Yateley Lodge, junction of Cricket Hill Lane and Reading Road, Yateley

 

Conservation Status: Listed Grade II, in Cricket Hill Conservation Area

 

Summary

 

Imposing Gentleman's residence dating back to C16, but mainly late C17 and early C18, with refronting and outbuilding extensions in the early C19.

 

An early example of a town style house built for Gentleman's use in a country location.

 

Associated with Christopher Rigby (see Dictionary of National Biography page)

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ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF YATELEY LODGE, READING ROAD, YATELEY

RICHARD H JOHNSTON

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This report is based on a short visit to the premises lasting about three hours on 9 October 1998, and a further short visit to clarify some details about the ground floor of the western part of the house on 19 January 1999. Further short visits were made on 2 February 1999 and 2 March 1999 in connection with a Planning Inquiry. The later visits revealed a number of features of interest which were overlooked during the first visit, and showed that detailed investigation when the premises are unoccupied would be desirable. Modern finishes, decorations and carpeting limit the conclusions that can be drawn about the history of the house, which, like most houses of its kind, has been added to and altered many times during its history. The roof spaces were not generally accessible, and three rooms were not properly examined, but access to them is unlikely to result in major changes to the assessment. A more detailed inspection, with appropriate removal of modern finishes, would provide a fuller picture, resolve some of the questions which remain open, and may reveal that parts of the structure of the house are earlier than this assessment could determine. To simplify description, east is taken to be the side which faces the Reading Road - the true direction of this facade is about 30 degrees towards north-east.

 

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

 

Yateley Lodge appears to have been a cottage in the early part of the C17, and became a Gentleman’s mansion in two stages during second half of the C17, with the main part of the house reaching its present size in the late 1680s, at about the time when Samuel Boucher, who was related to the Ryves family of Hall Place (which is now Yateley Manor school), moved there. Mr Boucher was a man of substance with sufficient wealth to require a substantial property. In the C18 the property became associated with a group of families involved in the barley growing, malting and brewing trade, the Terry family providing a common thread in the pattern of ownership. The house was remodelled in the early Regency period, most probably between 1803 and 1810, and the house was then owned and occupied from 1810-1863 by Tipping Thomas Rigby Esquire, Recorder of Abingdon. It continued as a private dwelling house, until the 1970s, was divided into two dwellings, and became offices during the 1980s. Details drawn from the immediately available documentary sources are provided in Appendix 2.

 

For the purposes of understanding its architectural history, the house divides into four main periods:

• 1) the C16 or early C17 cottage, remains of which are found within a two storey cottage-like structure within the rear of the building
• 2) the lower status part of the main house (of three storeys, the front door and to the west), which was probably originally built as a substantial double pile house in the third quarter of the C17;
• 3) the highest status part of the main house (of two storeys above a basement, the area of the large ground floor room to the east of the front door), added soon afterwards, probably in the late 1680s to provide a new front for the house, and comprehensively remodelled into the Regency style about 1800, together with a new south facade and front door;
• 4) the remaining service buildings (to the west of the main building) and minor extensions to the main house, added at various dates between the mid-C18 and mid C19.

 

EXTERIOR

 

The house now faces south, onto Cricket Hill Lane, and has done so at least from about 1800. Before that, the house there is little doubt that it originally faced east onto the Reading Road, which has always been more important than Cricket Hill Lane, with its service buildings all to the rear. It is a complex of buildings of different periods, with the main house at the east end, a "transition zone" in the middle, two former two storey cottage-like structures, and finally some single storey structures, formerly outbuildings, at the west. A former yard within the complex was roofed over at sometime after 1965. All the buildings, with the exception of a small, mid-C20 brick shed at the western boundary of the site, are now joined together to form a single, almost rectangular structure.

 

Southern (front) facade, main house

In general external appearance, from the south, the main house appears to be a stylish house of the Regency period, of partly two and partly three storeys, with a stuccoed frontage to the east and south. In the centre of the south wall of the main house stands an imposing pillared open porch with steps leading up to a round topped, glazed double front door. Each side of the porch are large but shallow arched recesses in the wall. The eastern recess retains an attractive, tiny, oval blank window, contemporary with the arches, with a blank window above: a chimney breast lies behind these features. The fenestration to the west of the front door is unsympathetic, The present probably nineteenth century, casement windows providing light to the rooms on the ground (G07) and first (F09) floors. A further large sash window inserted to the right of the front door to light room G01 probably dates from the late C19. The roof is hidden by a parapet which possesses a false eaves feature. The stucco - a commonly used way of covering up unsightly alterations - the existence of the parapet, and the differences in the number of floors, all strongly suggest that the main house is earlier than this facade would otherwise indicate, and is likely to be of more than one phase of construction.

 

Eastern facade, main house

The eastern facade presents a rather different picture. This too is stuccoed, preventing assessment of the brickwork. The wall is thick, about 22", indicating an expensive, high standard of construction. The large sash windows of the main wall, lighting rooms G01, F01 and F02, have wide boxes for the sash weights, suggesting that these Queen Anne style windows might date from the early C18, or, conceivably, from the late C19 after Norman Shaw made this style fashionable once more. The sash windows themselves, however, have the very narrow glazing bars characteristic of the late C18 and early C19. The picture is therefore somewhat confusing: the shutters and other interior features of the ground floor windows of room G01 appear consistent with a late C18 or early C19 date. It is probable that the present windows are the outcome of a series of modifications. Certainly the present fenestration is most unlikely to be the original: the original fenestration on the contemporary eastern end of the north face (e.g. of Room F01) suggests that the original windows were probably the same very long narrow type, with heads of rubbed brick - openings this shape are characteristic of construction during the last quarter of the C17.

 

A large square, flat roofed, two storey bay projects from this wall towards the southern end of the wall. Its windows (for rooms G01 (south) and F03) do not have wide sash boxes, and possess very narrow glazing bars. Evidence from the Tithe and 25" OS maps (see Annex 1) dates this extension to between 1844 and 1871: the house changed hands in 1863 following the long tenure of Tipping T. Rigby, Esq., making a date between 1863 and 1871 seem most probable.

 

Like the southern facade, the parapet possesses false eaves, a Regency feature, though this feature has been lost on this facade to the north of the projecting bay.

 

Northern facade, main house

The rear, northern side, of the main house is not stuccoed, but it is very heavily painted, probably with weathersealing material. This makes analysis of the brickwork difficult, though not impossible. The entire northern facade of the main house appears to be constructed in predominantly English bond brickwork, using bricks about 2.5" thick, but the details suggest two main phases of build. Firstly, the wall of the eastern half (corresponding to the rooms G01 and F03) appears to be thicker and projects further forward than the western half. This can be seen most clearly by the fact that the (later) parapet, which hides the roof, is jettied from the wall at eaves level at the western end only. The wall at the eastern end is some 22" thick, and its predominantly English bond brick bond is somewhat irregular. The wall at the western end is substantially thinner, with a more regular brick bond, but the bricks are somewhat more variable in size. Secondly, the floor levels do not correspond: the western end is straightforwardly of three storeys (except where it has been modified to suit the eastern extension), while the eastern end has a semi-submerged basement, with a lofty ground floor and a first floor only.

