Brooklands

Description

Brooklands, near the Hamble, visible from Bursledon. Stuccoed Regency villa, built c.  1800 by (Admiral) Sir Thomas Williams. n service wing of 1807. Big bow to the s front; Prosser shows it wrapped by a two-storey loggia but the present veranda with Doric colonnade is a modification of 1858. Lutyens added the se porch to the garden c.  1900. (O’Brien et al, 2018, p.585) Large house. Built for Sir Thomas Williams (later Admiral) by Nash. c1800 with service wing addition of 1807 to north west, with 2-bay addition over porch of 1858 by Langdon of the Isle of Wight when the house acquired a more Italianate appearance and small extension to south east by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1916. Partly red brick, partly stuccoed, partly painted brick with slate roof and brick chimneystacks. 2 to 3 storeys, irregular plan. Paired bracket eaves cornice and unusual band between the 2nd and 3rd floors. Entrance on west front is stuccoed with 2-bay addition over porch with incised lines to ground floor. Mainly 6-pane sashes to 2nd floor and 12-pane sashes to 1st floor, but ground floor has Doric portico flanked by round-headed side lights. The south west corner has a curved bow through all 3 floors with a conical roof and panels above 1st floor window. Loggia of 10 Doric columns on the ground floor (by Langdon replacing an earlier verandah) follows the curve of the bow. South front is of 2-storeys, 4 windows in red brick with cemented architraves to 1st floor windows. East front is fairly irregular with 6 windows, mainly 12 paned sashes. Attached to the south wing is Lutyens porch which comprises a 5-light mullioned and transomed casement with brick relieving arches and doorcase breaking through,5-light mullioned and transomed window. North front is the service wing of 1807 and has 4 cambered sashes including 2 tripartite sashes on the ground floor. Fine c1800 staircase with cast iron balusters, stone treads and mahogany handrail. Dado panelling. Dining room has c1800 cornice of carved oak leaves and vine and grape decoration with masks and fine painted ceiling with fabulous birds and crossed flageolets. Dado rail and 2 overmantels with ovolo moulding and surrounds with beading. Drawing room has a most unusual cornice with ivy entwining Neptune’s trident (a subtle reference to Admiral Williams), 2 sea horses and a band of shells beneath and ceiling rose of the same pattern. Panelled wall with 6 panelled door and wooden fireplace with modified Ionic capitals and urn and foliage pilasters and marble inner surround. Library has cornice with plumed capitals and a mid C19 marble fireplace with anthemion and foliage decoration. The Drawing Room was lined in limed oak by Sir Basil Ionides in 1916 when Lutyens added the porch. First floor has in Jane Austen’s bedroom (Sir Thomas Williams first wife was her cousin) a marble fire surround with reeding and paterae and an iron firegrate with reeded frame lions head marking and curved firebasket. Plumed cornice and 6-panelled door. The principal bedroom has a cornice of nymphs holding wreaths and wheat ear and harebell motifs. Fireplace is marble with anthemion motifs and reeded pilasters. An adjoining bedroom to the south west has a marble fireplace and coved cornice. Another bedroom has a wooden fireplace with shell and foilage frieze and brackets with harebell origins. The first floor has 2 interesting bathrooms of 1916 installed by Sir Basil Ionides. The yellow bathroom retains the original sanitary fittings and yellow tiles with signs of the zodiac made by a member of the Bloomsbury Group. There is a bathroom with marble basin and bath. The 2nd floor has a room with a wooden fireplace with firegrate and a bathroom with handmade fish decorated tiles and original fittings designed by Sir Hugh Casson in the 1930s. Jane Austen and A A Milne stayed at Brooklands frequently and Gertrude Jekyll laid out the grounds. (Historic England, list entry 1093503)

Bibliography

O’Brien C, Pevsner N, Bailey B & Lloyd DW (2018) Hampshire: South. The Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Historic England. BROOKLANDS, BRIDGE ROAD. [Online] Available from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1093503

Also Cited In

Listing Grade

II*

Listing Reference

1093503

Client