Lymington House

Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge, extant 1886, on an L-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey gabled advanced open porch abutting single-bay single-storey gabled projecting end bay. Renovated, 2005. Replacement pitched artificial slate roof on an L-shaped plan centred on pitched (gabled) artificial slate roof (porch) on chamfered timber posts, roll moulded ridge tiles centred on red brick Running bond chimney stack on cut-granite chamfered cushion course on red brick Running bond base having dentilated cut-granite chamfered capping supporting terracotta pots, decorative timber bargeboards to gables on timber purlins with timber finials to apexes, and cast-iron rainwater goods on chevron- or saw tooth-detailed red brick cornice retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered walls on rendered chamfered plinth. Tudor-headed central door opening with cut-granite step threshold, and concealed dressings framing diagonal timber boarded door. Pointed-arch window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings with hood mouldings framing replacement uPVC casement windows. Set back from line of street at entrance to grounds of Lymington House.

A gate lodge illustrating the continued development or "improvement" of the Lymington House estate by Nicholas Furlong (----) with the architectural value of the composition, one recalling contemporary gate lodges on the Solsborough House estate (see 15702019 - 15702021), suggested by such attributes as the compact angular plan form centred on a canopied doorcase; the "pointed" profile of the openings underpinning a stolid Georgian Gothic theme in contrast to the restrained Classicism of the eponymous house (see 15604001); and the decorative timber work embellishing a high pitched roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric: however, the recent (2005) introduction of replacement fittings to the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the external expression or integrity of a gate lodge forming part of a self-contained group alongside an adjacent gateway (see 15603061) with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in an urban street scene.