 

These differences suggest that the western half of the house was probably built at a different time (the above evidence, and the internal evidence suggests it would have been earlier) than the eastern half, and, internally this interpretation is supported by the exceptionally thick straight wall that divides room G01 from the corridors G02 and G03.

 

The western half of the northern facade possibly did not have many windows originally. There only one obvious indication of a blocked window in the brickwork, on the ground floor behind the extension which provides the WC (room G04). The present windows appear to be insertions (the present windows being dated as C19 on the first and second floors and C20 on the ground floor). This suggests this could originally have been the side wall of the house. If so, the only sizeable windows must have been on the original east face (if the house was built in two phases), or, less likely, the chimney arrangements must have been altered later, because the present fireplaces and chimneys for the rooms G05 and G07 are set against the western wall. As noted already, at the eastern end, the windows (and blank recesses) are generally much narrower than on the eastern facade, though one larger sash window has been cut in later on the ground floor to light room G01, as can be seen from the making-good in its surrounding brickwork.

 

A date can be established for this wall with reasonable certainty. In this locality, apart from chimneys, English bond brickwork was not used domestically after the C17, and an earlier date is precluded by the thickness of the bricks. The western end probably dates from some time during the second half of the C17, while the original narrow window openings in the eastern end suggest a date during the 1680s for the eastern half. Parish records show that Mr Boucher, a wealthy gentleman, took over the house in the late 1680s (see Appendix 2).

 

The small, single storey, flat-roofed projection is dated on map evidence to between 1844 and 1871.

 

Western face, main house

The western face of the main house is largely hidden by later extensions. However, a small section of the top of the wall may be seen beside the western end of the southern facade of the main house. There the roof, together with its dentil eaves course, and English bond brickwork below indicate the probable character of the rear of the late C17 house (before the orientation of the house was changed from the east to the south). The style is quite typical of the period in this locality. The height of the house, and the two floors with a usable attic suggests a gentleman's residence rather than a farmhouse: the latter were normally only two storey in this area.

 

Roof, main house

Access into the roof was not obtained, though a view through an access hatch revealed sturdy C17 oak rafters without a ridge beam. The precise layout of the roof has not been definitively established. However it seems that three ridges of the main house run north-south, possibly with another ridge running east-west along the southern side. The centre of the roof was removed during the Regency period in order to make the lantern over the main staircase. The resulting flat area around the lantern is probably leaded.

 

Transition building, main house to cottage, southern facade

The flat roofed projection forward of the main building line, with the long sloping tiled roof immediately above it, between the main house and the cottage, probably post-dates the early C19 southern facade of the main house. By obscuring windows in the western wall of the main house, its construction made necesary the unfortunate windows in the south face of the main house. This transition building, which an old postcard shows was originally an orangery with a vented glazed roof, was probably added to allow a direct connection (now closed off) from the main house into the "cottage" to the west. As this projection already existed in 1844, it may have been built to allow the "cottage" to be more easily used as living accommodation by Tipping T. Rigby Esquire's large family.

 

The treatment of the wall consciously echoes the facade of the main house, the windows being placed within shallow round arched recesses. The wide-boxed sash windows may have been made large in order to provide borrowed light into the room G07, immediately to the west of the front door, if the latter was at that time open to this extension. The form of the windows suggests that this transitional section probably dates from around 1830.

 

An exterior door with a small protective porch, opens on the western wall of the projection.

 

Cottage, southern facade

The "cottage" to the west of the main house on the southern side presents a neat appearance with its modest sash windows, tiled roof and chimney. There seems little doubt that this was once a separate building. The indication of a glasshouse at this location on the 1896 map (and the absence of the yard to the north) is probably a mistake. Dating this building is difficult without more detailed inspection, but a date in the late eighteenth or very early nineteenth century seems likely on account of the style of the windows and the internal wooden sliding shutters provided to the ground floor windows of room G16. The cottage originally possessed chimneys at each end of its roof ridge: the western one survives, but the eastern one has been removed at roof level.

 

Single storey outbuildings, western end

The outbuildings at the western end would originally have provided a variety of service activities and storage facilities for the house. Their brickwork shows that these buildings have been much altered and adapted, and their original functions, and date of construction can no longer be determined with any confidence. From the Tithe Map, they were all already in existence in 1844, arranged around a small central yard. Their tiled pitched roofs, and comparison with similar but broadly datable structures in the area, suggest they are broadly contemporary with the rest of the house. The flat roofed area in the centre at the western end was originally an open yard: map evidence shows that it was still open to the sky in 1965.

 

Single Storey outbuildings, west wall

The western wall is of Flemish garden wall bond to the south of the door to G21. Within this part of the wall is a remarkably large window for its location with a curved top towards the southern end, which lights room G22. The brickwork suggests the window is a post-construction insertion; the form of the window suggests a C19 date.

 

The western wall, to the north of the door shows a variety of joints and infillings where doors have been filled in. The brick bond here is mixed, but includes some sections of English garden wall bond.

 

Single storey outbuildings, north wall

The western half of the north wall of the single storey building is English bond, and also has bricks which suggest a C17 date. The window to G19 is recent. The eastern half of the wall is later, constructed from larger bricks laid in Flemish garden wall bond. The infill bricks used for the wall to G17 (q.v.) show that this room - originally a passage - had an external door.

 

Two storey outbuilding, northern face

This two storey structure, with is relatively low rooms, and pitched roof, has windows with curved heads on the ground floor, and possesses a brick string course of two courses between the ground and first floors. The ground floor wall is about 9" thick and is laid in Flemish garden wall bond with poor vertical alignment which creates near vertical joints. The bricks used are larger than those of the main house immediately to the east: the Tithe Map has a building against this wall, so the ground floor wall may have been reconstructed when that building was removed. The first floor walls are stuccoed, raising the possibility that this wall, like the east wall of room F13 within, is of timber-framed construction. The western wall on the first floor is rough brickwork in Flemish garden wall bond. Comparison with comparable local buildings suggests that its present external form probably dates from the early C18 century. Certainly the present external form of this building is of lower status, and later, than the C17 three storey building to the east. The surviving timber-framed wall standing upon a brick plinth between rooms G09 and G10, which might be as early as the C16, and the timber framed east wall of room F13, may indicate that the present exterior may be a brick refacing of an earlier timber building. This building may therefore be the cottage which stood on the site before the three storey house to the east was constructed.

