Broadlands House (Cheltenham And Gloucester College)

Broadlands House, now Cheltenham and Gloucester College, is a villa dating to approximately 1833-60. It is constructed of stucco over brick, with a hipped slate roof. The building is two storeys high with a basement and attic, and has three windows on the first floor. The stucco detailing includes a plinth, quoins to the angles, a moulded first-floor band, a moulded frieze, and cornices on console brackets to the ground-floor windows. The front facade features windows with tooled architraves. A central entrance is accessed by a flight of six roll-edged steps leading to a four-panel door, which has an upper round-arched fielded panel, round-arched sidelights, and a cambered overlight with margin-lights and coloured glass. The entrance is within a solid porch with a round-arched opening on imposts, a tooled arch to the head, Doric pilasters to the angles, a tooled frieze, a dentil cornice, and a blocking course. Round-arched windows are located on the sides of the porch. Most windows are original two-over-two sashes. Wide eaves are supported by brackets, and gabled attic dormers interrupt the eaves, each containing a one-over-one sash window. The returns and rear of the building have five first-floor windows, and two-over-two sashes to the first floor and one-over-one sashes to the ground floor. Blind boxes and louvred shutters remain to the rear and left return. A conservatory to the rear interrupts three ground-floor windows.

The interior retains contemporary fittings, including an open-well staircase with iron balusters featuring ornate scrolled balusters and a wreathed handrail, ceiling cornices and roses, and shutters. A painted Egyptian frieze in the hall is partially covered by paper. The Park, where Broadlands House is situated, was originally laid out by Thomas Billings in 1833, incorporating an oval tree-lined drive and a central park that briefly became a zoological garden in the mid-19th century. Samuel Daukes continued development of the area from 1839, influenced by the design for Regent’s Park in London. The house was originally known as Fulwood House until 1895, and previous owners included General C Fuller and Surgeon Major J Newton. During the Second World War, it was owned by St Mary's College and occupied by the Ministry of Labour.