The Quadrangle

Description

The group of buildings now known as The Quadrangle were originally the stables and workshops for Munstead Wood. Miss Jekyll’s property at Munstead Wood was inherited by her nephew Francis Jekyll and eventually divided up and sold. The buildings of The Quadrangle were converted to housing in the 1950s.

The arrangement of the stables, barn, workshop, and potting shed were designed to give the impression of having grown up over time, forming a courtyard paved in stone brought in from the kitchen-yard at Unstead Farm (photographed by Jekyll in 1885). After visiting Miss Jekyll in 1897, Robert Lorimer noted that she had transported an old barn to Munstead Wood and this is likely part of the ensemble of The Quadrangle, forming the base of the U-shape forming the courtyard. As you enter The Quadrangle from Heath Road, the Bargate stone building to the right was designed for Jekyll by Lutyens. To the left is The Loft, a clapboard building, built over the stables and used for storing onions and bulbs. There was also a room dedicated to seed storage, matchboarded to keep out insects. The Loft was eventually enlarged to include two bedrooms with windows overlooking the garden with substantial, stone steps leading down from the first floor to the ground floor level garden. An alcove was formed under the landing of these stairs, providing a viewing point for that area of the garden.

As Munstead Wood progressed, Jekyll made other changes to this area of her property. In 1909, the stable-yard was modified, with Lutyens designing new stables along Heath Road and converting the old stables into a coach house. The brick vaulted mushroom house, located beneath a rainwater tank at the end of The Loft and designed by Lutyens, was never used for its original purpose of cultivating mushrooms, but became a cool underground room for storing apples and root vegetables.

Restoration work was done by G.J. Smith Brothers of Whitchurch under Architect Roger Meadows in 2002. (Contributor: Robyn Prater)

THE QUADRANGLE, further down Heath Lane, is the detached court of Jekyll’s working buildings for the nursery, and has been a separate house since the mid C20. Built in 1891, i.e. before the Hut or Munstead Wood, but incorporating as the S range an old barn with queen-strut gableted roof. The stone range along the lane is of 1901 by Lutyens, with an artfully angled corner and loggia porch. The tiled vent to the chimney is a charming detail. All gently restored in 2002, creating a living hall in the barn with Lutyensish fireplace of tile-creases. Garden in Jekyll’s spirit if not exact pattern (originally a substantial area here was reserved for the nursery). (O’Brien et al., 2022, p.535)

Bibliography

O’Brien, C., Nairn, I. and Cherry, B. (2022) Surrey. Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Also Cited In

Nairn, I., Pevsner, N. (1971) Surrey (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England). 2nd edn. Yale University Press.

Listing Grade

II

Listing Reference

1044521

Client

Gertrude Jekyll