Description

HIXON

603/0/10054 NEW ROAD
24-JUN-10 (Off)
WYCHDON LODGE AND OUTBUILDINGS

II
House of circa 1807, architect unknown, with mid- and late-C19 alterations. Symmetrical and restrained Regency composition.

MATERIALS: Constructed of brick on stone plinth, with stucco render and low hipped plain tile roof with a pair of large ridge stacks and a further smaller stack to left. The windows are 6/6 hornless sashes unless otherwise stated.

PLAN: Double pile house, of two storeys with basement, arranged around a large central staircase. The house faces NW with the former service end to the E side. This end was altered in the mid-C19 to accommodate an extra middle storey and the floor heights were adjusted accordingly.

EXTERIOR: Front elevation: Three bays with a central tetrastyle portico with unfluted Doric columns and deep cornice with mutules. Behind this, doorcase with panelled pilasters and partially glazed double doors. There is a continuous flat string course at first floor level. SW elevation: Three bay symmetrical fenestration to both storeys. SE (garden) elevation: mirrors the front but with a wooden trellised porch in front of central French windows. NW elevation: One 6/6 sash to left of centre on first floor; 4/4 sash to right. There is a C21 canted porch with 4/4 sashes at the centre of this elevation.

INTERIOR: The house retains cornicing, architrave, skirting, doors and shutters throughout, as well as wooden floorboards and flagstone floor to entrance hall and atrium, with the exception of the eastern service end which was being renovated at time of inspection (2008).
Ground floor: Entrance hall leads on to central atrium through a round arch. The ground floor rooms are ranged around the atrium which has an open string, cantilevered staircase to three sides and is top lit by a circular lantern (with modern glass replacement). The stair has a swept wooden handrail and cast iron balusters. To the left of the entrance hall is a library with fitted wooden shelving and cupboards. The cupboard to the right of the fireplace conceals a door leading onto what was the service wing; that to left opens to a writing desk and pigeon holes; that to right of door contains a safe. The W reception room has a segmental arched alcove to inner wall set on panelled pilasters. Both windows have gold-painted scrolled pelmets with shell motif. The S reception room has marble fire surround with flora decoration and moulded cornice. The SE reception room, with French windows, has a less ornate marble fireplace and thick dado rail. The E side of the house, until recently, had a wooden service stair and a large kitchen with mid-late C19 joinery. The entire stair, as well as the floors, has been removed and the kitchen stripped.
First floor: One bedroom retains a mid-C19 fire surround; the other five have had theirs removed although otherwise the rooms have not been altered. The room at the E end, previously used as a bathroom, has been denuded of any features.
Basement: Brick vaulted basement with bread oven.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Outbuildings and walled garden to the NE of the house, constructed of red brick laid to Flemish bond with slate roofs. Working clockwise from the NW corner of yard: two storey, three bay coach house with hipped roof with dentilled eaves. Three segmental arched windows with vertical panes to first floor, open bays to ground floor supported by cast iron columns. To the rear is a single storey lean-to which contains a copper. Behind this is a haystore which is open to NE and SE. The pitched roof is supported by cast iron columns on brick plinths, and there is a two storey brick block to rear with oculus at first floor above the door. At the NW side of the yard is a brick barn with central segmental arched carriage way to ground floor with stepped brick voussoirs. To the right of this a shelter has been built against the NW wall of the walled garden; it has a truss roof supported on cast iron columns to the left side. At the SW side of the yard is a stable block of one and half storeys, with hipped roof and dentilled eave. The symmetrical façade has a central round-arched doorway with oculus above; to either side is a stable door and two six-pane casement windows. Inside are two stable rooms either side of the centre with brick floors and three oval depressions in back wall, presumably to accommodate mangers. The central room to rear has a winder stair to the attic. The remains of house extension stand to the right of the stables and consists of a stone plinth and four courses of brick. The N side is built of ashlar with moulded coping. The walled garden to the south of the farmstead has brick buttressing. It has lost its glasshouses and the coping has been replaced.

HISTORY: The house was built for William Moore, the proprietor of the nearby Shirleywich Salt Works, in or shortly before 1807. The Staffordshire General & Commercial Directory of 1818 states that `an elegant mansion has just been erected by Mr. Moore, near Shirleywich' and lists him as resident of `Wichdon Lodge'. The architect or builder is not known.
The house is depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition (1882) with formally laid out gardens to the SE comprising circular parterres and a summer house; the walled garden was similarly laid out with a central sun dial. The 1st Edition also depicts two ranges of extensions on the NE elevation, with what is now the lone standing porch between the two. The southerly of the two bordered the garden and adjoined the stable range. It is shown in an early photograph of the house and comprised an Italianate three storey tower, a two bay, two storey range and a large conservatory. Stylistically these look to be of mid- to late-C19 date, and the date of these extensions would correspond with internal upgrading of the main house. Wychdon Lodge stands near to Hixon Airfield, a World War II airfield which operated between 1942 and 1957. The end of the runway is only approximately 400m NE of the house. At some point during the war a plane crashed into the servants' tower and mid-C19 extension and these were subsequently demolished.

SOURCES: W. Parson and T. Bradshaw (1818). Staffordshire General and Commercial Directory. 39
Newly erected messuage called Wychdon lodge and lands ps. Colwich and Stowe. Title deeds 1807. Staffordshire Record Office D1192/11

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Wychdon Lodge and its outbuildings are recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The house is a decent example of a Regency villa with a good quality interior containing original early C19 elements, such as the impressive cantilevered stair, as well as later C19 improvements.
* With the exception of the service, this C19 interior remains intact, although a number of fire surrounds have been removed.
* Externally, there is very little alteration and although a later C19 extension has been demolished its footprint is still clear in the garden.
* The contemporary outbuildings, which include a stable, coach house and haystore, survive relatively intact and have strong group value.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672259

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)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy