Catisfield Conservation Area Character Assessment

Character Assessment

The Historic Buildings

The Conservation Area contains eight buildings that are included on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. In addition there are three buildings included on the council's local list of Buildings of Local Architectural or Historic Interest (the local list). Their form, detail and materials make an important contribution to the existing character of the conservation area and should be protected.

Catisfield Cottage occupies a prominent position on the corner of Catisfield Lane and Highlands Road. It is listed Grade II. The C18 building has a western garden façade of red brick and grey headers with two 2 curved bays and a clay tile roof. This elevation is partially visible above the garden wall flanking Catisfield Lane. The remainder of the building is 2½ / 3 storey and includes a side façade that faces the street. It comprises a number of wings built using red brick with tile hung gables to the rear. The building and its grounds form the eastern edge of the Conservation Area and mark the start of the older group of buildings on Catisfield Lane.

Catisfield House, formerly The Meoncross Boys School, is a grade II listed building dating from the early 18th Century. Its size, formal architectural style and rendered façade, with a wide modillion eaves cornice incorporating egg and dart moulding, contrasts with the simpler brick buildings elsewhere in the conservation area. The building has a 1^st floor verandah to the rear with a delicate iron balustrade which once afforded views across the Meon Valley. This property is dominant in views along the street both from the north and south and its relative formality makes an important contribution to the character of the conservation area.

Close to the junction of Fishers Hill is a terrace of five 18th Century cottages built in red brick with grey headers and clay tiled roofs and 5 hipped gables to the rear. The cottage front gardens are enclosed by important brick walls. Regrettably, the property T the southern end has been rendered obscuring its historic brickwork and unbalancing the terrace; further inappropriate rendering of historic brickwork should be resisted. To the rear of the plots are a row of old brick and tiled outhouses, formerly privies, of significant character. The gardens are enclosed on the south side by an old brick wall which appears to have been the northern boundary of Catisfield House and its associated outbuildings which have been demolished.

Facing the junction of Fishers Hill and Catisfield Lane is the Post Office. This is a Grade II listed building dating from the 18th Century, again constructed in red brick with grey headers and with a clay tiled roof. The statutory list records that this building forms a group with Littlecroft, Elm Cottage, the adjoining terrace and Catisfield House.

Elm Cottage, adjacent to the Post Office and to the north of an informal gravel drive beside the cottages, is a locally listed building.  It dates from the 18th and 19th Century, although parts are of earlier date and the interior includes evidence of timber framing. The street facade is rendered and the roof clay tiled. The building follows the established character of the village with a low brick enclosing wall to the front garden. A notable feature to the rear is a large chimney stack, possibly serving a former bread oven. Its rear garden walls complement those associated with the cottages on the south side of the driveway and with others contribute significantly to the character of the village.

Set into the front wall of Elm Cottage is a red post box inscribed V R. This is believed to be one of the only surviving Victorian post-boxes in the borough.

LittleCroft, a large early 19th century house sits in a large garden close to the junction with Fishers Hill. The building is constructed of red brick with a hipped slate roof. Evidence has been discovered during renovation of the property to suggest that 23 Catisfield Lane has origins as a hall house dating from the early C16, subsequently altered in the early C18. The building probably pre-dates all the others in the village and is significant in the development of the settlement. It is constructed of red brick with an old tiled, half hipped roof and large centre chimney. Both these buildings contribute to the character of the Conservation Area and are included on the council's local list.

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