DURING OUR RECENT visit to east Kent, we spent two nights in a bed and breakfast (‘B&B’) on Spencer Road at Birchington. Despite visibility being restricted by torrential rain when we arrived at the accommodation, I was able to see that there was an attractive sgraffito frieze around the house at the level of the first floor. Even in the poor light, I could make out that frieze was created in the Arts and Crafts Style, which was popular in the last quarter of the nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth centuries. Our B&B was called The Old Coach House, and I will explain why soon.

Visitors to English coastal towns will have seen the huge numbers of bungalows (single-storey dwellings) that they contain. What many people might not know is that “… England’s first bungalow was built in Westgate in 1867” (www.birchingtonheritage.org.uk/articles/bungalows.htm). Birchington, which is a few miles from Westgate was home to the country’s first bungalow estate. This comprises five bungalows, each with its own watch tower. They are next to Coleman Stairs, which is a steep path leading down from the clifftop to the seashore. The bungalows, close to the cliff edge, were ready for use in 1880 and are accessed via a private lane from Spenser Road.

Each of the bungalows was provided with its own coach house, which accommodated the householder’s servants, carriages, and horses. Our B&B was one of the coach houses. It has been converted into a residence. Our first-floor bedroom would have once been one of the servant’s rooms. A small staircase leads from the ground to the first floor. This was added long after the building ceased to be a coach house. Before this was added, the servants accessed the first floor by an outside staircase, which no longer exists,

The sgraffito friezes on each of the three former stable blocks that we saw are in good condition. The coach houses were built in about 1882 and designed by John Pollard Seddon (1827-1906), who was closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists. The sgraffito work on the coach housed is said to have been created by the sculptor George Frampton (1860-1928), whose other works include the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens and a statue of Queen Victoria in the grounds of the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. An article published in the Thanet Times in the 1970s revealed:

“Frampton as a youth was a friend of the artist Solomon J. Solomon, a well known artist of his day, who had bought the annex, “The Porch,” in Spencer Road, Birchington, which was the coach house to his main house called “Whitecliff” – one of the famous Tower Bungalows.  George Frampton came to live with the Solomon’s when he was a penniless sculptor, fresh from years of apprenticeship to his profession.  Solomon wanted to help Frampton and suggested that he might create frescoes round the upper part of his new house.  Frampton made this a labour of love.  He was 22 years old at the time – 1882 ,,, But the name of his benefactor is almost forgotten – but not Frampton’s frescoes.” (www.birchingtonheritage.org.uk/)

When we booked the B&B, we had no inkling of its historical interest. We had a comfortable stay there, and were well looked after by Tim, our friendly host. His affectionate dog Louie added to our enjoyment of the place.