Montagu House and Montagu Lodge, Beccles, Suffolk

Summary

Townhouse, built in the mid-C18 and extended in the late C18, early C19 and mid-C19; later divided into two dwellings in 1988.

Description

Townhouse, built in the mid-C18 and extended in the late C18, early C19 and mid-C19; later divided into two dwellings in 1988.

MATERIALS: Montagu House has a pantile covering to the roof of its front (west) range, and a slate covering to its rear (east) range; its walls are constructed of red brick, with gault brick to the rear bowed extension. Montagu Lodge is of red brick with a pantile roof covering.

PLAN: Montagu House is roughly rectangular on plan facing west to Northgate, with a bowed garden elevation to the rear (east). Montagu Lodge is also roughly rectangular on plan and is terraced between 62 and 64 Northgate.

EXTERIOR: Montagu House was constructed in the mid-C18 as a five-bay two-storey house with attics and a basement. The roof of the mid-C18 (west) range is hipped with a pantile covering to the majority and slate covering to its rear slope, two attic dormers to its front and rear slopes, and substantial red brick chimneystacks to its north and south ends. The walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with a high red-brick parapet and chamfered rusticated brick quoins to the corners. The central three bays break forward slightly and have a triangular pediment to the parapet; photographic evidence shows a blocked window opening either side of the pediment, the keystones of which survive. The pediment and first floor both have a modillion cornice. The ground and first floors windows have flat gauged-brick arches containing a central triple keystone, six-over-six timber sash windows, and stone sills. It appears the central bay formerly had a door opening, however this was blocked and replaced by a window, most likely in the early C19. Four cellar window openings with triple keystones survive in the painted brick plinth but have been partially obscured by the gradual rise in pavement level. A red-brick screen wall extends south of the house and is attached to Oswald House to the south, and contains an early-C19 door surround and six-panelled door to the courtyard of Montagu House. The side (south) elevation to the courtyard shows evidence of two phases of extension in the late C18 and early C19. In the corner between the two, an early-C19 porch has a flat-roofed canopy on slender classical columns, and contains double-leaf half-glazed doors and an oblong fanlight with the Montagu coat of arms. The rear (east) range has a hipped roof with a slate roof covering, gault-brick chimneystacks, red-brick walls laid in Flemish bond, and a full-height three-bay bowed extension to the garden, constructed of gault brick around 1822.

Montagu Lodge was constructed in 1860 as a dining room of Montagu House. It has a pitched pantile roof, and red brick walls laid in Flemish bond with a plain modillion cornice imitating that of the mid-C18 house to the south. Two dormer windows were added to the front slope in the late C20, the north dormer replacing a late-C19 dormer. The dining room had two tall round-arched window surrounds containing flat-arched sash windows, and the north one of these survives. The south window surround was blocked and replaced by a six-panelled door with fanlight and steps in the late C19 (the steps were replaced and a handrail introduced in the late C20). A sash window was introduced to the right of the door around 1930. The rear elevation has a single-storey projection, which leans against Montagu House to the south. Four windows were introduced under the roof in the late C20, when a stairs and mezzanine level were installed. A modern single-storey flat-roofed rear extension is under construction (May 2021).

INTERIOR: The interior of Montagu House is accessed via an early-C19 entrance hall with a plain C19 stair. The morning room and drawing room retain fine early-C19 cornicing, wall panelling and fireplaces. The fireplace of the morning room retains a carved wood mantelpiece, stove and marble hearth, and the dining room retains a late-C18 Adams-style fire surround enriched by plaster decoration. The bowed drawing room on the first floor has a richly carved and painted wood ceiling with a carved and gilt cornice, and retains a white marble mantelpiece with marble hearth and kerb. Access to the interior was limited in May 2021.

The interior of Montagu Lodge was much altered in the late C19 when it was adapted for use as a service range, and partition walls were inserted to create a kitchen, scullery, larder and store rooms. This part of Montagu House became a separate dwelling in 1988, and was much altered with planning permission and listed building consent, with a lavatory, bathroom, stairs, mezzanine and first floor introduced. The only original interior features of note to survive are one of the interior window surrounds including internal shutters, and approximately half of the plaster cornice decoration.

History

Montagu House was constructed in the mid-C18 on the east side of Northgate, one of the main historic routes through the market town of Beccles. In the mid-C18, business owners and gentlemen constructed residences on the east side of the road, with detached gardens to the west of the road and the Waveney River below. The first description of the building now known as Montagu House was in 1764, when it was advertised for auction in the Norwich Mercury and described as ‘new built and extremely convenient and handsome, with gardens walled-in and well planted, a stable etc’. In 1776, an auction advertisement described it as ‘commanding extensive and pleasant views for many miles’, and containing ‘three parlours, servants hall, housekeeper’s room, butler’s room, china room, kitchen, store room, brewhouse etc. ten rooms, six bedchambers, dressing rooms and garrets, a large handsome six-stalled stable, coach house for three carriages hay and corn chambers over the same, with two large yards walled in, fine pasture for a certain number of horses and cows, with every convenience for a gentleman of fortune or capital merchant and fit for their immediate reception, the whole being in perfect repair.’ The above description and physical evidence, including survival of late-C18 internal features, suggest the house was redecorated and extended to the rear in the late C18.

