Howick Hall Centre Block And Link Galleries

This is the centre block of Howick Hall, a country house largely built in 1782 by William Newton for Sir Henry Grey. Linking galleries were altered in 1809 by George Wyatt, and the building underwent significant alterations and internal remodelling in 1928 following a fire, led by Sir Herbert Baker and Scott. The building is constructed of tooled ashlar with a graduated Lakeland slate roof.

The plan is a rectangular block with an internal first-floor courtyard. A single-storey entrance hall on the north side connects as linking galleries to east and west wings, which were previously the stable and kitchen blocks.

The north front (the main entrance) features a three-storey, nine-bay main block, a single-storey, five-bay projecting porch, and six-bay linking galleries slightly set back from the porch on both sides. The porch has a plinth, Tuscan pilasters, a cornice, and a balustraded parapet. The central door features a bronze lion-mask knocker and a dated overlight (1929) with a lantern. Flanking the door are round-arched windows, and the outer windows have cornices. The side galleries have subsidiary doors and replaced 15-pane sash windows. Five rainwater heads dated 1809 bear the Grey crest. The main block is divided into three three-bay sections. A pedimented centre holds a giant Tuscan aedicule with recessed windows overlooking the inner courtyard, flanked by round-headed windows on the first floor and oculi above, all with small-paned casements. The pediment displays the Grey crest and motto. The outer sections have 12-pane sashes on the first floor, and 6-pane sashes above, capped by an entablature and blocking course, with hipped roofs and ridge stacks.

The south front is three storeys and nine bays wide. It has a rusticated ground floor, a moulded plinth, and a sill string to the first floor. A projecting, pedimented three-bay centre is distinguished by a giant Ionic order. The central entrance has a half-glazed double door with a radial fanlight. All ground- and first-floor windows are 12-pane sashes, with fluted friezes and console bracketed pediments in the centre bays; similar friezes and cornices are in the outer bays. The second floor has six-pane sashes in architraves. All windows have been renewed. A modillion eaves cornice runs along the building, and a worn Grey crest and motto are incorporated into the modillioned pediment. The returns have similar detailing, with pedimented first-floor centre windows.

The entrance hall, flanked by distyle Roman Doric screens, has a metope frieze with flowers and bucrania, as well as a decorative plaster ceiling. Most of the interior was renewed in 1928. Most earlier fittings have been removed, though some ornamental plaster ceilings remain. A 17th-century carved stone fireplace, originally from a Yorkshire house, is located in the study.