Summary
A three-storey detached town house in classical Georgian style, probably mid-C18 or earlier in origin with later alterations. It had various commercial uses throughout the C20 until it became part of Rochester Independent College by the 1990s.
Reasons for Designation
254 St Margaret’s Banks, probably constructed in the mid-C18 or earlier, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a well-designed and strongly composed Georgian town house with external detailing, using good quality materials and craftsmanship;
* for the variety and quality of surviving internal features ranging from the C18 to the early C20, including fireplaces, panelling, joinery and mouldings.
Historic interest:
* as a C18 building that survives relatively well and reflects the ongoing suburban expansion between Rochester and Chatham following the establishment of the latter’s naval dockyard in the late C16.
Group value:
* with Grade II listed 252 St Margaret's Banks, which now also forms part of Rochester Independent College, and with Grade II listed 246 and 250 St Margaret's Banks.
History
The Medway area was traversed by an ancient routeway running between London and Canterbury and onward to Dover, of Roman or earlier origin. This route evolved into a continuous High Street running from Strood to Chatham that provided the focus of linear development along the area of sloping land extending down to the River Medway. St Margaret’s Banks originated as part of Rochester’s westward suburban expansion along the higher ground above the marshy riverside from the C17 onwards. From the east there was further development along the High Street as the modest settlement of Chatham underwent significant expansion following the establishment of the naval dockyard in the late C16. This area between Rochester and Chatham is sometimes known as Chatham Intra, but St Margaret’s Banks was always administratively part of the City of Rochester.
From the C18 the area began to develop an increasingly commercial and industrial character, including ship-building, brewing and the movement of goods, notably coal and timber. This encouraged the building of wharves and piers and a process of encroachment into the river Medway that reached a peak in the early C20. The riverside development was connected to the increasingly built-up frontage of the High Street by narrow lanes lined with cottages and small houses. Expansion uphill on the south side of the street was encouraged by the opening of New Road in early 1770s. Further impetus came from the railways, which arrived at Strood in 1845 and crossed the Medway in 1853, requiring the construction of a viaduct across Chatham Intra and exploitation of the remaining marshland. Commercial development along the High Street was given a boost by the rebuilding necessitated by two major fires in 1800 and 1820. Subsequently pursued by landowners seeking to build more densely but also to enable road widening along what had become a congested thoroughfare.
254 High Street, Rochester is thought to date from the mid-C18, but its complex roofscape suggests it might have earlier origins. A building conforming to the present building’s footprint appears on a 1772 map of the area. Although built as one of several substantial houses along St Margaret’s Banks, by the 1890s it was being used as a ladies school managed by the Topple family and from 1914 it was St Margaret’s Bank School for girls and kindergarten, run by Louisa Merry. At that time the building was owned by architect W E R Randall along with number 256. By 1919 it had become the Alexandra Hotel, which expanded into number 252 in 1929. Then in 1933, number 254 became a women’s hostel, and from 1953 to 1974 it was a guest house known as the Gainsborough Hotel.
By the 1990s the building was host to its present occupant, Rochester Independent College (established 1984 at 25 Star Hill), initially for offices and residential accommodation. In 2004 permission was granted for alterations to facilitate teaching and residential accommodation. The scheme by Affinis Design of Faversham involved partial demolition to the rear of number 254 with a replacement two-storey extension, new boundary treatments to the front, rationalisation of the rear rainwater goods and replacement and additional windows to the rear elevation.
Details
A three-storey detached town house in classical Georgian style, probably mid-C18 or earlier in origin with later alterations, now part of Rochester Independent College.
MATERIALS: the building has external walls of red brick laid in Flemish bond. The parapet has stone coping and there are stone steps leading to the main entrance. The roofs are covered with Kent tiles.
PLAN: the principal building (closest to the street) is rectangular on plan. To the rear are extensions of different dates, each two bays wide; that to the south-east is set further back than the C21 linear range to the south-west. Like the neighbouring buildings, number 254 is set at a slight angle to the street to face north. The ground floor is arranged a central hallway and staircase with rooms to each corner.
EXTERIOR: the principal building has exterior walls of red brick laid in Flemish bond with tuck pointing. Its roofs are arranged in four hipped ranges perpendicular to the street; the south-east corner range has hipped roof twice the width of each front range, while the modern, linear rear extension to the south-west continues two of the hipped roofs of the front ranges, interrupted by a roof lantern. There are brick chimney stacks to the north-west corner and over the south-east rear range.
The principal elevation is five bays wide. There is a prominent, pointed plat band between the ground and first floors and a moulded modillion eaves cornice above the second floor; both these features continue partially on the return elevations, which are blind party walls. The parapet above the cornice is also of red brick laid in Flemish bond but appears to have been rebuilt in the C20 due to its lighter colour. Fenestration comprises recessed six-over-six pane sash windows to the ground and first floors and three-over-three sashes to the second floor. All the windows have projecting sills and flat-arch brick heads. The central doorcase to the ground floor is framed by pilasters and a triangular pediment, with panelled reveals. The door is panelled with fish-scale and ogee tracery to the fanlight above. It is approached by a flight of stone steps. The lower ground floor is partially visible above the pavement; the brickwork is rendered, and three of the four window openings are now blind.
The rear elevation is four bays wide; two each to the older, east range and the C21 extension to the west. Both have walls of red brick laid in Flemish bond. The east range has six-over-six pane sash windows with projecting sills and segmental brick arches; two to the ground floor and one to the first, and a pair of raking dormers with casement windows above. The modern extension has matching fenestration except the first floor window heads are flush with the eaves.
INTERIOR: the entrance opens into a central hallway with a curved, open-well stair. The staircase and timber panelling throughout this room probably date from the building’s time as a hotel in the early C20. The north-east reception room retains bolection moulded panelling between a foliate dado rail and dentil cornice. The two windows in this room have panelled reveals and the pair of doors in the opposite wall have round-arched heads and moulded architraves. These doorways flank a fireplace with a stone mantelpiece, the latter probably from the C19 or early C20. The opposite front room has a wide, arched alcove adjacent to the strong room, a walk-in safe with a vaulted ceiling and a metal door that probably dates from the building’s time as a hotel. This room, now used as an office, also a C20 fireplace and a deep, moulded window architrave with shutters. The other ground-floor room in this original part of the building is a lecture room in the south-east corner, which also has a fireplace. In the modern extension on this level are toilets and an additional lecture room.
The principal staircase is made of timber, with a curtail step and bracketed open strings, and cantilevers out in a curved, open stairwell. Turned balusters support a moulded handrail, which continues across the first-floor landing with more decorative casement mouldings to the soffit. There is a secondary staircase leading down to the basement, which has a number of brick vaults and brick flooring. This secondary staircase appears to have been truncated between the ground and first floors; it survives above and provides the main route to the second floor of the building and has column-on-vase balusters and a moulded timber handrail to the upper levels. Prior to the C20 this may have been the principal staircase.
On the first floor, the lecture room at the front of the building spans the whole width of 254. It has fluted window architraves with panelled reveals, a timber mantelpiece to the fireplace with decorative floral roundels, and a lateral ceiling beam with decorative mouldings. The south-east lecture room on this floor has a stone fireplace with a modern timber mantelpiece. In the modern extension on this level is another lecture room. The second floor contains residential accommodation and bathrooms and has few historical features of note.
