Listed Building: BATCHFOOT RETIREMENT HOME INCLUDING WALL AND TERRACE (467383)

WEYMOUTH SY68NE CHURCH STREET, Upwey 873-1/1/559 (West side) 14/06/74 Batchfoot Retirement Home, including wall and terrace (Formerly Listed as: CHURCH STREET, Upwey (West side) Batchfoot House) II Rectory, later hotel, now retirement home. 1812. Rubble, rendered to front only, slate roof. PLAN: a long rectangular block with entry and main staircase at the SW end, and double-banked rooms to continuous central corridor; the terrace to the centre, front, is a late C20 addition. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, attics and basement, 5-windowed front; 12-pane sashes to first floor above deep 15-pane sashes to ground floor, with stone sills at floor level. In the basement, centrally, is a 3-light stone hollow-mould mullion casement, with diagonal saddle bars. The entrance end has a large oculus with glazing bars above two 12-pane sashes, one of these blind and a C20 door with fanlight in an arched opening. The far gable has an oculus above two 12-pane sashes at ground and first floors, one of these painted on at each level; the basement has a central C19 flush panel door flanked by a12-pane sash, left, and a C20 part-glazed door, right. In the rubble walls openings have flush dressed surrounds. Rear has 6 small-pane 2-light casements under haunched brick segmental heads, but with recessed doubled opening ground floor, centre, and the basement is part-concealed by a below-ground access passage. Large C20 flat-roofed dormer with two 3-light casements. 2 ridge and 2 gable stacks, all rendered, and with skirt and heavy capping. Plain stringcourse, rendered on the main front, returns at the gable ends. The roof has a deep flat eaves with a series of small brackets, including the gable verges. INTERIOR: entrance hall has cornice and ceiling rose, with a simple quarter-landing staircase. There are 2 further dogleg staircases off the central corridor, on north side; these also descend to the basement. Some cornices remain, doors generally modified to meet fire regulations, but original plank doors remain in the basement. In the attics, now sub-divided, but probably originally one open space, are 2 thick party walls each with wide opening to a pointed arch; at E gable the oculus is contained in similar sunk pointed arch, not expressed externally. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: at rear of building there was formerly a stable block of which one coursed stone wall approx 4m long remains, with concrete parapet, and entrance to the sunk external passageway; behind this wall a terrace has been created by backfill. Terrace of large slate slabs, approx 3m deep, extends across the E end at basement level, here at ground level because of the fall in level across the site. An interesting and unusually planned rectory, well maintained, with minimal loss resulting from changes of use. Listing NGR: SY6595085429

Record last edited

Aug 4 2011 10:47AM