Kingston Lisle House

Details

KINGSTON LISLE SU38NW 6/92 Kingston Lisle House 10/11/52 (Formerly listed as Kingstone Lisle Park)

GV II*

Country House. Datestone found above rear door of central block, G(eorge) H(yde) 1677: new front added c.1720, side wings added c.1812, garden front re- modelled c.1825. Rendered walling; stone slate roof, Welsh slate to part of central block roof; rendered stacks. Double-pile central block with later side wings. Central block is 2-storey and attic, 7-window range, pediment over central 3 bays. Original central and arched doorway with Gibbs surround filled by early C19 sash; keyblocks to semi-circular arches over ground floor, early C19 sashes and tall first floor sash over door, the keystone of which touches the cornice of the pediment; keyblocks to first floor sashes; 3 stone bands at storey level and below and beneath parapet with corner urns; keyed lunette to tympanum, antifixae to parapet corners. Side wings: 2-storey, 3-window range of sashes, ground floor ones having keystones and imposts to semi-circular heads; porch of c.1960 to right side of left wing to panelled double-leaf doors. Moulded wood cornice. Hipped roof to centre block, ridge stacks to side wings, all have moulded caps. Garden front of c.1825 has 2:3:2 window range of tripartite sashes, each with brackets to floating cornice over; three C20 French windows to right side. 3-bay side walls: left side wall has semi- circular bay window with 3 sashes to each floor. Projection at angle between rear of side wing and left wall of central block has semi-circular arch over large 10-pane window lighting central passage in house; blind alcove with statue of putto playing flute; modillioned cornice. Interior: bolection-moulded panelling to ground and first floor rear right rooms; the centre front room, formerly the hall, retains Rococo plasterwork on the ceiling. Otherwise all interior dates to c.1825-30. All original doors and fittings survive; all fireplaces except those in centre rear room, room in left wing and first floor room to rear right were brought from London c,1950. Imposing entrance passage to left with fluted Doric pilasters carried to a coffered tunnel vault which ends in a large lighted bay: this has grouped fluted Doric pilasters carried to a vault with unusual fans in the corners. A large passage to the right proceeds through various features to the staircase: the first section has 6-panelled doors set in blind arches, caryatids supported by a projecting cornice, and the same fans in the corners of the ceiling: the next space is entered through an arch articulated by Doric columns and pilasters with caryatids grouped on the cornice: next an oblong groin vault and then at the end of the range a half- vault with fans. Open-well staircase with two flights boldly flying over the hall: wrought-iron balusters with S-scrolls. Late C20 loggia to rear right with reset datestone of 1677. To the right a covered passage supported by columns connects the service area of the house to a passage running through the early C19 servants' hall: mostly built in Flemish bond brick; Welsh slate roof; brick stack. 2 Diocletion windows with limestone keys and imposts to left wall, semi- circular one-storey bay window to rear; moulded wood cornice; hipped roof, lateral stack. Wall, of brick one side and stone the other, attached to rear right of house, is carried over semi-circular arch with iron gate to right; small early C19 block with two Diocletion windows attached to rear wall. Also to front left of servants' hall is a brick wall carried to the garden: semi- circular arch over iron fan and gate to left. Very little is known of the architectural history of this house. It is certain that the side wings were built by the Lechlade builders Richard Pace and Son and commissioned by the then owner of Kingston Lisle House, Edwin Martin-Atkins (1778-1825) Binney has suggested that Atkins, rather than Basevi or Cockerell, was the architect of the house. (Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, 1978, p.605; Marcus Binney, "Kingston Lisle Park, Berkshire", Country Life, June 17, 1971, pp 1524-1527; The Buildings of England, Berkshire, pp 161-2.)

Listing NGR: SU3264587500

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

250722

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Berkshire, (1966), 161-2
Colvin, H M, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, (1978), 605
Country Life in Country Life, (1971), 1524-1527

End of official list entry

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