Building record KCC 066 - Kelsale Court, Main Road

Listed at grade II its three-storied gault-brick facade remains completely unaltered and is among the finest of its kind in the county. The building retains many ostensibly original features such as fireplaces, moulded door surrounds, plaster cornices, trompe l’oeil painted windows and an impressive ‘stick baluster’ staircase, all typical of the English Regency. Despite a dramatic phase of alteration in 1987 when the property was converted into a residential home by adding a new wing on the east and inserting numerous internal partitions, the structure’s historic integrity survives remarkably well, and one objective of the Listed Building Application accompanied by this report is to remove these partitions and restore its former layout. A rear service wing consists of pantiled red brick which contrasts with the gault brick of the front range and has led some to interpret it as an older structure (including the English Heritage listing inspector who based his description solely on external appearances). In fact there is no evidence of a significantly earlier origin, although the wing was built in two phases and it is possible that the kitchen adjoining the front range was retained from the previous rectory on the site. The building reflects the standard room plan of the early-19th century with a central passage linking the entrance to the rear staircase but unusually this passage is divided from the dining and drawing rooms on each side by folding screens with glazed tympana rather than solid walls. These screens date only from the 20th century but the moulded arches in which they are set appear to survive from the 19th century and suggest the arrangement may be original (S1).