Description

ST 76 NW KELSTON KELSTON PARK

4/108 Kelston Park and adjoining Service
Wing and Coach-house and South
1.2.56 Retaining Wall

G.V. II*

Country house. Circa 1760's by John Wood, the Younger, of Bath for Sir Caesar
Hawkins, physician to the King. Ashlar with a hipped slate roof (now tarred)
behind a parapet and moulded cornice; ashlar stacks with cornice. 2 storeys,
basement and attics. 2:1:2 bays: the centre projects slightly and is
surmounted by a pediment. Glazing bar sash windows in moulded architraves, with
cornice and cill on brackets on ground floor; the central first floor window is
tripartite and has a central swan-neck pediment. Central projecting porch of
paired Tuscan columns with alternate blocking stones, plain frieze, cornice and
balustraded parapet; central panelled door in round-headed opening. To the
right is a 3 storey, single bay section which links the house to the service wing
and coach-house. The north elevation of the service wing and coach-house
consists of two 2 storey and 4 bay blocks of ashlar with hipped slate roofs
set back behind a parapet and cornice; glazing bar sash windows, some blocked
to the left. The blocks are linked by single storey wings and a central archway
with imposts and keystones, surmounted by a broken pediment. The west elevation
of the coach-house has 2:3:2 bays; the centre 3 bays are advanced and are
surmounted by a pediment which has a circular window in the tympanum; glazing
bar sash windows on first floor; 3 round-headed coach entries to the centre and
2-light round-headed casement window and a panelled door under an overlight to
the sides. The east elevation of the coach-house is similar but it has a central
panelled door flanked by round-headed 2-light casements. The south elevation of
the house has 5 bays: glazing bar sash windows in architraves with frieze and
cornice on ground floor and later blind boxes. The ground floor is reached from
a terrace which has a rusticated retaining pierced by 4 arches; central flight
of steps and balustraded parapets with panelled piers. Set back 2 storey
linking block (with a Venetian window on the ground floor) at left adjoins the
south elevations of service wing and coach-house. These elevations consist of
outer blocks with 4 glazing bar sash windows and central block, slightly recessed,
but with an advanced centre to the first floor which has a Venetian window under
a pediment. Interior. Most of the original plasterwork, fireplaces and doors
survive. Entrance Hall: 2 Ionic columns at top of stairs; enriched dentilled
cornice; raised and fielded panel doors in lugged architraves with open
pediments; cantilever dog-leg stair with enriched cast-iron balustrade. Lounge
(drawing room) to south: panelled plaster ceiling with a circular centre and a
modillioned cornice; walls with moulded dado and wall panels and pier glasses;
enriched carved fireplace with Corinthian columns and an overmantel with a
landscape scene; through an archway with paired Ionic columns and enriched swags
is an inner room with a dentilled cornice and a second fireplace with overmantel.
Library or office to north-east: panelled ceiling with an octagonal centre and a
modillioned cornice, much guilloche moulding; marble fireplace and carved
surround. The four main bedrooms on the first floor each retain moulded
cornices and enriched fireplaces, two with overmantels (one bearing a portrait).

Listing NGR: ST7025766125

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26263456

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)