Description

WILSFORD CUM LAKE WILSFORD
SU 13 NW
(east side)

8/218 Wilsford House
15.4.87
II*
House. 1904-6, by Detmar Blow, for Sir Edward Tennant (Lord
Glenconnor). Flint and chalkstone chequerwork, with stone slate
roofs. Rear wing similar but irregular chequerwork and thatched
roof. Two storeys, and tall attic storey. Rectangular plan with
inset central section on north-west and single storey service wing
to north-east, entrance side. Each facade has 3 steeply pitched
moulded gables terminating in trefoiled finials to attic storey.
North-west has a low central 6-panelled door with monolithic lintel
inscribed ET 1906 and 3-light overlight flanked by windows in the
recessed section. Four-light stone-mullioned and transomed
windows with rebated chamfers and no labels throughout. South-
west front has central oriel with central half-round glazed light
set over secondary entrance. South-east front has half-glazed
panelled door and segmental canopy on carved consoles. Ashlar
stacks. Service wing has irregular windows and 3 flush dormers.
Interior: North-west door leads to large reception hall opening to
an open well stair to rear, a handsome wide structure of late C17
design with heavy handrail and baluster newels - in limed oak, said
to have been reconstructed from an imported stair.
Shallow arches with finials. Dining room to right of hall has
coved ceiling and marble fireplace. Corridor to south door has
groined plaster vaults. Rooms to south-east front also have
marble fireplaces. Secondary stair has counter turned spiral
balusters, also in limed oak, and varied panelling throughout.
First floor rooms have cornices and marble fireplaces. Attics
constructed of heavy quasi-crucks and king posts of oak, set at
right angles at each corner of building providing round circulation
from top of great stair. Wall construction approximately lm
thick, carrying solid floors, perhaps of fire resisting concrete as
Happisburgh House.
The building is one of the few surviving relatively unaltered works
by Detmar Blow, who was related to his client. It is a prime
example of his careful and finely detailed design. It was
inherited by the Hon. Stephen Tennant (1906-1987), poet, painter
and aesthete, in 1927 and decorated by him and his friends for his
circle, which included E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, and Siegfried
Sassoon. The interior decor is a unique and splendid reflection
of the man and his times.
Country Life, 29th Sept 1906; Recent English Domestic Architecture,
1908) 1. 7, 57-9. J. Franklin: The Gentleman's Country House
and its Plan, (1981), 33, 64 and 269.)

Listing NGR: SU1341939741

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17542877

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

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)