Clock Tower and attached former stable block to Mount Felix

Summary

The Clock Tower is the former coach house and coach horse stables to Mount Felix (demolished). The coach house is said to have been remodelled from an C18 brewhouse and laundry in 1837-1840 by Sir Charles Barry in Italianate style, and extended and converted to commercial use in the later C20. The coach horse stables to the rear are mid- to-late C19, extended and improved probably in the early C20. Both buildings were refurbished in the early C21, when a covered corridor was installed linking the two, and are in use as a nursery in 2024.

Reasons for Designation

The Clock Tower, the former coach house and attached stables of Mount Felix, of 1837-1839 built to the designs of Sir Charles Barry, and sympathetically restored in the C21, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons.

Architectural interest:

* as a finely proportioned and elegant Italianate composition with a prominent clock tower, by a noted architect of the period;
* for the retained, working clock mechanism of 1787.

Group value:

* with the two sets of gate piers to the former Mount Felix (National Heritage List for England entries 1030249 and 1263644).

History

A detailed history of Mount Felix house, the estate and its ownership is given by John Archer Stonebanks (1978), see sources below. This country house estate was established on the banks of the Thames near the then Cowey Bridge in the early C18 by Harry Rodney, who bought Still House and partly demolished it to create his own property. The house and estate were purchased in 1744 by Samuel Dicker, Jamaican plantation owner and enslaver, who petitioned Parliament with a bill to build a toll bridge at his own expense. He enlarged his estate and rebuilt the house in 1748-1750 to the designs of William Etheridge, civil engineer and architect, best known for his wooden bridge designs, including the old Walton Bridge and Mathematical Bridge in Cambridge. The estate was acquired by the 4th Earl of Tankerville in 1772 and the house was grandly remodelled in 1837-1840 for the 5th Earl of Tankerville by Sir Charles Barry in Italianate style. After a number of different owners in the C19 and C20, the house was demolished in 1967 following a fire.

Stonebanks states that the C18 brewhouse and laundry block to the east of the house were remodelled as the coach house with a clock tower by Barry (1978, p9 and figure III), sited in an enclosed yard and accessed from the reconfigured driveway to the south. The clock mechanism of 1772 by John Johnson of Walton remains. It is not documented when the linear range of stables (52-60 and 66 Bridge Street in 2024) was constructed, but stylistically it is likely that they are also by Barry, neatly defining the east side of the yard. Neither building is shown on the Tithe Apportionment Map of 1840 but both are depicted on the 1881 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map of Surrey. The footprint of the coach house is smaller in both the 1881 and 1894 OS map; a single storey extension to the west was added in the C20. In both historic maps there is a rear wing at the west, and at the north-west corner of the enclosed yard there is a rectangular block, possibly an early coach horse stable. The rear coach horse stable is mapped as two ranges in the OS map of 1914 and were joined at some point thereafter. An entrance into the drive at the south end of the Bridge Street range is also shown on the 1881 map with a lodge (demolished) on the south side of the drive: a relict gate pier built into the south wall of 66 Bridge Street is the only remaining evidence of this entrance.

Mount Felix was requisitioned to be used as a convalescent hospital for Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the First World War, many of whom served at Gallipoli. The hospital was established by the New Zealand War Contingent Association and opened by the High Commissioner for New Zealand in August 1915. A photograph showing a group of uniformed soldiers in the coach house yard appears to date from around this time, and shows a little of the coach house and separate stables.

Historic photographs of the coach house taken in 1949, held in the Historic England archive, describes the building as a stables, as does Stonebanks (1978, p20). Both these and photographs of the building from 1967 are useful references of the building before it was converted. A pair of gate piers topped with scrolled ironwork lead from the drive into the yard. The front elevation of the building has a canopy over five sets of full-height double doors at the ground floor and at the first floor there are two multi-pane sash windows on either side of the central clock bay.

Presumably, the coach house ceased to function in this role earlier in the C20; historic photographs indicate that the building was used as a garage when cars replaced horses and presumably some changes to the exterior and interior occurred as part of that functional evolution. At the time of listing the building is noted in the List entry as being in commercial use, and known as the Clock Tower, having previously been used as a food warehouse and tyre store. In 2024, the building is a children's nursery. The awning has been removed and the double doors at the frontage and some sash windows have been renewed with sympathetic replacements in 2023. The interior has been remodelled completely with modern finishes and fixtures, but the clock mechanism remains and is kept in working order. The former coach horse stables to the rear have been converted into nursery rooms and a dining hall, but the far east bay is in separate ownership and has a different function. The roof covering is renewed and 'velux' lights have been inserted. Between the two buildings is a connecting corridor covered by a glass canopy, installed in 2023. The yard between the east side of the Clock Tower and 54 Bridge Street includes granite setts and paving slabs.

