Burrington House and Ancillary Building to Rear, Burrington, County of Herefordshire

Description

BURRINGTON

1421/0/10004 Burrington House and ancillary buildin
30-MAR-10 g to rear

II
Former vicarage. 1862. G. F. Bodley

MATERIALS: Built of rendered stone with ashlar dressings. It has red brick stacks and a plain clay tile roof.

PLAN: The two storey vicarage with cellar has a T shaped footprint with the principle reception rooms to the north and south, set off a central hall and staircase, and the service rooms to the rear (east) wing.

EXTERIOR: The principal elevation (west) consists of a projecting two bay range to the left with a slightly projecting gable end outer bay; and a two bay range to the right. To the left hand range there is a two light mullion window beneath a pointed arch to the gable and a four light mullion beneath a relieving arch to the ground floor; to the recessed bay is a two light mullion window with blind cusped heads to the first floor and a single and two light window to the ground floor; to the returning wall is a lancet window to the oratory at first floor and to the ground floor is a pointed arch opening to the porch. To the right hand range are two three-light mullion windows to the first floor with ashlar lintels and chamfered cills. To the ground floor are two three light mullion windows beneath relieving arches. The north elevation has a two bay range consisting of a four light mullion window to the first floor and a three light mullion with blind cusped heads beneath the relieving arch to the ground floor, to the right is a projecting square bay with hipped roof and four light mullion windows to each floor. The service range has single lights to the north elevation and an irregular arrangement to the south elevation. Some of the cast iron guttering survives with hopper heads.

INTERIOR: The interior is largely complete retaining many of it fixtures and fittings, including the dog-leg staircase with ball finial newel posts; the tiled floor to the hall; some of the fireplaces; the fenestration with unusual "fist" catches; much of the joinery including decorative castellated details above the window architrave and scalloped detail above the first floor doors and rear wing corridor windows. The layout is unaltered except for minor changes to the service wing with the removal of the partition wall between the former store and glass cupboard.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: To the rear of Burrington House is a courtyard containing a rectangular building housing the coach house, two horse stalls, cider room and servants accommodation to the ground floor and to the first floor, above the stalls and cider room and accessed via an external staircase, a hayloft and harness room.

HISTORY: Burrington House was designed by George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907) in 1862 for the Rev Philip Hale at an estimated cost of £1,230. Rev'd Hale was the vicar at St George's Church, Burrington (Grade II), a C13 church for which Bodley meant to oversee the rebuilding and shortening of the chancel in 1864. Bodley's plans for Burrington House are held at Herefordshire Record Office and the former vicarage is depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1885. Burrington House is believed to be Bodley's earliest vicarage and illustrates how he adapted the High Victorian style he had adopted for his church designs to a Gothic style suitable for a vicarage. It has been argued that along with contemporary architects such as William Butterfield and G. E. Street, he set the guidelines for the most progressive domestic C19 buildings, establishing a mode of design that was pursued later by Philip Webb and other architects in the William Morris circle.

SOURCES
Hall M, 'Simple People and Homely Minds' in Country Life, Vol. 188 (1 September 1994), 58-61
Hall M, 'George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907)' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
Humphrey S (ed.) Blue Guide: Churches and Chapels. Northern England (1991), 135
Verey D, 'George Frederick Bodley: climax of the Gothic Revival' in Seven Victorian Architects ed. by Fawcett J (1976), 84-101

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Burrington House is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Designer: It is the first vicarage designed by the renowned architect George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907).
Architectural Interest: It is interesting for its use of Bodley's Gothic vernacular style which he employed for a brief period before adopting his neo-Georgian approach to secular buildings.
Intactness: It is remarkably intact both externally and internally retaining its plan form, original joinery, staircase and some fireplaces
Group Value: It forms an interesting group with the Grade II listed St George's Church, the chancel of which was rebuilt by Bodley in 1864.

Reasons for Listing

Burrington House, a former vicarage of 1862, by George Frederick Bradley, is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

External Links

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