 |
|
Rodborough Fort was built on an enclosure taken out of Rodborough Common, not as a country house but as an inhabited folly. It was a single-storey five bay building, with a canted bay in the middle and a bastion on which stood a battery of cannon. The fort was owned by a succession of prominent Stroud businessmen, including (1802-42) Joseph Grazebrook, before being bought in 1868 by Alexander Halcombe. He employed the Gloucester architect, A.W. Maberly, to rebuild it in 1869-74, as a rock-faced battlemented Tudor house with a tower over the entrance. Although Maberly retained castellations to justify its name, the house lost its pretty, whimsical air at this time. The house is surrounded by a quasi-defensive wall with gateways. In the early 20th c it was a guest house and restaurant run by the Tuck family.
From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local
History Society
Revised 2018 EMW
