Description

1080/17/645

DONNINGTON,
SELSEY ROAD,
ASHBY COTTAGE

(Formerly listed as:
ASHBY COTTAGE, BIRDHAM ROAD.

Previously listed as:
OLD SCHOOL HOUSE, BIRDHAM ROAD)

28-JAN-1986

II

DESCRIPTION: House, c1830, built onto part of an earlier farm building with a 1929 extension added. Believed to have been built by a master carpenter called Charles Fogden. Knapped flint, red brick, rendered cement and slate. It has three rooms on each floor, with the single-storey farm building to the rear divided into several units, and a 1929 garage extension to one side of the original house providing extra first floor rooms above the parking area.

EXTERIOR: The façade is of knapped galetted flint with red brick dressings and quoins, with a later rendered garage extension on the north side. The hipped roof is of slate with a four-pot chimney at its south end, and is steeper and tiled at the north end garage extension. Doors and windows have segmental arches, except those on the garage extension. The right (south) side of the facade has a shallow two-storey bow with sash window over part-glazed doors. The front door is panelled with a curved transom above. Doors and windows are set into the walls with substantial brick reveals, and that part of the roof above the bow segment is set in a fan shape to correspond to the bow below. Also at each end of the front of the main part of the house are two substantial walls, also of knapped galetted flint with red brick dressings, which were designed to support a verandah to first floor level.

The rear (east side) of the building incorporates the earlier farm building which is one-storey and of brick and flint with string courses of random red and grey brick and brick dressings. There is a round arched doorway here and two tall red brick chimneys above the eaves, and to the south a further doorway. The rear of the main part of the house and garage is rendered and has arched sash windows set in regular openings.

The south end of the house is cement rendered, incised to resemble stone, with a small casement window each at ground and first floor levels and a French door with 1950s copper pagoda-like awning. The north end of the house comprises the garage and part of the original house. The wall here has the same rendered finish as that at the south. At this north end the main part of the house has two 3/4 sash windows, one at ground and one at first floor level, arched but in regular openings with reveals and ledges. The north wall of the garage is also rendered and has one small casement window at ground floor level.

INTERIOR: Original features survive including windows, ceilings, the staircase and fireplaces. The drawing room exhibited the most elaborate features, such as bow-fronted French doors opening to the front of the house with an elaborate splayed and panelled wood surround. The glazing bars in the doors are original but the glass was replaced after World War II. The ceiling cornice in this room has a leaf motif, and the fireplace has an original surround of sandstone with moulded jambs and mantelpiece. The fire grate is Victorian, and the door to the verandah is modern giving access to a 1950s pagoda-like verandah.

The doors and staircase in the hall are original features. The inside of the panelled front door has a substantial moulded pine door surround with lion head corner recesses. The door to the drawing room is similarly panelled, as is the door to the lower hall and the door to the dining room. Door furniture is reproduction. The open-string staircase has original straight balusters, two per stair, and a banister rail of oval cross section. The fireplace surround in the dining room is similar to that in the drawing room, but the hearth was reconstructed in 1948 and has a free standing modern basket grate. The French door to the garden is modern. There is a cellar under the drawing room accessed from a door under the stairs.

On the first floor the part of the landing which faces to the front of the house has an alcove with a Georgian style sash window in it. The main bedroom which faces front has a bow window with elaborate wooden surround corresponding to that in the drawing room below, but of simpler form. The fireplace here is original. The second bedroom, facing the rear of the house, is original but with no special features. The third bedroom, above the larder, is accessed from the landing via panelled twin doors of curved design. The fourth bedroom above the garage is modern with modern sash windows.

The former farm building at the rear of the house is only single storey and is accessed from the end of the ground floor hall. It comprises a study, kitchen area and two rooms, accessed from the outside only, which are a toilet and workshop. The kitchen area has large fireplaces, and a roof hook indicating some kind of agricultural use. The floor in these sections is paved.

HISTORY: Ashby Cottage dates to between 1820 to 1830, and was apparently built against an earlier, possibly C18, farm building. Research suggest that the rear wall was part of a farmyard piggery which was bought by Charles Fogden, a master carpenter, in 1820. He is thought to have built the house onto the farm building as a 'showroom' for his carpentry skills for clients in Chichester and the surrounding area. Some changes which have occurred to the house, such as the addition of the garage and the rendering to the south gable end, are thought by the owner to have taken place in 1929 when the building was refurbished.

SOURCES:
Ronald J Clarke, Ashby Cottage Profile of a Regency House, Ashby Press Chichester (2006)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Ashby Cottage is listed Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has special architectural interest as an early-C19 house with good quality flint work and brick dressings, a handsome facade with bow, and original joinery throughout; the incorporation of the earlier farm building adds interest.

Listing NGR: SU8546901987

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26567591

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

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide