Lovemead House

Lovemead House is a circa 1730 building, likely constructed for the clothier William Temple the Elder. It is a three-storey building with an attic and basement. The front is faced with ashlar stone, resting upon a projecting moulded plinth. Moulded cornice strings are present above the ground floor and first floor windows. Rusticated angle pilasters extend the full height of the building. A bold moulded cornice is topped by a low parapet with moulded coping. Stone chimneys feature moulded capping. The roof is of double Roman tile, with stone tiles to the rear and sides. There are two dormers. The front has seven ranges of glazing bar sash windows, single-hung on the second floor; these windows all have projecting aprons, moulded cills, architrave surrounds, and a pulvinated frieze rising to the string, which is broken forward over each window, except those on the second floor. Narrow windows flanking the centre have waisted friezes. Four two-light stone mullioned basement casement windows are also present. The central, tall, six-panel door is topped by a rectangular fanlight of diagonal and square pattern, with side glazing and a plain centre panel, formerly used for a lamp. The door is set within a stone surround of Doric pilasters and an entablature with a bold modillioned cornice, and is accessed via six moulded stone steps. The central first-floor window has a similar surround, with a pediment, although the capitals of the pilasters remain in block form. The house includes a paved forecourt. The side elevation is of brick with stone dressings and continuous horizontal strings. A wing to the rear, probably dating to the 17th century, is two storeys and has an attic. This wing is partially of rubble stone and partially of brick, and has two dormers, 18th-century four-pane windows, two three-light and two two-light stone mullioned casements, with some square-leaded panes on the first floor. It also has irregular 18th and modern windows, along with a half-glazed door on the ground floor. A continuous dripmold runs over the ground and first floors. A single-storey extension is attached to the north. The rear is brick-built, with two gabled stacks featuring moulded stone caps and a bracketted gutter box. A pitched path leads to the west side. The interior retains much panelling, including a fine entrance hall with an oak staircase, featuring a ramped balustrade and scrolled strings.

Lovemead House is part of a group with Nos 2 to 4 (consec), No 5 (Rodney House), stable yard, garden railings, stable buildings, walls, Nos 8 to 13 (consec), garden wall and gate piers, Polebarn House, boundary wall, gate piers and gates, Polebarn Road, and Nos 1 to 6 (consec) Yerbury Almshouses, Yerbury Street.