Whitehall College, Dane O'Coys Road, Bishop's Stortford,, Hertfordshire

In February 2009 Archaeological Solutions Ltd (AS) carried out a programme of historic building recording at Whitehall College, Dane O'Coys Road, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, prior to the demolition of modern accommodation and office blocks, the conversion of the two main houses and a row of terraced cottages on the site into private dwellings, together with the construction of six new houses in the surrounding grounds. Whitehall College was most recently a residential college for the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, after serving as a boarding house for the nearby girls' high school. The house was built at the turn of the 20th century as a private residence for Tresham Gilbey, a son of the famous wine merchant and 19th century entrepreneur Sir Walter Gilbey. The house is heavily influenced by the Arts and Crafts traditions still fashionable at that time. It retains numerous features typical of the period and style including tall, shaped brick chimneys, steep roofs, stacked tile arches and leaded casement windows. Internally, many equally typical fixtures and fittings survive including 16th century style panelling, heavy Gothic Revival oak doors, a high quality cast iron fireplace and good original window furniture. The second house in the grounds, Venn House, is smaller and appears externally to be of the same date but more conservative. The survey found that this building in fact incorporates part of an early 19th century cottage at its core. Around Venn House are numerous estate walls of mid-19th century date and a row of cottages occupying a converted farm building of late 19th century date. The remaining modern accommodation and office blocks were of no historic interest.