Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 23 May 2022 to update text and reformat to current standards

SZ 5892
1/141

PELHAMFIELD
AUGUSTA ROAD
Beldornie Tower

II

Originally a property of the Earls of Yarborough and dating back to the C16 or early C17. Virtually rebuilt however circa 1840 in Gothic-Jacobean style with the addition of a west wing in 1880. Two storeys basement and attic. Rendered and painted. Gable end slate roof.

South entrance front: three gables, saddle stones, Kneelers finials to East and West, the latter being a stepped gable. Three casement windows first floor and oriel to East. Ground floor mullioned and transomed bay window to West; one two light casement with dripstone; large mullioned and transomed window of eight lights to East. Rendered, chamfered, surrounds. Slate roof gabled porch. Ogee arched doorway with dripstone over. Double doors panelled below, four lights above, heavy tracery to pointed fanlight. North front: coursed rubble with ashlar quoins. Rubble basement, possibly part of original house.

The 1880 West wing is set back on this front. At the Western corner of main block: a tall octagonal red brick tower with stucco concave cornice and crenellation, on a rubble base. Part of the tower may also derive from original house. Stepped gable to main block with pendant finials in place of Kneelers.

Casement in gable and one of three lights to first floor, rendered surrounds. Ground floor: large crenellated bay of five lights. Tower has, slit and casement windows in rendered surrounds. West front of main block, between tower and 1880 West wing, of one window. Stepped gable, chimney designed as finial. Ground floor has mullioned and transomed window of four lights in rusticated rendered surround.

The interior is for the most part contemporary with the West wing and later. However it contains some fine late Elizabethan and Jacobean oak panelling introduced in the C19, though parts of it may belong to the original house. The hall has arcaded panels reaching half way up the wall, divided by Ionic fluted pilasters on pedestals, shell motife in the arches and cherubs heads above. The living room has an ornate overmantel dated 1660 though in style it would seem to relate closely to the type of decoration found on the island at Aneton Manor House and Sheat Manor House at Gatcombe, where the panelling dates from the first half of the C17. The carving has an architectural frame-work of Ionic columns and strapwork details with figurative sculpture.

The bookcases in the study have been faced with odd pieces of carving that have been removed from other parts of the house including two figures supposedly of Elizabeth I and Raleigh. Possibly there have been alterations to the over-mantel in the living room as well. The shutters contain panels of grotesque decoration with profile "antique" heads in roundels. The panels may also be C17 through they are quite different from the rest of the carvings in style. The mantlepieces in the study and living room are of French mid C18 type with supertive fronts, of marble.

Listing NGR: SZ5862392912

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26527584

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

• 
  Dorset (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]
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)