Burton Hill School

Burton Hill School is a detached house, now used as a school, designed by Charles Robert Cockerell RA in 1842 and rebuilt around 1846, probably following the architect's original designs, after a major fire. The building underwent later 19th-century alterations and received major mid-20th-century extensions which are not of special interest. It is constructed in Bath stone with slate roofs in the Tudor Gothic style.

The building has an irregular square plan with a service wing to the north, dining room and ballroom to the west, and large post-war extensions to the north and west ranges.

The entrance front features an angle-set porch of two storeys with an arched door and mullioned windows either side above a heraldic relief. To the left stands a tall three-gable range with a projecting ground floor; the advanced right-hand gable bears a lozenge with the letters IC (for John Cockerell). To the right rises a clock tower with triple openings to each side and an ogee dome above. The east side of the northern service range displays mullioned windows to each floor with hood-moulds over, and four gables with kneelers and ball-finials; the northern return has twin gables. A stone fretted parapet runs in front of the entrance, with a mounting block to the left of the door.

The south garden front shows, to the right, twin gables each with two-storey canted bays with battlemented parapets, and a two-gable return with tall projecting ground floor extension. A three-bay continuation extends west with a door set within mullioned windows and, to the left, a projecting ten-light bay window. Beyond this stands a single-storey conservatory with densely mullioned windows beneath a fretted parapet. The ballroom extension follows, with a large gable to each elevation: the south elevation has a two-storey canted bay, and the west elevation a tall projecting twelve-light window with parapet above. The roofline features decorative chimneys and finials. The rear of the east and west ranges is irregular and altered. A pierced stone balustrade runs over a low wall in front of the east (entrance) elevation.

The interior contains a double-height octagonal entrance hall with a Gothic fireplace, compartmented ceiling and arched openings. Corridors lead to principal reception rooms along the south front. The south-east room is panelled to picture rail height with a Louis XV style marble chimneypiece; the room to its west is 18th-century in style with a classical chimneypiece featuring carved oakleaves. The dining room is Jacobean in style, with an elaborate two-stage chimneypiece, arcaded panelling and Jacobean plasterwork to the ceiling. The ballroom displays elaborate Jacobean decoration with an elaborate compartmented plasterwork ceiling bearing the Miles coat of arms at its centre, and an eclectic column-flanked chimneypiece with decorative tilework, beaten copper hood and a Jacobean frieze. The open well oak staircase is Jacobean in inspiration, with heavy newel posts, uprights in the form of tapering pedestals and heavy hand rails; above is a glazed lantern. Upper rooms retain some fireplaces, joinery and plasterwork.

The Burton Hill estate was sold off in parts during the 1830s. John Cockerell (1785–1869), manager of the Sun Life Assurance Company and brother of the renowned architect, had acquired the house and 35 acres by 1839 and commissioned his brother to design a new house in 1842. Charles Robert Cockerell (1788–1863) was one of the leading architects of his day, serving as Surveyor to St Paul's Cathedral, architect to the Bank of England, and Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy; he was the first recipient of the RIBA gold medal in 1848. A major fire in 1846 destroyed much of the building, but rebuilding is thought to have commenced soon after, presumably following Cockerell's original designs. By 1849 the property had passed to the Miles family; the first owner, C.W. Miles, was Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1856. The estate was sold in 1919, and in 1945 the house was taken over by the Shaftesbury Society and converted to a school.