 

The first floor windows are later insertions - unfortunately the corresponding interior room (F13) was not available for detailed examination. A wooden mullion window on the ground floor (to room G13 (q.v.)) retains its attractive iron bars, perhaps suggesting that this building was a service building - perhaps a wash house or brewhouse - at least from the C18, though the first floor may have been used as servants' accommodation. This service function is confirmed by the remains of a support for a water pump which survive on the outside wall. A chimney rises at the western end of the ridge. This part of the house requires more detailed archaeological investigation.

 

The door at the eastern end of this section is a modern insertion, as may be determined from the surrounding brickwork.

 

The grounds

The garden is now far smaller than historically. The stable buildings to the west, now occupied as a separate house, were separated from Yateley Lodge, and much of the garden was sold for housing development during the 1970s. What remains however, most of the front garden, retains that very strong sense of style which characterises elegant Regency taste. The huge cedar and the copper beech tree which dominate the lawn and the circular gravel drive - which map evidence shows already existed in 1844 - are complemented with other trees which give the front garden and the house a remarkably feeling of visual seclusion, in spite of the main Reading Road being so close by. The entrance gate was moved from the Reading Road, very close to the junction, to its present location on Cricket Hill Lane only a few years ago, in conjunction with the construction of the roundabout.

 

INTERIOR

 

General

The interior of the house is a complex of mostly very small rooms, with a very large number of changes in level, which provide dangerous traps for the unwary. These features suggest that the house has been modified a number of times, and this is confirmed by detailed inspection. Regrettably, practically all the doors have been replaced by modern anonymous pseudo-panelled fire-doors. The original doors have been stored in the basement, and could be restored. Had the original doors been seen in situ, they would have provided helpful information about the historical development of the house. Many of the skirting boards also appear to have been renewed recently, which is also regrettable.

 

The house still retains a very strong sense of "upstairs/downstairs", with the very rigid demarcation between the best and service sectors of the house which was characteristic of the gentleman’s residence, especially in the C19. The two staircases are immediately adjacent to each other, and the way the house functioned during the age of house-servants is still easily imagined. The description starts with the best end of the house.

 

THE BEST END OF HOUSE

Hall and staircase (G02)

On walking up the entrance steps and entering the glazed double front door, the sense of Regency style expressed by the southern facade of the house continues (G02). Apart from fire-door replacements, all the features of the hall (G02) and staircase (G02, F06), the architraves, skirting boards &c. appear to be original Regency period items of high quality and sophistication. The reasonably wide hallway ends in a round-topped arch which opens into the main stairwell. This staircase winds to the first floor, with a mahogany railed balustrade characteristic of the Regency period. The airy staircase is flooded in light from a large octagonal lantern, which has a rose boss at its centre. This staircase probably replaced earlier rooms, of which no trace now remains.

 

To the left of the staircase which rises to the first floor, three steps descend to a lower level, with a further step down into the room on the left (G07), whilst a similar step down straight on leads into a corridor (G06) into the service part of the house. The floor of the main entrance hall was probably raised to its current level when the room G01 was added, as the extra headroom is required by the access to the basement which runs under the hallway.

 

To the right (east) of the main hall (G02) are two very deeply recessed doors, with architraves and panelling of the same period. This wall, like the exterior walls of the north and east faces, is some 22" thick. Straight on (to the north) there is a door to a lofty corridor (G03).

 

Corridor north of the hall (G03)

The door leading straight on from the hall (G02) leads to a narrower lofty corridor (G03) which terminates in a door to the rear garden. At the north end on the left, beyond the main back wall of the house is a WC (G04): the access door with its architrave is probably late C17, but it is certain that this door was reused from some other location, as this extension is C19. Within the context of the present layout, the corridor seems lacking in purpose, as it now only provides access to the garden, which might otherwise have been provided through one of the main rooms to the east. This makes it likely that the location of this corridor once served some other purpose, possibly being the site of the staircase before the present staircase was inserted during the Regency period.

 

Two rooms at east end of house - presently a conference room (G01)

The two doors on the east side of the entrance hall (G02) lead on the same level into what is now a long single room (G01), but which was originally a pair of large and stylish reception rooms. These rooms have mainly high quality Regency features. The columns, with their capitals, at the ends of the east-west ceiling beam, are known to have been inserted during the 1970s, and their styling is inconsistent with the style of the room. The northern fireplace is Regency, in keeping with the panelling and shutters of that room. The southern white marble fireplace has a curious goat motif. The large bay window on the east wall of the south room has huge wooden shutters. The south wall window to the west of the fireplace is a Victorian insertion. There is no evidence visible within either room to suggest that these rooms predate the Regency period.

 

The room to the west of the main hall ("reception") (G07)

Down three steps to the west from the main entrance hall, immediately to the left a door opens into a small low ceilinged room (G07), with a step down on entry. This has a plain white marble fireplace in the west wall, difficult to date, but probably C19. The room is lit by a pair of casement windows which are post-Regency insertions. A moulded ceiling beam runs across the room from north to south: the style suggests the early C17. Inspection of the northern end of west wall (on both sides) reveals a thin board partition and hence that this room was once accessed through a very thick wall from the room to the west. In combination, the various features suggest that this room probably formed part of the service part of the house during the C19.

 

Main rooms on the first floor

Climbing the main staircase, the second quarter landing (in F06) approximately represents the level of the first floor of the service part of the house. At this point a doorway on the west wall leads to the stairwell F08 in the western (service) part of the house, and a door on the south wall opens into a small room (F09) with a step down. This change in level corresponds to the change down in level of the corresponding room (G07) on the ground floor, and it seems likely that this then dimly lit room (it now has a casement window inserted) also formed part of the service sector of the house in the C19. If it then had the present door to the main staircase, it may have accommodated a senior house servant or companion.

 

A further 8 steps reach the top, to a substantial half landing. On the right (south) a door leads into a narrow room (F07) - originally a dressing room. To the east through a substantial wall lies a small, square lobby (F04) from which doors lead to the left (into F01) and right (into F03).

