Prudhoe Hall And Adjoining Outbuildings

This is a former country house, now serving as a hospital administration block, built in 1878 for Matthew Liddle. It is constructed of ashlar stone with a Lakeland slate roof, and is designed in a High Victorian Renaissance style, forming an L-shaped plan. The long garden front is divided into three sections. The projecting left section features a square bay window across the corner. Adjacent is a two-story bow window with an architrave beneath a gable. The recessed central section of seven bays has tall, two-light, round-headed windows on the ground floor, featuring round arches with carved foliage above the lights. There are irregularly placed sash windows on the first floor. The projecting right section incorporates a three-story tower with a pagoda roof, followed by a corner canted oriel window supported by an elaborate moulded corbel. This section includes shields with foliage in the aprons and a parapet featuring strapwork and obelisks, followed by three plainer bays, then two bays with naturalistic capitals between the windows, and finally a canted bay window. The centre ground floor light is a French window leading to steps with steeply swept side walls terminating in urns with scrolled bases. A moulded first floor string and a top cornice run along the building, with parts displaying cable moulding below the cornice. Numerous lively gargoyles are present. The entrance front is similarly detailed, including a porte-cochere to the left of the centre, a guilloche moulded parapet, and large dogs bearing shields. The round-arched doorway has capitals with winged beasts resting on the abaci. A large, square mullion and transom staircase window with eight lights is located to the left. A projecting wing to the right presents a plainer appearance and incorporates a 20th-century altered doorway. Roofs are mainly hipped, of varying pitches, and include many corniced ashlar ridge stacks. A service yard is located at the southwest end, featuring a round-arched gateway beneath a pediment and flanked by square piers, all topped with urns. A two-story service range extends from the yard, with projecting end pavilions under hipped roofs. To its left is a Renaissance Revival outbuilding with elaborate shaped gables and finials. The interior displays rich decoration, particularly in the hall which features a Jacobean-style staircase, panelling, and a fireplace, alongside a plaster coffered ceiling and plaster frieze. Elaborate wrought iron lamp standards are situated on the stairs. Numerous good doors and panelled dados are also present, along with a Victorian bathroom and WC. The entrance lobby includes a marble fireplace, stained glass, panelling, and original embossed wallpaper.