The Lodge, 18 Henleaze Road

Summary

Lodge. Early C19, with a mid-to late C19 two-storey extension to the rear. The late-C20 single-storey addition to the south-west corner is not included.

Reasons for Designation

The Lodge, 18 Henleaze Road, Henleaze, Bristol is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a well-designed and composed example of an early-C19 entrance lodge in the Domestic Revival style;
* for the survival of a significant proportion of its historic fabric;
* for the quality of craftsmanship shown in its decorative detailing.

Historic interest:

* for its contribution to our understanding of the architectural developments in the design of entrance lodges in the C19.

History

Entrance lodges began to appear in England from the later C17. They were generally small but often elaborate and were built both for the purpose of security and to give the passer-by or visitor a hint of the character of the family and their house, often being designed to anticipate the architectural achievement of the greater house beyond. The entrance lodges inspired by the aesthetic ideal of the picturesque differ in that they are built to look like a rural cottage, abandoning the concept of heralding the architecture of the principal house.

From the C17 to the C19 a number of villas were built in Henleaze, a then rural area of the parish of Westbury-on-Trym to the north of Bristol. The Lodge is reputed to have C18 origins based on a date stone of 1727 that is thought to be retained within the building, but no evidence has been provided to support this assertion. Based on its architectural character and historic map evidence the building appears to have been built in the early C19 as the lodge to Springfield, about 230m to the south-east. The Lodge is shown on Donne’s Map of Bristol (1826) and is subsequently included on the tithe map for Westbury-on-Trym (1842). The 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1883) suggests that by this time the principal house, Springfield, had been substantially extended and an early-to mid C20 photograph shows the house with a castellated porch and parapet, and Gothick-style windows. The lodge appears to have been extended to the rear at a similar time. Springfield, later renamed Northumberland House, was demolished in about 1937.

The Lodge now survives in a suburban setting with early-C20 houses to the north and west, and mid-C20 houses to the south and east. The gate piers and gates date from the late C20.

Details

Lodge. Early C19, with a mid-to late C19 two-storey extension to the rear. The late-C20 single-storey addition to the south-west corner is not included.

STYLE: designed in a Domestic Revival style.

MATERIALS: built of squared and coursed limestone rubble. The roof is covered in slate tiles; those to the principal (east) elevation and the porch are scalloped. The axial Tudor-style chimney stack has three tall, stone chimney pots; that to the north retains evidence of its original carved decoration of interlocking ovals.

PLAN: a roughly T-shaped plan comprising the principal range with a projecting porch to the east, and a mid-to late C19 extension to the rear (west).

EXTERIOR: of one and a half storeys. The principal range has offsets to the lower courses of the stonework and timber casement windows with diamond-leaded lights (the leadwork to the ground-floor windows is a later modification) set within round-arched heads with chamfered spandrels. The gables to the principal range all feature applied timber framing and decorative bargeboards with pyramidal finials and multi-faceted pendants, and are supported on pairs of shaped timber brackets to the corners.

The entrance (east) elevation has an asymmetrical arrangement of two bays. To the left is an eight-light, mullion-and-transom bay window, with a three-light gabled dormer window above. To the right is a projecting, gabled porch. The porch is built on a dwarf wall with offsets, with four round-arched openings to either side; the leaded lights were added in the mid-C20. The open doorway of the porch has a Tudor-arched head with foliate ironwork to the spandrels and leads to the principal entrance door which has a decorative iron door knocker and letter box. The porch has a geometric tiled floor. The bargeboards to the gabled porch and gabled dormer feature a curving design interspersed with berries.

The gabled north and south elevations of the principal range have a three-light window to the ground floor and a three-light oriel window to the first floor supported on four timber corbels. Both have decorative bargeboards to the gables with a cusped S-shape design and a leaf motif to the ends.

The set-back rear extension is built of larger blocks of coursed limestone. The north elevation has a ground-floor two-light window within a stone, eared and shouldered architrave. The rear (west) gabled elevation has plain bargeboards and beneath is a three-light window with an ashlar surround. The ground floor has been altered with the former doorway now a two-light window; the door appears to have been reused in the single-storey addition (excluded from the listing) to the right.

INTERIOR: it is understood that the hall has a quarry-tiled floor and a staircase with a steeply chamfered, narrow newel post. The internal joinery includes dado-height panelling, window seats, plank and batten doors, and ceiling beams.

Sources

Books and journals
Bowerman, V, The Henleaze Book, (2006), 39-40

Websites
Know Your Place Bristol: Historic Mapping and Monument records for The Lodge and Springfield, accessed 29 January 2024 from https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition=

End of official list entry

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