 

First Floor, south-eastern room (F03)

To the right (south), the door opens into a large room (F03), essentially the same size as the south end of the room on the ground floor. There is no doubt that aesthetically, this room is among the more attractive features of the house. The room is panelled in dark oak, and, with the exception of the panelling in the bay window, this very well preserved oak thick panelling dates from the last quarter of the C17. The panelling of the southern and western walls certainly appear to have been designed for this room, or for one of identical dimensions. This is probably true for the north wall too, though there are puzzling alterations towards the eastern end, to the west of the door to a dressing room (F02) (now an ensuite bathroom). On the south wall, on each side of the fireplace full size oak doors, with splendid brass H-shaped hinges, open into shallow full length cupboards: the high quality of the oak panelling can be seen by opening the doors. Immediately to the east of the fireplace is a small document or valuables cupboard, which shows some signs of adaptation. The fireplace itself, of red tiles presenting their edges is an unfortunate modern intrusion. The western wall panelling is particularly regular, and appears never to have been disturbed. The panelling on the east wall, within the bay window, is paler and more recent, confirming that the bay window is a later feature (built between 1844 and 1871) to provide more light and space, The paler oak in the bay also suggests that the original panelling (it might have originally been painted) has probably been exposed for the last two centuries. If the supposition is correct that the oak panelling is in situ, then it confirms that this part of the house must date from the second half of the C17, at the latest. The very thick walls may also be suggestive of this period, when brick was still regarded with some suspicion as a reliable building material. Inspection of the walls behind the panelling could provide further useful evidence about the history of this part of the house.

 

The Dressing Room (en suite bathroom) (F02)

Through the door at the east end of the north wall of the oak panelled room (F03) is a former dressing room (F02). The plastered south wall has some of the framing of the stud wall exposed. The north wall door, with its hinges are probably late C17, while the wider window and its furniture on the east wall suggest a slightly later date, in the early C18.

 

First floor, north-eastern room (F01)

Passing through the door in the north wall of the dressing room (F02) (or from the landing F04), the north-eastern room (F01) is reached. The entry door from the landing (F04) has a late C17 frame and architrave; its opening is somewhat distorted, which is not surprising as this partition wall stands on the unsupported floor. This room has large sash windows on the east wall, but a narrow window - with a size which is probably contemporary with the construction of this part of the house in the late C17 - at the west end of the north wall. The large windows were probably an improvement to provide more light, inserted, perhaps, at the beginning of the C18. Compared with the dark oak luxury of the south-eastern room (F03), this room seems austere, but the observable features appear consistent with an original construction towards the end of the late C17.

 

At the northern end of the west wall, a door, with just three steps up on the other side, opens into one of the attic rooms (S01) in the service part of the main house. Such an opening seems unlikely to have been original.

 

THE SERVICE END OF THE MAIN HOUSE

GROUND FLOOR

From the main entrance hall (G02) on the ground floor, turn left (west), down the three steps to the left of the main staircase and down a further step at the doorway into a low ceilinged room (G06): this is the back stairs stairwell.

 

Room G06 Backstairs stairwell

Entering from G02, to the left, against the south wall, the servants' staircase rises to the first and second floors. The design of the staircase and style of the balustrade suggests this is early C19. To the west a corridor (G10) continues, through what is now a conventional door opening, but this is set within a round topped opening which probably dates from about 1800.

 

In the north wall is a doorway, with an architrave of ca 1800, to room G05. On the east wall, to the north of the door through which we entered from G02, a low doorway gives access to the basement beneath the east end of the house. In the east wall, between the door to the basement and the door to G02 there is a small recess with a projecting shelf. Like the door in the north wall, the door to G02 has an architrave dating from about 1800.

 

Basement at east end of house

From the backstairs stairwell (G06), through the low door at the north end of the east wall, about six brick steps lead down to the basement. The basement floors have been completely concreted, and the walls sprayed with a (fire-retardant) sealing material which largely precludes detailed inspection of the wall materials. The walls appear to be mostly of brick, but the side of the stairs to the main hall (G02) (beneath the main staircase) is wood panelling. Plasterboard has been fitted under the floor joists of the rooms above, preventing inspection of the floor joists. The main beams supporting the floor (also smothered with fire retardant) run east-west, are substantial, and appear to date from the C17: some are supported by cast iron columns that probably date from the C19. At the time of the visit, the basement was full of a variety of office material making inspection difficult. However parts of the basement have been laid out as a wine cellar, with alcoves built of brickwork. Windows give light to the basement on the east wall at the north-east corner of the cellar (where a sink stands against the wall). The northernmost of these windows is a mullioned window of C16 or C17 design, broadly similar to that in room G13, fitted with vertical iron bars. There is another window is on the south wall. In the middle of the north wall, an brick arch supports the fireplace of the room above.

 

Former kitchen (G05)

To the north of the backstairs (G06) lies the room (G05) that is known to have been the kitchen when the building was last used as a dwelling house. The kitchen range stood against the west wall, and there are old cupboards built against this wall. Support for the fireplace on the first floor can be seen in the ceiling. An exposed ceiling beam runs north-south across the room. The windows and exterior door in the outside (northern) wall are modern.

 

Corridor (G10/G14)

Continuing west from the back stairs stairwell (G06), the corridor (G10) leaves the main C17 house, and forms a dog-leg. On the left (south) is a door to G11, ahead a door opens into a large room (G15) which was once the open yard, and to the north of this door is a small, formerly external, window. On the right (north) is a door into a small room (G09), a former scullery. To provide adequate width, and greater convenience in using the corridor, room G09 has had the south-west corner removed: this alteration, and, on the opposite side of the corridor, a corresponding projection into the former courtyard (G15) with a rounding of the wall is probably not recent. They suggest this was once a frequently used passageway. Between the two east-west parts of the corridor, at the southern wall line of the two storey structure is an old doorway (C19 or earlier) which has had the door removed. Beyond, on the right (north) at the eastern end, is the door to the room G08. The corridor then has a step up to the continuation of this corridor (G14).

 

At the western end of G14 is an old doorway, with a further step up, which leaves the two storey cottage. The door (probably C19) is made of 5 wide vertical boards with three ledges and two braces, and very long, probably C18, strap hinges. There is a small opening (originally opening onto the yard) at the top of the south wall, close to the door.

 

Northern cottage: ground floor

Former scullery (G09)

Immediately to the right (north) on entering G10 from the main house (G06), is a small room (G09) now containing a water tank. This is a former scullery: it has a brick floor at a slightly lower level. This room is lit by a borrowed light window from the corridor, which is set in a wall placed at an angle. The west wall of the room could not be examined from within room G09, but only from its western side (G10). This wall is of exposed timber-framed construction set upon a brick plinth with a heavy sill beam which shows some round dowel joints. This kind of wall is not easily dated, but may be as early as the C16. The northern end of this wall is also exposed on the south wall of room G08, to the north: there notches suggest that the wall probably once continued northwards.

 

Room G08

This room, to the north of G10 and G09, has a fairly recent external door at the east end of the north wall. This was the back door of the western house when Yateley Lodge was divided into two dwellings. The timber in the south wall has been noted under room G09. In the south-east corner is a small trap door for cleaning a flue.

