THE LODGE TO HILLSIDE - Listed Grade II (as Lodge to Blair Lea)

This small Lodge shows the full-blooded characteristics of the High Victorian Gothic Revival. It was built as the Lodge to Hillside, probably in 1866, as the Catholic Francis W. Reynolds came that year. Hence the emphasis on the Cross motif which appears on the Porch Column and its base, in the polychromy of the brickwork, as a support to one Griffin etc.

The small Porch, no longer the way into the house, is surmounted by a stage with a pyramidal roof (re-slated) at whose base, at each corner, projects the lively carving of a griffin, each one supported with a different motif. The four griffins might be described as "overscaled" but really they are just handled boldly as High Victorians liked to do things. The French Gothic capital of the Porch Column, the fact that the Column is a dumpy one, and the most characteristically High Victorian motif - polychromy - best seen in the lozenges (clumsy on the south front, more competently executed on the other two sides) are all features we should expect to find at this date. So is the eclecticism in the choice of the English Gothic nail-head motif juxtaposed with the French Gothic capital. These are all things we expect to see in High Victorian design, and in order of precedence: -

i polychromy

ii dumpy-ness of column

iii "punched" style of cross on base of column

iv choice of French Gothic for capital

continued . . .