Exbury Leaflet map

Key features in the conservation area

These are key features in the conservation area and the points relate to the numbered areas on the map.

1. St Catherine’s Church

   The church was built in 1907 on the foundations of an earlier church of 1827. The stone came from Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck, with the finer dressings around windows and on corners being Chilmark (from Wiltshire). Despite its late date the church is in the conventional Gothic Revival style of the later 19th century. The architect was John Oldrid Scott from the famous Scott family, leading exponents of the Gothic style.

2. Water tower

   The water tower was built soon after the expansion of the gardens started in the 1920s to hold a major water supply from a borehole. It has a tile-hung upper section above the brickwork and a steeply pitched, slate-covered pyramidal spire.

   The old National School of 1827 is nearby.

3. Village housing of the 1820s

   The buildings of the 1820s in the local buff brick use architectural features sparingly, and the overall impression is of simple and plain housing. Many houses have dentilled courses below eaves and most chimneys have projecting oversailing courses. Rare in this area, some cottages have horizontally sliding sash windows.

4. Trees and specimen planting

   Specimen trees such as the maple in the grounds of Marise Cottage and the lime on the road junction near The Old Vicarage, together with large forest trees like oaks and planes, dominate the streetscene. Some trees, if threatened by development, have Tree Preservation Orders served—this happened with a yew at Daphne Cottage and a plane and an oak at The Bath.

5. Extensions and materials

   Designing extensions to be in keeping requires care, and matching the forms and materials of existing buildings is especially important where there is such a predominant style and brick as in Exbury. A very successful extension is at Daphne Cottage, where everything has been done correctly. Comparison with some other local extensions proves that 'close is as good as a mile' when it comes to selecting a new brick to match a distinctive local brick such as the buff used here in the 1820s.