 

Room G13 (presently a small kitchen)

To the north of the lobby G14 is a small room which has been furnished as a kitchen, and so little can be seen of its original features, except for the three light, wooden mullioned window with its iron bars, mentioned in the account of the exterior. The iron bars are of the kind with flattened feet pointing in towards the room, and there is a single bar covering the two outer lights, and two, closer together for the centre light. On the room side the wooden frame is carved away to allow for a wrought iron metal opening window, now gone, which would have been glazed with quarrels. This window form is likely to date from the C17, or perhaps C16, and is an important attractive feature of this part of the house. On the upright elements of the window, there is evidence that there was once a horizontal wooden frame bar about 2/3rds of the way up the window.

 

Transition building ground floor: Room G11

Immediately to the left (south) on entering G10 from the main house (G06), is the door to room G11. The door to G10, on the north wall, has a C19 architrave but the door is modern. There is a deep alcove in the east wall with an exposed wooden lintel somewhat above it: this appears to have once provided access to room G07. The south wall has a window, a mid-late C19 casement with fairly large panes and thin glazing bars, which once opened into the yard but now opens into G15. South of the window, a door accesses the ground floor of the southern cottage (G16). The south wall has a (probably recently inserted) narrow arched opening, with a modern sliding door on the far side, to room G12. A modern beam runs north-south below the ceiling.

 

Transition building extension: Room G12

Passing through the sliding door from G11, room G12 is reached. As already mentioned, this was originally a conservatory. It has a recently constructed staircase down from the first floor (F11) along its east wall, probably recently inserted for fire-precaution reasons. The south wall has two large sash windows, and an external door (the front door of the second house when the property was divided into two dwellings) is at the southern end of the west wall. The door frame is C19, but the door is early-mid C20.

 

Former yard: Room G15

Straight on (west) on entering G10 from the main house (G06), is the door to room G15. This is the site of the former small yard, and the windows to various rooms around the yard are still in place, unaltered. It is still possible to reconstruct the scene in the mind's eye before it was covered in by the present roof with its lantern. The French doors in the south wall, to room G16, are probably C19, as is the door to G10 in the east wall. The two windows in the east wall, each side of the door to G10, and the small window in the southern part of the west wall are probably C19, but the small casement in the north wall is C20, but all the windows date from before the yard was roofed. These important features reflect, and bear testimony to, the historic development of this end of the house. The plywood door and wired glass window to G21 at the north end of the west wall are recent. The room G15 previously opened directly into the lobby G21 which leads to the outside: that would have provided the main external access to the yard.

 

Southern Cottage ground floor: Room G16

Passing through the double doors in the south wall of G15, the ground floor of the southern cottage is reached. Marks in the ceiling reveal that this was once subdivided into a corridor running along the north wall, with two separate rooms off to the south. Although the partitions giving rise to these ceiling marks are of relatively recent partitioning, the presence of chimneys at both ends of the "cottage" suggest that there were probably once two ground floor rooms. The south wall retains its two large original sash windows and large late C18 or early C19 sliding panel shutters. The door at the north end of the east wall, has an early C19 architrave and a door of similar period. The door at the north end of the west wall is C19. The west wall retains a shallow chimney breast with a blocked fireplace with a painted wood surround.

 

Single Storey outbuildings

Corridor G20

Passing through the door in the west wall of G14, the corridor G20 is reached. On the south wall is a C20 casement window to G15, the former yard. The ceiling is of wooden boards on the inner side of the rafters, suggesting a probable C19 date for this feature. The northern partition wall and associated fittings to the rooms G18 and G19 are modern, as is the door and frame leading to G21 at the western end of the south wall. The corridor is wider on the northern side next to G17 (q.v.)

 

Room G17

This very narrow room is fitted out as a WC, with a shower. The ceiling is boarded like the corridor G20, and has an access to the roof space. The window in the north wall appears to be a late C19 casement in style. However, this room is smaller from north to south than the other rooms leading off the corridor G20, and inspection of the exterior wall shows that the east wall was a doorway to the outside, with this room a lobby. The door from G20 is of five vertical boards with 3 ledges, and has a lifting latch, and is C19 or C20.

 

Room G18

This room is mostly modernised, and has a wooden board ceiling. The window is C19 in style, apparently a casement fixed within an earlier frame.

 

Room G19

It was not possible to examine this room, but it appears to have been modernised. The present window in at the west end of the north wall is C20. There is also a window of C19 style (4 horizontal lights) in the south wall (to G21), which is in a wall which blocks a former doorway to G21.

 

Lobby G21

This lobby at the western end of the corridor G20 retains many original features of the outbuildings. The unplastered whitewashed brick north wall vividly portrays the outbuilding character of this part of the building. It has been much altered and has a mixture of brick bonds, including some English bond brickwork that suggests an early date. Towards the western end is a recess with a window to G19 (q.v.), that was formerly a door. There is an unbonded vertical joint in the brickwork towards the eastern end. An iron hook high in the middle of the north wall is of uncertain function.

 

The south wall, like the north wall is whitewashed brick, but was probably constructed more recently (the larger bricks suggest probably C19) and is predominantly Flemish garden wall bond. The door at the east end of the south wall dates from the late C19. The floor has been concreted, with steps leading up to the external door in the western wall: the present door is modern, but probably replaces an earlier one, as the door frame is older.

 

The door and partition to G15 (q.v.) are recent.

 

Room G22

This room has been modernised, but it retains its wood-boarded ceiling. On the east wall, the chimney has been removed, and the chimney stack above is supported on a jettied support from the wall.

 

SERVICE END OF HOUSE: FIRST FLOOR

Back Stairwell F08

From the ground floor back stairs (G06), ascend the stairs to the first floor backstairs (F08). The stairs against the south wall ascend to the second floor. Their character is the same as the stairs from the ground floor and date from the C19. A door (with C19 architrave) in the east wall leads to the main staircase F06, with a step up. In the north wall a door leads to room F05. A modern door has been inserted in the opening in the west wall: this leads to the corridor F11.

 

Room F09

Accessed from the south-west landing in F06, this room is at the same level as the back stairwell F08. It has a casement window on the south wall that was inserted sometime later than the ca 1800 facade. There is also a small window at the southern end of the western wall. In the centre of the western wall is a chimney breast with blocked C19 fireplace. A built-in cupboard - its door is modern - occupies the northern end of the western wall. A ceiling beam crosses the room from north to south from the centre of the north wall.

 

Room F05

Through the door in the north wall of F08 is the room F05. The window in the north wall is a casement window - the present windows and architrave appear to be C19. On the western wall, each side of the chimney breast (no fireplace) are two sets of cupboards. The panelled woodwork of these cupboards dates from the C17 or C18, and is an important attractive original feature.

 

Corridor F11

Through the door in the west wall of F08 is the corridor F11. The older style of the skirting boards, and other features show that the partition which separates the corridor from Room F12 is not of recent introduction. Directly opposite the entrance from F08 is the door to Room F12.

