Description

WEYMOUTH

SY6778SW WYKE ROAD
873-1/26/413 (North side)
18/06/70 No.4
Ashton House
(Formerly Listed as:
WYKE ROAD
Nos.4 AND 6)

GV II

House in short row, formerly 2 dwellings. 1820-1840. Smooth
rendered, slate roof. A villa in Greek Revival style, with
4-bay central block, stepped-back bay at each end, and lower
range to the right; the entrance and staircase are to the
right, at the junction between the two main ranges.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys and basement, but developing full 4
storeys at the rear, as the site slopes steeply away from the
road.
Windows mainly sashes, the central block has two 12-pane and
two 4-pane to the eaves, above deep 15-pane taken to floor at
first floor, and with a full-width balcony, the wrought-iron
railing returned at the ends. At ground floor is one 16-pane
and one plain sash, with 3-light casements to the basement,
one of these enclosed in a contemporary cast-iron railing.
The set-back bay to the left has plain sashes and a door. The
lower range has a blind window.
The bold portico, on 5 Portland stone steps with nosings, has
paired fluted Doric columns in antis, and full column responds
to the pair of 4-panel doors, and a full entablature, to a
flat roof. The main hipped roof to deep plain eaves has a
central ridge stack, and there are further stacks to the left
gable end, and to the rear eaves of the low range, which has a
form of parapet to the front. A high plinth, to the level of
the portico steps, a first floor moulded band, plain second
floor band, and moulded band to the set-backs The right gable
has a low-pitched closed pediment, above two 12-pane sashes at
each level, and a basement entry hatch in the deep plinth, to
the right.
The back includes 4 wide-spaced sashes at eaves level above
two 2-storey oriels, flanked by long 24-pane staircase
windows, and the lower range has a 15-pane above a blind light
and a 16-pane sash.
INTERIOR: partly inspected. Original 6-panel doors in moulded
architraves generally remain, but fireplaces have been removed
from the principal rooms. Opposite the portico is a fine
full-height geometrical staircase, rising in a semicircular

well with deep niches; the open strings have scrolled
tread-ends, and the stick balustrade has a wreathed mahogany
handrail; the second staircase was not seen.
The basement has 3 wide brick-vaulted compartments on cobble
floors to the front, with a transverse passage at the rear
ceiled with stone carried on a series of close-set (0.15m)
iron camber bars, and incorporating small set-in solid glass
bullseye pavement lights, usually in groups of 3 to each 1m
along the passage.
The house, now in institutional use, is the most impressive of
a group, comprising Nos 4 and 8-14 (qqv), built as Belfield
Terrace, on the principal road from Melcombe Regis to Wyke
Regis. The unusual treatment of the cellar ceiling is not
explained.
(RCHME: Dorset, South-East: London: 1970-: 346).

Listing NGR: SY6732778421

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26440974

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

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)