Building record TQ 76 NE 1386 - 79, Maidstone Road, Chatham

In 2025 the build was considered for Listed Building status but it was decided by Historic England that it did not merit inclusion on the List. From the accompanying report:


"House built in 1901 in an eclectic Victorian style, to the designs of George Bond for Charles Bessant, later
converted to a school in the mid-C20.

MATERIALS: primarily constructed from red brick laid in a stretcher bond with stone dressings. The roof is
covered with clay tiles and the bay window topped with a copper-clad dome.
PLAN: the ground and first floor are planned around a highly decorated central double height lobby, with
access to three principal rooms to the north and south and a service corridor and landing to the east. The
main staircase located within the double height bay window beside the main entrance leads to the first floor.
A second service staircase is located to the north-east end of the service corridor which provides access to
all floors.

EXTERIOR: the house is set over three floors with a cellar below. The asymmetric front elevation is
dominated by an off-centre, polygonal double height bay window with stained glass in a stone surround, with
carved grotesques beneath the cill, and a domed copper roof. A pair of timber front doors are positioned at
the top of a short flight of stone steps and are set within a decorative opening of alternating stone and brick
bands with a grotesque-embellished keystone. The decorative banding is repeated on the first floor,
enclosing a recessed balcony with stone balusters and handrail. A lead-cheeked dormer window sits above
the balcony on the second floor. To the left of the bay window is a bow window to the ground floor, and to the
right are single windows and a double-height corner square bay window facing south-west. Both window bays
have stepped gables to the second floor with stone copings and segmental pediments. Across the whole front
elevation are stone string courses delineating the floors, and a dentilled stone cornice to the window bays.
The side and rear elevations are less decorative than the front and contain a range of fenestration. The rear
(east) elevation has had a plain red brick and glazed C20 extension added which has recently been partially
demolished, and to the west is an early-C20 timber conservatory with stained glass inserts and an encaustic
tiled floor.

Throughout, the windows are mostly timber-framed one-over-one timber sliding sash, but there are also
various styles of casement window present too. Most of the sills are stone, and most lintels are in stone or
gauged brick. The roofs are pitched with mutliple gables and covered in clay tiles, and there are five tall,
corbelled chimney stacks with stone dressings.

INTERIOR: the ground floor is accessed via a small porch with an encaustic tiled floor, decorative plaster
ceiling, and inner timber and stained-glass door with stained-glass side panels and transom lights. The porch
leads through to a central lobby space around which the house is planned. The lobby is double height, with a
hardwood parquet floor, bracketed cornice, rinceau frieze, and panelled plaster ceiling to the ground floor.
Three principal rooms lead from the lobby, each with plaster cornices, and rinceau frieze. The northern room
of the three has a panelled ceiling and has had a C20 partition inserted across it. A service corridor runs
north-south to the rear of the lobby, providing access to a series of plainer service rooms to the east and the
service staircase to the north. Most of the ground floor internal doors, skirtings, dado rails, door cases, and
fireplaces have been removed.

The main staircase is relatively grand, and the service staircase is of a simpler design. Both have had their
newel posts, balusters, and handrails removed.

The first-floor plan generally mirrors that of the ground floor, with three large principal rooms and smaller
service rooms planned around the central wrap-around landing space, but with access out to the balcony
through a timber and stained-glass door with stained-glass side panels and transom lights. The landing is
decorated with a dentilled cornice, rinceau frieze, and panelled plaster ceilings. The panelled ceiling above
the lobby is recessed and has been heavily damaged by the removal of the landing balusters that rose to the
ceiling. The rooms on the first floor are less decorated than those on the ground floor with a simpler plaster
cornice and frieze. Most of the skirtings, door cases, and doors have been removed.

The second floor can only be accessed from the service staircase and contains a series of relatively plain
rooms, but mostly retaining the joinery that is lost elsewhere, such as doors, door frames, skirtings, and built
in closets.

The basement is also only accessible by the service staircase and comprises four rooms beneath the
northern portion of the house mostly repurposed for storage and services associated to its use as a school.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: a tall red brick wall with limestone dressings encloses the northern and western
boundaries to the house, with the gated main entrance positioned centrally to the western-facing frontage of
the house, and a second trade entrance located slightly further north along the road." (1)

<1> Historic England, 2025, Historic England Listing report: 79 Maidstone Road, Chatham (Unpublished document). SKE58606.