 

Turning to the left (south) on entering F11 from F08, there is a modern door at the end, which opens onto a modern staircase leading down to G12. The corridor turns right (west) at that point, and a door opens into the first floor of the southern cottage (room F14).

 

Turning to the right on leaving F08, the corridor turns to the left (west). Then on the right (north) a door opens to a toilet (Room F10), whilst straight on a door opens to room F13.

 

Room F12

The room F12 could not be examined as it was full of equipment. It has a sash window in the west wall, probably of C18 date, but the exterior suggests that the building itself might be earlier.

 

Room F14

The ceiling cornice suggests that this room has probably been a single room since the C19. It has sash windows on the southern wall, but a modern window on the north wall.

 

Room F10 (toilet)

Has modern fittings - not properly examined.

 

Room F13

This room was only examined briefly during the planning inquiry visit. The east wall was found to have a long diagonal crack in the plaster, which indicates that this wall is of timber framed construction. Thus this part of the house was very probably originally a two storey timber framed cottage.

 

Plans show this room has a chimney breast on the west wall. The window on the east wall is a four-light wide sash window, similar to those on the southern facade of the southern cottage and is of similar date. The exterior brickwork of the south wall is a mixed, but predominantly English, bond, confirming an early date for this structure. See external description for comments on the window in the north wall.

 

SERVICE END OF HOUSE: SECOND FLOOR

Stair landing (S02)

From the servants' stairwell F08, ascend to the landing S02. The stairs and balustrade are C19, as are the architraves to the rooms S01 and S03, the small window in the west wall, and the skirting boards. Next to the window, at the north end of the wall is a crank for an external house bell for summoning out-servants &c.

 

Room S01

In the north wall of S02 is a door to room S01. This room was probably modified to its present form to accommodate servants in the C19. It is a large, low room with two ceiling beams running north-south: these carry the roof, which has valleys which run north-south. In the south wall is the door to S02. This is a C17 door frame and architrave, and a large beam above the door carries a ceiling beam. The west wall has a chimney breast, with a built-in C19 cupboard at its south side.

 

The northern end of the room (known to have been partitioned off as a bathroom when last used as a private house) is open to the roof at its eastern end, with a ceiling on the under-side of the rafters. This runs north-south, with a rooflight. A small cupboard is built into its south wall. At the north-east corner, three steps lead down to a door at the north end of the east wall, which opens into the first floor room F01. A small C19 sash window is in the north wall.

 

Room S03

A door in the south wall of the second floor landing S02 leads to room S03. This is a very low room with a boxed ceiling beam. A sash window occupies the centre of the south wall. A chimney breast occupies the centre of the west wall, with a built-in C19 cupboard to the north of it. The doorway is similar to that between S01 and S02.

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

Yateley Lodge is a landmark building, one of the most important of Yateley's historic buildings. It very fully justifies its listing as a Grade II listed building (though the listing description needs to be corrected), and it is unique in Yateley as the only mansion house of its period and style. In spite of its conversion to offices, it still retains most of its domestic feel as a Gentleman's country house standing in its grounds. The main part of the house dates from the late C17. The northern cottage appears to be an earlier structure containing the remains of a two storey timber framed cottage, which may date from the C16, but more detailed archaeological investigation is needed to confirm this. These buildings were developed with additional living accommodation and outbuildings during the C18 and C19, with a major remodelling to conform the house to the Regency style about 1800.

 

The house still retains its domestic character and very strongly retains the historically important contrast between the "upstairs" and "downstairs". The two halves remain quite separate and private from each other. The house is therefore of high value in terms of its expression of English social history. The separate servants’ staircase rises back to back with the main staircase, reflecting the division of the Gentleman’s household separating the Gentleman from his servants, a social division which became increasingly sharp during the C19. This is expressed also in the differences in the quality of the finishes in the two halves of the building. The interior of the house is therefore at least as historically and architecturally important as the impressive Regency frontage.

 

The interior of the best (“upstairs”) end of the house (the east end) is characterised by large rooms with high quality Regency finishes and the grand staircase. This is very obviously of high architectural value, as it possesses an abundance of original Regency architectural detail in the main hall and downstairs rooms, whilst on the first floor is a room entirely panelled in fine dark oak which dates from about the 1680s. The best end of the house also has a very strong internal sense of privacy, even between its own constituent rooms, due to the design of the corridors and the main staircase, and the many variations in floor level. This serves to further emphasise its domestic character, a feature which has survived the present use as offices. Even the basement possesses items of interest: the brick built alcoves for the racking of wine, and a wooden mullioned window with iron bars.

 

Although less obviously, the western “downstairs” half of the house, with its low quality finishes, is equally important. In spite of the alterations which have been made in the service part of the house when the house was divided first into two dwellings and later into offices, the strong difference in atmosphere from the “upstairs” end of the house remains. Many specific architectural features survive in the "downstairs" part of the house which show its history and contribute to its "outbuildings" character, such as the timbered wall with heavy sill beam resting on its brick support, and the C16 or C17 wooden mullioned window with its attractive vertical iron bars and evidence that an iron casement window was once in the centre opening.

 

Still lower status are the former outbuildings which once housed the various domestic industries such as brewing and washing, employing a variety of servants who worked there to service the wide variety of needs of a largely self-sufficient country household. These service buildings were originally tightly grouped around a small yard. Although the yard has now has a modern glazed roof to provide additional accommodation, nevertheless its history survives in the form of all the external windows which still face onto the "yard". These outbuildings have even cruder internal finishes of unplastered brick walls (that disclose numerous alterations), C19 wood-boarded ceilings, and some internal doors and architraves of interest. These features all combine to form a particular character, a "patina" built up over generations through small scale changes, which greatly contribute to the architectural integrity and historical interest of the house. It would be a great loss if these features disappeared, or if the sense of the clear divisions between the different parts of the house were lost.

 

Annex 1 Analysis of Maps - Yateley Lodge 1844-1967

1844 Tithe Map

• The two versions were compared, as the "no boundary" marks are misleading on the Parish copy.
• This shows the main house to be a simple box with no extensions, except for the front porch.
• The transition section forward projection on the southern face exists.
• There is a yard at the western end, apparently the same as the present arrangement of buildings, but with an extension to the north from the northern two storey building.
• A separate fairly large square building is immediately to the west of the main group buildings.
• A small building lies a little further away to the north-west.
• A large group of buildings lies to the west, with a total area comparable with the main group, providing stables and additional housing (not analysed as this is no longer part of Yateley Lodge).

