The Lodge, Loudwater

Gatekeeper’s lodge to Rayners House. Built around 1874 and designed by the architect Arthur Vernon for Sir Philip Rose.

MATERIALS: external walls of white Suffolk and blue brick dressings together with knapped flintwork panels; Pethers’ patent design buff bricks used for further ornamentation in the strings, arches and cornices; red clay tiles to the roofs.

PLAN: the compact building has two floors including two principal rooms to the ground floor and three rooms to the first floor in an offset ‘T’ plan; C20 extension to the rear; attached porch includes integrated gate pier.

EXTERIOR: all windows and entrances, apart from those to the early C20 extension, have cambered heads with moulded bricks in the lintels with floral motifs. A wide moulded brick fleur-de-lis banding running from stringcourse to sill level encompasses the building between floors and further decorative bands, including moulded egg and dart stringing, below the eaves.The roof is half-hipped with a central moulded chimney of four diagonal stacks.

The south entrance front, facing London Road, has a large tripartite bay window at ground floor and a two-light window above.

The east front faces the historic driveway to Rayners House. To the ground floor are four single light windows. To the first floor are two two-light dormer windows each with chevron ornament in the gables above.

The ground floor of the east front is dominated by the brick porch which sits asymmetrically on the elevation with one single light window to the left. The porch, now enclosed, includes decorative floral bricks to the lintels both to the exterior and to the interior space.

Integrated into the porch is a buttressed gate pier with stepped copings of blue bricks. To the south and east sides, the same linear pattern of three fleur-de-lis bricks to the base and one at the pinnacle is replicated. On the east side, an iron hook remains.

The north side of the lodge has a tripartite window to the ground floor and a two-light window above. To the right is the projecting rear wing with two small ground-floor windows, and then the west extension.

The west (rear) elevation has a later single-storey gabled extension to the ground floor of similar brick and flint construction. The rear wing has a two-light window to the first floor and chevron ornamentation to the gable.

INTERIOR: the iron bell pull for the gate remains adjacent to the interior entrance door as does the bell located within the primary living room. The rooms to each floor are plain but there are some four-panel doors. On the ground floor, there is a modest fireplace to the primary living room and an ornate painted fireplace to the second living room where the staircase (replaced) is located. On the first floor, two bedrooms have simple fireplaces with cast-iron register grates.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached to the south elevation is a dwarf wall with diamond-shaped openings and blue brick coping.