The Old House, Reigate, Surrey

Summary

The Old House, Reigate, believed to date from the early C17, with a mid-C17 range. Significant alterations were made in the late C19, and there are substantial circa 1920s additions.

Description

House, believed to date from the early C17, with a mid-C17 range. Significant alterations were made in the late C19, and there are substantial circa 1920s additions.

MATERIALS: the SE range is of local greensand rubblestone – Redhill takes its name from the reddish colour of this stone – with squared quoins. The mid- to late C17 NW range is of Reigate rubblestone, with red brick dressings. The external SW stack to the SE range is of stone, the flues being of brick; the large external stack to the SE is of brick. The central stack to the NW range is also brick. The early-C20 extension is of red brick, with some timber-framed sections, and some tile-hanging. The C20 stacks are of brick. The roofs throughout the house are tiled. In 1892 the house was described as having ‘diamond-paned windows’: the timber mullioned windows holding casements with square leaded lights in the older parts of the house are probably late C19; these are emulated in the early C20 sections.

PLAN: the SE range is thought to be the earliest – early-C17 – part of the house, and is a rectangular range set on a SW/NE axis. The NW range, which dates from the mid- to late C17, is built onto the more northerly face of the SE range, at its SW end; until the C20 the house therefore formed an L-plan. Two early-C20 extensions project southwards from the rear, one from the NW end and the other from the SW end; a single-storey covered way links the western ends of these, leaving a small courtyard. The principal entrance is now in the SW extension, with a secondary entrance – at one time probably the principal entrance – in the NE elevation of the NW range.

EXTERIOR: the walls of the early C17 SE range show evidence of much rebuilding, with new stonework and changes to openings. Parts of the walling at the NE end of the range appear to remain undisturbed; this section has the stone quoins, and a brick platband. The NW elevation, which abuts the NE range, shows some disturbance with traces of brickwork to the ground floor, including what appears to be a blocked opening at the junction with the NW range; the infill includes some galletting to the stonework. On the first floor are two windows in brick openings. Early images of the building show the NE elevation as having a central entrance, with a mullioned and transomed window above and a small gable window; these openings were replaced by a bay window rising through the full three storeys, constructed during the circa 1920s phase of development. The bay has a stone plinth and rendered upper sections, with two large windows on the ground and first floors, and a three-light window in the gable. Two large external stacks rise against the SE elevation: the stack to the N is of red brick, laid in Flemish bond with some burnt headers; the stack to the S is of stone with three divided brick flues linked by a moulded cap. The openings to this elevation have been altered: a small window lighting the stair is placed within or above a larger blocked opening, and has a C19 or C20 brick arch, whilst a similar arch appears to have been added to the ground floor window to the S. A small opening at ground level gives access to the cellar stairs.

The later-C17 NW range of the building has a symmetrical frontage to the NE, being of three bays, with a central gable, and a central square brick stack. The brick platband continues from the SE range, running between ground and first floors, and a second projecting brick band runs across the gable at eaves level; there are brick quoins. The entrance is at the centre, and has a brick surround with a segmental-arched head. The later studded door has a glazed panel. Above, at first-floor level, is a window with a brick surround and segmental-arched head, the brick keystone meeting the brick band above; this holds a three-light timber casement. In the gable is another small window. To either side of the central bay are three-light mullioned and transomed windows; the ground-floor window to the NW has a segmental-arched head with a keystone. On the first floor, the eaves of the roof meet the tops of the windows. A later-C20 single-storey extension has been built against the SE part of this elevation, forming a canopy over the front door; an additional window has been inserted at ground-floor level at the SE end of the elevation, beyond the extension. The rear elevation of this range is now partly obscured by the early-C20 extensions, but several of the early features of the building, as shown in the early-C19 drawing, are visible, including the platband, and windows to the first floor. Two windows to the SW have been partially occluded – that to the first floor has an arched head, whilst the arch of the ground-floor window has been removed. The large square window lighting the study replaces an earlier opening. The gabled NW elevation has an additional brick band at eaves level, with a mullioned and transomed window to each storey, the ground-floor window having a segmental-arched head; beside it to the S is a small inserted window.

