Westbury House. Railings Along East Side And Walled Forecourt To South Of Westbury House

Westbury House is an early 18th-century building constructed of coursed rubble with freestone dressings. It has two principal facades, facing east and south onto St. Margaret's Street.

The east elevation is three storeys and a basement, with five sash windows on each floor. Most windows have glazing bars, except for those on the ground floor. All windows are framed by architraves, with the ground floor windows featuring cambered heads and keystones. A central window above the doorway mirrors this design, but without a keystone. The elevation is accentuated by plain strings at the first and second floor levels, a moulded cornice, and a balustraded parapet positioned directly above the windows. Angle pilasters are also present. The central doorway has a semi-circular head, a keystone, impost blocks, plain jambs, a fanlight with glazing bars, and panelled double doors. The stone doorcase features an entablature and an open pediment supported by semi-Tuscan pilasters rusticated with square blocks. Steps lead up to the door, flanked by good wrought-iron railings around the basement area and along the steps.

The south elevation is also three storeys and a basement with five sash windows on each floor. Most windows have glazing bars. All windows have deep roll bolection moulding surrounds. The ground floor windows and the first floor centre window have cambered heads with keystones. The second floor windows have moulded sills, while the first and ground floor windows have plain sills resting on cut stone brackets. Moulded strings are present at the first and second floor levels, as is a moulded cornice and a balustraded parapet. The central windows are flanked by pilasters in three orders creating a prominent central feature: the ground floor pilasters are fluted Corinthian and topped by an open segmental pediment with dentils; the first-floor pilasters are fluted Ionic and capped by an open triangular pediment with dentils; the second-floor pilasters have surface panels and rise to a cornice.

A small paved forecourt is completely enclosed by a stone wall, which includes two piers with ball finials in acanthus leaf cuppings and two similar half-piers at the quoins. Richard Bethall, who later became Lord Westbury and Lord Chancellor, was born in the house in 1800.

Westbury House is part of a group of buildings that include the Three Horseshoes, numbers 1 to 4 Frome Road, the Liberal Club, the Baptist Chapel, the Congregational Church and Hall, numbers 6 to 16 and 19 to 22, numbers 36, 42 to 49, and number 1 St. Margaret’s Hill.