Local Listing of Assets of Value for Fleet

Transcription

1 Fleet & Church Crookham Society Local Listing of Assets of Value for Fleet Developed by the Fleet and Church Crookham Society Part 4 Queens Road to Waverley Avenue Version 3 February 2018

2 Introduction The purpose of this document is to draw together in one comprehensive list many of the things that make Fleet special. The main focus is on heritage - especially those buildings in Fleet that have architectural merit, have a local history, or those that we have deemed to be of interest in any other way. But it is more than heritage. We have included valuable assets such as community halls, open spaces and the like. We have called our list Assets of Value. This is part 4 and covers street alphabetically from Queens Road to Waverley Avenue. Our list was developed from many different sources, but five in particular, are worthy of special mention: The local listing originally developed by Fleet UDC and later updated in 2001 by Hart DC. This was very much our starting point; Input from Fleet Town Council and Chris Riley whose help is gratefully acknowledged; By surveying many of the streets in Fleet to identify other buildings and features that were not included in the local listing, but that seem to us to be of merit; We have received substantial support from the Fleet and Crookham Local History Group (FCLHG). They have provided significant input as well as verifying many of the items we have included. We sincerely thank them for their help; Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of Mr. Barry Toms of Woodley. His commitment to, and enthusiasm for, this project has been invaluable. He has our sincere thanks. Many items on our list include the phrase FCLHG has more. This indicates that further information is available from them on request. Any comments, suggestions or queries that you may have should be directed to Patric Downes patric.downes@gmail.com The Fleet and Church Crookham Society trusts that you find the content interesting and informative. Patric Downes for F&CCS February 2018

3 Queens Road 1 (Velmead Cottage) 19th century, once part of the Velmead House estate. (FCLHG has more)

4 Reading Road North Fleetwood Lodge (prev. The Briary) Three cottages acquired by George Goddard in 1860 and converted to a single dwelling. The Goddard family relocated in 1880, but the family name lives on in Goddard s Funeral Directors in Kent Road. Original dwelling now incorporated into the extended nursing home.

5 Heather Hill Impressive residential property.

6 Ivy Lodge, Cedar House (formerly Hope House) Baptist Minister William Webster founded the local Baptist Church here and ran a school here. Large property with many original features including the bay window design, and shutters to lefthand front upper storeys. (FCLHG has more)

7 Reading Road South Prince of Wales First licensed 1855/6 and has been a pub ever since. Mr Brake held his annual land sale there in It has had extensions added over the years, some not being that sympathetic. Future major works could be done to enhance the building. It represents the working mans' ale house during the expansion of the town. (FCLHG has more)

8 2 & 4 (The Water Sky) Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Coucil Originally Victorian shops. Modern windows to ground floor. Sash windows in red brickwork, part painted white to first floor. Rendered octagonal oriel window with ogee shaped lead roof as corner feature. Plain tile roof. Included for townscape value at important junction.

9 60 (Durham House - old lodge?) Currently a chiropractic surgery, but rumoured to be linked to the Dinorben estate.

10 45 & 47 Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Pair of cottages originally build for workers on the Dinorben estate. Rough case render to ground floor. Tile hung first floor with small gables over windows. Chimney stacks on ridge. Sash windows to ground floor, casements elsewhere. Roof plain clay tiles, crested ridge. Decorated bands of tiles to both roof and tile hanging. 2 small open gabled porches on timber posts.

11 126 (Basingbourne House) A large house, now split into numerous apartments. Built by 1875 on 20 acres. It included Beverley Cottage opposite. (FCLHG has more)

12 Rochester Grove 12 (Mildred Cottage) Old cottage dated Named after the original owner s daughter.

13 Rushmoor Close Rushmoor House Large and impressive dwelling. Presumably the houses on Rushmoor Close formed part of the grounds. House and separate laboratory were built on five acres of land between Reading Road South and Queens Road, for Dr Bernhard Fluerscheim (see Dictionary of National Biography) by Pool & Sons in He developed an explosive, (patented in 1910) that was used by the Allies in World War 1. Red brick, frontage covered in shaped red tiles, sash windows& bay windows, lattice work above window (FCLHG has more)

