Grove House

GROVE HOUSE, EAST WORLINGTON

A detached house, probably built in the 1840s. The building is now believed to have been erected by the Hosegood family, who owned it until 1892; it then passed to the Burrow family until 1989. It was mapped as Grove Cottage on the Ordnance Survey map of 1889, at which time it was a smallholding surrounded by gardens and orchards, much as it remains today.

The house is constructed with a rubble core covered in 20th-century roughcast, with slate roof (replaced in the early 21st century) and brick end stacks. It follows a rectangular plan with a 19th-century extension to the north-west, which was heightened in the late 20th century, and late 20th-century extensions to the north-east and west.

The two-storey building presents its principal elevation to the south, which is three bays wide. A central 6-panelled door, believed to be original, sits above two granite steps with rounded nosings and is topped by a glazed transom light; a Doric portico is a late 20th-century addition. The elevation contains five window openings with original sashes of six-over-six panes with narrow marginal lights; some original glass survives. To the north-west, a single-storey rubble outshut was given a rendered second storey in the late 20th century; the lower-storey windows have been replaced.

The interior retains several original features. A central dog-leg staircase has a turned starting newel, stick balusters and a ramped handrail. The five rooms to the front retain some original joinery, including doors; the western ground-floor front room has shutters, and the eastern front rooms on both ground and first floors contain fitted cupboards. The fireplaces have been replaced and decorative plasterwork is new. The rear parts have undergone substantial alteration, with extensions at ground and first-floor levels. The former kitchen to the north-west has been subdivided, as has the former pantry to the north-east. The former lean-to scullery to the north-west has been considerably altered with no original features remaining. The original king-post roof structure has seen some alteration and timber replacement.

To the north of the house stands a courtyard with cob walls on a high rubble plinth to the east and west, with openings in both walls; the north wall, featuring a wide opening, is thought to have been rebuilt. All courtyard walls have renewed slate capping. The north part of the courtyard was once occupied by a barn, now removed in the late 20th century, with its former extent marked by the courtyard perimeter. A stone building entered from the courtyard to the west is a late 20th-century remodelling of a small lean-to shed. A stone garage to the north-east of the site replaces a former shed; neither is of special interest.