Thirlestaine House (Cheltenham College) With Attached Railings And 2 Lamp Posts

Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham College, with attached railings and two lamp posts

This house, now part of Cheltenham College, is a grade I listed Neo-Classical villa with attached railings and lamp posts positioned to the rear. The central portion was built in 1823 by J.R. Scott for himself at a cost of approximately £70,000 to £80,000 (the date is recorded over the entrance). A wing to the left was added in 1840 by Lord Northwick to serve as a Picture Gallery, housing his celebrated collection of paintings.

The building is constructed of ashlar over brick with a slate roof. The north-west elevation presents the principal façade, which comprises a main range of two storeys containing nine first-floor windows, flanked by single tall-storey wings with projecting end ranges. The main range is articulated with a stepped plinth surmounted by Doric pilasters rising through both floors, with a crowning frieze, architrave and cornice that continues around the entire building. A central giant portico of four fluted Ionic columns supports a pediment. The first floor is lit by 6/6 sash windows in tooled architraves, while the ground floor features tall 1/1 sashes, also in tooled architraves with cornices; all windows sit in plain reveals with sills. The entrance comprises steps leading to central twentieth-century double glazed doors with a cornice surround supported on consoles. The wings are connected to the main range by a convex block with niches to the left and a block with two sculpted panels to the right. The plinth displays horizontal rustication. The left wing is fenestrated with 6/6 sashes in tooled architraves with cornices, and features an upper-stage band above which run panels of sculpted reliefs. The south-east side displays a central Ionic porte-cochere to a breakforward, with engaged full-height Doric pillars in antis; the entablature is surmounted by a parapet to the centre. Windows throughout are 6/6 sashes where original, all set in tooled architraves; those to the ground floor carry frieze and cornice mouldings. The returns are decorated with panels of relief ornament copied from the Parthenon frieze.

The interior demonstrates exceptional decorative richness throughout. The entrance hall features a full Ionic order, modelled on the Temple of Dionysus at Teos, with a deeply coved ceiling ornamented with rosettes and punctuated by a sculptured plaque of Antinous positioned above the saloon doorway. The saloon, occupying the centre of the front, is articulated with window architraves featuring pilasters and a deep acanthus moulding cornice; it contains two grey marble fireplaces and two-panel doors with guilloche moulding in pilastered architraves. A rectangular open-well staircase features a bronze and iron balustrade with elongated-S balusters ornamented with acanthus and a wreathed handrail, with attic features applied with unusual deftness.

The Picture Gallery contains two sculpted friezes of horsemen copied from the Parthenon, Athens. Its deep cornice displays acanthus leaves and egg-and-dart moulding, and the full-length raised roof is deeply coved with side windows providing top lighting and ceiling roses. Entrances at each end feature double panelled doors with pilasters to the sides and round-arched blind fanlights in tooled architraves. A black marble fireplace with scroll sides is a focal point. The gallery connects to a circular print room and library retaining fitted bookshelves with inlay and guilloche moulding; the cornice displays decorative plasterwork with guilloche, acanthus and palm fronds. A domed roof with scalloped panes surrounds a central skylight, and a niche for a statue accommodates shelves for urns or busts positioned above doors. Panelled shutters are moulded with guilloche ornament, and skirting boards carry a Greek key motif. Other details throughout are reputed to follow those at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, all executed to an outstanding standard of craftsmanship.

The subsidiary features comprise railings with central bobbins adjoining the rear porte-cochere for approximately 8 metres to each side, extending to lamp posts with barleytwist columns mounted on lion tripod bases.

The house was erected by Scott but purchased whilst unfinished upon his death by Lord Northwick, who completed the building and added the picture gallery, subsequently opened to the public. Rowe characterised it as "by far the noblest private mansion of which Cheltenham can boast". Thirlestaine House represents the culmination of the Cheltenham villa type and remains the sole surviving example of the grand villa within the town that compares favourably with the most outstanding examples of this type throughout the country. Its internal decoration is particularly notable for its diversity and quality, evidently providing models for some of the more ambitious villas in the town, including No.83 Pittville Lawn and Thirlestaine House on Thirlestaine Road. It forms a good group with Thirlestaine House Cottages, the south boundary wall of Thirlestaine House with garden feature, Kew Place, and the Garden Lodge with north boundary wall and pier to Thirlestaine House on Thirlestaine Road.