 

1871 25" OS Map

• Main house now has the present extensions to north and east. (The location of the porch is perhaps misplaced slightly to the west - this is very dark on the map.)
• The northern projection from the northern two-storey building has been removed.
• The building immediately west of the main building complex has been removed, and a new smaller building added to the west wall at the northern end. Another smaller building lies north of it, separate from the main building complex.
• The small building further away to the north-west may now be longer, but as this item is at the edge of two maps, it may well be unchanged.
• The separate large group of buildings to the west has been much reduced, and a large building (?house) has been removed, as has another large building (?barn), with a narrow building (?loose boxes) substituted for the latter. The main building (?carriage rooms & stables) is little altered.
• North side of house is laid out as formal garden.

 

1896 25" OS MAP

• Main house unaltered.
• Transition unaltered.
• West end no longer has central yard, and the site of the southern two storey cottage is marked as a glasshouse (Since the 1911 map reverts to the 1871 form, these changes are probably an error). The building at the north end of the west wall, and the one to the north of it, have been removed. The building to the west has been expanded, with part of it a glass house.
• Some minor extensions and additions to the separate western group of buildings.

 

1911 25" OS Map

• Main building complex similar to 1871 Map. Central yard probably has glazed corridors on east, south and west sides.
• New building at north west corner (attached at corner)
• Changes to newer buildings in separate western complex.

 

1939 25" OS Map

• Main building complex similar to 1911. Central yard has lost the glazed corridors, but has a small ?porch on northern side.
• Building added at north-west corner now smaller.
• Minor changes to newer features of western complex.

 

1967 25" OS Map

• Main buildings etc. as 1939, but no ?porch in yard.
• Western complex almost as 1939, but small addition at southern end of main building.

 

Appendix 2 Documentary History by Peter J Tipton as revised by R H Johnston

Original Timberframed Building

The earliest entry in the Index of the Court Books of Crondall Manor which we can positively identify with Yateley Lodge is in 1659:

The Wisdom family had been in Yateley during the previous century. We can identify William Wisdom in the Crondall Customary of 1567 as having a copyholding in Yateley described as:

A messuage is likely to have been constructed on the ‘toft’ shortly after 1567. The early timberframed building embedded in the present construction of Yateley Lodge is likely to have been either William Wisdom’s cottage, or the messuage newly built in the Elizabethan ‘great rebuilding’.

 

In 1659, therefore, we cannot be sure from the documents as to whether the building then extant was a one room cottage, or the brick-built rooms to the left of the present main entrance. The survey evidence is consistent with the earliest building being a single room cottage, and it suggests that the part of the main building to the left of the present front door is from the second half of the 17th century.

17th Century Building

Although Adam Wisdom was admitted as copyholder in 1659 he did not pay the Poor Rate for the property until 1676. In the meantime he had leased the property to Edward Reading (1658-1663) and then Thomas North (1664-1675). The question arises as to whether either of these leaseholders had sufficient status to have been responsible for the three storey part of the main building, the front door and the rooms to the left of it (G02-G03, G05-G07). The Reading family was from Greywell, and it seems that Edward may have returned there in 1663. In his will of 1690 Thomas Hasker of Long Sutton makes a bequest to:

The baptism of Mary is recorded in 1663 in the Yateley Parish Registers:

The Reading family in Greywell were comfortably off, having three houses in Greywell; two with three hearths, and one with two hearths.

 

Thomas North occupied the property during the period for which we have Hearth Tax returns for Yateley. In 1665 he paid tax on two hearths. By 1674 he paid tax on a single hearth. Many people in Yateley had been able to reduce their assessment in the same period. An assessment of one or two hearths is not inconsistent with the dwelling still being essentially the single room cottage of the 1567 Customary. On the other hand if Thomas North had blocked up one of the two downstairs fireplaces in rooms G05 and G07 then the assessment would not be inconsistent with the building then being a two bay brick house with front door facing Reading Road.

 

Following his own occupancy Adam Wisdom then re-let the property to John Ives (1679-1680), and then to Samuel Burroughs (1681-1688). The latter had some local standing since he was the son of Edward Burroughs and Joan Geale, who married in 1641. Joan was the daughter of William Geale whose burial in 1639 is recorded in the Parish Registers as:

Previously William Geale has been connected by historians with the famous Yateley Crystal Cup now in the safekeeping of Winchester Cathedral. Current opinion is that William was connected with the extensive potteries on the borders of Surrey and Hampshire. These potteries produced a large quantity of ‘borderware’ for everyday use, which has recently been found by archaeologists all over London.

 

Both Edward Reading and Samuel Burroughs had the status to have built a two bay brick house, which was, a few years later, extended into the structure we see today, but there is no documentary evidence that they did so. The evidence of the Hearth Tax returns tends towards the construction of the rooms to the left of the present front entrance being later than 1675.

In 1687 the records start to record activity which led to the finalisation of the basic structure of today’s main building. By 1687 Adam Wisdom must have died. The Index to the Court Rolls records three transactions at the same court:

 

Richard Lynam also lived in Greywell (in a 4-hearth house). We must speculate why he purchased the copyholding of Yateley Lodge. Possibly he wished:

• (a) to provide a mortgage for Samuel Burroughs which was later forfeited to Lynam;
• (b) to make an investment by providing a ‘building lease’ to a third party; or
• (c) to build a new house commensurate with his own status.

 

The assessors of the Poor Rate for 1688 wrote in their book "Burrough’s House" rather than "Sam. Burroughs" as they had recorded the property for the previous six years. It seems that in 1688 a new house was being built, then unoccupied, but Burroughs was the last known occupant. Perhaps he was the builder.

 

The Poor Rate in 1689 assessed a newcomer to Yateley, Samuel Boucher, in a property with the same rateable value of 2 pounds, as had been assessed for Yateley Lodge since the rates started in 1658. Samuel Burroughs was reduced to an assessment of 1 pound. Samuel Boucher retained the same line number on the assessment list as Samuel Burroughs had in previous years, but Samuel Burroughs was now inserted at the bottom of the list. In 1690 Samuel Boucher is recorded in the Yateley Parish Registers for the first time:

 

The 17th Century Mansion

Who was Samuel Boucher, and is it likely that he could have financed such a high status house in 1688? Samuel was the son of John Boucher and Bridget Staveley, and the grandson of John Staveley and Eleanor nee Ryves. Eleanor Staveley, Samuel Boucher’s maternal grandmother, was a sister of Sir Richard Ryves of Hall Place, Yateley, a very large old house on the site of what is now Yateley Manor Preparatory School.

 

Sir Richard was knighted in 1663, the year he became Sheriff of London. He was nephew to Bruno Ryves, Dean of Windsor and Chaplin-in-Ordinary to Charles II. Bruno Ryves had previously been personal chaplin to Charles I. Sir Richard was a member of the Council of the East India Company, and made his money as a merchant. In his will he left large sums of money to all his sister Eleanor’s children, including Bridget Boucher nee Staveley his niece.

 

However the Boucher family were probably also very rich in their own right. The only references found for this unusual surname have been to a Mr Boucher in 1686, a former senior factor in the East India Company, who had become an independent merchant, much to the annoyance of that Company.

