick with limestone dressings, featuring a limestone ashlar rear elevation and a pantile roof. The house has a double-depth plan and is designed in a late Georgian style, standing three storeys tall with a basement and attic, and a four-storey middle block. The façade has a seven-window range divided into three sections by pilasters, topped with a cornice and parapet, and includes a first-floor sill band. The left section was rebuilt in the 19th century.

To the left of the middle block, there is a 19th-century Doric portico with a triglyph entablature and cornice, leading to a semicircular-arched doorway with a wide door. Above this doorway is a full-height bow featuring three 6/6-pane sash windows and a central door on the second floor. The central first-floor window has a semicircular-arched stair light with interlacing glazing bars, while the remaining windows have cambered heads with five stepped voussoirs leading to 6/6-pane sashes, with plate glass on the left-hand block. There is also a doorway on the far left with five stepped voussoirs, and steps leading down to the basement and cellars beneath the portico.

The rear elevation is made of ashlar and features a central section that is slightly forward, with a full-height canted bay and a pointed-arched doorway to the right. A notable feature is a semicircular tented wrought-iron balcony with batswing brackets. Inside, there is a 19th-century glazed screen leading to a central hall, with a segmental arch to the right supported by acanthus brackets. The dogleg stair has slender turned balusters, a curtail and wreathed rail, and a modillion cornice. The basement rear kitchen includes a good built-in dresser, and there are panelled shutters and six-panel doors throughout.

The property also has subsidiary features, including cast-iron spear-headed railings in the front basement area, vaulted brick cellars beneath the road, and an attached garden wall made of brick and squared coursed rubble at the rear. This wall includes a Pennant pointed-arched doorway in the Dove Street elevation, which has a small grille in the door.