Pittville History Works - Architectural Walking Tour Preview

1

Bilbrook House and 1 Clarence Road

With your back to the gates you will see a pair of terraced Regency houses with unusual Gothic features. Bilbrook House and 1 Clarence Road were built in 1832 and were designed by John Forbes and/or W. A. Watson, who were Joseph Pitt's official architects and designers of the Pittville estate. Their unusual design combines Regency proportions with Gothic – or Gothick as it was termed – decorative features. Most noticeable are the sham battlements which decorate the full length of the roof parapet. The windows all have rectangular hood moulds – or dripstones – which terminate in simple horizontal label stops. The glazing itself has y-shaped glazing bars to create subtle Gothic arches.

3

6 Evesham Road

Terrace of 17 houses designed by William Jay and completed in 1825. The balconies feature decorative ironwork based on the popular “Heart & Honeysuckle” style which originally appeared on a London house designed by Robert Adam in 1774

5

49 Clarence Square

Continue along Clarence Road and turn right into Clarence Square. Terrace of 5 houses completed in 1835. In the Georgian and Regency periods it was popular to have the main reception room on the first floor and many houses in Pittville have large first-floor windows as a result. In this case there is also a decorative ironwork first-floor balcony with a pagoda-style roof.

6

Lisle House and Clarence Court Hotel

A large semi-detached villa completed in 1838 which has some fine Neoclassical decorative detailing. The corners are decorated with fluted pilasters with beautifully detailed capitals comprising Ionic scrolls, egg-and-dart edging and an acanthus-decorated border. The parapet above has a dentilled cornice – a popular design taken from ancient Greek and Roman architecture

7

16 and 17 Wellington Square

A pair of semi-detached villas built by Solomon Sims and completed in 1836. Unusually for Pittville, the villas are fronted with “ashlar” or finely dressed stone, rather than the cheaper stucco. This treatment was reserved for the street-facing frontage only, whilst the sides and back are bricks covered in stucco to keep down costs.

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18 and 19 Wellington Square

Another fine pair of semi-detached villas, completed in 1836. The half-basement is more clearly visible than in many properties, resulting in a grand flight of steps to the front entrance. In most developments at this time the basement floor stood on the real ground level and the road at the front was built up with the spoil from the building. The villas have verandas with detailed decorative ironwork.

9

Clive Lodge Ornamental Ironwork

Described as: 'the most beautiful wrought railings and panels in the town' by Chatwin. The panels contain double-headed anthemion with scroll borders.

10

Wellington Square West

A Tudor-Gothic terrace of 12 houses which was built over 14 years; no.1 was completed in 1846 and no. 12 in 1859. Most of the houses were built by William Williams, James Williams and Elisha Williams. This is another Palace-Fronted Terrace with distinctive central and end houses to create the impression of one grand residence. Although the symmetrical proportions are classically inspired, the architect has indulged in the trend for “Gothick” decorative features to create a “Picturesque” mock castle effect in the centre of Cheltenham. The houses are ashlar-fronted and richly adorned with Tudor-Gothic decorative features including sham battlements and Tudor chimney stacks. The entrances have pinnacles topped by decorative finials, arcaded friezes and fanlights with Gothic glazing bars. Over the windows you can see drip moulds decorated with moulded shield stops of many different designs.

11

Glenmore Lodge

A very attractive Regency Villa completed in 1827. The windows have a subtle suggestion of Gothic from the y-shaped glazing bars.

12

Eastholme

A much later Victorian Villa designed by John Middleton and completed in 1869. In complete contrast to the surrounding stuccoed villas, Eastholme is built of red brick with purple brick banding and ashlar dressings around the windows and doors. With a steeply sloping roof, arched windows and pointed gables with decoratively carved wooden bargeboards this is a classic Victorian Gothic house very much of the style fashionable in the mid Victorian period

13

Wellington House/Westbury

A pair of impressive semi-detached villas believed to have been built by Edward Billings and completed in 1838. The very grand proportions have some delightful Neoclassical features. In particular, the pairs of fluted Ionic columns on either side of the combined frontage. Another feature to see here is the set of exterior blind boxes decorated with three diamond-shaped panes at the top of the windows. Exterior blinds became popular during the Regency period to shade the windows and protect furnishings. When not in use they withdrew up behind a blind box or pelmet and these still exist on many villas within Pittville.

14

Harwood House

Built in 1835, Harwood House has a gracefully plain Regency frontage but a definite statement of a front entrance with steps up to a large covered portico. The wide-panelled front door has sidelights and is flanked by two dramatic Ionic columns

15

Evesham House/Little Evesham House

At the junction with Evesham Road you will see Evesham House, completed in 1833. It’s neighbour, Little Evesham House was added as an extension to the original property in 1841. The property was separated into a pair of semi-detached villas in the 1930s. The frontage on Evesham Road is a good example of Neoclassical detailing – the pillars and entablature adding Greek temple features to domestic functionality

16

Devonshire House

Continuing along Wellington Road you will pass a large villa built by John Gray and completed in 1832. It has a geometrically regular design marked off into six sections by undecorated pilasters and string courses. Note the “bricked-in” windows, often attributed to the Window Tax but more likely to have been used here to maintain the regularity of the design.

17

Tower House

Pittville Circus was not part of Pitt’s original estate but was designed and built by Edward Cope between 1850-70. By this time Italianate styling was becoming popular due to the design of Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s home on the Isle of Wight. Tower House was the first property on Pittville Circus and was completed in 1840. It combines numerous popular features of the times – Adams style decorative stucco mouldings over the front entrance, Italianate mouldings over the windows and an eccentric tower with Gothic battlements.From Tower House, continue in an anti-clockwise direction.

