The Mansion House is a historical building in Sidcup and Chislehurst, London, that was built in the mid-eighteenth century by Henry Berens, a Dutch barrister. The building is a red brick structure with a tiled roof, and it has undergone several extensions throughout the years. It was first extended in the mid-nineteenth century and then again in the mid-1890s. The building later served as a school before becoming Council offices for the Borough of Sidcup and Chislehurst in the 1920s. Today, it is still owned and occupied by the London Borough of Bexley.
The earliest part of the Mansion House is at the south-east, where a three-window range flanked by angled projecting towers, or ‘bastions,’ survives from the mid-eighteenth century. This is believed to have been consciously designed in imitation of a fort. The third bastion survives in part, but the fourth is no longer present. The house was extended northwards in two campaigns in the 1850s and mid-1890s. There are late 18th and 19th-century stable ranges to a yard, which were rebuilt in the 20th century. C20 brick ranges date to occupation as a school. The post-war additions are of no interest.
The south-east front of the Mansion House features a two-storey, three-window range flanked by two-storey angled bastions with a tall three-flue stack. To the right is a mid-nineteenth century addition, featuring a two-storey, three-window range with a dentilled cornice and brick parapet above. The ground storey has an open arcade leading to a square tower, three storeys with a single arched window in each stage. There is a tiled pitched roof entrance porch at the base of the tower. To the right, on the north elevation, is a two-storey range with a gable, three arched windows with blind tympana, and a panel above showing the Coat-of-Anns. There is a smaller gable to the right.
The interior of the Mansion House is variable in quality and interest, with some rooms of particular note. Two mid-Georgian rooms are separated by a stack at the southwest end of the house, with timber moulded archways with carved woodwork in the spandrels, moulded cornices, and panelling. There is also a polygonal wooden panelled niche. In one room, an early nineteenth-century fire surround has been installed, evidently made up of separate carved marble panels, c.1823. Above this is a late nineteenth-century painted scheme depicting a north European Romantic landscape. An eighteenth-century staircase has been removed from its original place and now leads from the first-floor service area to the attic. It is an open-string, two turned balusters to a tread, with a fluted newel. The large stair hall in the northeastern part of the house dates from 1853, with a staircase in the Jacobean style with heavy wooden balusters and newels. There is also a rococo-style fireplace in the hall. The stained glass in the large windows lighting the hall date from 1923.
The Mansion House’s history can be traced back to 1780, but it is thought to have been built in 1743. It has been occupied by many owners over the years, including Henry Berens, who lived there from 1822. When he died in 1852, his nephew, Henry Hulse Berens, purchased the house and lived there until 1883, extending the house. His daughter and her husband continued enlargements into the early years of this century. The Mansion House later became a school before serving as Council offices for the Borough of Sidcup and Chislehurst in the 1920s.
The Mansion House is listed primarily for its early Georgian fort plan and interior features. The listing also includes the ha-ha to the east of the house, which is constructed of flint and is approximately 1m high and 90m long. The garden walls are not included in the listing as they have been largely rebuilt in recent years.
Posted by JOHN K THORNE on 2023-01-09 19:31:27