Binfield Lodge

Description

BINFIELD LODGE, 3/4m. NW. Brick, probably C17 in origin, but rebuilt after 1754 for William Pitt the Elder by his younger brother John Pitt of Encombe (Dorset), a member of the Society of Dilettanti. Two-storey façade of seven bays, the end bays projecting slightly forward and raised to carry pediments curving down on either side to frame Diocletian windows: an arrangement almost identical to that at Priors Court, Chieveley, but probably borrowed from Stratfield Saye (Hants) where John Pitt also made alterations. Wooden doorcase with Ionic columns supporting an open pediment. To the E a large wing of 1895–7 for Cecil Rhodes’s brother Capt. Ernest Rhodes, one of Lutyens’s first works. Loosely Neo-Georgian, with some quirky touches, notably three pairs of very thin bay windows under three little hipped roofs around the corner to the r. (Inside, a billiard room, ballroom, and a corridor with round arches and a shallow saucer dome). Later alterations by Nathan Thomas Salmon of Wokingham. (Tyack et al, 2010, p.167)

Large house, set in landscaped surrounds. Early C15 hall house remodelled in C18 by John Pitt for his elder brother William Pitt; extended and altered in 1912 by Sir Edwin Lutyens. MATERIALS: mostly red brick in Flemish bond, partly timber frame covered with mathematical tiles. Slate roof over older section hipped at right, gabled at left. Old tile roof over later section with 3 hipped projections with wide overhanging eaves on east. PLAN: U-plan formerly with 2 framed bay hall and 2 crosswings each of 3 framed bays, now very irregular with extensions on 3 sides. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attics. Several chimneys with cornices and clay pots. Windows mostly sash with glazing bars. Principal (south) front: centre section of 5-bays with single bay projecting end wings with pedimented Dutch gables. Moulded wood cornice continuous across gables. Gauged, shallow brick arches to recessed sash windows in plain reveals. In each gable end lunette window at second floor level with stone band at sill level. French doors with sidelights under gable end at left. Plain wooden reveal to central, glazed door with cornice head and radial fanlight. Doorcase of Ionic pilasters and pediment shaped surround. To right of this is south-east wing which was extended by Sir Edwin Lutyens. On east return are 3 small projecting full height canted bays with tall, narrow windows on ground and first floor levels, all under very wide projecting eaves. Brick band at ground floor window head level, and projecting, moulded stone band at sill level to first floor windows. INTERIOR: C17 open-well staircase with large, moulded handrail. Square newels and turned vase balusters, panelled dado. Sitting room: acanthus leaf ceiling cornice. C18 fireplace, with marble inset and carved wooden surround enriched with urns and floral decoration. Georgian room: moulded ceiling cornice and frieze with floral motif. Cast iron hob grate, set in a marble surround carved with cherubs, Greek key and egg-and-dart ornament. Lutyens ballroom: dentilled ceiling cornice. Large marble fireplace with dentilled cornice and moulded marble hearth. Moulded dado rail. This room is approached through 2-panelled doors from an arcaded hallway of 3-bays, and has ceiling with 2 domes, and a marble floor. (Historic England, list entry 1390315)

Bibliography

Tyack G, Bradley S, Pevsner N (2010) Berkshire. The Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Historic England.Binfield Lodge. [Online] Available from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1390315

Also Cited In

Listing Grade

II

Listing Reference

1390315

Client

Capt Ernest Rhodes