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Summary

Grade II* listed 18th century Gothick villa, perhaps designed by John Chute, possibly remodelling an older building

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*) 1221172: ST MARY'S HOUSE
• Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• National Monuments Record No.: SU 46 NE 113
  SU 4722 6768
• Old Listed Building Ref (pre 1984) (II): ø 2/53 No. 40 (St. Mary's Vicarage)
  House. Late C.18 "Gothick". 3 storeys, grey brick front on red brick, which may be C.18, at sides; the back is C.19 facing in brick. "Gothick" stone framed windows with square labels. Ogee-headed stone doorway on front. (Photograph in N.M.R.)

Monument Type(s):

• TOWN HOUSE (18th century - 1765 AD? to 1770 AD?)
• VICARAGE (Early 20th century to Late 20th century - 1920 AD? to 1975 AD?)

Full Description

St Mary's House, 40 London Road, is a Grade II* listed Gothick villa, though a large detached one of three storeys. Its name derives from the relatively short-lived period of use as a vicarage for the early 19th century church of St Mary's in Speenhamland, but St Mary's House was built much earlier. Its position on the major coaching route between London and Bath suggests that its original function was that of a town house.

Pevsner <2> notes it as one of the wealthy houses spread along the London road early in the 18th century, although the revised Pevsner Guide <3> suggests a date of c1765-70. This dating is due to a perceived association with the architect John Chute, who is known to have designed the house at nearby Donnington Grove. The façade of St Mary's House shares with Donnington Grove the building materials of grey and red brick, and a crenellated parapet. There are several phases of brickwork however, and the original entry in the statutory list for Newbury Borough <7> considers that the back is 19th century facing in brick. It seems possible that an earlier building was remodelled in the 1760s.

St Mary's Church, Speenhamland was built in c1830 but demolished in 1976; it appears that the until the early 20th century its vicarage was on the Oxford Road, opposite Donnington Square, and St Mary's House did not become a vicarage until about 1920 when it is listed in Kelly's Directory <5> as the residence of the Rev Holloway. The building's name in the late 19th century (and perhaps before this) was Ivy House <6>. The entry for St Mary's House in the national list was amended in 2014 <1> to correct the assumption that it had been built as a vicarage contemporaneously with the former church. The dating of c1765-70 would make it a rare representative of the very earliest phase of the Gothic Revival.

West Berkshire Museum has photographs showing the building in the late 20th century <9>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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