 

This documentary evidence supports the architectural survey that the requirements of Samuel Boucher in 1688 would have lead to the building of such a high status mansion, to be close to his Ryves and Staveley relatives who continued to live at Hall Place. Could this explain why the two phases of C17 construction do not seem far apart in time: perhaps Boucher bought the house because it was in Yateley, and although it was still quite new, it was not sufficiently grand or stylish, and so he proceeded to extend it according to the very latest fashion.

 

The 18th Century

Samuel Boucher paid the Poor Rate until 1707. He is not recorded in the burials in Yateley, although his wife Catherine was buried on 23 Sep 1704. The only will found is for a Samuel Boucher, dated 1727, who died in "foreign parts". Although Samuel Boucher did not own the copyholding, he appears to have sold the lease to a James Hoar, who paid poor rates until 1712. Mr Lynam - the use of Mr implies gentleman status - paid rates from 1713-1731, and his wife in 1732-33: curiously from 1720 it is described as their "land", but the plot does nevertheless appear to be correctly identified, there are no obvious alternatives, and the later ownership is correct. From 1734-1739 it is recorded as "Mrs Lynam’s land that was". Later holders are: Widow Parvell from 1740-1748; Mr Paynter for Parvells from 1749-53; Mr William Searl for Parvells from 1754-1762; Mr Stephen Terry for Parvells in 1763; and Mr William Terry for Parvells from 1764-1768. A gap in the Poor Rate records between 1770 and 1778 makes it difficult to identify the corresponding land in 1779, but is most likely to be part of Mr Terry’s land, and so remains until 1793 (the last year for which this series is presently transcribed). The next readily available Poor Rate is in 1809, when the property appears to be part of a house and farm, and the rate was paid by Charlton Dennis Esquire. In 1812 rates on the same property were paid by T T Rigby Esquire.

 

In 1733 the Court Rolls reveal that Richard Lyneham (deceased) surrenders the copyholding to his nephew and heir John Lyneham by the description:

At the same manorial court the Lynehams surrendered to George Painter of Yateley, gentleman, the grandson of a Mr Painter who first appears in the Yateley poor rates in 1676. The Painter family seem likely to have been in the barley and malting trade: William Painter (died January 1730/1), George Painter’s father, took Catherine Terry as his wife. Catherine was a sister of Stephen Terry, who came from a cadet line of the Terrys of Long Sutton and Sutton Warblington. George Painter also had connections to John Mappleton (perhaps a misreading of Stapleton), maltster of Odiham. This transfer started an association with the Terry family which continued till 1806, though whether George Painter actually lived in the house himself is uncertain. His wife Mary had died from childbirth giving birth to his son George in February 1733/4, aged 19, and it seems possible that he did not remarry, since he had no other surviving children, and did not provide for a widow in his will. George died in September 1753 aged 45. Less than four months later, George Painter’s mother Catherine died on 5 January 1754 aged 72, whilst his only son George Painter died the following day at the age of 20. The property then passed to Catherine’s sister Sarah, who was married to William Searle, a member of another significant Yateley farming family.

 

Stephen Terry’s son William acquired the house in 1763 as heir to his aunt Sarah Searle. William Terry married Mary Cave, as her third husband in August 1766. Her second husband John Simonds had been Yateley’s Maltster and a brother of the founder of the Reading brewing and banking Simonds family.

 

William Terry was a man of considerable means, related through his wife to Simonds the brewers of Reading (later absorbed into Courages and then Scottish & Newcastle), who also founded the Simonds Bank (later absorbed into Barclays Bank). The Simonds Brewery in Reading had been designed by Sir John Soan. William Terry died in September 1809 aged 68, but in 1803, well before he died, he surrendered Yateley Lodge to William Belsher Parfett, another member of the local brewing fraternity. This surrender was probably connected with a marriage settlement, since William Belsher Parfett had married William Terry’s eldest daughter, Sarah.

 

The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1794, describes what may be Yateley Lodge as "A good house here is inhabited by Geo. Parker Esq, it belongs to Mr Terry."

 

The 19th Century

The remodelling of the building into the Regency style could have been carried out by any one of the four owners between 1800 and 1810, but one of the middle two is the most likely. The first, William Terry, as already mentioned, was a man of means but nevertheless was already 60 years old. The second, William Belsher Parfett, who owned the brewery at Eversley Cross, owned and built many inns and public houses. The "Duke of York" in Camberley was one of his buildings. Parfett mortgaged Yateley Lodge for 1,000 pounds in November 1804, which could indicate that he was carrying out the remodelling, or it could be that he needed money to purchase more pubs. He sold Yateley Lodge in July 1806 to Charlton Dennis, a gentleman who quickly amassed a very large land holding in Yateley. He too mortgaged the property (in 1808) which could indicate the remodelling was carried out then.

 

Charlton Dennis however soon sold his entire Yateley Estate in lots. The next owner, who was admitted to the copyholding in May 1810, was destined to dwell at Yateley Lodge until his death more than 50 years later. Tipping Thomas Rigby was a barrister-at-law and the Recorder of Abingdon, then county town and borough for quarter sessions of Berkshire. The Recorder was the sole presiding judge at the borough court. He had a large family, and probably married twice: his eldest son Edwin Budd Rigby followed him into the law, becoming a student of the Inner temple in 1827, after going to Lincoln College Oxford. Another son, Christopher Palmer Rigby became HM Consul and Lt Col 16th Native Bombay Regiment, and this son is believed to have eventually achieved some prominence.

 

The property - described in the deed of agreement of 1810 as a "Capital messuage or dwellinghouse" - was also described in the record of his admission in the manorial court books differently from the ‘ancient description’. The new description reads:

Such a change in the description usually signifies that new building work has already been carried out by the previous owner, and both parties wish to record its new status. Thus it seems likely that the alterations were complete by this time.

 

Tipping Thomas Rigby’s occupation of the mansion, which by 1845 is recorded as bearing the name Yateley Lodge, continued until 1863, when it was transferred after T T Rigby’s death to Robert Gibson of Sandhurst Lodge, who died in 1868. The property was probably enfranchised (converted to freehold) about this time, but the record of this has not been found. The later documentary history has not been examined in detail. Suffice to say that Yateley Lodge played its full part as a recuperation hospital for officers during the First World War. In the 1930s and 1940s Yateley Lodge was owned by the Member of Parliament for Berwick.

 

Revisions: preliminary draft circulated 21.10.1998; Version 4 (revised, with map evidence added) 19.1.1999; Version 7 (incl documentary history) 16.12.1999; Version8 17.12.1999

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Webpage created R H Johnston 26.3.2008, revised 7.5.2008 (c) The Yateley Society, 1999-2008

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