Southfield House And Garden Wall

SO 83 SE FORTHAMPTON -

2/35 Southfield House and garden wall 10.1.55

GV II

Detached house cnce used as rectory. Probably built c1732, extended C19. Flemish bond red brick, red tile roof, brick stacks. Asymmetrical 'H'-shaped, double-pile plan with C19 infill between wings at rear, C19 projecting porch from south-east front. Two- storeys and attic, cellar under north-west side of house. 1:1:1 windowed, symmetrical facade single bay wings extending forwards either side of entrance. Mostly 16-pane sash windows with flush frames. Moulded string between ground and first floors. Central glazed door up 4 stone steps with small rectangular canopy supported on wooden brackets over, slatted wooden shutters. Large 4-pane plate glass sash over flanked by marginal sashes. Two-light hipped roof dormer above. South-east front; 12-pane sash with horns lower left. Tall 3-light stairlight with wooden mullions and transoms right. Central C19 porch with hipped roof with double part-glazed door in left-hand wall. Large, part-glazed C18 door within porch with wide glazing bars and 2 fielded panels at bottom. Two Venetian sash windows first floor right. North-west front; 2 segmental stone steps, up to C18 six-panel door, moulded surround continued around 8-pane light above. Segmental pediment over. Wood-mullioned cross windows with glazing bars and segmental relieving arches. Roof; hipped with modillion cornice, projecting gable-end and axial stacks. Interior; C18 fielded panelling in front right-hand room, modillion cornice and C18 fireplace. Early-mid C18 open-well staircase with barley twist balusters, two per tread, newels formed from 4 balusters arranged in square. Early-mid C18 dog-leg back stairs with closed string and turned balusters. First floor; large room right of main stairs (subdivided at a later date) with modillion cornice with alternating rosettes. Grey marble fireplace with lugged surround, egg and dart moulding and pulvinated frieze, lugged over-mantel with swan-necked pediment and burning torch at centre. Subsidiary features: wall around garden; brick wall up to 5m high on north rectangular plan. Entrance to garden store with plank door within brick Gibbs surround with triangular pediment over and dentil decoration at eastern corner of garden. Two square gate piers opposite porch on south-east front, with thin limestone cappings (opening between piers now blocked). Two plank doors at south corner right-hand door to small dove house landing and two access holes half-way up door, single oval access hole in wall right of door, similar hole in rear wall. History; a house known as Lower House existed on this site in 1641. The present alignment of walls on the north-west side of the house probably reuses the footings of part of this house. The house was rebuilt in the C18 by the Hayward family (q.v. monuments in churchyard). Cellars not inspected.

Listing NGR: SO8632532050