The early-C20 extensions show an Arts and Crafts influence, reflecting the C17 origins of the house, whilst also making references to C16 architecture. The present main entrance to the house, in the southern extension, is approached by a timber-framed covered walkway with a tiled roof, open sides and a brick floor, entered through a Tudor arch. The front door is of oak planks with moulded fillets, iron nails and wrought-iron strap hinges with fleur-de-lys ends. A single-storey section providing the internal passage runs against the NW elevation of this extension, continuing the line of the walkway; the courtyard is closed by the return of the walkway, which meets the northern extension. The majority of the southern extension is timber-framed, with black-painted timbers and white rendered infill; there is a brick plinth, and the brickwork reaches up to the first-floor windows at the S end. On the SE elevation, a jettied porch is supported on an open Tudor-arched structure with chamfered posts, sheltering a glazed door to the drawing room. The SW elevation is dominated by a large external brick stack, narrowing in stages to a square shaft with a moulded cap. The northern extension is of red brick, with a tile-hung section to the SE, facing into the courtyard. The ground floor of the SW elevation is taken up by a projecting garage; above is a horizontal six-light window. On the NW elevation, the platband is continued from the NE range, and the two ground-floor three-light windows have segmental-arched heads following those of the earlier range; there is a single three-light flat-arched window to the first floor. A narrow brick stack rises from the NE end of this extension.

INTERIOR: the main room of the early-C17 SE range, now the dining room, contains both the large fireplace (to the NE) and the stair (to the SE). The inglenook fireplace has some rebuilding to the interior, including the two alcove seats; there is an unchamfered oak bressumer. A transverse beam runs to the N of the stair, but has no mortices for studs forming the partition which might be expected here, had the stair always been in this position, whilst the room’s axial spine beam stops short of the transverse beam. It is not evident that either of these beams is original to the house; it is possible that the transverse beam belongs to the late-C19/early-C20 phase of restoration, and the axial beam to the 1920s phase. The room is lined with small-square oak panelling in C17 style, installed circa 1920s, possibly incorporating some C17 panelling from the former Magistrates’ Room. The early to mid-C17 dog-leg stair has turned mirror balusters and a plain vertical handrail with a rounded top; the newel posts have chamfered shafts and ogee finials. One finial, on the landing, is cut to fit against the SE wall. The shape of the finial is repeated in outline, carved on the lower part of the second newel, forming a notional pendant. Later panelling is fitted within the framework of the stair, forming a cupboard, at ground-floor level. The stair continues in the same form to the attic storey. The framing of the NW wall enclosing the stair above first-floor level appears to be of later-C19 or early-C20 date. In the SW corner of the dining room, a door connects with the NW range, and another with the current sitting room, which is situated within the footprint of the original SE range. The sitting room has 1920s fittings, including multi-panelled doors, a moulded cornice, and a carved timber chimneypiece in early-C18 style. On the first floor are two doorways thought to be part of the late-C19 phase of restoration, the chamfered frames having scroll and bar stops, possibly following the form of the stops found on beams in the NW range; that to the NE bedroom holds a plank and batten door of similar date, with wrought-iron strap hinges and a timber latch. A doorway connecting with a room in the NW range, with a similar door, is thought to belong to the same phase. The SW end of the original range has been divided to form bathrooms, with a passage to the NW. In the NW wall, towards the western end of the original range, is a blocked window opening with angled reveals. The attic storey contains two rooms, separated by a landing, with a modern bathroom beyond the SW room. Substantial elements of pegged roof structure are visible within the area of the landing and the NE room, with purlins and raking queen struts; their excellent condition suggests the possibility that these have been inserted or replaced as part of the late-C19 phase of restoration. By contrast, rafters visible within a cupboard in the NE room show their considerable age. The plank and batten doors in this area appear to be late C19 or early C20. The cellar is reached via a doorway beneath the stair. The cellar has stone walls with some brickwork, and brick to the recess supporting the large stack to the NE. There is a shallow stone recess to the SW, and a coal chute.

The mid-C17 NW range has a room on each floor to either side of a central stack. The stair may originally have been situated in front of the stack: a stair rising from ground to first floor was removed in the late C20, and a winder stair with a C20 balustrade rises above this between the first and attic storeys. If the main stair was once located within this range, it probably rose within the area of the current study. On the ground floor, to the NW is the current kitchen, which has a chamfered axial beam with scroll and bar stops, one stop to the NW being worn away. The SE end of the beam is lodged in the chimneybreast; the fireplace has been removed. The current study, to the SE, has an axial beam with similar stops. Along the SE end of this range is the passageway, now continuous with the passage in the 1920s extension, which gives access to the rooms in the SE range. On the first floor are two bedrooms with a passageway running against the SW elevation of the range; elements of framing are exposed in the NW bedroom and the passage. Each bedroom has a chamfered axial beam with scroll and bar stops. The multi-panelled bedroom doors are probably 1920s. In the attic a room has been made to the SE, whilst the NW attic space remains unconverted. The queen-post roof structure, with raking struts, and purlins, has been much modified, with the insertion of replacement timbers. Within the landing space, the roof structure is partly obscured by partitioning. Doors to the two rooms are late C19 or early C20.

