Former tea room at Priding Farm

Former tea room at Priding Farm

This is a timber-framed building on a brick plinth with painted timber cladding, arranged as a long rectangle orientated approximately east-west.

The building is a single-storey range of seven bays with a pitched roof. A high brick plinth rises to just under the windows, which sit between raised and fielded timber panelling. Above the windows are diamond-shaped panels with applied timber motifs. The south elevation features six-over-six horned sashes, with a central bay containing half-glazed double doors and matching over-door light, both with coloured margin glazing. The east end has a central entrance doorway with a flush-fielded four-panel door, flanked by high multi-pane windows with arched glazing and coloured glass to the spandrels, and a similarly-glazed over-door light. The north side has had part of its timber cladding replaced with plain upright cladding, and a six-panelled door occupies the central bay. Some windows on the north elevation, which are squarer than those to the south, have been replaced with Perspex glazing. All elevations have decorative barge boards to the eaves. The roof is covered in corrugated metal sheeting, and a square brick stack with a moulded top rises from the apex at the western end.

The interior is a single undivided space. The roof is ceiled below the collar and clad in timber along its length. The brick plinth is exposed and whitewashed, with a timber cill running along the length of each side at wall-top height. At the western end is a central painted fireplace with a segmental arched opening and black and green floral tile inserts, its mantel shelf supported on wide moulded brackets. The fireplace has a very high and elaborate mirrored timber overmantel with narrow shelves between Doric columns and a moulded cornice, rising almost to the ceiling.

The interior walls are timber-clad and painted in oils under wax varnish, with scenes contained within painted panels. The background colour is pastel pink, outlined in cream. The large panels on the building's long sides depict topographical scenes including Windsor Great Park with Windsor Castle, Burnham Beeches, Llandaff with its cathedral, St Bride's near Newport, boats at Yarmouth, and St Michael's Mount. Two large panels show classical female figures in architectural settings in the manner of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Panels above each window and door feature maritime scenes. Around the chimneypiece and the door at the opposite end, shallow fielded panels are painted with botanical subjects, each depicting a different plant or flower. The four-panelled door also has painted scenes within each panel.