18

East Eglington

Another Edward Cope design in a Tudor-Gothic style. The front entrance features repeated Gothic arches – in the shape of the fanlight, the y-shaped glazing bars, the panelled doors and the moulded stone frieze above. Note also the dramatic Gothic pinnacles either side of the entrance.

19

Northlands

More Tudor-Gothic features, including decorative head stops on this attractive Gothic-influenced villa. Looking up you will see the steeply pointed roof with decorative carved wooden bargeboards, in marked contrast to the concealed roof lines of the many Regency-style homes in Pittville.

21

Kingsmuir Hotel/Burston House

A pair of large semi-detached villas, one of which is now a hotel. Completed by 1860, the villas display the shift to more Italianate styling during the middle Victorian period. Of particular note are the “Venetian”-style windows with a central curved opening surrounded by matching sidelights. Note also the wide overhanging eaves with decorative supporting brackets. Another Victorian feature is represented by the heavily defined raised blocks or quoins on the corners of the villas and the voussoirs surrounding the front entrance. Cross back over the roundabout and turn into Albert Road.

22

Rothesay Mansion

Noted in Pevsner and attributed to Edward Cope, Rothesay Mansions is a good demonstration of the competing influences in the early Victorian period. It has an imposing façade combining a grand Neoclassical entrance and overall design with an Italianate overhanging roof and window treatments.

23

Southend House - Coach House

Perhaps the most surprising listed building in Pittville! You could easily walk past this stable tucked behind Southend House with the original coach house. Note how the rear wall facing onto Albert Road has been designed to impress passers-by.

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16 Albert Road

Although Albert Road was part of John Forbes’s original plan for Pittville, many of the properties were built post-1860 and so are much more clearly Victorian in style. Italianate features dominate as in no. 16, one of a handful built by Charles John Chesshyre and completed in 1863. Note particularly the style and decoration of the windows and the hipped roof with overhanging eaves. The front entrance has dramatic eagle-decorated pillars, but it is not known if these are original.To see more examples of fine Victorian villas take a short diversion into Pittville Crescent.

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5 Pittville Crescent

Another builder in the 1860s was Luke Baker who built several of the villas in Pittville Crescent. No. 5, completed in 1866, has particularly finely decorated windows in the Italianate style.Return to continue along Albert Road.

26

28 Albert Road

A slightly earlier property of Luke Baker’s, no. 28 has a stone balustrade and many fine and unusual stucco decorations including a Roman key-patterned frieze and unusual satyr heads over the ground floor windows.Continue along Albert Road past a number of more modern properties until you reach the entrance to the Park where you turn left onto Pittville Lawn. Now follows a series of grand villas and terraces on your left hand side with the Lawn on your right.

27

Lake House & Ravenhurst

Designed by Robert Stokes and completed in 1834, Lake House/Ravenhurst is a fine example of Neoclassical styling. Although it doesn’t look like it, the property is actually two semi-detached villas, one of which is now divided into flats. Most noticeable is the central pair of fluted Ionic columns decorated with a band of moulded anthemion at the top. Amongst many other features look out for the lion masks along the cornice.

28

Dorset Villa

Built by Edward Billings in 1840 and believed to have been designed by Pitt’s architect, John Forbes, Dorset Villa is the most flamboyant Greek Revival property in Pittville. Its frontage represents a Greek Temple with a dramatic entablature with dentil moulding, supported by end Doric pillars and three-quarter Ionic columns and surmounted by two Acanthus design urn finials. The front also has decorative stucco panels with anthemion motif, alternating lotus and palmette.

29

Malden Court

A surprising Gothic villa in the midst of all the Regency splendour of Pittville Lawn, Malden Court was designed by Rowland Paul & Sons and built by Henry Haines in 1838. It has a steeply pitched roof with decoratively carved wooden bargeboards and drip moulds over the windows. To the side of the villa there sham battlements over the bay window and a red-brick garden wall pierced by a lancet arcade.

30

Regency Lodge

A slightly earlier property completed by Henry Haines in 1835, Regency Lodge is a good example of Greek revival styling, as the side of the house has been kept window-free so as not to interrupt the temple façade that has been created. Note, in particular, the channelling of the stucco to give the impression of heavy masonry blocks – rather than the bricks which lay beneath.

31

59-67 Pittville Lawn

One of two wonderful Palace-Fronted Neoclassical terraces designed by John Forbes to line Pittville Lawn. Although the houses have been designed to look like one grand building they were actually all built by different builders. The other terrace comprises nos. 29-37. There is a third Palace-Fronted Terrace inbetween, nos. 45 and 53, but it is not known if Forbes designed this or whether it was copied from the others.

32

Kenilworth House

Another grand villa with a particularly harmonious neoclassical frontage. Unusually in Pittville, it has used the most ornate classical order, with Corinthian capitals on both the main pillars and those supporting the entrance. The ground floor has heavily channelled stucco to represent large masonry blocks and there is a plainer third floor which is tucked away above the dentil-decorated frieze.

33

14 Pittville Lawn

On this property, built by Thomas Cantell and completed in 1848, you can see the distinctive Regency form of a lower unit set back from the façade containing the front door. This was designed to keep the entrance and passageway from interrupting the dimensions of the main reception rooms.

34

Drumholme

Before you return to your starting point at Pittville Gates, take a few moments to admire the wonderful decorative ironwork on this villa – both on the first-floor balcony where the anthemions and embellished rods design is derived from Henry Shaw's design for Upper Woburn Place - and on the railings. The terrace was designed by Robert Stokes and this property was built by James Creed in 1842.Continue past the remaining few properties to return to your starting point at the Pittville Gates - END