Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment Prepared for LB of Richmond upon Thames April 2020 Alan Baxter Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment / 1875-30 / March 2020 Alan Baxter Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment Prepared for LB of Richmond upon Thames April 2020 Contents Executive Summary ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 Appendix A: Planning history ............................................................................ 44 1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................2 Appendix B: Summary of areas covered by structural assessment .... 45 2.0 Site description ...................................................................................................3 Appendix C: Summary of structural condition and repairs ................... 49 3.0 Historical development ..................................................................................6 4.0 Assessment of significance ......................................................................... 20 5.0 Structural assessment ................................................................................... 30 6.0 Future use and management .................................................................... 35 7.0 Landscape management ............................................................................. 36 8.0 Supporting Information ............................................................................... 37 Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment / 1875-30 / April 2020 Alan Baxter Executive Summary Executive Summary The site Significance Kneller Hall is a Grade II listed building, set within 9.7 hectares of grounds The significance of Kneller Hall resides primarily in the architecture of in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond. The site remains an the Grade II listed building itself, where fabric survives from the 1847 operational military base housing the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) remodelling of the building by the architect George Mair, including the and is home to the Royal Corps of Music. The primary listed building is spectacular Neo-Jacobean frontage onto Kneller Road and beautiful supported by a variety of ancillary buildings and service areas which first and second floor chapel. Surviving fabric from earlier phases of the support the work of the school as well as extensive playing fields. building is primarily restricted to the outer walls of the West Wing, which survive from between 1820-1832 and was completed to the designs of The purpose of the report Philip Hardwick. The Ministry of Defence has determined that Kneller Hall is to be sold as it is surplus to requirements. Given the listed status of the building, the Ministry Significance is not restricted to the main building. The surviving listed of Defence, through its asset management arm, the Defence Infrastructure boundary walls and curtilage listed gatehouse and band practice room Organisation (DIO) and the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames also have some historical significance as does the sweeping drive to Kneller have jointly commissioned a heritage assessment and structural review Hall leading from the lodge gate and the northern part of the Metropolitan to better understand the history, significance and structural integrity of Open Land in relation to the historic landscape. The bandstand, whilst of no Kneller Hall and its ancillary buildings. architectural significance has communal value as the focus of community events held at Kneller Hall throughout the history of the School. This report sets out the historical development of the site, assesses the significance of the buildings within it, identifies the nature of the existing Structural Assessment structure and the extent of likely repairs that are necessary. The report The construction of Kneller Hall is generally of a high standard. Historic concludes with observations for capacity for change within the site. alterations to the original structure, where block walls have been built up off of timber floors, have left some areas in poor condition for a building Historic Development of this age and type of construction. Areas that have not suffered these There has been a house on the site of Kneller Hall since the early alterations are generally in reasonable condition. seventeenth-century when Whitton Hall, as it was then known, was one of the wider estates that sprung up in the area with the expansion of Defects can generally addressed. Depending on when this is due to be fashionable Twickenham and London more generally. The estate was built carried out, it may be sensible to remove the partitions in the West Wing to close to the end of Whitton village, and the site has remained an important mitigate further deterioration of the timber floors. It would also be sensible focal point for the village’s life and identity ever since. to address faulty rainwater goods and below ground drainage to mitigate further deterioration. In 1857, Kneller Hall and a remnant of the early estate became the home of the Royal Military School of Music so starting a long and close association between the School and the community of Whitton and the wider borough. This association continues today with the site remaining the primary place of education for Britain’s military musicians. Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment / 1875-30 / April 2020 1 Alan Baxter 1.0 Introduction 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Purpose 1.2 Scope It is the nature of existing buildings that details of their construction and development may be hidden or may not be apparent from a visual Kneller Hall has been home to the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) The site is located in Whitton, an area that lies to the west of Twickenham inspection. The conclusions and any advice contained in our reports — since 1857, but the Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, intends to stadium, from which it is separated by Spray Lane. The site is bounded to particularly relating to the dating and nature of the fabric — are based on dispose of it in 2020. It is the only large potential redevelopment site in the the north by Kneller Gardens, to the south by Kneller Road and to the west our research, and on observations and interpretations of what was visible Whitton area and therefore presents a unique opportunity for regeneration. by Whitton Dene. at the time of our site visits. Further research, investigations or opening up The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT) has worked in The site includes the Grade II listed building of Kneller Hall and it associated works may reveal new information which may require such conclusions and partnership with the asset management arm of the Ministry of Defence, ancillary buildings and grounds. advice to be revised. the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) to develop a masterplan and We were not able to access all of the building on inspection visits as access development brief for the site in consultation with the local community, 1.3 Methodology, sources and limitations is restricted in places due to structural or security issues. Nevertheless, this which has now been adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document This report is based on a site visit undertaken on 30 November 2018, as report provides a robust starting point for providing a better understanding (SPD). This Historic Assets Assessment was commissioned by the well as desk-top and archival research at the National Archives and the of the significance of the historic environment as it relates to the Kneller partnership to set out the heritage constraints and opportunities which will Richmond Local Studies Library. Hall site. affect development of the site. It also includes a structural assessment of Kneller Hall. N N Isleworth Richmond Kneller Hall Twickenham Site boundary Figure 1: Site location Figure 2: Site plan Kneller Hall Heritage Assets Assessment / 1875-30 / April 2020 2 Alan Baxter 2.0 Site description 2.0 14 Site description 13 25 11 12 2.1 Introduction Kneller Hall has been the home of the Royal Military School of Music 9 (RMSM) since 1857. The main building (1) (referred to as simply Kneller Hall 15 7 throughout this report) dates to 1848 and contains classrooms, offices, 8 10 catering facilities and the school’s chapel, as well as a small museum dedicated to the history of military music. Two other historic structures 6 – the Guardroom (2) and Band Practice Hall (3) – stand close to the main 4 building on its west side. The north-west corner of the site is occupied 3 16 by modern accommodation blocks, music practice rooms, recreational 5 24 facilities and storerooms (5–14). 2 22 To the north of the main building is a sunken lawn (23) dating to the 23 nineteenth century including a fountain, and beyond the lawn a modern 18 1 bandstand (15). This replaced earlier bandstands and remains an important feature of the site. It continues to be used for public concerts. 19 17 The eastern half of the site is an area of open space, designated as 27 Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), which is used as a sports ground (19), with West Wing a group of associated, modern buildings, including the sports pavilion 20 (18). The sports ground is periodically used for hospitality purposes linked to events at Twickenham Stadium, which is located to the east of the site. 26 The treed area to the north of the MOL still contains references back to the historic landscape associated with Kneller Hall when it was used as a residence. The