Coventry House and Claret Lodge

Summary

House with an C18 core remodelled in the mid-C19 as a hunting lodge.

Reasons for Designation

Coventry House and Claret Lodge, an C18 house remodelled in the mid-C19 as a hunting lodge, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a good example of a former hunting lodge, created in the mid-C19 from a pair of C18 houses;

Historic interest:

* it forms a group with other hunting lodges in the town, many of which survive and collectively represent an architectural record of this defining phase in the district’s history;

Group value:

* it also has strong group value with the listed buildings along Burton Road, particularly no. 61 which it adjoins, and Craven Lodge to the north, an early C19 building that was also enlarged in the mid-C19 as a hunting lodge.

History

In the late C18 Melton Mowbray became famous as a centre for foxhunting. During the season the population was increased by those who assisted with and administered the hunt, as well as the royalty, nobility and gentry from all over the country and Europe who took part. As a direct result, and to accommodate that fraternity, several noteworthy hunting lodges and hotels with their associated stables, yards and utility buildings were built during the early C19, many of which survive in alternative use today. There were about twenty hunting lodges which were, surprisingly, not in open country but just on the outskirts of the old town or the main roads out of it. They generally resemble suburban villas, although they were owned by some of the most exalted of the aristocracy.

Coventry House and Claret Lodge is an example of one of these hunting lodges situated on the edge of the town. In 1850 it was enlarged from two C18 houses by the Honourable Henry Amelius Coventry (1815-1873). In 1976 the building was added to the List as the Agnes Western Memorial Home, and it has since been converted into flats.

Details

House with an C18 core remodelled in the mid-C19.

MATERIALS: red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone sill bands and slate roof covering.

PLAN: the building has an approximately rectangular plan and its western end adjoins the Grade II-listed Toad Hall.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey house has a shallow hipped roof and an almost symmetrical facade of three central bays flanked by double-height canted bays, with an extra window bay on the right. The fenestration consists of tall four-over-four pane sash windows with slender glazing bars. A shallow central projection contains the front door with a keyed round arch above and polychromatic brickwork to the jambs. A lower, one-bay element to the west (left) is in a similar style and consists of a full-height canted bay. A single-storey, flat-roofed frontage lit by two tall six-over-six pane sash windows has been added at a later date. Adjoining this to the west is Claret Lodge, a three-storey, two-bay building with a shallow pitched roof which is possibly a remnant of an earlier house. The first floor is lit by two-over-two pane sashes, and the second floor by two sashes with margin lights.

INTERIOR: this has not been inspected.

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