In 1821, the house was advertised for sale with a ‘walled-in garden and greenhouse at the back, and another walled-in garden containing about an acre of land across the said street in front of the Mansion, next the River Waveney, well planted with fruit trees. Also about five acres of pastureland across Ravensmere Street, opposite the back of the Mansion and over which, an extensive view from the east windows is commanded to Lowestoft and into Norfolk. Also a very valuable assortment of building materials.’ In 1822, the house, its detached garden fronting the river, and the Ravensmere pasture were purchased by Edward Proudfoot Montagu, a retired naval captain after whom the house is named, and who lived in the house with his family and household staff from 1822 until his wife died in 1859. The house was further extended to the rear (east) shortly after Montagu’s purchase in 1822, with a bow added to the garden elevation, a porch added to the south elevation, and interior remodelled. It is likely that the C18 house had a central entrance from Northgate, opposite the entrance to its gardens, however this was replaced by a window and a formal entrance created via the screen wall and courtyard south of the house in the early C19. The Tithe map of around 1840 shows the formal gardens to the west side of Northgate, the bowed elevation to the garden to the east, and plantation and four acres to the east of the gardens. Following the passing of Montagu’s wife, the house was advertised for sale in 1859 as a ‘family residence in Northgate, consisting of drawing room, handsome apartment with bow windows and looks into pleasure garden; dining room, study, kitchen, butler’s room etc., seven sleeping rooms and three attics, vegetable garden of three quarters of an acre, with frontage of ninety yards at river’s side...’

The house was purchased in 1860 by J K Garrod, as well as a former maltings office across the road, where 51 Northgate now stands. The Garrod family owned the Waveney Tannery, with extensive premises on the west side of Northgate, north-west of the house. Garrod added a double-height dining room to the north of Montagu House, replacing an earlier structure on the same site. Alterations to the brickwork of the front elevation indicate it originally had two tall round-arched window openings to Northgate containing flat-arched sash windows, one of which survives. The dining room was soon adapted as a service wing or ‘domestic offices’, and by the time of the 1882 Town Plan of Beccles, the south window had been replaced by a panelled door and fanlight approached by a short flight of steps. A dormer window was introduced over the north window in the late C19, and is shown in a photograph of 1923 (Frith collection).

Montagu House was advertised for auction in 1912, and the sales catalogue provides a detailed description of the interior features of the ground and first floors, most of which survive today, including an entrance hall, a wood-panelled morning room and dining room with decorative mantelpieces and hearths, a smoking room, a richly ornamented bowed drawing room overlooking the garden, and a number of bedrooms. The ‘domestic offices’ in the former dining room, constructed in 1860, were described in 1912 as containing a large kitchen, scullery, larder, pantry, and store rooms, and the house is also described as having spacious cellars. A window was added to the right of the door of the former dining room around 1930, and is shown in a photograph of the street taken in 1948.

Montagu House was listed at Grade II in 1948. In 1988 planning permission and listed building consent were granted for division of the former dining room from Montagu House (62 Northgate), and the necessary internal and external alterations to create a separate dwelling (Montagu Lodge or 62A Northgate). Alterations included the replacement of the existing dormer and introduction of a second dormer over the front door, introduction of windows to the rear elevation, and stairs, lavatory, bathroom, mezzanine, and first floor to the interior. The steps to the front door were damaged by a car accident in the late C20, and were replaced and railings added.

Reasons for Listing

Montagu House, a former townhouse built in the mid-C18, and extended in the late C18, early C19 and mid-C19, and Montagu Lodge, added in 1860, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* Montagu House is a prominent and architecturally-distinguished mid-C18 townhouse with a pleasingly proportioned composition and classical detailing;
* it retains a high proportion of its C18 and early C19 plan form and classical interior features, including its elegant stair, wall panelling and cornicing, fireplaces, window surrounds, moulded door surrounds and panelled doors;
* Montagu Lodge, the dining room added in 1860 and later adapted as a service wing, contributes to our understanding of the design and function of the townhouse in the mid-C19.

Historic interest:
* Montagu House and Montagu Lodge are located within a significant historic townscape, and make a notable contribution to the rich architectural character and historic evolution of Northgate and Beccles.

Group value:
* they are surrounded by many designated assets with which they have strong group value, including but not limited to Oswald House and The Staithe to the south, and 69 Northgate and 72-78 Northgate to the north (each listed at Grade II).

External Links

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.