TQ 55 41 SPELDHURST SPELDHURST HILL (south side), SPELDHURST 12/586 The Manor GV II House. Circa 1840 (dated roof timber) with alterations of the circa 1880s for Charles W. Powell some refurbishments of 1907 and late C20 renovations. Very fine sandstone ashlar masonry brought to course with thin joints and diagonal rustication with a smoother border to each block; slate roof; stacks with ashlar stone shafts. Plan: Deep rectangular plan, 2-rooms wide. Shallow slate roof, stacks with tall shafts with stone cornice. The present entrance front is on the west side, the house sited to take advantage of views to the east, across the garden. The original arrangement was 4 principal rooms on the ground floor, which may have been entered on the south side. A 3-storey block to the north contained the service rooms and dining room. This arrangement has been altered: there are still 2 principal rooms on the ground floor, facing east, but in the 1880s the rear rooms were re-arranged to provide a large entrance hall containing the stair and a small room facing south. In the late C20 the service block was reduced to a single-storey over cellars, separated from the main house by a glazed passage. A conservatory has been added to the centre of the west front. Exterior: 2 storeys. Deep plinth, platband at first floor level, platband below chamfered stone eaves cornice. All the principal windows have flush keyblocks. Asymmetrical 1:3:1-bay west front, the centre 3 bays projecting. Probably late C19 2-leaf panelled front door in the centre with a fanlight with spoke glazing bars; the door framed by smooth ashlar masonry with pilasters and a moulded cornice above a dentil frieze, moulded stone doorframe with a reeded keystone. Above the front door a pair of one-light windows with late C20 glazing, flanked by blind recesses. The left return of the central projection has one first floor one-light window with late C20 glazing and 2 probably late C19/early C20 round-headed windows with moulded frames and a shared hoodmould. The first floor windows in the outer bays are early C19 4- pane sashes with margin panes, the left hand ground floor windows have been altered. The right hand bay has a late C19/early C20 single-storey flat- roofed addition with 2 round-headed windows with a shared hoodmould. 3-bay symmetrical garden (east) elevation with canted bays to left and right with plate glass C19 sash windows with margin panes: 4-pane to the first floor 8- pane to the ground floor. The windows have stone sills and the first floor windows have panels below the sills. C19 2-leaf glazed garden door in the centre with a deep overlight. 1980s conservatory added in the centre. At the left (north) end a late C20 archway links the main block to the remains of the service wing, which has matching sash windows. The 3-bay south elevation is asymmetrical, the middle bay slightly projecting with a separate hipped roof and a probably late C19 2-leaf glazed garden door with a deep overlight. C19 sash windows with margin panes. The dining room and service block appear always to have been divided from the main range by a service passage running from west to east. Interior: The entrance hall, which has been reduced in size in the late C20, is lined with circa 1880s Jacobean style panelling and has a coeval stair with turned balusters. The principal east facing room, to the south has a fine C18 white marble chimney-piece with carved figure panels and inlaid yellow marble. The chimney-piece is said to be an original Adam design and has a brass plaque with an inscription recording that it originated at Mercers Hall and was given to Charles W. Powell, Master of the Mercers Company, in 1907. The room has an Adam style wall frieze and oval ceiling decoration presumably of 1907. The wall frieze is interrupted by a pair of timber Doric columns that nominally divide the room from a passage to the doors on the east elevation. The northern principal room has a probably 1840 white Italian marble chimney-piece and plaster cornice. Extensive stone cellars with stone vaulted roofs survive under both the main block and service wing. Roof: Not inspected but said to include a timber dated 1840. Baden-Powell, a relation of Charles Powell wrote Scouting for Boys while staying at the Manor and established a group of scouts in the parish. Listing NGR: TQ5544841443