Little Eslington and Coach House to Rear, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Description

CHELTENHAM

630-1/0/10043 THIRLESTAINE ROAD
25-OCT-10 LITTLE ESLINGTON AND COACH HOUSE TO REAR

GV II
Little Eslington is the former service and nursery wing of Eslington House, a detached villa constructed circa 1830-50. The building is in a restrained classical style. Little Eslington was extended by the addition of single-storey ranges in the later C20; these later C20 additions are not of special interest.

MATERIALS: The original wing is stucco, incised to represent ashlar and painted cream, under a slate roof; the stacks have been removed.

PLAN: The original wing of Little Eslington is a single-depth range on plan, adjoining the rear of Eslington House; the central stairwell has rooms to either side.

EXTERIOR: The original wing is of three storeys and a basement, one bay deep and three wide; the windows are three-over-six or six-over-six sashes, with the exception of a single ground-floor window which has been replaced with a mid-C20 metal-framed casement window in an enlarged opening; a window to each of the ground and basement floors to the west have been replaced by C20 doors. The windows in the C20 extensions are a mixture of timber casements and sashes, and there are large patio doors to the southernmost extension.

INTERIOR: The original wing retains its layout, with a central dog-leg stair having moulded handrails and turned newels, with plain stick balusters. There are closed recesses to landings marking the former openings between this wing and the main house. The rooms to the basement, first and second floors retain their four-panelled doors and architraves, with picture rails also retained in the ground floor rooms and first floor bedroom. Four fireplaces survive, all with cast-iron grates. One example has a grey marble surround and an Art Nouveau style grate with tile insert; there are two with moulded stone surrounds and one with a rather plain timber surround. The basement has limestone flag floors to the hall and western room; the room to the east has a stone fireplace with cast-iron grate. The original back doorway, at the foot of the stair, is now an opening into the C20 extensions. These are set on different levels, necessitating a short flight of steps in the entrance hall rising to the kitchen. The finishes in the extensions are wholly modern, but are broadly sympathetic in style to the original range.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The Coach House is contemporary with the house, and built from brick, painted to the north elevation, under a hipped roof covered in slate. The building is of two storeys, with a brick plinth, pilasters to either end, and a brick string-course between the ground and first floors. To the main elevation, the ground floor has two former carriage openings, now closed internally, with paired timber doors to each. To the right is a six-over-six sash window with a stone cill. The first floor has a three-over-six sash window to the left, and to the right, in an opening formerly housing a hayloft door, a six-over-six sash. To the rear, windows have been inserted to the first floor, and patio doors inserted to the left. There has been reordering of the fenestration to the east elevation. Internally, the coach house has been converted to residential use; a central staircase has been introduced, and the ground and first floors have been partitioned. The finishes all date from the later C20.

HISTORY: In common with much of Cheltenham, the area around Thirlestaine Road was largely developed in the first half of the C19. Thirlestaine Road had been laid out by 1820, but there had been little development apart from the road at this time; most houses in the area appear for the first time on maps between 1834 and 1897. Eslington House, to which Little Eslington is attached and whose service wing it formed, appears stylistically to have been constructed circa 1830-40; a conveyance and mortgage between Mr Skillicorne and Richard Liddel, dated 20 May 1848, shows a plan of the house, and it is possible that the mortgage was to raise funds for its construction. It was sold by Mr Liddel in 1852 to Lt Gen Greenstreet of the East India Company. It was sold in 1856 to Lt Gen, later Gen Samuel Swinhoe, a General in HM Indian Army, who died at the house in 1866. It continued to be occupied by members of the military into the C20: Colonel John Stevenson was resident in 1893, and Colonel Robert William Ferguson Phillips in 1914. A sales brochure of 1957 show that Eslington House was for sale by order of Dr Arthur Tom; the sale included the house, coach house and large gardens, as well as sundry garages. The particulars state that the house "...lends itself admirably to division into two separate units (there being already two separate stairways)...". The house was duly divided following its sale, and the local authority confirmed that the work had been carried out satisfactorily in March 1958.

The property now known as Little Eslington was formerly the service and nursery wing of Eslington House; access to Eslington House from the landings on all three floors was blocked, but the layout of the wing was retained. The coach house became part of the holding of Little Eslington. Little Eslington was extended by the addition of single-storey ranges to the south during the mid- and late C20. The coach house was converted to residential accommodation in the same period; the earlier parapet and shallow-pitched roof were removed and replaced with a hipped roof at the same time, and new windows and doors added to the previously blind rear elevation, from which a lean-to tack room was removed.

SOURCES: Cheltenham Borough Council, College Area Conservation Area Character Appraisal (July 2008)
Gloucestershire Archives, document D4858 2/4/1957/34, Eslington House sales particulars
Slater's Directory, Gloucestershire (1858)
Kelly's Directory, Gloucestershire (1893)
Kelly's Directory, Gloucestershire (1914)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Little Eslington, the former service and nursery wing of Eslington House, a detached villa built circa 1830-50, is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it forms part of a substantial classical villa, built during the first half of the C19
* Historic interest: the survival of the service and nursery wing of the house adds to our understanding of how this villa functioned
* Intactness: though the building has been extended by the addition of single-storey ranges, the plan, layout and interior decorative scheme of the original wing, including the stair, doors and doorcases, and fireplaces, survive well with relatively few losses
* Group value: Little Eslington forms a cogent group with Eslington House (listed Grade II), to which it is physically attached and of which it formed an original part, together with the coach house, and the gate piers to Thirlestaine Road (listed Grade II) the four elements representing the original extent of this substantial villa holding

Reasons for Listing

Little Eslington, the former service and nursery wing of Eslington House, a detached villa built circa 1830-50, is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it forms part of a substantial classical villa, built during the first half of the C19
* Historic interest: the survival of the service and nursery wing of the house adds to our understanding of how this villa functioned
* Intactness: though the building has been extended by the addition of single-storey ranges, the plan, layout and interior decorative scheme of the original wing, including the stair, doors and doorcases, and fireplaces, survive well with relatively few losses
* Group value: Little Eslington forms a cogent group with Eslington House (listed Grade II), to which it is physically attached and of which it formed an original part, together with the coach house, and the gate piers to Thirlestaine Road (listed Grade II) the four elements representing the original extent of this substantial villa holding

External Links

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.