The Nursery is the smallest bedroom in the main house and is next to the Rector’s room (master bedroom). It now serves as a second study, the first study being the Library downstairs. The Nursery would serve equally well as a small double bedroom or dressing room.
The room as it was with the door set off to the left. We believe that this door was not original to the house. You can’t see very clearly on the picture but this door only has a chamfer on the panels, not a stop chamfer as on all the other doors in this part of the house.
All doors in the main house other this this have a stop chamfer. All of the cupboards and the doors in the working areas of the house, such as the kitchen have no chamfer. This door was an anomaly!
The floor has been lightly sanded and is receiving its first coat of hard wax.
You can also see the new door that has been made with the glazed top. The bottom half of the door matches the other doors in this part of the house.
The floor after its first coat of hard wax. It has gone matt as the wood has soaked it up.
Second coat of wax applied. The sheen is starting to come through.
Unusual feature
The ornate door – The ornate glass topped door was created by a local cabinet maker. The brief given, was to create a door which closely matched the original but then had a glazed unit at the top with arched reliefs. The doors position was also moved to mid-point of the Gothic arch, becoming a focal point through the arch to the church tower beyond. If you look at the pictures, you’ll see that that a white radiator used to stand where this new door stands.
Restoration
Window – the original 1869 single glazed window has been retained. It has been stripped, repaired, recorded, oiled and new draught strips fitted.
Floor – The original floorboards remain and have been cleaned and wax oiled.
Skirting boards and door frames – You’ll notice that throughout the house, the skirting boards are of a simple chamfered design and the doors have a simple panelled look with stop chamfers. Where these are beyond repair, the local joiner has painstakingly created new ones on site to blend seamlessly with the old.
Window surrounds – Similarly the wooden window box surrounds and architraves have been retained and repaired, stripped and repainted in each room. The other option would have been to remove these and plaster to the window as per a modern house. We felt that this would remove a feature if the house.
Renovation
Although the room is still the same size, its doorway has been moved to mid-point of the arch to allow the doorway in The Curate’s room to be brought forward and thus an ensuite and fitted wardrobe was comfortably added to that room. This has also allowed the creation of the glazed top door, creating a focal point as you ascend the stairs. So far, all of the visitors who are unaware of the changes, have assumed the door and its location to be original to the house.
Cabling – as in all the rooms all electric, satellite, digital, FM, telephone and cat 6 internet cabling are installed. A reproduction bakelite light switch has been added with oak backing to match the original.
Interior design
the furniture is modern in design and has a walnut finish with the desk having a dark glass finish. A comfortable modern reclining swivel chair in light tan with footstool is positioned by the window
All of the upstairs rooms are fitted with blackout blinds in the frames and additional curtains. The blinds are off an off-white and all but disappear in the white boxed window when rolled up.
The main room picture is a large black and white Ordnance Survey map of Canterbury (1883) showing the county town map of Canterbury, with Christ Church Cathedral at its heart it is housed in a simple black frame.
Companies and trades people used in the commission of the room
- Brewers – Wisbech – Albany, magnolia emulsion and also Albany, white emulsion
- Cast Iron Radiator Centre, Coventry – radiator and also Bentley antique copper thermostatic valve
- Dunelm – Wisbech – blackout blind, made to order
- Fiddes (ordered directly) – Hard wax oil – Clear – Semi gloss
- Glasswells – Bury St Edmunds – curtain pole
- New from Old – Little Ouse – Creation of the ornate door
The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse 