Oaklands

Oaklands is a house, now divided into two, built around 1860 by Thomas Wilson for himself. It features squared stone with ashlar dressings and a slate roof, designed in a Free Gothic style. The north front is two storeys high, with an attic over the central part, divided into three sections. The centre section has a gabled projecting porch on the right, with panelled double doors beneath a shouldered lintel and a circular overlight, framed by pilasters and a moulded arch, all adorned with intricate carvings. A staircase on the left leads to varied floor levels. The windows are one- and two-light with different Gothic styles, with the upper ones set in half dormers that are hipped on the left and elaborately ornamented on the right, featuring string courses.

The left section has a projecting gabled bay on the right with a diaper pattern in the tympanum above the first-floor windows, while the left side shows remnants of a servants' wing. The projecting gabled right section has a large stack and a trefoil-headed window on each floor to the right. The right return includes trefoil-headed windows, mostly found in a large single-storey bay on the left and a two-storey canted bay on the right. A cast-iron balcony with spiral standards is located on the rear elevation. Inside, the central hall features an open well-stair with a closed string, moulded balusters and handrail, and trefoil-pierced spandrel pieces. Intermediate iron standards have fleur-de-lys heads and a plain tie rail. The doors have trefoil-headed panels and other contemporary fittings. Oaklands is considered to be the prototype, both in style and plan, for Wilson's more elaborate Shotley Hall, built in 1863.