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© Mr H. Graham Briggs LRPS

IoE Number: 135126
Location: THE RECTORY,
  BISHOPS CLEEVE, TEWKESBURY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Photographer: Mr H. Graham Briggs LRPS
Date Photographed: 15 October 1999
Date listed: 04 July 1960
Date of last amendment: 04 December 1987
Grade II*

SO 9527BISHOP'S CLEEVEA435(east side)16/29Cleeve Hall(formerly listed as The Rectory)

SO 9527 BISHOP'S CLEEVE A435 (east side) 16/29 Cleeve Hall (formerly listed as The Rectory) 4.7.60 GV II* Former residence of the Bishop of Worcester, now offices. Built c1250, altered c1667 by Bishop Nicholson of Gloucester as indicated by datestone on porch, further alterations C18 and 1970s. Coursed squared and dressed limestone; stone slate roof; rendered stacks on ashlar stumps. Formerly 'H'-shaped plan now with C17 infill between the solar and service cross wings on the east front. C20 flat-roofed extensions to rear, not of special interest. Two storeys and attic. Almost symmetrical entrance front with gable of former solar and service wing to right and left respectively. Corner buttress with offsets to the right-hand corner. Single 2- light double-chamfered stone-mullioned casement with stopped hood to the ground floor of the left-hand gable; C18 Venetian window with Gothick glazing above, matching window to the first floor of the right-hand gable with a 12-pane sash below. C17 infill between the gables; cross window with leaded panes and a projecting moulded lintel on brackets to the left of the porch; 2 similar windows to the first floor flanking the porch; two 12-pane sashes with dressed stone surrounds to the right of the porch. Hipped 2- storey porch with painted datestone with date 1667 between the two floors and a round-headed entrance with moulded arch and imposts flanked by Ionic pilasters with plain frieze above. Double C19 wrought iron gates within the opening. Two-light casement with leaded panes, early fastening and projecting moulded lintel on brackets above; traces of painted sundial upper right. C17 door within the porch made from two planks with fillets imitating pilasters to round-headed arches with keystones; heavy moulded frame. Right-hand return: two 12-pane sashes with plain stone architraves; double glazed door with horizontal glazing bars far right. Rear elevation with gable projecting forwards to the left with a 4-pane sash and a late C18-mid Cl9 two-light casement with leaded panes to the ground floor; pointed window with Gothic glazing and a moulded surround, partly infilled at the bottom. Central projecting stairs turret with C20 buttress; early 2-light casement with leaded panes towards the top; dressed stone surround probably formerly for a sash window now filled with C20 frosted glass to the right-hand return. Range parallel to the main body projects forwards from the south-west corner. Two C20 cross windows with steel casements to the ground floor; central flat- roofed dormer with two 2-light steel casements with leaded panes; small single light, now blocked upper left. Axial stacks with moulded cappings. Lateral stack to the service range. Flat gable- end coping with roll-cross saddles, one retaining a ball finial. Interior: former hall now subdivided but retains a stone screen with three pointed chamfered stone arches which would formerly have lead to the kitchen, buttery and pantry. The central arch is wider; a fourth to the west is blocked by a C20 glazed door. At the upper end of the hall, visible from the solar cross wing, the upper part ofa doorway with a 2-centred arch and a segmental- pointed rere-arch indicates there was once an internal stair at the north-west corner of the hall opening into the solar. The original medieval roof of the solar cross wing with curved-braced cambered collar beams is reputed to survive above the present coved ceiling of the solar cross wing. Moulded intersecting beams possibly C16 or earlier under the solar. C17 dog-leg staircase with turned balusters and ball finials reaching from the ground floor to the attic. Large C18 classical style mural painting in an alcove on the first landing. C18 fireplace flanked by Roman Doric columns and enriched cornucopias facing the buttery screen. Regency fireplace and doorcases in the room behind. The walls and coved ceiling of the front room of the solar wing are covered with a well preserved mural painting of 1810 depicting rural scenes and houses connected with the Townsend family. Some Regency painted and stained glass including depiction of the Crucifixion in the Venetian window. (David Verey, The Buildings of England, The Vale and the Forest of Dean, 1980; article on the renovation in Cotswold Life, Feb 1976 illus.)