Woodland Court, Chesham Bois
Location/Address
No’s. 1, 2 & 3, Woodland Court
Long Park
Chesham Bois
Amersham
Buckinghamshire
HP6 5LG
Type
Description
Substantial early C20th ‘Arts & Crafts’ style Country House, now subdivided, set within a mature garden, with a recorded history.
A building of note to Chesham Bois.
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Country House.Age
1914.Rarity
Only ‘proper’ Arts & Crafts Country House in Chesham Bois. Despite being subdivided, still remains surprisingly original in form.Architectural and Artistic Interest
Principal accommodation over 2 floors, with some original secondary accommodation set within the roof space at second-floor level. Substantial brick-build creation, with some external use of half-timbering & render in finish. Roof pitched with gables & covered with plain clay tiles. Left-hand gable to facade comprises No. 1, being accessed by original open porch of significant proportions featuring artisan brickwork exhibiting touch style of Edwin Lutyens with the arch. Roof lowers slightly to either side, with stone string-course highlighting this to front. Original, heavy oak entrance door retained. From exterior, impression given of relatively high ceilings. Original leaded-light windows retained, with casement openings & in original wooden - presumably oak - frames. Virtually all of gable to first-floor & all to second-floor finished with oak half timbering & gaps filled with render painted cream. Lovely loggia to garden elevation, with balcony over. No. 2 comprises the central portion of the dwelling , of which the dominant feature is the projecting gable housing the grand galleried oak staircase. A modestly sized & in keeping door has been inserted to the left, to create access. As with the adjacent gable, brickwork has been left exposed to this floor, with most of the first & all of the second floors having been half-timbered & infilled with cream finished render. Again, original windows remain. The most noticeable being the particularly large staircase window, which also features some inset stained glass. No. 3 comprises the right-hand end, formerly the service wing. This is finished in brickwork, across all floors & without any projections. Nice selection of original windows, of matching form, across all floors & between to serve the original secondary staircase. Both doors appear original, although worth noting that there are a few small discrepancies between the original perspectives & floor-plans. Gable is only real feature, tapering to right-hand side down to ground-floor level. Across the whole building, 5 large brick-built chimneys with good proportions & artisan styling can be seen. Despite subdivisions, collectively these houses still retain a garden of several acres. This would benefit from further recording, however no access was available.Group Value
House needs to be considered in coxtext with remaining part of garden, still sererval acres, designed & finshed contemporary to the house. Historic boundary of garden, sits adjacent - to the West - to that of Chesham Bois House which has now locally listed. Indeed that house is Grade II Listed & not far away, also on the Eastern side closer to Chesham Bois House are The Warren & St. Leonard’s Church, both of which are Listed at Grade II. Further down Long Park, to the South-West, are The Woodlands Cottages, which are Locally Listed. Whilst separate, some of these were occupied a century ago by servants at Woodland Court.Historic Interest
Built for Mrs. Gertrude Crosfield, widow of a successful Northern industrialist. Architect: Harold Conybeare Trimnell - a known ‘Arts & Crafts’ architect, most associated with his contribution to the Woldingham Garden Village in Surrey having design numerous houses. Builder: Rust & Ratcliffe of Chesham - a local builder specialising in the ‘top end’ of the market place & use of craftsmanship. Original perspective drawings by Thomas Raffles Davison - still a known name today, particularly for architectural drawing. Originally, gardens were more extensive & there were some ancillary buildings. Lodge & Coach House redeveloped, circa 2000, old diary remains, although converted & up- in doing so - significantly altered. Other houses have been built within historic boundary, of particular note is a Post-War era dwelling on the site of the former tennis court & air raid shelter for a well known local Ballet teacher who had previously resided in No. 3Landmark Status
Discrete location, yet nevertheless, because of the size of both house & garden - as well as the popular Public Footpath adjacent to drive, running past front of the house - one which is known in the locality.
Date Listed
n/a
Last Updated
11 Mar 2023