Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 21 September 2021 to update name and address and description, add a reference to selected sources and to reformat the text to current standards

ST 6654
4/14

Midsomer Norton
HIGH STREET (north side)
The Hollies
Midsomer Norton Bath and North East Somerset Council

(Formerly listed as No 19 (Council Offices))

19.5.50

GV
II*
A house, now offices, of mid-late C18 date, in the Palladian style.

MATERIALS: the building is of ashlar construction with a slate roof, it has ashlar chimney stacks with moulded caps at the gable ends.

EXTERIOR: the building comprises of three storeys and a basement. It is five windows wide and has glazing bar sash windows in rusticated surrounds; those to ground and first floor are six-over-six panes and those to the second floor have three-over-three panes.

To the centre is a square-headed doorway, with a Gibbs surround and a moulded open pediment on brackets; it has four steps which lead up to a later half-glazed six-panel door.

The front elevation has a plinth, rusticated angle pilasters (French quoins), a moulded cornice and a plain parapet. There is a lead rain-water pipe with a conical rain-water head to the left hand (west) gable.

There is a top-lit, single- storey, library wing, to the left which dates to around 1900, this has four pairs of arched windows.

The rear of the building has a central stair gable (this is a late survival) and a long two storey rendered and tiled outer wing to the left. There is a large 1980s extension connected to the rear.

There are local stone quadrant walls to the High Street which have a wrought iron overthrow with the lettering "Norton-Radstock Urban District Council".

INTERIOR: the interior of the building retains a number of original features including cornices and moulded plaster panels. There is a fine mid-C18 staircase and a good early C18 doorcase (now enclosed by a later lobby to the rear) with an architrave surround, carved brackets and an enriched Vitruvian scroll frieze.

HISTORY: this building was originally called the 'Mansion House' or the 'Grey House' and was a private residence set in 10 acres of park land. In 1937 it was sold it to Norton Radstock Urban District Council. It is similar to work by the Patys (architect/builders in Bristol).

Listing NGR: ST6647254206

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531054

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments