Dryderdale

Dryderdale is a house dated 1879, designed by A. Waterhouse for Alfred Backhouse of Pillmore Hall, Darlington. It is constructed of coursed sandstone rubble with a plinth, quoins, and ashlar dressings. The roof is made of Welsh slate, with some synthetic tiles used in repairs, and features stone gable copings. The building has an irregular plan and is designed in the French Renaissance style.

The entrance front is two storeys and attics high, with six bays. The first and fourth bays project under front gables, and there is a three-storey octagonal tower at the left corner. The gabled porch in the second bay has a double door set in a moulded segmental-headed stone surround, supported by many-stepped side buttresses and topped with stepped gable coping featuring a mace finial. To the left, there is a one-storey pent extension under a corbelled external stack, which includes a central recessed monogram. The fourth bay gable projects further and has three-light windows, along with a two-light window in the gable peak. The varied fenestration includes all stone-mullioned and transomed windows, a large stair window to the right of the door, and paired half dormers in the fifth bay. The steeply-pitched roof has paired octagonal chimneys on the ridge and on the front external stack, while the octagonal tower roof has swept eaves on a carved band. The gables are ashlar-banded and coped, with finials.

The left return of the building offers a view of the landscape dropping steeply away and features a canted bay under a dated gable in the left bay. The rear elevation, facing the garden, is styled similarly but includes a first-floor canted oriel on a buttress, with a steep roof against a large gable wall. The interior has suffered significant fire damage, but the plan and stone arcaded stair hall remain. Restoration was underway at the time of the survey.