Foxhill House

Foxhill House
Foxhill House is located in Reading, Berkshire
Foxhill House
Location within Reading
General information
Architectural styleGothic revival
LocationEarley, Berkshire, England
Coordinates51°26′42″N 0°56′32″W / 51.44492°N 0.94236°W / 51.44492; -0.94236
Completed1868
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alfred Waterhouse

Foxhill House is a Gothic revival style building on what is now the Whiteknights campus of the University of Reading at Earley, adjoining the English town of Reading. It currently houses the University's School of Law.[1]

Foxhill House is a grade II* listed building.[2] The former stables and coach house immediately to the north east, which are now physically connected to Foxhill House, and also form part of the School of Law, are separately listed as Grade II.[3]

History

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The house was originally built in 1868 by the architect Alfred Waterhouse in the early 1870s, his daughter Monica (later named Bridges) was brought up there. They moved into an even grander property, Yattendon Court, which he had built in 1881.[4] In the early years of the 20th Century Foxhill was occupied by Rufus Isaacs, who was variously Member of Parliament for Reading, Lord Chief Justice of England, the British ambassador to the United States and Viceroy of India.[5][6][7]

In 1919 Isaacs sold the lease to Hugo Hirst, founder of the General Electric Company Ltd, who in 1934 became Baron Hirst of Witton.[5][7] Hirst lived in the house until his death in 1943. Subsequently, the house was used by his daughter, Muriel, and her husband Leslie Carr Gamage until about 1958 when the University gained possession.[8]

Used for a period as student accommodation, Foxhill House was extensively restored between 2003 and 2005, in order to suit its new role as the home of the School of Law.[5] In 2007 the courtyard of the building was refurbished with a grant from PriceWaterhouseCoopers in memory of Edwin Waterhouse, who was both a co-founder of that company and the brother of the building's architect.[1]

Foxhill house was extended in 2009, in order to make room for more offices for academics and teaching staff.[9] Several new teaching rooms were also created.[9] The main extension was created between the main house and the stable block. The rear of the building was given something of a 'conservatory', which created 2 new teaching rooms, as well as a small kitchen area. This 'conservatory' can be seen when looking at the house from the east.[10]

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  • Foxhill House from the west
    Foxhill House from the west
  • Foxhill House from the east
    Foxhill House from the east
  • Foxhill from across the lake
    Foxhill from across the lake
  • Foxhill House
    Foxhill House

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bulletin - 8 November 2007" (PDF). University of Reading. p. 3. Retrieved 9 November 2007.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Historic England. "Foxhill House (1136050)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Former stables and coach house immediately north east of Foxhill House (1271248)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  4. ^ Phillips, Catherine (23 September 2004). Bridges, Robert Seymour (1844–1930), poet. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32066.
  5. ^ a b c "Bulletin - 26 May 2005" (PDF). University of Reading. p. 6. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  6. ^ "Sir Rufus Isaacs Has Risen Rapidly" (PDF). New York Times. 13 June 1912. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  7. ^ a b Hylton, Stuart (2007). A History of Reading. Philimore & Co Ltd. pp. 182–3. ISBN 978-1-86077-458-4.
  8. ^ The International Who's Who, 1958, p 320
  9. ^ a b "Foxhill House History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. ^ See Gallery
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