Roden House

Details

BRENTWOOD

TQ5993 SHENFIELD ROAD 723-1/12/106 (South side) 21/10/58 Roden House (Formerly Listed as: SHENFIELD ROAD, Shenfield Roden House)

GV II*

Formerly known as: Roden House ROMAN ROAD. House. Early C18, on 1717 map of Brentwood, 1724 on waterheads, wings added 1725. Preparatory school for Brentwood School 1918-1947. Headmaster's house from 1962. Red brick with chequered burnt headers, clay tiled roof behind parapet. Plan rectangular with cross-wing slightly forward of main range, irregular additions at W end. EXTERIOR: 2 storey and attics. 5 bay principal block with 2-bay cross-wing at E end with Dutch gables and cement copings towards front of E and W ends. Pairs of stacks for double depth house at E and W ends, also between cross-wing and main range. N front elevation. Main block, all windows sashes with glazing bars, 3x4 panes, rubbed brick voussoirs, ground floor with brick keystones, first-floor outer and central window heads have shaped voussoir soffits, central window also has rusticated brick surround rising to brick cornice at base of parapet. Front door now moved from centre (below rusticated window) one bay to E. Door has 8 fielded panels and fretted rectangular doorcase has panelled reveals, fluted pilasters, triglyph frieze and segmental pediment. A moulded stucco band runs between storeys, absent at original site of door (a sash window now in original door position) 3 dormer windows behind parapet. 2 outer with triangular pediments, central one segmental. At W end, secondary ground-floor lean-to with partly chequered brickwork behind, 2nd floor lean-to with chequered brickwork and sash window, upper sash with glazing bars, 2x2 panes, lower sash plain. Dutch gable parapet. Also small intermediate lean-to rises from lower roof. Cross-wing windows similar to ground floor ones in main range. Ground floor window blocked, attic window of triple casement with glazing bars, 6x3 panes, rubbed brick voussoirs with brick keystones and cornice. Rear, S elevation. Division of main range and cross-wing marked by hipped cross-wing roof. Main range has 2 bows with plain brick cornice and parapet, brickwork of bows without chequering. Deep stair window between bows, glazing bars, 3x7 panes plus arched head with `Gothic' treatment of glazing bars, recessed panel in parapet above. Below, simple 4 panelled door, upper panels glazed, lower with beaded panels, wooden trellis porch. Bows - ground floor to W triple window with C20 door inserted, upper glazing with glazing bars, 3x4 panes, lower panel, upper and side lights remain. E bow, triple window , now with supporting metal stanchions to head, central C20 2-panel glazed door and, each side, a C19 French window with glazing bars, 4x4 panes. 3 dormer windows, outer 2 with flat heads, central one with pediment, boarded sides and 2 casements with glazing bars, 4x3 panes. Cross-wing at E, end, 2 window range with moulded string course between floors. First-floor windows sashes with glazing bars, upper sashes 3x2 panes, lower renewed with single central vertical bar. Ground floor, large C19 triple window similar to those in bows with central C20 door, fully glazed with upper and lower panels. Dormer window in roof hip with cornice to sides and triangular pediment, 3 casement windows with glazing bars, 6x3 panes. E end elevation plain, string courses continue round from front. Attic window with glazing bars, casement 2x3 panes between stacks. Dutch gable above. W end elevation, irregular added units with C19 horned sash windows and simple boarded side door, brickwork chequered with burnt headers, 3 rainwater heads dated 1724 and Dutch gables between pair of stacks. INTERIOR: entrance hall, one ground-floor room (to E) and one first-floor room have C18 fielded panelling. Fireplace of ground-floor room has a bolection moulded architrave. Staircase of C18 delicate open strings with barleysugar banisters, shaped handrail and carved bracket tread ends (upper part now boarded over), also panelled dado. The addition of the 2-bayed cross-wing in the earlier C18 to the main 5-bayed C18 range is obvious. Marks on the ground floor ceiling show the site of the original central passage and archway to stair has secondary blocking as part of the alteration. It is curious that it was thought appropriate to move the front door one bay in order to retain symmetrical bays, 3 each side of the door when it so obviously upset the symmetry of the original range. No attempt was made to rework the front (other than inserting a window). The disrupted middle string course and isolated enriched first-floor window were simply left unmodified. The name of the building comes from John of Routhynge, who had a house on the site in 1351. Roden House with wall to E (qv), Mitre House (qv), Newnum House (qv) of Brentwood School, together with Old House (qv) and The Hermitage (qv) and monument to William Hunter (qv) form a group. (Lewis RR: The History of Brentwood School: 1981-: 237).

Listing NGR: TQ5978293917

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

373543

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Lewis, R R, The History of Brentwood School, (1981), 237

End of official list entry

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