1874 – House, Shere, Surrey

Architect: Frederick Pepys Cockerell

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Published in The Building News, November 6 1874: “This house, which we illustrated last week, and which is in course of erection, for A. Clay, Esq. is situated on the north side of the Dorking valley, about l.6 miles from the village of Shere. The view from the site, as well as all the surrounding scenery, is most beautiful. The materials used in the construction of the house are stone from the quarries in Hurtwood, some four miles off, with Farchara brick dressings. The stone is built in random horizontal courses, with a roughly-axed face. The upper portion is of pitch pine, with three thicknesses of plaster between the timbers. The stone being of a porous quality, and the situation somewhat exposed, the wall is formed of two thicknesses ; the inner one being of brick. Wherever bond occurs between the outer and inner walls, the bricks used are dipped in tar so as to prevent any communication of damp from the outer to the inner wall. The interior is finished with pitch-pine, varnished. There is nothing particularly noticeable in the interior. The contractors are Messrs. Downs and Co., Union-street, Southwark, Mr. F.P. Cockerell being architect.”