Kings House And Attached Garden And Front Terrace Walls And Railings

Kings House and Attached Garden and Front Terrace Walls and Railings, Malmesbury

A house and attached wings, now divided into two houses, dating from around 1705 with westward extension in the early 18th century. The building is constructed of limestone rubble with ashlar and brick dressings, brick gable and rear external stacks, and a stone slate roof.

The main elevation is executed in provincial Baroque style. The building forms an L-shaped plan with a single-depth main house and left-hand wing, with a rear right-hand service wing. The main house comprises three storeys, an attic and basement, arranged as a three-window range, with a five-window side wing. The elevation displays rusticated quoins, strings to each floor, and a deep cornice. A fine balustrade with panelled dies surmounts the main house, with a parapet to the side wing.

The main house features a good doorway with cushion brackets supporting a shell hood, fitted with a late 20th-century six-panelled door and rectangular overlight. The first- and second-floor outer windows have raised, keyed surrounds with segmental-arched heads; the central first-floor window is round-arched. These windows are probably original six-over-six-pane sashes with thick glazing bars. Two dormers sit behind the balustrade, which incorporates a central panel bearing the Malmesbury arms. The right-hand single-window return features mullion windows.

The west wing has a left-hand doorway with half-glazed door, cross windows with cyma mouldings and relieving arches containing leaded metal casements with stay bars and original fittings, and a central segmental-arched heraldic panel. The left-hand gable is coped with a former stack and front balustrade.

The rear three-window elevation has cross windows in the left-hand gable and at each end of the side wing. A large external stack is positioned right of centre, with a smaller lateral stack to the left above a range of blocked cross windows.

Interior details are extensive. The roof structure features a collar truss with lap dovetail collars and threaded ridge. A good right-hand winder stair with plank door provides access to the attic. The second-floor front room contains a bolection-moulded fire surround and plank and muntin panelling. The first-floor front room is well-appointed with panelling, an early 19th-century fire surround with fluted pilasters and entablature with triglyphs, flanking shell-headed cupboards (the left with concealed sliding door), and a dentil cornice.

The entrance stair hall was remodelled in the early 19th century with reeded architraves and roundels, moulded beams, and a left-hand rear dogleg winder stair with stick balusters and column newels.

The west wing includes a right-hand rear stairwell with a mid-20th-century newel stair and chamfered ceiling beams. The central first-floor room is fully panelled with cornice and a good fire surround with carved leaves. The ground-floor room beneath contains panelling and a plank and muntin screen. The basement has a large bressumer supporting the fireplace.

The property includes attached rubble walls surrounding the front garden and a full-width terrace in front of the wing, with wrought-iron railings to the right-hand steps.

The house was probably built by Thomas, Town Clerk to the Old Corporation. The Town Arms, incorporating the Padenham and Yeoman families, is displayed over the entrance facade. The building is an exceptionally fine and interesting early 18th-century town house, notable for its very early sash windows and the use of cross windows on the lesser-status elevations.