Description

CLAVERTON

146/0/10010 CLAVERTON HILL
20-FEB-07 (South side)
Orchard House

GV II
A former estate cottage or lodge built by the Claverton Estate in the mid C19.

MATERIAL
Constructed of coarsed stone rubble with freestone dressing with a tiled pitched roof and four evenly spaced ashlar chimney stacks with decorative Tudor style shafts: two at either gable end and two on the ridge.

PLAN
The two storey building is seven bays in length, single depth, and rectangular plan, including a kitchen and former scullery added at its south end in the early 1930s.

EXTERIOR
The symmetrical front elevations to the east have a central entrance bay flanked by two projecting decorative gables, each flanked by two bays with narrow half dormers. The gables and dormers have decorative stone finials. The fenestration consists of two and three-light casement windows with hood moulds above; those on the projecting gables at first floor level are framed by decorative pointed arches.

The rear elevation is five bays wide (four with narrow dormers similar to those at the front) with a gabled return to the far right. There is scattered fenestration, consisting of two and three-light casement windows with hood moulds above. To the right is an entrance with a decorative Tudor style wooden door; to the left, a small flat roofed one story extension, added in the early 1930s as a toilet, with a door inserted in the late C20 (a copy of the one described above) to create another entrance. The north gable end has a blind window on first floor level, and the south gable end has a wooden lean-to conservatory on coarsed rubble stone footings (a late C20 reconstruction of a conservatory that stood here in the early 1930s).

INTERIOR
The central hall has a stone mullion front door and window surrounds, and stairs inserted in the early 1930s replacing original C19 stairs positioned in the northern part of the building. The decorative timber newel posts and handrail appear to be of C19 date and may have been from the original stairs. The ground floor rooms have chamfered stone mullion windows. The dining room has a plain Tudor style fire surround and the sitting room has a restrained Art Deco style fireplace. On the first floor the bedrooms are situated along a narrow corridor that runs along the rear of the house.

HISTORY
Originally built as an estate cottage or lodge by the Claverton Estate in the mid C19, Orchard House had become the New Rectory in the early 1920s, occupied by the Rev. Henry Scott-White. In the early 1930s the rectory was sold to HP Wilson, and was altered and extended to a design by AJ Cambell-Cooper, an architect and surveyor based in Newbury. Since then it has been used as a private dwelling known as Orchard House.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE
Orchard House in Claverton, Bath, was built in the mid C19 by the Claverton Estate. It became the New Rectory in the early 1920s and was altered and extended in the early 1930s after becoming a private dwelling. The house is built in a Tudor style displaying good quality architectural detailing. Its early 1930s alterations and extension are both competent and sensitive and as such add to the interest and visual quality of the building. Both its historic use as estate building and rectory confirm its strong historic links with the village and the former Claverton Estate. Additionally, Orchard House forms an interesting group with the adjacent Grade II listed Tower House and Farleigh Cottage, a pair of contemporary estate cottages which display very similar architectural style and detailing. Together they stand along the eastern approach to Claverton Manor and thus form part of the setting of the Grade II registered park.

SOURCES: The History of the Parish of Claverton, compiled by the Members of the Claverton Down Women's Institute, 1962 (copy held in the Bath Record Office)
1st edition Ordnance Survey published 1886
Architectural drawing by AJ Cambell-Cooper, c1931, showing the proposed alterations and additions to the New Rectory, Claverton, Bath, for GP Wilson, Esq. (with current owner: photographs on file)
Black and white post-card of the front elevation of Orchard House (then the New Rectory) early 1930s, showing the alterations and extension (with current owner, photograph on file).
The Bath Directory 1927-28
The Bath Directory 1934
Crockford's Clerical Directory 1927

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671218

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990