Great Ballard School (formerly Eartham House)

Description

Eartham House, now Great Ballard School. A small house built in the mid c18 was added to in the 1780s by William Hayley (cf. Felpham); William Huskisson, M.P . for Chichester, greatly enlarged it after 1800. Hayley’s s-facing library with a superb marble chimneypiece by Flaxman survives (reliefs representing music and painting). Drawing room below with early c19 decoration. Largely rebuilt by Lutyens c. 1906 for the solicitor Sir William Bird. Simple and symmetrical in William and Mary style, roughcast. Undemonstrative entrance on n front. s front of twelve bays with coved eaves cornice, the centre recessed with a projecting conservatory across; green shutters as at Lutyens’s contemporary Nashdom (Bucks.). Staircase of irregular plan with wide intermediate landing; E–W corridor across the house on the first floor. The conservatory has two fine marble reliefs by John Gibson, made for Mrs Huskisson (†1856). nw of the house a small late c18 orangery, a pretty polygonal five-bay composition of red brick and rough flint. In the grounds the former stables well converted for residence. (Willaimson et al, 2019, p.346)

Before 1800 there was a house on this site occupied by the poet William Hayley who laid out gardens round it. In 1800 he sold the house to William Huskisson, MP for Chichester, who enlarged it. This house was entirely rebuilt in 1905 by Sir Edwin Lutyens but the interior contains one room, the drawing-room with the principal bedroom over it, which has simple Regency decorations and good fireplaces. The modern house which faces south is in Lutyens simpler manner. Two storeys and attic. Faced with roughcast. Coved eaves cornice. Tiled roof. Windows with Venetian shutters and glazing bars. The south front has a recessed centre of four windows and four dormers with a projecting conservatory on the ground floor. Beyond this are 2 projecting wings of two windows each with hips over them and then one further recessed window bay on each side. The west front has five windows, the centre one recessed. The north front has eight windows, the three westernmost ones recessed, the remainder having two projections and two windows, one dormer and a hip over each and one recessed window bay between these. Service wing of three windows to the east. (Historic England, list entry 1026365)

Bibliography

Williamson E, Hudson T, Musson J, Nairn I (2019) Sussex: West. The Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Historic England. Office of Haskins Limited. [Online] Available from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1026365

Also Cited In

Listing Grade

II

Listing Reference

1026365 1026366

Client

Sir William Bird