Rodney Lodge With Attached Railings And Gate

Rodney Lodge is a villa, now used as a college, built in 1809 for Robert Hughes, with later additions and alterations. The building features a stucco exterior over brick and a slate roof with brick stacks. The plan consists of three rooms deep, with a service range at the rear and a stairwell on the right side.

The villa stands two storeys high with attics and has three first-floor windows. Notable stucco detailing includes four full-height fluted pilasters with decorative acanthus capitals at the ends and between the windows, a frieze, and a cornice. The gable end is decorated with two pilaster strips and ramped angles, along with copings. The central first-floor window is a 6/6 sash, while the ground floor features a replacement 2/1 sash on the right; the rest are blind openings with plain reveals and sills. The central entrance has a six-panel door with side-lights, a Greek key frieze, and a fanlight with radial glazing, all within a distyle Ionic porch that includes an architrave, cornice, and blocking course. The right return has round-arched roof dormers with casement windows and 6/6 sashes. The left return features seven first-floor windows, three of which are in a full-height bow that is curved in section. All windows are 6/6 sashes, with blind boxes remaining on the ground floor of the bow, and there are wide eaves supported by brackets. The right return also has an additional entrance with a six-flush-panel door and overlight.

Inside, the villa retains original joinery, including panelled shutters, double doors to the hall with margin-lights and a fanlight in a fluted architrave with fleurons. The cornices feature an acanthus motif, and the room with the bow includes a Regency fireplace.

The property is complemented by scrolled railings on the right and a gate with arrowhead bars. Historically, it is located next to the site of the Assembly Rooms and is depicted on the Post Office Map of 1820 and clearly visible on Merrett's Map of 1834. It is recognized as a distinguished villa design.