The interiors of the early-C20 extensions to some extent reflect the historicist vernacular approach of the exteriors. The drawing room to the SW has substantial lateral beams with exposed joists, and a wide stone and brick lined fireplace with a chamfered timber bressumer. Wide multi-panelled double doors connect with the sitting room. Upstairs, the principal bedroom has an exposed beam, the windows have tiled cills and there are multi-panelled doors. These interiors are of lesser interest.

History

The building now known as The Old House in High Trees Road, Reigate, which stands on the western edge of Redhill Common, is believed to have its origins in the early C17. The building first appears on the 1729 Senex Map of Surrey, on which it is marked as a ‘Gentleman’s House’; on Rocque’s Map of 1762 it is named as Red Hill Farm, and on later maps appears as High Trees Farm. The farm formed part of the Great Doods estate until 1863, when High Trees Farm was sold to the Waterlow family; a mansion known as High Trees (now Dunottar, Grade II) was then built with the farmhouse retained in the grounds. In 1892 the mansion and estate were sold; the details of the farmhouse were given in an advertisement in The Times, in which it is referred to as ‘The Old Manor House’, and in the sales particulars, which name it as ‘The Old Farm House’. The estate was on the market again in 1924, at which time the farmhouse was sold separately, and in 1925 extensions were added for the new owner; at that time the building was known as ‘The Dower House’.

The house has long been an object of local interest, appearing in drawings and in guide books to the area. Two drawings believed to date from the early C19 appear to show the house in a state of some dilapidation. A depiction of the house appears in R F D Palgrave’s ‘Illustrated Handbook to Reigate’ (1860), in which it is described as ‘a mouldering farm house’. Robert Phillips’s, ‘A Geological, Historical and Topographical Description of the Borough of Reigate’ (1885) mentions the building as ‘an old ivy-covered farmhouse’; an accompanying photograph shows the house at that time.

It is not currently possible to be certain about some aspects of the historic development of the house. It is thought that the SE range represents the earliest phase, with fabric surviving from the early C17; however, subsequent alteration and rebuilding makes it impossible to be certain about the original form of this part of the building, though the NE and SW walls of the range appear to survive in part, defining the extent of the original range. The addition of the NW range later in the C17 will have brought changes to the earlier range, with the redistribution of functions within the enlarged house. In 1892, an important feature of the house was the oak-panelled ‘Magistrate’s Room’ recorded in the sales particulars; between the C17 and C19 it was common for Petty Sessions to be held in the private house of a local justice. This room may have been the current NW bedroom in the later range; one of the early C19 drawings shows an external stair giving separate access to this area. The ‘antique oak staircase’ is also mentioned. The description given in the sales particulars does not provide conclusive evidence of the building’s plan in 1892, but it is possible that at that time, the principal entrance to the house was in the SW elevation of the NW range, rather than the NE elevation, and that the principal stair was at in the NW range, with the kitchen being at the NE end of the SE range, in the position of the current dining room. It is thought that a phase of creative restoration took place following the sale of the house in 1892, with some reconfiguration of the space, and the addition of features in a C17 style, including doors and doorcases and other timber elements, possibly reusing some original timbers; this phase may also have seen the reconfiguration or even the repositioning of the stair from the NW range to the SE range. The building was extended to the SW at some time between the surveys made for the 1913 and 1935 Ordnance Survey maps, at which time further alterations were made to the earlier ranges. Ancillary buildings shown on the 1768 map, an OS map of 1808, and on the 1845 Reigate Tithe map, are not present on the 1871 OS, though the 1892 sales particulars refer to a brick storehouse, a timber and thatched shed and an ice house.

Reasons for Listing

The Old House, Reigate, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: as a house originating in the C17 and developed during that century, the later range having a distinctive frontage with brick dressings;
* Historical interest: a notable house on the edge of Reigate Common, which historically served as a petty sessions court;
* Historical interest (development): the house shows evidence of evolution during the C17, C19 and C20, with significant fabric surviving from each phase; the late-C19 phase is an interesting example of the creative restoration of a historical building, whilst the 1920s extensions are of good quality, showing an Arts and Crafts influence;
* Interior: the interior retains a fine C17 dog-leg stair, possibly repositioned within the house, as well as C17 chamfered beams and roof structure; there are sensitively designed late-C19 features.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

The Old House

A Grade II Listed Building in Reigate, Surrey

Coordinates

Summary

Description

History

Reasons for Listing

External Links

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