Maryfield House

Maryfield House

Built shortly after 1847 by W.H. Pole Carew as a school, this building was subsequently remodelled by architect William White around 1849 and converted to serve as the vicarage for the Church of St. Philip and St. James. It was later altered into two houses.

The structure is constructed of sandstone rubble with granite dressings and slate roofs. The original schoolroom occupies the left portion, with principal rooms arranged in two projecting wings at the front and a parallel end block to the right. A longitudinal passage approached from a rear entrance provides access to service rooms, while the rear right section features spaces grouped around a small courtyard with a tower.

The building presents an asymmetrical composition in Gothic style. It rises 2½ storeys and comprises a front of two-bay school hall, two gabled wings, and two further bays to the right end. The school hall features two two-light windows at ground floor with shouldered heads, and two gabled dormers above each with two-light pointed arched windows. Raised coped verges frame the roofline, while a bellcote with spire, finial, and weathervane crowns the composition, with a chimney stack to the front of the ridge.

The gabled wing to the right has a canted bay running through two storeys, containing a three-light pointed arched window with sidelights at ground and first-floor levels. This bay has a hipped stone roof with a bull's eye window above. The second gabled wing displays a ground-floor projecting bay with pitched roof and three-light window with trefoil-headed lights, a two-light window with shouldered heads at first floor, and a triple lancet at attic level with the central light taller. Set back to the right is a pointed arched moulded doorway with a single lancet and gable over.

A two-storey block to the right features gable ends to the sides and a canted bay at ground floor with a four-light window with pointed arched heads, sidelights, and transom. Two paired lancets appear at first floor, topped by a tall gabled dormer with triplet lancet. The left gable end contains a single lancet at attic level; the right gable end has an external chimney stack. The wing to the right incorporates a side porch with pointed arched door with strap hinges and a two-light window with shouldered heads above.

The right end forms a U-plan creating an inner courtyard, with single-storey outhouses attached to the left. At the centre, a glazed gable at ground floor is topped by a gable dormer with paired lancets. A further wing projects to the right, featuring a circular porch tower of three storeys with lancets and string course; the tower becomes octagonal above the string course, displaying corbelled eaves and a pyramidal stone roof with finial, and has a pointed arched door. The gable end of the wing to the right contains a triple lancet at ground floor and paired lancet at first floor.

At the rear, the wing to the right has a gable end with two two-light windows at ground floor with trefoil heads and arched breathers in the gable. The rear of the wing to the left has a two-light mullioned casement and a central ridge stack. At the centre is a porch with pitched roof over a pointed arched door. The gable end of the school hall has a large six-light mullion and transom window with shouldered heads.

The interior is virtually complete and contains many features of architectural interest designed by White. The staircase features a quatrefoil pierced balustrade and chamfered newels with finials. The drawing room has a beamed ceiling with large brackets on corbels and a fireplace with pointed arch and mounted shelf on brackets; the windows have plank shutters with crested tops. The study contains a screen on marble columns in front of the bay window and a small granite fireplace with two-centred arch.