14 Stockton Avenue The Coach House Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Originally built as a coach house, stable and accommodation for Stockton House before The Coach House was a part of the 77 acre estate belonging to Stockton House that was built in the 1860 s. The downstairs rooms used to house the coaches. The house still bears the same name today but now has its entrance on Stockton Avenue. - (FCLHG has more)

15 Stockton House Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Large impressive residence, now a private school. First mentioned in 1868, owned by William Stockton Cox as part of the 77 acre Stockton Estate. Altered inside and out, now Stockton House School. (FCLHG has more) North Fleet Conservation Area Character Appraisal - Stockton House is a very large Italianate-style villa of c1850. In 1818 Itchell Manor and Crondall (which encompassed Fleet) were inherited by the Lefroy family, Huguenots who had left France in 1587 to escape persecution. However, the area remained undeveloped until the 1840s when the London and South Western Railway constructed a new station at Fleet Pond. After this, Fleet became a popular destination for city dwellers who enjoyed the landscape and natural history, and the setting of pine forest and heathland. New houses began to be built as Londoners purchased land and set about creating capacious houses of some grandeur, several of which remain including Stockton House which is now a School. History Stockton House was built in the 1860 s for a brewer in Hartley Wintney. It was originally set in a 77 acre estate stretching down to the station between Fleet Road and Elvetham Road. The main driveway to Fleet road was planted with Canadian redwoods known locally as Wellingtonias after the Duke of Wellington (who lived nearby at Stratfield Saye). A few of the trees survive, now more than 100 feet tall, at the top of the main drive.

16 The back drive, of beech trees, led down to Elvetham Road; Stockton Lodge is still there. The Courtyard, now on Waverley Avenue, used to be the laundry. The Coach House still bears the same name and now has its entrance on Stockton Avenue; the downstairs rooms used to house the coaches. The house itself had an orangery on the south facing terrace. The basement contained the kitchens and staff quarters with windows opening onto a narrow walled passageway that surrounded the house; metal gratings let in a dim light. Banks of earth beyond the passageway created the illusion that the gardens came right up to the house. All the main rooms on the upper floor were interlinked in a circle around the main hall so that the servants never had to use the main staircase. A large subterranean tank, collected rainwater from the roof for the house s use; there was no mains water until the turn of century. Whether the Hartley Wintney brewer ever lived in the house is unknown; on the 1871 census, the only name given was that of a Miss Eliza Cox. We understand that the house was privately occupied until Much of the land had been sold off by then, with further sales around Waverley Avenue in the 1930s. War Time During the First World War, the house was occupied by evacuees from London. We were told by one of them, a child at the time who stayed in Fleet after the war, that the original marble on the main staircase was ripped out at the time, possibly for sale. Between the wars the house was a boys prep school. During the Second World War the house was used as a billet for Canadian soldiers. When we first moved in, some of the basement doors had signs in chalk and paint indicating that the rooms had been used as a guard room and for stores. There were still foundations of military huts in what is now the formal garden. A shadow of its former self After the war, a builder owned the house and converted it into flats. In 1967 the house was put up for sale and was due for demolition. The main hall had bare plaster walls and a flagstone floor. Many of the larger rooms had been subdivided and an enormous coal-fired boiler in the basement consumed, we were told 20 tonnes of coal a year. We later discovered that the house was riddled with dry rot, which had spread to the beautiful moulding surrounding the original domed skylight in the main hall. The roof leaked in 20 or 30 places into plastic containers in the attics. Saved from the bulldozers Stockton House was rescued from demolition by Peter Tweedie-Smith, Managing Director of a small private company. He changed the name of the company to Stocktonia Limited and, over the following 33 years until his death in 2000, he devoted his considerable creative energies to restoring the house to something like its former glory. At the same time, his wife Clare Tweedie-Smith set up Stockton House School. He also extended the grounds again by buying adjacent land. Just before he died, he had completed his last great project, restoring the main hall and installing the eight foot high oak front doors and the enormous oak fireplace in the hall. He had rescued these from his parents house, another Victorian house in London before it was demolished in the 1960 s. In his memory we built the portico to enhance the front entrance. Fit for the Twenty-First Century

17 Since 2000 we have further restored the whole building and developed the Conference Centre. We have incorporated more Victorian features including some wonderful carved woodwork. Hidden within each room we have designed power, projection and internet facilities. Outside we established an Italianate formal walled garden to complement the architectural features on the South side of the house. This has created a spacious terrace and a spectacular outdoor room for large functions and events. Velmead Road 143 Canal-side property near Kings Road. Appears of a good age. Possibly 1930s, built on land owned by the manager of Velmead Road gasworks.

