Baston Lodge

{{short description|Italianate villa in St Leanards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, England}} {{Use British English|date=January 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox building | name = Baston Lodge | image = Baston Lodge, 1 Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards-on-Sea (NHLE Code 1192209) (June 2020) (3).JPG | caption = View of the entrance on Maze Hill | location =1 Upper Maze Hill, [[St Leonards-on-Sea]], [[Hastings]], [[East Sussex]], England | coordinates = {{coord|50.855230|N|0.553224|E|region:GB_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = East Sussex | construction_start_date = | completion_date = 1850 | opening_date = | building_type = Residential villa | architectural = [[Italianate architecture]] | roof = | top_floor = | floor_count = 2 (+ attic & basement) | cost = | floor_area = | architect = [[Decimus Burton]] | structural_engineer = | main_contractor = John Ward | developer = | owner = Baston Lodge Freehold Ltd.<ref name="companies-house" /> | operator = Baston Lodge Freehold Ltd. {{Infobox designation list | embed = yes | designation1_offname = Baston Lodge | designation1 = Grade II | designation1_date = 14 March 1973 | designation1_number = }} | website = | references = }} '''Baston Lodge''' is a residential [[villa]] in [[St Leonards-on-Sea]], [[Hastings]], [[East Sussex]], southern [[England]].<ref name="burtonsstleonardssociety">{{cite web| url=http://www.burtonsstleonardssociety.co.uk/tour-16/ | title=The main landmarks of Burtons' St Leonards | publisher=Burtons' St Leonards Society | location=UK | accessdate=2 January 2020 }}</ref>

The building was designed by [[Decimus Burton]] (1800–1881) as a seaside villa for John Ward, a friend, and completed in 1850.<ref name="historic-england">{{NHLE| num=1192209 | desc=Baston Lodge | accessdate=2 January 2020 }}</ref> The architecture is in the [[Italianate]] style, with coursed stone, chamfered [[quoins]], and plain stone [[architrave]]s and bands. It has low-pitched slate roofs with two main storeys, an attic, and a basement. There is a three-storey tower with a low-pitched pyramid-shaped roof.

Baston Lodge was the childhood home of the World War II codebreaker [[Alan Turing]] (1912–1954) and there is a [[blue plaque]] on the front of the building commemorating this.<ref name="eastbourne-herald">{{cite news| url=https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/people/former-sussex-resident-and-war-time-code-breaker-alan-turing-named-as-greatest-figure-of-20th-century-1-8801256 | title=Former Sussex resident and war-time code breaker Alan Turing named as greatest figure of 20th century | newspaper=[[Eastbourne Herald]] | location=UK | first=Andy | last=Hemsley | date=7 February 2019 | accessdate=2 January 2020 }}</ref><ref name="observer">{{cite news| url=http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/plaque-unveiled-at-turing-s-home-in-st-leonards-1-4003535 | title=Plaque unveiled at Turing's home in St Leonards | date=29 June 2012 | newspaper=[[Hastings & St. Leonards Observer]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912121655/http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/plaque-unveiled-at-turing-s-home-in-st-leonards-1-4003535 | archive-date=12 September 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref> Alan Turing and his elder brother John Turing were wards of Colonel and Mrs Ward.<ref name="turing12">{{cite book| first=John | last=Turing | chapter=My brother Alan | title=Alan M. Turing: Centenary Edition | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | location=UK | date=2012 | isbn=978-1-107-02058-0 | pages=147–150 }}</ref>

The building was [[Grade II listed]] in 1973.<ref name="historic-england" /> The blue plaque commemorating Alan Turing was unveiled on 23 June 2012, the centenary of Turing's birth.<ref name="bbc-news">{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-18580826 | title=St Leonards plaque marks Alan Turing's early years | date=25 June 2012 | work=[[BBC News]] | publisher=[[BBC]] | location=UK | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203074933/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-18580826 | archive-date=3 December 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>

The villa is located at 1 Upper Maze Hill and is close to [[St John the Evangelist's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea|St John's Church]] to the north. Immediately to the west is St Michael's Hospice and to the south is [[St Leonards Gardens]]. The building is now divided into apartments<ref name="onthemarket">{{cite web| url=https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/3610506/doc_0_7.pdf | title=1 Baston Lodge Upper Maze Hill, St. Leonards-On-Sea, East Sussex TN38 0LA | publisher=Rush, Witt & Wilson | location=UK | format=PDF | accessdate=2 January 2020 }}</ref> and the [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] of the building is owned by Baston Lodge Freehold Ltd.<ref name="companies-house">{{cite web| url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/12149302 | title=Baston Lodge Freehold Ltd | publisher=[[Companies House]] | location=UK | accessdate=2 January 2020 }}</ref>

==See also== * [[Baston]], a village in [[Lincolnshire]], England

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:1850 establishments in England]] [[Category:Residential buildings completed in 1850]] [[Category:Grade II listed buildings in East Sussex]] [[Category:Houses in East Sussex]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Hastings]] [[Category:Apartment buildings in England]] [[Category:Villas in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Italianate architecture in England]] [[Category:Alan Turing]]