Denford Park, Kintbury - Hungerford Virtual Museum
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Denford Park, Kintbury - Hungerford Virtual Museum

Denford Park, Kintbury - Hungerford Virtual Museum Denford Park, Kintbury - Hungerford Virtual Museum

hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk
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DenfordPark, Kintbury, Berkshire By the time the estate was sold in 1924 the house was a large one; there were then six principal bedrooms and two dressing rooms in the Main House, nine further bedrooms in the adjacent link block and Service Range, as well as seven further servant bedrooms. The house by this time was equipped with central heating, electric light and a telephone. 4.4 Phase Four: 1939 As soon as Thomas Harrison Hughes bought Denford Park he set about radically extending it and clearly had the resources to achieve that very quickly and, fortunately for him, immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War and all the inevitable shortages of building materials and builders that it caused. His architect, George Baynard, added large but not quite identical wings on either side of the original core of the house. The West Wing was built against the existing west elevation of the house whilst the East Wing replaced the earlier link between it and the Service Wing. Both wings were well crafted and faced with virtually identical Bath stone ashlar and detailed to match the original build. Each was three bays wide and superficially seemed to be symmetrical extensions of the Main House. However, the East Wing was slightly shorter, but slightly wider, than the West Wing. The West Wing terminated in a ground-floor bow detailed to match the central bow of the garden front of Wyattville's original design. Internally, the West Wing provided a large single reception room on the ground floor - the largest in the house - with bedroom, dressing room and bath room on the floor above. The East Wing contained a new entrance and lobby as well as a large Cloakroom and Gun Room on the ground floor, with bedrooms above; it also contained a new service stair, possibly replacing an earlier one, and had cellars beneath. Changes to the original Main House probably included the remodelling of the stair balustrade as well as the creation of a new corridor link through the north end of the south-western reception room to the West Wing. The flooring in the main hall and corridors was probably also renewed at this time. Further changes were made to the buildings in the service area, where the original overhanging eaves were replaced, on the principal elevations, by plain parapets to match those of the Main House and the two new wings. Aesthetically, the two new wings were very well crafted and quite well proportioned and, internally, some of the replica doors and windows were carefully designed to match much earlier work. However, the creation of these two tall wings, coupled with the addition of parapets to the service ranges, unbalanced the original asymmetrical hierarchy of the house. -74- Richard K Morriss & Associates, Historic Buildings Consultants, Bromlow House, Bromlow, Shropshire, SYS OEA

DenfordPark, Kintburv, Berkshire 4.5 Phase Five: The Later 20 th Century Whatever the slight aesthetic issues related to the changes undertaken before the Second World War, the changes taken since the house became an educational establishment have been completely unsympathetic in both scale and design and have developed on a very ad hoc and distinctly utilitarian basis. Considering the change of use of Denford Park from a high status country house to an educational facility with very different requirements and, presumably, financial constraints in terms of new build and maintenance issues, this is perhaps not surprising. Perhaps the demolition of Papworth's tiny parish church close to the house was, especially as it seems to have been demolished around 1959-60 when Denford Park was still a convent school. Changes to the interior of the Main House and the two Wings have been relatively limited to institutional decorating schemes, occasional stud partitions and the addition of shelving, new WC's, etc. Changes to the former service offices have been also relatively low key. The various extensions, to both east and west, are of varied scale and date but are at best of mediocre architectural quality and at worse, quite awful. Little or no thought seems to have been given to the positioning of the new buildings in relation to the historic structures on the site. None of the new buildings even attempt to match the materials, scale, design, or balance of the earlier buildings, none contribute anything positive to the setting of the listed building, all adversely impact on its setting, and none will be missed when they are demolished. I I I I I -75- Richard K Morriss & Associates, Historic Buildings Consultants, Bromlow House, Bromlow, Shropshire, SYS OEA I

<strong>Denford</strong><strong>Park</strong>, Kintburv, Berkshire<br />

4.5 Phase Five: The Later 20 th Century<br />

Whatever the slight aesthetic issues related to the changes undertaken before the<br />

Second World War, the changes taken since the house became an educational<br />

establishment have been completely unsympathetic in both scale and design and have<br />

developed on a very ad hoc and distinctly utilitarian basis.<br />

Considering the change of use of <strong>Denford</strong> <strong>Park</strong> from a high status country house to an<br />

educational facility with very different requirements and, presumably, financial<br />

constraints in terms of new build and maintenance issues, this is perhaps not<br />

surprising. Perhaps the demolition of Papworth's tiny parish church close to the<br />

house was, especially as it seems to have been demolished around 1959-60 when<br />

<strong>Denford</strong> <strong>Park</strong> was still a convent school.<br />

Changes to the interior of the Main House and the two Wings have been relatively<br />

limited to institutional decorating schemes, occasional stud partitions and the addition<br />

of shelving, new WC's, etc. Changes to the former service offices have been also<br />

relatively low key.<br />

The various extensions, to both east and west, are of varied scale and date but are at<br />

best of mediocre architectural quality and at worse, quite awful. Little or no thought<br />

seems to have been given to the positioning of the new buildings in relation to the<br />

historic structures on the site.<br />

None of the new buildings even attempt to match the materials, scale, design, or<br />

balance of the earlier buildings, none contribute anything positive to the setting of the<br />

listed building, all adversely impact on its setting, and none will be missed when they<br />

are demolished.<br />

I<br />

I<br />

I<br />

I<br />

I<br />

-75-<br />

Richard K Morriss & Associates, Historic Buildings Consultants, Bromlow House, Bromlow, Shropshire, SYS OEA<br />

I

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