Design No. 20 — Design for a Bath House, and Summer Room
This design was made for a building intended to occupy a prominent position in a park in Kent; it would have commanded an extensive view over the Weald and surrounding country. The lower ragstone foundation already existed, being portions of an ancient building which had formerly stood there, and this held a fine spring of pure cold water, which runs down into a lake at a lower level in the park. Occupying a position in which it could be well seen, it was desirable that the building should form a picturesque object, and to effect this the Old English style of wooden architecture was chosen.
The view shows the back and side of the building, with the entrances, these being here less exposed to the weather than if they had been in front facing the open country. The ground-floor plan shows the cold bath with a small dressing-room; the bath was octangular in form, and fifteen feet in diameter. A small iron circular staircase led to the upper room; this was eighteen feet in diameter, with a domed ceiling, the sides of the room having iron casemented windows, and over them a bold ornamented plaster frieze; the fire-place was adorned with oak carving. The fine prospect from the windows of the Weald, and the lake and park scenery in front, would have made this an extremely pleasant room.
The lower story of the building above the ancient ragstone foundation was of brick, nine inches in thickness, with quarters on the outside, brick-nogged; carved oak inch plank was then to be screwed to this quartering, and the inner spaces filled with cement; this it was proposed to dust with small bits of coloured glass. The building was intended to be strongly constructed, as it was to stand on an elevated site in the most exposed situation in the park. The entrance, of which an elevation is given above, had two carved oak columns, having iron rings fixed to them. A small shield of arms was above the entrance; the whole of the oak was to be stained and varnished. A portion of the exterior is given on a larger scale. The upper story was in quartering, brick-nogged, faced externally with carved oak planks and plaster, and plastered inside as below. The small plan, a, in the illustration, shows this; b is an elevation of one of the carved oak trusses, and these were carried right round the structure.
An elevation of one of the small gables is shown in the next cut with its richly carved barge-board, and turned pendants and finials.
The plan of the iron casements is given, p. 220; a is the frame fixed to the wood quartering, b the loose frame fixed to receive the loose frame, c d is the glass, and e the hinge and staple; a representation of the small turn-buckle is shown, and lastly the plan of the flooring over the bath; the joists, each 9 inches by 4 inches, and 9 inches by 2½ inches, were strapped down eight or nine inches into the wall, where necessary.