Purbeck Lodge Nursing Home

Purbeck Lodge Nursing Home is a large, detached villa, originally built as a vicarage, dating to around 1860. It was designed by the then-incumbent, Joseph Cottle. The building is constructed of Portland stone with ashlar dressings and has slate roofs.

The architectural design is a complex arrangement of four gabled units, each set back from and at right angles to the others, all sharing a common ridge height and span. A fourth range is set back further to the left, beyond the main entrance porch on the west side. The building has two storeys, with coped gables to saddle stones and kneelers, and exposed rafter ends at the eaves. Windows are flush set, featuring stone mullions and transoms. Prominent ashlar chimney stacks with bold cappings and skirts are present on coursed stone shafts.

The south-facing street front has a gable on the left, above a canted bay with a hipped stone roof and three-light windows culminating in cusped heads. A slightly set-back range to the right has a gable end and a one-bay range with a gabled half-dormer over a three-light window and a sunk triangular panel with trefoil decoration above a single-storey square bay with a hipped stone roof and four-light windows with ogee-cusped heads. A large external eaves stack with a gablet is present on the left return. A recessed panel carries a shield of arms flanked by the letters "I C." A three-light window sits beneath a triangular panel, mirroring the design elements at the front. A projecting gabled porch features plank doors on decorative strap hinges within a double-chamfered segmental-pointed arch. The inner door is four-panel, partially glazed, and set within a single-chamfered arch. An offset gabled range, with eaves and rear gable stacks, includes two-light windows with cusped heads at each level.

The right-hand end has a gable above a square vent, and two widely spaced single lights over one single light, all with ogee-cusped heads; the upper lights have decorative iron casements. A half-gable light sits above a segmental-pointed doorway. A four-bay timber pentice gallery extends across the width, supported by posts with cusped braces, and has a deep bracket bearing a carved angel at the left-hand end. The roof of the gallery is tiled, and it is raised on a platform with a stepped approach to the doorway. The rear gable has a canted bay with a hipped stone roof. Two further stacks are present on the wing with the gallery.

The interior of the building was not inspected during the listing process. Overall, the building exhibits a strong design sense, despite the amateur nature of the designer, who likely drew on contemporary engraved sources for detail. The exterior of the building has remained practically unaltered, although the casements may have originally been more decorative.