Details

The Clock Tower is the former coach house and coach horse stables to Mount Felix (demolished). The coach house was remodelled from a C18 brewhouse and laundry in 1837-1839 by Sir Charles Barry in Italianate style, and extended and converted to commercial use in the later C20. The coach horse stables to the rear are mid- to-late C19, extended and improved probably in the early C20. Both buildings were refurbished in the early C21, when a covered corridor was installed linking the two, and are in use as a nursery in 2024.

MATERIALS: the Clock Tower has stucco-rendered brick elevations with a hipped roof. The former coach horse stables are of yellow stock brick laid in a mix of bonds, over-painted for the most part, and a hipped roof. Both buildings have replacement pantiles.

PLAN: a symmetric composition, with a central entrance bay surmounted by a clock tower, historically flanked by two sets of wide entrances providing access to garaging space for coaches and other horse-drawn vehicles. The first floor was probably accommodation for grooms. The coach horse stables are single storey, with entrances to stabling historically; the openings are remodelled.

EXTERIOR: the Clock Tower has 2 storeys, and is of 5 bays with quoins to the corners and a hipped roof with a lateral chimney to the east. There are two, set back single storey wings to each return elevation with large window openings. There is a flat storey band at the first floor and a modillion eaves cornice. At the ground floor are six, partly-glazed doors (installed in 2023) to the former vehicle entrances, each with strip surrounds. Above at the first floor are six-over-six pane sash windows with strip surrounds. The central clock tower bay projects slightly with quoins to each corner and an incised ashlar pattern at the first floor, at the centre of which is a Diocletian window, through which the pendulum can be observed. Above is a square tower with ashlar corner piers topped by ball finals; a blind panel to the front contains a circular clock face. Above is a moulded frieze cornice topped by an open turret beneath a lead-covered pyramidal roof surmounted by an ornamental weather vane. The rear elevation has a central main entrance flanked by a niche to each side, and a blocked doorway with strip surround to the west and at the far east of this elevation. An arch-headed, four-over-two pane sash window and eliptical-headed, one-over-one pane sash window are to the east of the rear entrance. On the first floor are six-over-six pane sash windows, most with secondary double glazing. The west elevation is obscured. The east elevation has an external stair leading to the first floor and blocked openings with strip surrounds.

The former coach horse stables to the rear are single storey with remodelled openings and a roof with renewed pantiles and inserted 'velux' windows. The eastern bay is separate to the rest of the range and has a modern rooftop extension. A covered corridor between the Clock Tower and former stables was constructed in 2023.

INTERIOR: there are no historic fixtures in the Clock Tower apart from one hob fireplace and surround on the ground floor to the rear and the clock mechanism and pendulum in the clock tower. The clock mechanism by local craftsman John Johnson of Walton, dated 1772, remains, an inscription noting that it was examined in 1868 by JP Bayly of Weybridge and restored in 1980. The clock movement and strike mechanism are each powered by weights and the 'anchor' type escapement is rocked by the pendulum, located behind the Diocletian window. The building has been thoroughly refurbished and has renewed finishes; the stairs are entirely modern but are located in the original position at the ground floor of the central bay. The former coach horse stables have no historic fixtures and fittings although the lower part of the Pratt roof trusses are exposed.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

286592

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
O'Brien, Charles, Nairn, Ian, Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Surrey, (2022), 700
Archer Stonebanks, J, Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames in Walton and Weybridge History Society, Vol. Paper no 17, (1978), 1-20

Websites
Historic England Archive photos ref 5693_017 1949, accessed 9/4/24 from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/englands-places/card/380914?bc=28%7c34&i=-1&place=Walton-on-Thames%2c+Surrey+(Place)&searchtype=englandsplaces&terms=walton-on-thames&wm=1&g=11447
Historic England Archive photos ref 5693_020 1967, accessed 9/4/24 from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/englands-places/card/380915?bc=28%7c34&i=-1&place=Walton-on-Thames%2c+Surrey+(Place)&searchtype=englandsplaces&terms=walton-on-thames&wm=1&g=11447
Exploring Surrey's Past Surrey History Centre ref 351, accessed 9/4/24 from https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/collections/getrecord/SHCOL_351

Other
Surrey County Council HER references 7356, 7440,15247, 22446

End of official list entry

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