Daneshill (now the Manor House, Daneshill)

Description

The expansion of Basingstoke has encroached upon the parish of Old Basing (q.v.) and in particular Daneshill, originally rural but now engulfed by industrial estates and suburban housing. Its important building is Daneshill House, Lutyens Close, of 1903 by Lutyens for Walter Hoare. It is built with the thin ‘Tudor’ red bricks produced at his nearby works; Lutyens designed the special moulded brick mullions and other details. Conventional Surrey Style, with gabled wings and an arched entrance, but good details, especially fireplaces with quirky tiling and a stair with timber screen.

(Bullen et al, 2010, p.169)

1903, by Edwin Lutyens, in severe Arts and Crafts style on the north and east, but Edwardian Baroque on south and west. H-plan house of 2 storeys, with red tile roofing, walling of thin red bricks laid to Flemish bond, tile heads and cills to smaller openings. The plain north front has gabled wings (double at the east side), 2:3:1:3:1 windows, a gabled 2-storeyed porch. Most of the windows are diminutive coupled casements (with brick mullions) but there are 4, 5 and 7 unit lights in the gables. The boarded door is within an open porch formed by an arch within a moulded rectangular framework. The south elevation has flanking gables, 3 large dormers, the middle section eaves being brought low with opening on either side of the centre, the recessed ceilings being supported on square columns built up of tiles. The dormers are tile-hung, 2 with gabled and one with hipped roofing, large mullioned and transom windows; the gabled wings are tile-hung above first-floor level. The west elevation is elaborately arranged, with a large dormer and 2 smaller 1/2 dormers, eaves at 3 levels above set back walling, the divisions separated by massive chimneys, one having 2 diagonal flues. Within, there is one Tudor style fireplace in brick and tile, with octagonal sides, stepped cambered opening and tile-on edge decoration. (Historic England, list entry 1339563)

DANESHILL, OLD BASING. This is a good example of Mr. Lutyens’ skill in the employment of brick as the sole material of a house. Mr. Walter Hoare was the fortunate possessor of a fine brick earth, and started an industry at Old Basing with intent to emulate the beautiful small hand-made bricks which at that time could be got only from Holland. His success in recapturing the quality of the bricks of Tudor times was complete, and he was greatly helped by Mr. Lutyens, who designed a number of special shapes for jambs, mullions, sills, para- pets and the like. By careful study of technical methods Mr. Hoare secured a notable texture and a fine colour, in which reds blended in subtle fashion with purples. The slight hint of cushion shape given to the bricks produced a play of light and shade on the wall surfaces which gave brickwork a new charm and character. The varied designs of the fireplaces at Daneshill show considerable invention, and Fig. 213, as well as an illustration in the Introduction, indicates their character. Mr. Lutyens cannot be held responsible for the ineptitudes of his imitators, but these fireplaces have not been an unmixed blessing. They are justified by the beauty of their material and the reasonableness of their design and scale. I have, however, seen copies of them in bad machine-made brick, with rough and ragged mortar joints, and of a gargantuan size which made ridiculous the little rooms where they were fixed. Even when he uses a rough material Mr. Lutyens’ sense of scale and skilful design bring refinement to the finished thing. Some of his imitators succeed only in producing an effect of crudeness and barbarity, as, for example when they use a raw brick fireplace and window openings, with the mortar guttering at the joints, in a drawing room, the walls of which are covered with white-painted panelling, based on Wren’s work at Hampton Court. No doubt in good time the wheel will revolve: a decent coat of plaster will cover the window mullions and a wood mantel-piece the fire opening, but meanwhile it all looks rather absurd and marks the danger of fashions little understood. The design of Daneshill itself is interesting. The north or entrance side is successful, but less can be said of the south front.. The windows seem excessive in size, especially the twelve-light gabled dormers, which, moreover, do not rhyme well with the eighteen- light window on the first floor between them (Fig. 215). The latter would probably have been more happy in effect if it had been built with brick mullions, leaving wood mullions to be used for the dormers; but that would have involved the omission of the two inner wing lights. The south front of Daneshill is, indeed, one of Mr. Lutyens’ less successful works, but the west front with its absence of gables is more restful. (Weaver, 1913, pp.119-123)

Bibliography

Bullen M, Hubbuck R, Crook J & Pevsner N (2010) Hampshire: Winchester and the North. The Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Historic England. Daneshill House. [Online] Available from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1339563

Weaver, L. (1913) Houses and Gardens by E L Lutyens. London: Country Life.

Also Cited In

Gradidge, R. (1982) Edwin Lutyens: Architect Laureate. London: Allen & Unwin.

Pevsner, N. (1962) Hampshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Listing Grade

II

Listing Reference

1339563

Client

Walter Hoare