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Grade II* listed late 19th century country house on the site of an earlier building, a private prep school from 1945 to the 21st century
House now school, built in 1895-9 by Edward Burgess in an Elizabethan style. Red brick with stone dressings; eaves string course, stone coped parapet and graded stone slate roof. Seventeen stacks. Tower to south west of four storeys with gables on each face. Irregular L-plan. Stone mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights Terrace to north, south and east of house with arched stone balustrading and square piers <1>.
Marlston House is described in a Field Club excursion report of 1881 <4>. The previous house on the site was 'much enlarged and improved by the .. Owner, Mr Bunbury' <5> whose father also repaired Marlston Chapel. The Revised Pevsner Guide <6> notes that the large house of Elizabethan origins had been remodelled by Butterfield, but this was replaced with Burgess' design for George Palmer of the Reading biscuit firm. Bricks for the rebuilding seem to have been made at the nearby Frilsham pottery <16>.
Rocque's 1761 map <9> shows a complex of buildings either side of the road, named 'Marston'.
The house has been used as a school since 1945 when the boys' boarding prep school Brockhurst moved to Marlston. A linked girls' school on the site is named Marlston House.
| <01> | Department of the Environment. 1974-2000?. DOE List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. [Unpublished document / SWB10006] |
| <02> | Pevsner, N. 1966. The Buildings of England (Berkshire). p177. [Monograph / SWB10024] |
| <03> | Betjeman, J and Piper, J (eds). 1949. Murray's Berkshire Architectural Guide. p134. [Monograph / SWB10404] |
| <04> | Newbury District Field Club. 1875-86. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1875-86 VOL 3. p185-190. [Article in serial / SWB11187] |
| <05> | Gray, E W (ed)?. pre 1839. The History and Antiquities of Newbury and its Environs. p207. [Monograph / SWB11182]
https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq00unkngoog (Accessed 16/07/2019) |
| <06> | Tyack, G, Bradley, S and Pevsner, N. 2010. The Buildings of England (Berkshire). p383-4. [Monograph / SWB147855] |
| <07> | Dils, J (ed). 1998. An Historical Atlas of Berkshire. p96-7 Country houses 1750-1900 by Geoffrey Tyack. [Monograph / SWB13916] |
| <08> | Dils, J and Yates, M (ed). 2012. An Historical Atlas of Berkshire (2nd Edition). p120-121, Country Houses 1750-1914 by Geoffrey Tyack. [Monograph / SWB148708] |
| <09> | Rocque, J. 1761. Rocque's Map of Berkshire. 1:35,000 (approx). Marked 'Marston' (sic). [Map / SWB7242]
https://www.rct.uk/collection/700042/rocques-map-of-berkshire (Accessed 09/02/2021) |
| <10> | Greenaway, D. 2007. Around the Valley of the Pang: An Exploration of the Pang Valley in West Berkshire
Around the Valley of the Pang: An Exploration of the Pang Valley in West Berkshire. p109. [Monograph / SWB147222]
https://westberks.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=570267 (Accessed on 10/09/2024) |
| <11> | Greenaway, D and Dunlop, L. 2011. Around the Three Valleys. p169-170. [Monograph / SWB148275] |
| <12> | Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1923. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks III 1923. Vol 3. online. p291. [Monograph / SWB10005]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3 (Accessed 08/03/2022) |
| <13> | Berkshire Archaeological Society et al. 1927. BERKS, BUCKS AND OXON ARCH J 1927 VOL 31. 31. In ADS Journals. 10.5284/1000017. p76 in Notes and Queries. [Article in serial / SWB13434]
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=31 (Accessed 27/07/2016) |
| <14> | Landmark. 1872-85. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 1, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 1:2500. Marked 'Marlston House'. [Map / SWB14341] |
| <15> | Ordnance Survey. 1962-1981. Ordnance Survey Epoch 5, 1:2500. 1:2500. Marked 'Brockhurst School (Marston House)'. [Map / SWB14665] |
| <16> | Frilsham Parish Council. 2000. Frilsham - Footways, Bridleways and Byways. [Unpublished document / SWB12896]
http://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=36665&p=0 (Accessed 16/09/2016) |
| <17> | British Geological Survey. 2017. Strategic Stone Study: BGS Enhanced Listings. WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB149695] |
| <17> | Historic England (previously English Heritage). 2023. Building Stones Database for England. https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/buildings/building-stones-england. 03/09/2024. [Website / SWB150758]
https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/buildings/building-stones-england (Accessed 03/09/2024) |
| <18> | 1840. Marlston tithe map. [Map / SWB150653]
http://ww2.berkshirenclosure.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DP28%2f27%2fC&pos=9 (Accessed 01/03/2024) |
| <19> | Unknown. 1887. Sale catalogue of the Marlston Estate, Bucklebury, Frilsham and Hampstead Norreys. [Unpublished document / SWB150652] |