Southfield House And Garden Wall

Southfield House is a detached house, likely built around 1732 and extended in the 19th century. It was formerly used as a rectory. The house is constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with a red tile roof and brick stacks. It has an asymmetrical, “H” shaped plan, with a double pile and a 19th-century infill section at the rear, and a projecting porch added to the south-east front. The building is two storeys and has an attic, with a cellar beneath the north-west side.

The facade is composed of a 1:1:1 window rhythm, with symmetrical wings extending forward on either side of the entrance. Most windows are 16-pane sashes with flush frames. A moulded string course runs between the ground and first floors. The central entrance has four stone steps leading up to a glazed door, sheltered by a small canopy with wooden brackets and slatted wooden shutters. Above the door is a large four-pane plate glass sash window flanked by smaller marginal sashes. A two-light hipped roof dormer sits above the entrance. The south-east front features a 12-pane sash with horns on the lower left and a tall three-light stairwell window with wooden mullions and transoms to the right. A central 19th-century porch has a hipped roof and a double part-glazed door on the left-hand wall, which in turn contains a large, partly glazed 18th-century door with wide glazing bars and two fielded panels at the bottom. Two Venetian sash windows are present on the first floor to the right.

On the north-west front, two segmental stone steps lead to an 18th-century six-panel door within a moulded surround, topped by an eight-pane light. A segmental pediment sits above the door. Wood-mullioned cross windows with glazing bars and segmental relieving arches are also present. The roof is hipped with a modillion cornice, projecting gable ends and axial stacks.

Inside, the front right-hand room features 18th-century fielded panelling, a modillion cornice, and an 18th-century fireplace. A barley-twist balustrade defines an early to mid-18th century open-well staircase, with two balusters per tread, newels formed from four balusters arranged in a square. A dog-leg back staircase is present with a closed string and turned balusters. On the first floor, a large room to the right of the main staircase (later subdivided) retains a modillion cornice with alternating rosettes. A grey marble fireplace has a lugged surround, egg and dart moulding, a pulvinated frieze, a lugged over-mantel with a swan-necked pediment and a burning torch at the center.

The garden wall, constructed of brick, is up to 5 meters high on the north side. An entrance to a garden store, with a plank door set within a brick Gibbs surround with a triangular pediment and dentil decoration, is located at the eastern corner of the garden. Two square gate piers, topped with thin limestone cappings (the opening between the piers is now blocked), stand opposite the porch on the south-east front. The south corner of the wall has two plank doors -- one leading to a small dove house landing and the other providing access. Two access holes are present halfway up the door on both the south and rear walls.

The site was previously occupied by a house called Lower House in 1641. The current north-west walls likely incorporate the footings of this earlier structure. The house was rebuilt in the 18th century by the Hayward family. Cellars were not inspected at the time of listing.