Chapter 7: Victorian Alterations

Rear study showing Victorian fireplace

By far the most significant changes concerned the rear room on the ground floor on the south-west side of the house, where the following Victorianisations took place. First, an imposing marble fire surround was inserted in a style that seems likely to date from the 1860s; within it is a large iron grate that is clearly of comparable date and seems to be original. A Victorian-style ceiling rose was also fitted to the room, and a similar, matching rose was inserted in the front room on that side of the house. Lastly, Victorian decorative glass was installed in the upper panel of the door between the rear room and the hallway behind the staircase, presumably replacing what had previously been a plain door: this has patterned glass in the centre, flanked by panels of red glass at top and bottom and on either side, and with blue ‘sun-bursts’ at the corners.

Glazed door at rear of house

(It should be noted here that this led to two misapprehensions about other features in this room when the house was rehabilitated in the early 1990s. First, it was presumed that its rear window, which had only a single glazing bar in each sash, was also a Victorian replacement, and this formed part of the rationale for replacing it with the existing French windows in 1993. In fact, closer inspection revealed that the lack of further glazing bars was due to the fact that these had been cut out from what remained a large Georgian window, very similar to that which survives in the dining room; however, it was resolved to do away with this in any case. Second, it initially seemed as if the large double doors that separate this room from the front room on this side of the house were a further manifestation of this Victorianisation programme (the doors are certainly Victorian in style). These are flanked on either side by tall, narrow panels, of which a feature was made when central heating was installed in 1991 by placing appropriately shaped free-standing radiators in them. In fact, however, it later became apparent that these doors were inserted at the time when the house was converted into flats in the mid-20th century: see chapter 9, below.)