CIU Holiday and Convalescent Centre

CIU Holiday and Convalescent Centre

A large Gothic house of three storeys with attic, built in coursed rock-faced Pennard stone with Bath freestone dressings and local red sandstone banding. The roof is slate with tiled cresting, overhanging eaves and rubble stacks.

The entrance front faces east down the drive. The building was originally two storeys and three bays with a central tower, later enlarged and now four bays. The dominant feature is a five-stage tower to the left of centre, with a porch occupying the lower stage. The porch doorway has a two-centred head, two orders of chamfer and one order of corbelled shafts to the imposts. Above are sash windows with polychrome pointed heads and blind quatrefoils in the tympana, set within red sandstone impost bands. The upper tower window is two-light with quatrefoil tracery. An embattled ashlar parapet crowns the tower with rounded corner tourelles. The bays to the right and left of the tower have paired sash windows with similar surrounds and banding. The centre-right bay contains a sash window within an attic gablet, while the right-hand bay has a gabled roof dormer. To the left of the tower is an external stack bearing a tablet recording the opening of the CIU home in 1922, with sash windows to its left.

The eleven-bay south front is asymmetrical, resulting from an extension by Norton. The division between the original and extended sections lies beside the right-hand splayed bay. Most gabled dormers have bargeboards with punched roundels; the windows below have surrounds and banding matching the east front. The windows have been recently replaced with modern top-hung casements, the originals being horned sashes. The capital carving is varied, depicting animals and foliage, with one possibly bearing a builder's monogram. Beginning at the right, the front features an advanced gabled bay, a taller similar bay approximately at the middle, and a splayed bay halfway between with dormer to the hipped roof. Another splayed bay sits midway between the central gable and the end tower. The round end tower rises four storeys with four windows to each storey and a pyramidal lead roof with finial.

The rear elevations are simpler, with windows set in brick surrounds. Recently replaced windows are now uPVCu.

The porch opens into a top-lit stairwell with full Gothic detail, including screens to each landing with pierced aprons. The stairs have openwork balusters with quatrefoils and cusped arches, moulded strings and an octagonal newel bearing Crawshay arms. To the left is the library, which features a coved cornice and ceiling roses. Broad Gothic-panelled doors connect this to the open lounge and have chamfered piers and crenellations. The open lounge has a similar cornice and contains a white marble chimney piece. Beyond lies the writing room, which displays unusual cornice and plasterwork detail; the elaborate pelmet and chimney piece top share a similar design. Doors here have triangular heads. The long main lounge beyond belongs to the later hotel enlargement and lacks distinctive detail. A barrel-vaulted brick wine cellar occupies the large basement beneath the east end of the house.