Netherwood, Former Lodge to Cranwell

Details

WESTON PARK EAST
656-1/28/10054 (East side)

Netherwood, former lodge to Cranwell
03/02/2010

II

Neo-classical lodge, 1850-52 by Wilson & Fuller, who designed Cranwells. It is built in Bath stone ashlar with a shallow pyramidal slate roof set behind a high parapet and a tall central chimney stack.

PLAN: The single storey building has an almost square plan with a porch to the front and with two small rectangular, linked flat-roofed extensions (including a garage) to the rear, dating from c1930; these are not of special interest.

EXTERIOR: The porch to the north-east front has an open pediment incorporating a round headed central doorway with pronounced central keystone, flanked on either side by plain pilasters. On either side of the porch is an eight pane sash window, identical to the two on the west elevation (the east elevation could not be seen).

INTERIOR: Not inspected.

SETTING: The lodge marks the main entrance drive leading to Cranwells. Immediately to its north stands a pair of mid-C19 gate piers (listed Grade II). These give access to a drive that runs along the southern boundary of the parkland, laid out in the mid-C19, and then leads in a northerly direction to the former mansion (listed Grade II).

HISTORY: The lodge was built to serve Cranwells, a large mansion designed by Wilson & Fuller in 1850-2 for Jerom Murch (1807-1895), Unitarian minister and former Mayor of Bath. The mansion and the main drive are first depicted on Cotterell's map of Bath of 1852. Murch was a keen plantsman, and shortly after the completion of his mansion, a garden with a fountain surrounded by a park with a small lake were laid out. This was served by an entrance lodge to the south-west and one to the north (see Ordnance Survey Town Map for Bath (1:500) of 1886).

After Murch's death in 1895, the estate was bought by Saxton Campbell Cory, a wealthy colliery owner, who refurbished the house. In 1909 it was purchased by Alfred Pitman, the founder of the Pitman Press, and the Sale Particulars describe the entrance lodge as having four rooms with an outbuilding.

In 1952 it was bought by Edward Greenland, a tobacconist and confectioner, who sold off the majority of the parkland for development, including the south lodge, which became a private dwelling, known as Netherwood. In 1961 the Bath Corporation placed a Compulsary Purchase Order on Cranwells to accommodate Cranwells Art Secondary School (later in the 1970s to become a special needs school, named Summerfield School).

SOURCES: K Ross, Building and Archaeology Report on Summerfield School, Weston Park East, Weston, Bath (Oct 2006), for Property Services, Bath and North-East Somerset Council.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Netherwood, the former lodge to Cranwells, Weston Park East, Bath merits listing at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Despite a later extension, the lodge has survived intact, retains its good quality architectural detailing and is well proportioned, reflecting the special interest of the surviving mansion it served (listed Grade II).

* It is an important feature within the surviving part of park and forms an interesting group with its associated features

* It has retained its function as marking the main surviving entrance drive to Cranwells, reflecting its architectural style and quality.
Listing NGR: ST7357666012

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

511097

Legacy System:

LBS

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