West Bitchfield

House. The origins of this house lie in a 14th-century tower, with later additions dating to the 16th and 17th centuries. Extensive restoration occurred, and a new east wing was added in 1935 by Caroë and Lord Gort. The house is constructed of dressed stone and ashlar, with a Welsh slate roof.

The house comprises a three-story tower to the left, a two-story, six-bay house attached to the right, and a 20th-century wing on the extreme right.

The tower, which was partly ruinous in the 1930s, has a 17th-century doorway on its south side, featuring a moulded surround. On the south-east corner, at second-floor level, is the start of a rounded corbel, designed to support a corner turret, mirroring a feature found at Belsay Castle. The west side of the tower has several slit windows, along with one 16th-century window with a moulded surround; the remaining windows are 2- and 3-light mullioned windows dating to 1935.

The attached hall and former kitchen wing was refaced in the late 17th century. A grand staircase leads to a central, two-leaf, six-panel door, set within a decorative surround featuring a bolection moulding, a pulvinated oak-leaf frieze, and a scrolled pediment. Mullioned-and-transomed cross windows, with roll-moulded sills and cornices, are located on the ground floor, though the crosses have been renewed. An 18th-century sundial, originally from Belsay, sits above the door. A moulded cornice and panelled parapet were added in 1935. The roof is gabled with external stacks.

A recessed 20th-century wing is set to the right, built in a sympathetic style.

The rear facade is irregular. A tower rises on the right, featuring a cruciform slit window. To the left of the tower is the hall, notable for its large external chimney stack. Further to the left is a projecting three-story 16th-century staircase wing, which has two 2-light windows with segmental heads over the lights on the ground floor; scattered 2- and 3-light mullioned windows are above. To the left of this is the former kitchen, now the dining room, which has another large external chimney, now partially concealed by a 1935 entrance with a doorway in 17th-century style. A 1935 wing is attached to the far left.

The tower’s ground floor has a vaulted ceiling, and the stair is within the wall’s thickness. A 14th-century door with a pointed arch and continuous chamfered surround, similar to that at Belsay, connects the tower to the hall. The first-floor ceiling has broach-stopped beams that were brought from elsewhere. There are two 17th-century fireplaces with moulded surrounds on the first and second floors.

The drawing room, formerly the hall, features a large fireplace with a bolection-moulded surround and a Palladian doorcase with a pulvinated frieze.

A late 17th-century staircase has a dumb-bell balustrade.

The dining room has a large fireplace with a segmental head and a doorway with a Tudor-arched lintel inscribed “RF 1622 IF”, referencing the Fenwick family.