18 Victoria Road 16 (Leigh House) Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Dated Old with interesting architecture. Pattern brickwork & ridged roof, bay windows.

19 27-31 (Abingdon Villa) Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Dated Old with interesting architecture. White render, black edging, bay windows.

20 37 (Pembroke Cottage) Old with interesting architecture. Red bricks & white render, roof/wall shape on frontage

21 69 The Garth Home of Mrs Constance Faulkner Kayser, secretary of the Fleet Women's Suffrage Society. Used name of Verney, rather than Kayser. Was one of the earliest women doctors. Died at The Garth in (FCLHG has more)

22 Victoria Hill Road Baptist Cemetery (Hope Cemetery) Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Tucked away just off the road, this is an intriguing little gem. Private cemetery belonging to Fleet Baptist Church called Hope Cemetery. Extract from the North Fleet Conservation Area Character Appraisal: Character Area 2: North of Reading Road North Springfield Lane to The Avenue. Hope Cemetery is described as a pleasant, green space with a sense of tranquillity with alleyways connecting through Hope Cemetery to Church Grove. (FCLHG has more)

23 Beacon House Large redbrick Victorian two-storey building arranged in an L-shape, now converted to retirement apartments. Attic windows with dormers, tiled roof, brick string course between first and second floors in part, at level of lower edge of first floor windows. Detailing on barge boards on gable ends and extended chimneys. Sash windows. Two double storey bays to west side, with tile hanging between floors. Flat roofed porch in the corner of the L-shape, with supporting pillars. Detailing on porch roof to mirror that on the main house eaves. West side has two bay windows, one each side, with tile hanging separating first and ground floors. Wood sash windows. Dormer windows in roof, attic window in left end gable, and attic door in right end gable. Attic windows on south side. Original building looks to have been extended in fairly unstructured way to the east side. Grounds contain number of sheltered houses, which possibly converted from original stables and other outbuildings from time of original house. Single-storey with high pitched tiled roofs, and chimneys. The following is courtesy of FCLHG: The 1908 sale particulars of The Beacon state it was built for the then owner, Sir Lauder Brunton, Bart, MD, by a well-known architect, and was currently let to Ralph Beaumont Benson. It includes a cottage for a coachman, and stands in 4 ½ acres. Title starts with a conveyance of 24 June Mrs Benson was chair of Fleet Women's Suffrage Society and held a meeting of 200 friends of suffrage on her lawn. Mays 1939 Directory shows Mrs K Hebblethwaite as occupier. Mays 1950 Directory shows it as the Beacon Hotel. Phyl Ralton Fleet and Crookham Local History Group

24 The Views Principal area of greenspace close to the town centre. Manged by Fleet Town Council. Once part of the garden of The Views on Reading Road North. It was the home of Col Thomas Horniblow, first chairman of Fleet Urban District Council. He owned his own footpath from his house to the church, still there in (FCLHG has more)

25 Waverley Avenue Richmond Old with interesting architecture.

26 The Courtyard Photo courtesy of Fleet Town Council Old with interesting architecture. Stockton Lodge on Elvetham Road was built before The house was later divided into two dwellings, the back part was re-named The Courtyard and fronts Waverley Avenue. It was once home to very popular Edwardian actors, Sir Seymour Hicks and his wife Ellaline Terriss. The Courtyard, now on Waverley Avenue, was once a part of the 77 acre estate of Stockton House built in the 1860 s. The Courtyard used to be the laundry. - (FCLHG has more)

27 Woodcock Spinney Old with interesting architecture.

28 Wood Lane 38 (old farm house?) Looks like an old farm house.

29 War defences Spigot mortar on bridge near west entrance to Elvetham Heath. For other defence features see Tim Denton's books and website.