Winson Manor

WINSON THE GREEN SP 0808-0908 (west side) 9/255 Winson Manor (previously listed as Manor House) 23.1.52 GV II* Country house. c1740 for Richard Howse, Surgeon-General to the Army; c1800 internal alterations. Ashlar limestone; coursed rubble to sides and rear; rendered chimneys; stone slate roof. Classical. Three-storey with cellars; compact rectangular plan with central stair hall. East front: fine facade with fenestration 1:3:1, central break forward with pediment containing keyed oeil de boeuf in tympanum. Sash fenestration, 12-pane to ground and middle floors, with Gibbs surrounds to ground floor; moulded architraves to middle floor, central sash with keyed shaped architrave; 6-pane upper floor sashes with moulded architraves, shaped at centre, all to lower floors with bracketed sills. Central doorway with Gibbs surround having flat cornice; 6-panel fielded door having Gothic glazing bars to light over. Alternating chamfered quoins; plain plinth and floor level bands; modillion cornice with plain parapet. South side: 2-window fenestration as to front but with plain architraves. Modillion cornice and bands continued from front. Small doorway to left of fenestration has flat timber porch hood on brackets and 6-panel door; flight of stone steps. Recent slate inscription above doorway by Bryant Fedden: 'FORTVNATVS ET ILLE DEOS QVI NOVIT AGRESTIS / PANAQVE SILVANVMQVE SENEM NYMPHASQVE SORORES'. Double hipped roof visible from this side. North side: banding but no parapet cornice. Irregularly placed fenestration includes 18-pane upper floor sash and recessed chamfered mullioned casement to ground floor with timber plaque above: 'DAIRY'. Rear: banded with scattered fenestration, some sashes, some 2-light casements, one to upper floor with plaque 'CHEESE ROOM' below. C19 single- storey service wing has glazed lantern; larger single-storey wing could be an earlier building than the present house, later altered to form kitchen. Linked to service wing, running parallel to north side is south-facing 4-bay arcade with tapering rubble piers and knee braces to timber lintels. Interior: small open well staircase hall with 2 turned balusters per tread, bracketed strings, swept handrails and columnar newels. Matching but rather plain dado. Many rooms have bold modillion cornices. Mixture of mid C18 and Regency fireplaces. Chinese style balustrading to back stair. A well-proportioned, although small, classical house in which James Gibbs may have been involved as the client, Richard Howse, would have known Gibbs in connection with St Bartholomew's Hospital. (D. Verey, Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: SP0908308680