The Woodlands And Attached Railings

The Woodlands is a villa, now used as offices, built between 1809 and 1820, as indicated on the Post Office Map of 1820. It features pinkish-brown brick in English garden wall bond, with stucco on the front and sides, a hipped slate roof, a rear brick stack, and cast- and wrought-iron railings and porch. The building is L-shaped with a service range infill.

The exterior has two storeys above a basement, with three first-floor windows. The first floor has 6/6 sash windows, while the ground floor has 8/8 sashes, all with plain reveals and sills. The basement contains 3/3 sashes. The central entrance is approached by a flight of replacement roll-edged steps leading to double 6-panel doors flanked by sidelights and a fanlight featuring teardrop and circle glazing bars. The right return and rear have 6/6 and 3/3 ogee-headed sashes, and the left return has a canted bay window with a 6/6 sash between two 2/2 sashes. Decorative ogeed barge-boards adorn the eaves, and the rear has a basket arch to the basement, which is now infilled.

Inside, the stair hall features an elliptical arch and an open-well staircase with stick balusters, a wreathed handrail, and carved tread ends. The room to the right contains a built-in Regency mahogany cabinet, and the windows have panelled shutters.

Notable subsidiary features include stick balusters on the sides of the steps, a porch with trellis-work panels that may be the earliest cast panels in Cheltenham, spearhead forecourt railings, and a window box on the canted bay with scroll motifs. Historically, this building may have originally been a mill and is situated at a prominent corner site at the junction of Rodney Road and Regent Street.